It has been more than three years since Moscow's Micro Moviehouse showed its last film.
For residents who miss the foreign and arthouse motion pictures the theater specialized in, its closure is not easily forgotten.
"We don't get over things very easily around here, do we," said Pam Palmer, executive director of the Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre. "It was just such a great atmosphere. It was the building. The people that you'd always see there. The seats and the concessions and the waiting room downstairs. It was all of those things and more."
Bob Suto can relate to Palmer's wistful memories of "The Micro." Suto and his partners, Gabriella and George Ball, ran the theater for 20 years before financial problems forced them out in October of 1998. When the Eastside Cinemas opened that year, Suto knew it was over.
"That was the coup de grace," he said.
Suto never pretended The Micro was just a business. As a student at the University of Idaho he attended many films at the theater until, at the age of 23, he purchased the property in 1978. The Micro did dabble in second-run major-studio releases, but was known more for the movies you couldn't get other places in town.
"We lived for those films," Suto said. "That's what we felt The Micro was there for."
While several local groups are trying to fill the arthouse and foreign film niche left vacant by the closure of The Micro, all are run by either the universities or nonprofit organizations. And that's the way it needs to be, said Suto, who would hold out little hope for success for anybody who might try to operate an alternative single-screen theater.
He should know. He tried for years to keep The Micro afloat only to finally, and sadly, declare it a lost cause.
LOCALS give it a shot
Those providing films for the public now are experiencing similar problems. Though neither the KPAC or the associated students of University of Idaho or Washington State University need to make a great deal of money to continue their services, they've had problems generating either interest or publicity.
ASUI's foreign film series has generated interest, but getting the word out to the community at large has been a problem, ASUI coordinator of student activities Amy Newcomb said. Foreign films haven't drawn particularly well for ASWSU, so films committee chair Tim Hogg stays near Hollywood's mainstream, selecting critically applauded films that students might not have had an opportunity to attend otherwise.
For Palmer and KPAC, the largest task has been getting the word out. As a nonprofit, the ability to advertise is limited, but word of mouth has helped.
Like The Micro, KPAC throws a mix of films at residents and has found mixed results. Some second-run major-studio releases have done well ("Moulin Rouge" and "Chocolat") and others have bombed ("Crazy in Alabama" and "Best in Show"). Some alternative and foreign films have done moderately well ("The Closet" and "Buena Vista Social Club") but others have drawn little interest ("Delicatessen").
"We're really looking for balance," Palmer said. "We want to show films that will gather the big audiences and the films that you can't get anywhere else on the Palouse."
That was Suto's premise at The Micro.
The big difference was that Suto was playing by a different set of rules. As a for-profit business, he had to pay more for the films and since The Micro usually charged less than $2 per person, making a profit was next to impossible. Many times, Suto said, the guarantee he'd pay the film distributor was more than his box office take. Throw in shipping costs and standard business bills, and The Micro's demise is easy to understand.
"We'd run an art or foreign film from Sunday to Thursday and then a commercial film on Friday and Saturday so we could pay the bills," Suto said. "It was just killing us. We'd do well on the weekends, but with only 138 seats and at a couple bucks per seat, it just doesn't add up."
The audience is there
Suto is confident a local audience exists for alternative film. He just doesn't think it's large enough to sustain a commercial movie house.
"When the films would debut, our 7 p.m. Sunday shows were well attended," he said. "But the rest of the week was tough. What it came down to, was if they were coming to see the film, they were coming to the first show."
Suto said he was "heartbroken" to close the theater and misses the familiar faces, such as Palmer. Suto recalled a couple who would come to every film and when they weren't able to come because of vacation or other reasons, would call to explain their absence.
The Troy resident doesn't watch movies much anymore and knows The Micro is missed. He was reminded once during a trip to Boise when he picked up a local entertainment magazine featuring an article on alternative cinema.
"In the article there was the comment, 'And if you want to know what it's like to have a theater like this close, ask anybody in Moscow about how they feel over losing The Micro Moviehouse.' "
