Lawrence Person's Futuramen

Evidently it’s closing this Sunday.

I have mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand, I’ve seen lots of interesting and occasionally great films at the Dobie over the years, including:

• Dead Alive
• Meet the Feebles
• The restored version of The Exorcist
• L.A. Confidential
• Theremin
• The Filth and the Fury
• The Blair Witch Project
• Mirrormask
• And probably several more that I’ve forgotten.

On the other hand, the actual theaters at Dobie were small and uncomfortable, and the equipment was far from state of the art. (Even though they had improved. Before they remodeled, I remember seeing a film there and realizing that I probably had a better stereo system at home than the one used in the theater.) If the parking garage filled up, the possibility of actually finding a parking space ranged from problematic to impossible. Finally, in recent years they had switched from being an art house to only having one or two art films with the rest being the usual Hollywood fare available all over town. I guess they figured they had a captive audience near campus, but their closing suggests otherwise.

The ideal outcome would be for the Alamo Drafthouse to buy the space and restore it to its former arthouse glory. Plus, since they’re right next to the food court, an Alamo kitchen selling food and drinks at lunch might make a very lucrative side business…