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CULTURE
[FILM]
Let’s Start the Show After being forced to adapt due to the pandemic, Arkadin Cinema eyes a return to its microcinema plans Written by
JACK PROBST
I
n March 2020, the owners of Arkadin Cinema & Bar (5228 Gravois Avenue), Keith Watson and Sarah Baraba, had just received permits to start construction on what would be St. Louis’ first microcinema. Then the pandemic hit, and the pair were forced to adapt, transforming the parking lot behind the space into a COVID-friendly outdoor mini-theater. “In our plans, we knew we had the back parking-lot area, and we always planned that would be someplace we would expand in the future,” says Watson. “As it turned out, it kind of flipped our plans 180, where we had to figure out the backlot first and put the inside on the back burner.” As they say in the business, “The show must go on!” Baraba and Watson quickly deviated from their original intentions and set up a way to screen films behind their building and their neighbor’s, the Heavy Anchor. Folks gather with their chairs in the backlot on show night; it almost feels like they’re sitting on the tailgate of their cars in the drive-in theaters of yesteryear. But, for Watson and Baraba, showing films on the backlot was less about nostalgia and more about necessity. “It was just our only option at the time. There are things I love about it. There’s a different atmosphere when you’re watching a movie outside versus when you’re watching it inside. There’s a somewhat looser vibe among people, I think,” says Watson. “We’re right on Gravois, so we get street noise,
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RIVERFRONT TIMES
The backlot has moved to the front burner for the theater. | COURTESY ARKADIN CINEMA & BAR and we get people shouting. We did a movie the other day, and a guy was looking for his lost cockatiel bird in the alley behind the theater.” Of course, the weather can be unpredictable, and doesn’t always follow the schedule. They had some extremely cold screenings this past May, with temperatures in the low 40s during Hitchcock’s Rear Window. And already, this summer has seen some nights where you could cut that St. Louis humidity with a knife — nights like this end in sweat for Watson and Baraba after they load equipment back inside following the showing. As COVID-19 restrictions have loosened due to increased vaccinations, the theater has made a few adjustments since the screenings first began to take place outside. “We’ve increased our capacity a little bit, and we’re being more thoughtful with our space as we are letting more people in,” says Baraba. “Right now, we sell 40 tickets online, and then we see how the house looks once all the guests get there. Depending on how groups sit together can change, night to night, how many guests we feel safe having on the backlot. We can fit about 40 to 0 guests right now. And outside, we know the transmission of COVID
JUNE 30-JULY 6, 2021
riverfronttimes.com
is very low, so we have relaxed mask-wearing back there.” July sees the return of the former “Strange Brew” series, long associated with Webster University. After spending over ten years at Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood and a brief period at Urban Chestnut, Arkadin seems like the perfect place for this St. Louis staple to land. Watson and Baraba reached out to Jon Scorfina, who hosted Strange Brew for years, through mutual friends and set up bringing the screenings back. Kicking off the film series revival is the 1989 film The Wizard on July 7, starring Fred Savage and the future frontwoman for Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis. In a press release on the Arkadin website, Scorfina describes the movie as “a strange flick where three kids travel across the country to play in a Nintendo contest.” For what is essentially an hour-and-a-halflong Nintendo advertisement, The Wizard is a fun-filled, nostalgic trip for all aging millennials to enjoy. Arrive early to take part in a Super Mario Bros. 3 tournament like the one in the film, and you might win a prize. And what does the rest of summer look like through the lens of Arkadin’s camera? “In August, we have a few things coming up, but I can’t be super specific,” says Baraba. “It
does have something to do with Vincent Price, and it’s a pretty exciting event with a special guest.” Arkadin will also be showing a new animated film, Cryptozoo, on August 20. The film follows the events of a zoo full of cryptids, animals whose existence has never been proven (think Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster) after the government decides to weaponize them. Arkadin will be showing the film on release night, and it will be the first place you can see it in town. Surrounding that release, the theater will also be showcasing other trippy animated films throughout the rest of the month. In addition, Arkadin will continue its ongoing series “Filmed in St. Louis,” which features films that were, well, filmed in St. Louis. The theater has previously shown Stryker Spurlock’s Part Time, and most recently, The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. The following entry features everyone’s favorite antihero, Snake Plissken, in John Carpenter’s classic Escape from New York. Each “Filmed in St. Louis” feature will be accompanied by a unique short film. “We have a local documentary filmmaker, he goes by Mike the Eye, and he’s done little history videos about the streets of St. Louis,” says Watson. “We partnered with him to do little short films looking at the locations of movies that were filmed in St. Louis. He did one for The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery, and he’s working on one for Escape from New York.” Renovations for the inside of the Arkadin Cinema & Bar have yet to commence, but the filmloving couple have their permits and are ready to start building the sets. They’re moving forward with construction this summer, with plans to begin showing movies inside by the end of the year. Despite the change in their original plan, things have panned out nicely for the two. “I think it’s been sort of a blessing in disguise in the sense that it let us kind of do a slower rampup, build up a little bit of our audience,” Watson says, “and I think people have really enjoyed the backlot, and we now know that’s probably a key piece of our business model moving forward.” For the full schedule of events and ticketing information, visit arkadincinema.com.
