Enjoy the classics, West End Movies introduces new concepts and old movies
Posted by The Skyliner on April 8th, 2009Tommy Lee
Staff Writer
In the past few years, downtown Greenville’s West End has been growing with the addition of a baseball stadium and plenty of restaurants.
A new form of entertainment has come to the West End with West End Movies which opened to the public on March 26 and is located at 640 South Main Street, just across the street from Falls Park.
West End Movies is not just any normal cinema. The theater is to focus primarily on showing classic films at a small price. West End Movies is also to show independent films, documentaries, foreign films, cartoons and even old newsreels. The price of movies is only $3 in advance.
Richard and Julia Fowler, co-owners of West End Movies, used to run a business where West End Movies is now located.
Richard Fowler felt that other than the bridge in Falls Park and the restaurants in West End, there was not too much else for people to do.
“We’d think, well, once they’ve been to the (Liberty) Bridge and they’ve had an ice cream and a coffee, unless they’re going to go for a meal, what else are they going to do?” Richard Fowler said.
The Fowlers answer was, of course, West End Movies. West End Movies is even trying to arrange dinner and movie combinations with restaurants located downtown.
The inside of West End Movies is unlike a standard movie theatre. The screen hangs on a brick wall and the seating consists of upscale lawn chairs. If you do not like where your seat is located, you can simply move it to a place that suits you.
“Rather than just show a feature film, we’re going to start with a cartoon, then a newsreel or documentary type thing, and then go into a feature film,” Fowler said, explaining his attempt to re-establish the experience of moviegoing in the early 1900s.
West End Movies is intended to be family-friendly, other than the occasional horror movie on Saturdays. And like any good movie theatre, West End Movies features soda, popcorn and even coffee.
The genre of movies West End Movies features depends on the day of the week. On Tuesdays, thrillers are the choice of style. On Thursdays, westerns fill the screen. On Saturdays, two or three movies will be shown, starting with a comedy, followed by one of the movies previously shown during the week, and finally a late night martial arts or horror film. Sundays will feature family movies.
Upcoming movies at West End Movies include Angel and the Bad Man at 7 p.m. on April 7. On April 11th, West End Movies will show His Girl Friday at 2 p.m., Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon at 7 p.m., and Attack of the Giant Leeches at 9:30 p.m. For more news and future movie calendars, check out westendmovies.com.
Tags: Spring 2009, Vol. 108 - Issue 8