So neighborhood Flix is gone
I’m not sure I care. Harsh as that sounds, I think they executed poorly. Here’s why.
1. Cost. I tried to have Ignite Denver there, they wanted $2500 for the night, not counting any food or drink, that was just to secure the location. Other bars (including the one we ended up at) were free, relying (successfully I believe) on food and drink orders from the 100+ people to carry the night.
2. First run movies. Blah. There’s too many movie theatres already, if I want to just go see whatever is out, I’m not gonna do it at a place where I can eat and drink. I’ll find a showtime, and go. I’ll meet up with friends, or go out on a date with my wife before or after. Go for the niche stuff. Do a Planet of the Apes day/night. Star Trek marathon, Star Wars, B movie marathons, heck a Shermer Illinois marathon!
Go for the off beat, the “Brings back my childhood”, the “I want my kid to experience the wonder” type films. I don’t know and could be wrong, but I’m guessing it’s easier to get the rights to Planet of the Apes, than to Iron Man.
I hope the next owners of ‘Flix are better able to capitalize on the incredible library of past works. Shoot, show a “Movie remakes that were better the first time” marathon, there’s no end to what could be seen.
And advertise, set up a twitter account to let people know what’s playing, blog about what running the joint is like, get social. Don’t just expect people to show up, being next to Tattered Cover isn’t enough.
Maybe I should buy the place? LOL
Yeah, I never really understood why Flix would go for first-run movies. Too much competition in that category.
@bapartin,
yeah there’s no way to compete on first Run. I think the miss was in not catering to everyone’s desire to see old stuff, on the big screen. I was at Movies on the Rocks.
Breakfast club, sold out, Red Rocks. Uh hello, that’s what a few thousand people!
Once upon a time, there used to be a movie theatre downtown called something like Flix. I was young, but that’s how I remember it. They showed different movies virtually every day. My most vivid memory (I was quite young) was simply their monthly "ad" that was printed like a calendar with the movies shown for each day. Wish I could remember exactly what movies they showed. I only remember the Marx Brothers for sure, but they showed classic movies and I think semi-modern ones as well. I’ve tried to find any mention of this place on the Great Big InterWeb, but no luck so far. I -think- the place was on Larimer (maybe even Larimer Square), but that could just be the crack talking. Of course, I could just ask my older brother who would have been a teenager then, as he was the one who took me down there. But that’d be cheating.
I FOUND IT!! Someone blogged about it in July of this year (2008 for future historians). They even have a pic. It was called The Flick and was on the corner of Larimer and 15th (where Samba Room is now).
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj164/photoperch/2008-07-20-Brettell-204.jpg
@Gary,
I definitely think there’s still room for the old movie house. It just has to capture nostalgia the right way, I think. I totally dig the eat/drink watch a flick, thing, but I’d have to have a theme.
I’m very sad about the loss of Flix. I’d actually argue that their food was a selling point, it was good and not overpriced and easy to take into the theater.
Their problem was both marketing and advertising. Seeing a movie there was actually better than any of the other Denver art theaters (read Landmark) because they had stadium seating. Seriously, have you been to the 2nd floor theaters at The Mayan? It’s worse than flying economy.
If Landmark could buy them out and they had combination of revival and new indie films I think the place would do great business. Parking is way better there than, say, Esquire.
Nostalgia alone won’t do it. Otherwise you’d see theaters across the country doing nothing but that. As it stands, most revival theaters do some first run limited release AND they’re nonprofits (like Starz for example).