I'm old enough to have mourned single-screen theaters and drive-in theaters, and now I'm ready to begin mourning multiplexes. Of course, just as there are still some single-screens and drive-ins in existence, the beloved box-shaped movie theaters, which we've become so accustomed to frequenting in cattle-like fashion over the last forty years, are not becoming extinct anytime soon. In fact, there are new ones popping up all over the place; they're just newer models with more "luxurious" amenities. But specific multiplexes, perhaps some we have fond memories of, are indeed disappearing.
Well, disappearing might not be the right word, since some of the actual buildings aren't going anywhere just yet. But whole cinemas are shutting down, and it's not because their companies are going out of business or because they're going to be replaced with upgrades. Last week in the Hartford Courant, there was a terrific yet melancholy article about the recent closure of the Showcase Cinemas in East Windsor, Connecticut. The reason, according to its owner, National Amusements (which owns Viacom, too), is that the location was "no longer financially viable."
I don't much mind watching commercials before the movie anymore, but one advertisement I wish wasn't part of the pre-show program at my local theater is the army recruitment spot. It isn't even for particularly political reasons that I can't stand them, I just find them unbearable. But now one movie theater chain is indirectly bringing the marketing campaign full circle by giving back to armed forces personnel it may or may not have helped recruit. National Amusements 
When it comes to the cinema, Europeans do it better. Just look at any Hollywood remake of a European film if you don't believe me. Look how many directors made bad movies in Hollywood but made great films in Europe. Look how many of Hollywood's great films were made by Europeans. I don't mean to be so unpatriotic, but America is constantly getting it wrong at the movies. The latest case in point is National Amusements' 
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