The Best Little Movie House
240 East Ave. | 585-258-0400
thelittle.org
click to enlarge The Little Theatre is no mere art deco movie house, it is a beloved Rochester icon of the city's East End that has stood for more than 90 years.
That's one reason why movie-lovers adore the Little. The other is that it is the full package: it embraces buzzy art-house films that aren't shown anywhere else in town, has a cafe, and hosts events tied into screenings of films new and old. Then, of course, it has its locally-famous Little Theatre popcorn.
That all goes into what Scott Pukos, the theater's spokesperson, calls the "Little Experience."
"We try to offer different elements aside from the movie," Pukos said.
That may mean a question-and-answer session or talkback after a film's screening, or it may mean working with a partner to develop a film series and events. For example, the Little partners with the Rochester Association of Black Journalists to present the “Black Cinema Series,” with some sort of discussion following each screening.
With “Saturday Night Rewind,” an ultra-popular series from the Little and local horror movie T-shirt company FrightRags, the focus is on fun. During the series’ recent screening of "Halloween," one of the concessions employees dressed up as the unstoppable killing machine that is Michael Myers and roamed the lobby.
For a screening of "Back to the Future," local artist Magnus Champlin made a mock flux capacitor, the fictional technology that turns a DeLorean into a time machine. When the theater held back-to-back screenings of the original horror movie "Candyman" and its 2021 remake, the theater was decorated with cutout bees, the cause of death for a character central to the film.
“We’re allowed that creativity and flexibility,” Pukos said. “We can do things other theaters can’t.”
But it's not just fun and spectacle that makes the Little a special place. Its five theaters are a cozy environment, leading to regulars and staff getting to know each other and talking film. After all, one of the best parts about seeing a movie is discussing it with someone afterwards.
In so many ways, movies are about connecting — with the characters on the screen, with other audience members, with different causes and organizations, and so on. The Little just seems to be the conduit for those connections.
The Little Theatre is operated by CITY's parent company, WXXI Public Media, and was the runaway favorite at the end of the final voting for “Best of Rochester.”
— JEREMY MOULE
Finalists: Dryden Theatre | ROC Cinema
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