Name:
Location: The Bay Area + Denver
Occupation: Multidisciplinary Artist
Links: Marquita’s book, Substack, IG, Letterboxd

1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?

It depends on the movie. A movie that I expect to be good for crowd engagement and fun (horror, action, mainstream comedy), I prefer to go Saturday around 7:30pm, opening weekend with friends/family.

Any other time—unless it’s a special screening—I prefer to go alone and love a matinee between noon and 2pm. I prefer this matinee slot because it tends to draw a small crowd pretty good at respecting cinema etiquette. I also don’t love the feeling of entering a screening in the daylight and leaving in the dark. I find that disorienting, as you can often already feel like you’re not in reality after watching a film at the cinema. This time slot ensures that even in the winter, I can still meet this preference provided it’s not Sátántangó.

2. What’s your favorite movie theater?

It doesn’t actually exist anymore but Red Vic Movie House in San Francisco was always a favorite. It was for years physically annexed to The Red Victorian Hotel which is a bed-and-breakfast in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood — where I used to live. It only had one screen, but they always played arthouse films and it was a real community staple. I was always there when I first moved to SF (I lived three blocks away) and have some good memories of screenings and meeting people outside during a smoke. I also collapsed during a date while watching Aguirre, the Wrath of God there once, discovering I experience vertigo (no cute love story to follow though sadly!).

I also adore The Castro Theater in SF. Beautiful theater, in a great location and I have seen so many double features there. Also, I wouldn’t be a true A-Lister if I didn’t have a favorite AMC theater. Even though I never lived in New York, I love it there and the AMC at Lincoln Square is a fave.

3. What’s your go-to movie theater snack & drink combo?

Lately at AMCs I get the two hot dogs and a drink combo if I missed lunch. Diet Coke lime or Coke vanilla. If I’m feeling whacky, Sour Patch Kids watermelon.

Indie theaters are where I tend to get a small buttered popcorn but it’s honestly rare. My open-hearted gums love a popcorn kernel and I don’t tend to keep that thang on me (dental floss).

4. What’s your dream movie theater snack & drink combo (if noise and sound weren’t an issue)?

A small batch of crab rangoon, a Thai iced tea and several cubes of fresh mango. Emphasis on ‘if sound wasn’t an issue’ as the noises that escape my body when I consume mango…I’d rather release my search history or let the journal factory explode in front of a crowd of sociopathic comedians than have an audience for that.

5. First movie you remember seeing in a theater?

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I was very young, I want to say around five or so. I don’t remember much from around that age but my mom took me and my older sister to see it. I remember the scene where she’s on the bed surrounded by the distressed dwarves most vividly. Oddly, I’ve never watched that movie at any later point in my life. Hope that’s not something I have to unpack in therapy.

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6. Last movie you saw in a theater?

Happy Together for Bleak Week.

7. Is there a movie you wish you could have seen in a theater?

Raise the Red Lantern. Never seen it in a theater. Hardly gets more visually arresting and contemplative than that. I saw it’s getting a 4K restoration later this year, screening in New York. Oh to live in Mamdani’s NYC.

8. Have you ever seen a movie more than once in theaters?

Last time I did, it was for Sinners. I saw it four times in the theater within five weeks. Definitely had to take advantage of 70mm IMAX.

9. Do you stay through the credits or leave as soon as the film ends?

I don’t always stay through the credits but only because I have the world’s tiniest bladder. Still do my kegels btw ☺️. I do like sitting through credits usually though, just to gather myself but I also like getting the answer to a question I may have about a song or production location(s). Obviously I could just google, but I like gathering info that way.

10. What’s one thing you would change to make movie theaters better?

It’s really more about human behavior than it is about movie theaters in general as I wouldn’t wish there to be some kind of ‘spiritually’ cop enforcement, but I wish movie-goers adhered better to theater etiquette once the trailers end. Put the phones away or at least lower the screen brightness and shut up.

11. Tell me about an especially memorable moviegoing experience that stands out in your mind.

I went to see Melancholia in San Francisco, which is where I was living at the time when it was released. I’m not a huge public crier, but I was sobbing at that movie. Let’s just say I related to Kirsten Dunst’s portrayal of depression a lot. There was another person sitting right in front of me, the only other person left. She was also crying. My hand was on the back of her seat and she turned around to me and put her hand on top of mine quietly and gave me a Kleenex. She said something but I can’t recall what it was now. A heartwarming moment though.

12. What’s a movie you’re looking forward to seeing?

Cheating here as I have three: The Unknown starring Léa Seydoux, the Esiri brothers’ Clarissa and Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma starring Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder.

13. What’s your dream combination of director and lead(s)?

Hear me out, Evan Peters and Yorgos Lanthimos. I think Evan has great intensity, accessibility and earnestness but he is often typecast in disturbing or troubled roles and usually for TV. I want to see him as a romantic lead in a feature that isn’t overly saccharine, incorporates off-beat and dry humor, still has a bit of darkness in concept and shows his versatility.

I would also love to see a collaboration between Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Barry Jenkins. She has a wonderful ability to live in her characters but not in a psychotically methodical way and I think Jenkins would make magic with her.

14. If you could live in a movie, which one would it be?

If the murderous cult was removed, Mandy. Mamma mia! Red and Mandy’s cozy lakeside cabin embedded in the woods with its big windows, always lives rent-free in my head. I’m a city girl but spending days surrounded by books, beautiful nature, a boat and the love of my life — sequestered from the annoyances and demands of urban life? An absolute dream.

15. Why do you think people should continue seeing movies at the movie theater?

I know the economy is in shambles in many parts of the world but going to the movies is one of the few remaining communal activities that is relatively affordable. One-off, prime time tickets can add up especially for certain formats but there’s subscription services available now not to mention many smaller theaters offer discount days. It’s not just about having something to do, even if you aren’t engaging with the community, you are with the community. It’s invigorating to experience. Especially during popular releases where movie-goers dress up.

The fact of the matter is, films are made to view at the cinema. On the big screen. All the decisions the filmmaker and cinematographer have made are to maximize that movie-going experience. You are with community in the audience and with the staff. You have no domestic distractions. You get the best visual and audio quality and you’re sitting upright because that’s the way films are intended to be watched, not on your laptop whose motherboard is wailing in agony because it’s on its last legs. Support art. Support the things that keep us informed, excited, connected and sane. Most importantly, support your local independent theaters and city’s special summer screenings if you have them.

I would also be remiss to not mention that people should find it in themselves to go see movies alone sometimes. Once you start, you can’t stop. It’s such a serene experience.

Name: David Thomson
Location: San Francisco
Occupation: Film Critic/Author
Links: Read David’s new book A Sudden Flicker of Light, A Revisionist History of Movies:

1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?

10 am, any weekday — the best time for press screenings.

2. What’s your favorite movie theater?

The Granada, Tooting, in South London. It has not been a movie theater for decades, but I treasure it as it was in the late 40s and 50s, as the most fabulously decorated cinema I have ever known.

3. What’s your go-to movie theater snack & drink combo?

I am against any food and drink in theaters. It sounds stuffy, maybe, but I think we are there to digest an imagined thing. So any other digestion is distracting.

4. What’s your dream movie theater snack & drink combo (if noise and sound weren’t an issue)?

See above.

5. First movie you remember seeing in a theater?

Henry V.

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6. Last movie you saw in a theater?

The Devil Wears Prada 2.

7. Is there a movie you wish you could have seen in a theater?

All of Babylon Berlin.

8. Have you ever seen a movie more than once in theaters?

Frequently. I saw The Big Sleep three times in one day. First the wonder that it existed, the second viewing as proof, the third beginning to learn it.

9. Do you stay through the credits or leave as soon as the film ends?

I see the credits. Often they contain valuable information. And they help transition our return to life.

10. What’s one thing you would change to make movie theaters better?

Improve the movies.

11. Tell me about an especially memorable moviegoing experience that stands out in your mind.

The San Francisco press screening of Eyes Wide Shut. After about an hour the film broke down. We had to leave the theater. A long wait. Then news that the distributor said we had to start again from the beginning. Such moans of disbelief and distress that the distributor agreed to let it resume where it had left off.

12. What’s a movie you’re looking forward to seeing?

The next Paul Thomas Anderson picture.

13. What’s your dream combination of director and lead(s)?

Ernst Lubitsch directing James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. It happened! It’s called The Shop Around the Corner.

14. If you could live in a movie, which one would it be?

Red River. From when I first saw it I wanted the cattle drive to go on forever and I wanted to be one of the cowboys.

15. Why do you think people should continue seeing movies at the movie theater?

For the sheer mad size and the feeling of watching with a crowd of strangers, laughing and being afraid together.

Name: Elisa Kalani
Location: Los Angeles
Occupation: Writer/Director
Links: Watch I Love You Forever on HBO Max, written and directed by Elisa Kalani and Cazzie David.

1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?

2pm on a Tuesday. It’s the right amount of playing hooky on a day of the week that otherwise goes unnoticed. It doesn’t happen often, b…

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Name: Clayton Farris
Location: Los Angeles
Occupation: Actor, Content Creator
Links: Instagram

Watch Clayton in Apple TV’s Cape Fear, new episodes every Thursday night.

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Name: Marcy McCall
Location: DTLA
Occupation: Advocate for Students with Disabilities, Filmmaker
Links: Marcy’s Website

1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?

For commercial releases, Friday or Saturday nights, preferably opening weekend for films getting some buzz or hype. I love a packed house, and it’s a must for a musical like Dreamgirls

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Name: Ben Proudfoot
Location: Los Angeles, California
Occupation: Filmmaker & Entrepreneur
Links: Breakwaterstudios, Ben’s IG

Ben’s latest film The Baddest Speechwriter of All, about Martin Luther King Jr.’s lawyer and speechwriter, Clarence B. Jones, just premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and will be on Netflix later in 2026.

1. What’s your favorite day…

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Name: Rosebud Baker
Location: On tour!
Occupation: Comedian, actor, Emmy-nominated writer
Links: Rosebud’s memoir Fully Baked, Instagram

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Name: Sofia Black-D'Elia
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Occupation: Actress, mom, Knicks fan
Links: Sofia’s IG

See Sofia’s latest project Never Change at Village East Theater tonight as part of Tribeca Film Festival.

1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?

I think it’s hard to beat a Sunday matinee.

2. What’s your favorite movie theater?

My first (tin…

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Name:
Location: LA
Occupation: Editor, freelance writer, photographer
Latest work by Shona: Folk Tattoos for Modern Living, That Cool Girl from India

1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?

I love a 3 or 4pm summer Saturday movie because it usually means I can get a 5-5:30pm dinner and talk about the movie and still be home roughly by suns…

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Name: Tatti Ribeiro and Noelle Forougi
Location: LA
Occupation: , director and producers of Valentina
Links: franknews on Instagram and Substack, Valentina on Instagram

Valentina, directed by Tatti and produced by Tatti & Noelle, screens June 5 the Brooklyn Film Festival and June 18 at the Bentonville Film Festival.

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Name: Aitch Alberto
Occupation: Writer/Director
Links: Instagram

Watch Aitch’s latest short film The Long Con as part of LALIFF tonight @ TCL Chinese Theater or at Frameline San Francisco on June 19th

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Name: Diana Cadavid
Occupation: Director of Industry Programs at the Latino Film Institute
Links: Get tickets to Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, starting 5/27 (tomorrow!)

1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?

Saturday early afternoon in La Cinemateca La Tertulia, in Cali, Colombia.

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Name: Maggie Hill
Location: New York
Occupation: Writer & Digital Essayist
Links: Maggie’s Instagram

1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?

I love a 10am movie on a Wednesday or Thursday morning. It makes me feel like I actually have office hours at exactly the point in my week that I start craving some structure.

2. What’s your favorite mo…

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Name: Cara Cusumano
Location: New York
Occupation: Tribeca Festival Director and SVP of Programming
Links: Tribeca Film Festival 2026 Lineup, Individual Tickets, Passes

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Name: Tasbeeh Herwees
Location: Los Angeles
Occupation: Author of

1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?

3pm on a weekday (I love being the only person in a movie theatre) or noon on a weekend (it helps to be in a cool, dark room and nursing a massive Diet Coke when you’re recovering from a night out).

2. What’s your favorite movie theater…

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Name: Rachel Wallace
Location: Brooklyn
Occupation: Writer/Senior Entertainment Editor at Architectural Digest
Links: Rachel’s Substack, Instagram

1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?

8pm on Friday night is absolutely *chef’s kiss* to me. I’ve tried so hard to become a morning person over the years, but at my core I’m a night owl. Also, …

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Name: Lena Dunham
Location: North London/Northwest Connecticut
Occupation: Writer/Director/Producer
Links: Lena’s Substack

Pre-order Lena’s memoir Famesick, available on April 14.

1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?

Saturday at 3pm!!! When I was younger my greatest passion was the first Thursday preview show, but mama’s gettin’ old.

2. What’s your favorite movie theater?

There are so many wonderful, brand spanking new theaters — chicly designed, elevated snacks — that are doing it right. In London, Everyman Cinema near our house has reclining chairs and fancy sodas and you feel like you’re at a spa that happens to be playing PTA.

But I’ll always love the theaters that have a connection to the period in which I was falling in love with movies. Like Cobble Hill Cinemas, the independent faux-art deco (Feco??) theater where I went on my first ever date with a group of like twenty 7th graders, to see What Dreams May Come, and my “boyfriend” sat two rows back.

Or the Angelika, around the corner from my childhood home, where I would make my parents slow down so I could study every poster on the way to the supermarket.

The Moviehouse in Millerton, NY is the most fun Christmas you can have. For some reason, my clearest Moviehouse memory is thinking there was a massive, terrible thunderstorm brewing and then realizing that Saving Private Ryan was playing in the other theater while we watched There’s Something About Mary.

I miss Sunshine Cinema, Regal Court Street and so many other spots around the city where my cinematic self determination occurred. Thank God we still have Cinema Village, Anthology Film Archives and Film Forum.

3. What’s your go-to movie theater snack & drink combo?

Large Diet Coke and small plain popcorn. It’s never not perfect.

I really want to forget my childhood nachos phase — the way that cheese stayed soft even as it got cold was very wrong.

4. What’s your dream movie theater snack & drink combo (if noise and sound weren’t an issue)?

I’d love to have a ginger beer with a slice of lime in a cold beer glass, and a giant, salty soft pretzel. Or maybe that’s just what I want right now?

5. First movie you remember seeing in a theater?

A screening of The Little Mermaid that a bunch of my preschool friends attended on a planned weekend outing. All of us little girls were in our Sunday best. I was rapt, in awe, right until the end when my mother had to carry me out screaming because I found the fact that Ariel has to leave her father at the end so upsetting. My mother kept saying “It’s a happy story! It’s a happy story!” as all of the other kids left in delight, but I can still remember how tragic and painful I found it (and my friends wonder why I still spend half my time living with my parents…)

6. Last movie you saw in a theater?

One Battle After Another — which is too long ago! Like many cinephiles who are also homebodies, my love of movies and my love of being on the couch with our dogs are always at war. This is a good time to resolve to shift the balance.

7. Is there a movie you wish you could have seen in a theater?

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. I wish I’d been alive to watch a film print of it in West Hollywood in 1969.

8. Have you ever seen a movie more than once in theaters?

So many times — especially as a teenager. I think I went back to see Center Stage, 10 Things I Hate About You and The Royal Tenenbaums three times each. My parents weren’t overly generous with allowance, but they let me go to the movies and buy books with impunity, which were foundational gifts.

9. Do you stay through the credits or leave once the film ends?

If I love it, I’ll usually sit through the credits to collect my thoughts and feel the final song play out (and I always cheer if I see the name of someone I’ve worked with, even if they’re not there to hear me.)

10. What’s one thing you would change to make movie theaters better?

I feel like some genius engineer/architect could find a way to stagger seats so you are never blocked by a very tall man’s head or directly behind two girls whispering, and in the process stop countless incidents of hostility between strangers.

11. Tell me about an especially memorable moviegoing experience that stands out in your mind.

Just recently, I was lucky enough to host a screening of The Voice of Hind Rajab at the Roxy. The credits are silent, and as they rolled, all you heard was collective sobbing. While beautifully made, it’s a deeply painful film to watch, but also deeply necessary to see — and that moment of collective grief was powerful and rare.

12. What’s a movie you’re looking forward to seeing?

Disclosure Day — a huge alien epic is always thrilling to me (I’d watch Signs any time, any day) and Josh O’Connor in a Spielberg blockbuster feels like a compelling pairing.

13. What’s your dream combination of director and lead(s)?

Celine Song and Tilda Swinton.

14. If you could live in a movie, which one would it be?

Clueless! Always Clueless. I want to drive in Dionne’s Jeep wearing a plaid co-ord! I want to use Cher’s computerized closet system! I even want to hang out at that party in the Valley!

15. Why do you think people should continue seeing movies at the movie theater?

Of course there are all the business reasons, and the many ways going to the theater directly impacts the ability of artists to continue to make this work. But I’m gonna go more touchy-feely: Movie theaters are about more than just film — they’re about experiencing emotion in a group, about listening to other people laugh and gasp. They’re about learning to accept, tolerate and even enjoy a room full of people who may see the world differently than you do, but who are revealing their humanity and leaving themselves open to profound and vulnerable experiences in the safety of the collective. To me, a movie theater is a lot like church or temple or a mosque in that way: It can remind people that they’re not alone, that they’re held by something much bigger than we are.

Name: Tyler Coates
Location: Los Angeles
Occupation: Film Journalist
Links: Tyler’s Substack, IG

1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?

I love watching movies before noon. I know people who have told me it feels weird to walk out of a movie theater in the daytime, and I disagree! Why not start the day with a movie? Th…

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Name: Iris Lin
Location: New York
Occupation: Film Event Professional
Links: Iris’ Instagram, Twitter

1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?

Wednesday matinee, around 3pm. Working at a cinema, I don’t have many nights free, but my friends and I somehow usually have Wednesdays off and often see movies together on that day.

2. What’s your fav…

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