Although Kimball Theater may not have the same smell of buttery popcorn or a long line of previews before each showing like a traditional cinema, it still tries to offer the same social atmosphere of sitting in the dark with friends.
ASWC Films screened “Cadillac Records” on Monday, March 2 as part of its Monday night film series.
“I was super excited when I found out they were bringing [‘Cadillac Records’],” said senior Shayna Tivona. “I felt like ASWC was listening to what I said when I wrote that I wanted to see more recent, modern movies.”
The films chosen for this semester’s Monday Night Film Series are especially current, many of which, like “Man on Wire” and “Vicky Christina Barcelona,” are screening before their DVD release dates.
The ASWC Films Chair is responsible for choosing these films.
“Prior to each semester I create a list of films I think would be good to show on campus,” said senior Ben Kegan, this year’s ASWC films Chair.
“I look for films that first and most importantly are good,” he said. “I also look for films that students may not have seen, or may have heard about but did not get a chance to see on the big screen because they did not play in large multiplexes or in Walla Walla.”
Kimball Theatre is located at the heart of campus in the Hunter Conservatory, and the films there are free and cater to Whitman students.
The only local multiplex, Walla Walla Grand Cinemas, is located two miles off campus and accepts only cash payment. While Oscar season brought some politically-charged films, such as “Milk” and “The Reader” to Walla Walla, the local cinema tends to show primarily mainstream movies.
Whitman film buffs, including Professor of Rhetoric and Film Studies Robert Sickels, have noted the persistent lack of small-scale independent films at Walla Walla Grand Cinemas.
Film studies classes taught by Sickels have had to adapt their end-of-semester field trips to whatever film happens to be playing in Walla Walla at the time.
Eight years ago, at the request of former college president Thomas Cronin, there was an investigation into the possibility of Whitman starting its own art house-style cinema.
Yet Sickels, who lead the investigation, quickly concluded that it was implausible.
“There just isn’t a big enough audience in Walla Walla to support an art house movie theatre,” said Sickels. “There was no way an art theatre could make the money required to be self-sufficient.”
The ASWC Monday Night Films series is no arthouse experience, but on the plus side, it doesn’t charge students.
“Otherwise I would wait until it came out on DVD,” said Tivona. “Or I would wait until summer, and get it at home”
The district manager for Hallett Enterprises, which is in charge of movie selection for Walla Walla Grand Cinemas, could not be reached for comment.
