If there's one thing I love about going on a Maine vacation with my family, it's heading to the movies. The local theater's admission cards are ripped from a wheel of repurposed raffle tickets; the previews are slideshows of local homes and wildlife, and the movies are invariably a week (or three) behind urban America's release dates.
But what's endearing in the slowest summer dog days is pretty infuriating during the rest of the year. When Pixar's 3-D extravaganza Up hit U.S. theaters last weekend, the Associated Press reported that "[i]n Maine, you can count on one hand the number of theaters that showed [the film] in 3-D." And it's not unique to northern New England, though the deficiency is particularly glaring there (RealD and Dolby Digital told the AP they've equipped only 6 theaters for 3-D capability in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine combined). Many privately owned movie theaters in remote areas across the country are struggling to keep apace with Hollywood's hot new 3-D trend, as it costs about $100,000 to upgrade to the technical standard. And if cinema owners can't accomodate the upgrade, theatergoers (like those interviewed in the AP's story) will travel to places that do.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
