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My general interest in the Detroit Film Theatre, Michigan Theater and Redford Theatre began ten years ago this month, when I saw the most remarkable film I have ever had the privilege of viewing.
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Someone once said that people need three things in life: to love, to be loved, and to have something to look forward to.
Anticipation for upcoming films is one of the most fun parts of visiting the Detroit Movie Palaces. And when one of those movies is a personal favorite, the excitement can really build.
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The texture of the Detroit Film Theatre is often like a finely played piece of chamber music. Delicate details like the architecture, program notes, ushers, and pre-film music stimulate the mind and emotions with unique sensations. In the space between these impressions, your own observations can linger.
Detroit Movie Palaces Home Page
For moviegoers, the early months of a new year can be a tough time. Theaters are filled with year-end releases that you’ve already seen, and many new films get only one or two stars from the critics.
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The Detroit Film Theatre is part of the Detroit Institute of Arts, whose mission statement reads, “The DIA creates experiences that help each visitor find personal meaning in art.”
Detroit Movie Palaces Home Page
One of the most enjoyable parts of visiting the Detroit Film Theatre is seeing a new schedule. My first glimpse of the wide variety of films that the DFT presents each season always fills me with a heady mixture of curiosity and anticipation.
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In the fascinating new book Detroit’s Downtown Movie Palaces (2006, Arcadia Publishing), authors Michael Hauser and Marianne Weldon write:
“When reviewing the history of how downtown Detroit’s movie palaces evolved, one word certainly comes to mind, and that is visionary.”
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With a sigh of regret, but a note of hope, the chairperson of the Friends of Detroit Film Theatre, Margaret Thomas, spoke to the DFT audience on December 10, 2006. It was the last film of the Fall/Winter 2006 season, but in two months, the DFT would re-open with its auditorium renovation complete.
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After I watched the film New York Doll at the Detroit Film Theatre on December 8, 2006, the warm afterglow of this poignant movie helped shield me from the sharp chill of the winter evening. I turned on the car radio, and there was John Lennon on WCSX (94.7 FM), singing “Watching the Wheels”, as part of that classic rock station’s tribute to Lennon, who was shot to death 26 years ago on December 8.
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As I drove home from the Redford Theatre last night, oldies station WOMC-FM was playing “Ballad of the Green Berets”, a 1966 salute to soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War. That popular song honored U.S. troops during a war that, like the current Iraq War, divided the country, provoked many protests, and shook up the political power structure in the United States.
