Last picture show, for real: New book has gorgeous photos from the long fade of movie palaces
CHICAGO — For more than two years, whenever I’ve driven past the Cinemark 18 in Evanston, Illinois, arguably the go-to multiplex for the Far North Side, I have wondered what it looks like inside right now. How quiet it must be. Is the concession stand sticky? Are the seats dusty? Do lobby posters promise a summer movie season the pandemic stopped before it could start? Like other theaters across the country, the Cinemark 18 was crushed; it closed with the initial round of lockdowns, never reopened and finally shuttered for good a year ago. The hopeful news is that the theater later this year. But the existential threat remains: How long can movie theatersstay open?
