Let us now have a moment of silence for Tallahassee's venerable arthouse cinema, the Miracle 5 on Thomasville Road.
The theater, which had been serving up edgy, indie and foreign film fare for decades, closed its doors Aug. 14 after parent company Regal Cinemas decided it had sunk enough money into an infrastructure that was, admittedly, shabby and crumbling around the edges.
Hundreds of M5 (as longtime fans called it) supporters turned out Aug. 13 for a rally, and the theaters were packed the final day of screenings. But I just couldn't bring myself to be among the multitude for the M5's last gasp. I was just too sad to lose what I considered my neighborhood theater.
I could easily ride my bike there from my house (if the weather was cool enough), and the alternative fare being shown was right up my alley. The ushers would pretend they didn't see the bottles of water and snacks making my purse bulge (and sometimes friends and I would smuggle in wine and beer). That place felt like home to me - my own private screening room, where I could kick my feet up and get lost in the magic onscreen for a couple of hours, then have a lively conversation with my friends in the parking lot about what we'd seen.
The Tallahassee Film Society, an organization I wholeheartedly support, has pledged to fill the gap left by the M5's demise. It's uniquely poised to do so, having built a reputation and fan base with screenings of movies that wouldn't normally be shown even in theaters such as the M5. I adore the All Saints Cinema in the old Amtrak station off Railroad Avenue - but it's mighty small, as is the parking lot. I'm hoping for the best but thinking that no matter how valiant the TFS' efforts, it won't be the same as having the good ol' M5.
Other options are being floated, including some intriguing ideas about using the old Coca-Cola plant in the All Saints Neighborhood as a screening room. And there's always the Student Life Center cinema, a very spacious and well-appointed theater that's a little bit hard to get to on campus, but worth the effort (they also have pretty darn good popcorn).
And if you want to catch some top-notch short documentaries with an environmental edge, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival is touring the Big Bend over the next three weekends, starting in Carrabelle, then moving to Apalachicola and ending in Marianna. I saw one of the offerings, "Save the Farm," last year - it's a passionate, engrossing and inspiring piece of film about an urban garden in Los Angeles that was ultimately sold off by a venal developer - and remains undeveloped but inaccessible to the gardeners who tended it. The other films in the lineup are equally well-done and thought-provoking.
Tags: All Saints, Art, Cinema, Film, Indie, Miracle 5, Movies, Tallahassee
Kati SchardlKati Schardl is the Features Editor for the Tallahassee Democrat. She’s a true North Florida native – born in Panama City and raised in Marianna. She came to Tallahassee to attend FSU and earned a social work degree before yielding to the scruffy allure of journalism and joining the staff of the Florida Flambeau. Her cultural credentials include a stint as backup singer for legendary local band Cold Water Army (now, alas, defunct) and founding membership in the SPACE arts collective in Railroad Square Art Park. After more than a decade of serving as office manager and chief research assistant/go-fer for the St. Petersburg Times capital bureau, Kati joined the staff of the Democrat as music writer and theater critic. In 2006, she was awarded an NEA Fellowship that enabled her to spend 10 days in Los Angeles seeing plays and attending writing workshops hosted by the USC Annenberg School of Journalism. Kati lives in Midtown West and loves its eclectic funkitude and its proximity to her favorite cultural hotspots.
