'Film is the new vinyl': Motor City Cinema Society preserves past, looks toward future

It's a Monday night in September and around three dozen moviegoers are packing into a small storefront next door to Detroit's hallowed Redford Theatre for a screening of "Gimme Shelter," the Rolling Stones' classic bad vibes 1970 concert documentary, projected onto a screen in real deal 16mm film.

There's no stadium seating and the chairs, of which there are about 50, don't have cupholders. The sound doesn't blow you through the back of the theater. We're a long way from the premium moviegoing experience touted in those Nicole Kidman AMC ads.

But that's not what the Motor City Cinema Society is seeking. The group of four avowed movie nuts — Metro Detroiters John Monaghan, Kevin Maher, Nick Pobutsky and Darian Berro — is showing audiences movies from their own private stash of 16mm prints, sourced over the years from theaters, eBay and other private collectors.

They love the character and imperfections of the medium: the warmth of the images, the scratches on the prints, the pops and hisses on the soundtrack and the hum of the film projector. It's how the movies used to be, and you half expect someone to light up a cigarette as Keith and Mick kick into "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Nicole Kidman, it goes without saying, is nowhere to be seen.

"There's a different ambiance that comes with this experience," says Berro, 32, of Allen Park, who compares the difference between film and digital projection — which is how most movies are shown in theaters these days — to that of listening to music on vinyl and streaming it on Spotify. Chimes in Maher, "I keep trying to force the hashtag, 'film is the new vinyl.'"

There is a correlation to be made between film and vinyl, forms of media that were thought to be obsolete, replaced by slicker advancements in technology, which nevertheless have hung around because of their tangible nature. You can't download them, but you can touch them, hold them, smell them, feel them.

And that is valuable, even to a generation that grew up with computers, smartphones and on-demand everything. While film hasn't experienced anything near the explosion of vinyl — which, after nearly bottoming out in the '00s, sold 41.3 million units last year, it's highest level since the late 1980s — repertory movie business and showings of movies on film are up nationwide since the pandemic, as audiences seek out experiential activities they can't necessarily get at home or from streaming something on Netflix.

(Film is also championed by directors such as Christopher Nolan — who released "Oppenheimer" this summer on 70mm prints, which have accounted for around $34 million, or 10%, of the movie's $319 million domestic haul — as well as by auteur filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson.)

Berro and Pobutsky, 40, of Dearborn started showing films to audiences in 2021 through Back Alley Cinema, the pop-up film program they founded, showing their prints of films such as "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Dr. Strangelove" and "The NeverEnding Story" at spots like St. John's Ukrainian Church in southwest Detroit.

They eventually teamed with Monaghan, 60, of Pleasant Ridge, a longtime film teacher and the programmer at the Redford Theatre, and Monaghan partnered with Maher, 57, of Troy, who was heading up efforts to save Royal Oak's Main Art Theatre before its demolition in July of 2022. The four of them came together and formed a sort of Avengers of film restoration, preservation and exhibition in Metro Detroit, and the Motor City Cinema Society was born. (They even have a section of the carpeting from the Main Art in front of their newly installed concession stand.)

The nonprofit showed five films this past summer in the 800-square-foot space next door to the Redford; there's no bathroom in the building, but filmgoers are welcome to scurry over and use the Redford's facilities.

Tickets ($5) and concessions ($2-$3) are cheap, and Pobutsky splices together period-appropriate trailers, extras and goodies to the films to round out the presentations. ("Gimme Shelter" featured bits from other Stones movies, as well as trailers for other concert films of the era.)

"Gimme Shelter" was actually a do-over from a summer screening that was canceled when a power outage hit just as the film was starting up. It kicked off a 12-film fall program that includes horror classics ("The Night of the Living Dead" on Oct. 23, "The Exorcist" on Oct. 30), crowd pleasers ("Rocky" on Nov. 30, "The Adventures of Robin Hood" on Dec. 4, "The NeverEnding Story" on Dec. 11), golden age selections ("Monkey Business" on Nov. 2, "Sullivan's Travels" on Nov. 16) and genre deep cuts ("The Asphyx" on Oct. 9, "Deep Red" on Oct. 16). "Alphabet City," a 1984 crime noir with music by Nile Rodgers, shows at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Altogether, the MCCS members have a collection of more than 600 film prints, which, even at a movie a week, gives them more than 11 years of programming possibilities. Their current location is only temporary, and down the road, they're looking for a permanent home in Detroit or a surrounding suburb, a space they'd like to convert into a two-screen complex, says Maher, who is in the process of securing a 501(c)(3) designation for the organization.

Following "Gimme Shelter," which, like all MCCS screenings, featured an intermission for moviegoers, Maher and Monaghan led a discussion about the film. Everyone stayed around for the talk, and no one was in a hurry to slip out the door once the end credits rolled.

For the group's members, that community aspect is a big part of why they're doing this.

"The fun thing is sharing these films with audiences," says Monaghan, who has been involved with film exhibition in Metro Detroit since the 1980s. "We're not just hoarding them in the basement. It's exciting to share them with people."

Pobutsky wholeheartedly agrees. "You feel guilty watching a print alone," he says. "It's a lonely way to watch a movie."

agraham@detroitnews.com

Motor City Cinema Society presents 'Alphabet City'

7 p.m. Thursday

The Screening Room, 17352 Lahser, Detroit

Tickets: $5

motorcitycinema.org