15 Questions With Esther Zuckerman

"We need movies to survive so we need theaters to survive."

Name: Esther Zuckerman
Location: New York City
Occupation: Writer whose work has been in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, GQ, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal
Links: Esther’s book: Falling in Love at the Movies: Rom-Coms from the Screwball Era to Today

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

It depends on the circumstances. I love an early morning press screening where I get a coffee and fun little treat and just start my day with something entirely new. But also: I live really close to AMC 84th Street. My favorite time to pop in there is Saturday around 4 p.m. and then I head straight into dinner. (My life revolves around movies but also when and where I eat.) I wish I could say I can no longer do midnight movies, but I could never do midnight movies. I'm a sleepy girl.

2. What’s your favorite movie theater?

The AMC Lincoln Square has an incredibly meaningful place in my life. I grew up in Los Angeles (shout out Arclight Sherman Oaks RIP) but my family is from New York and we would spend every holiday in the city. On Christmas Eve we would go to the movies—I'm Jewish, could you tell?—and most of the time that was at AMC Lincoln Square. (Sometimes we would go to Lincoln Plaza, also RIP, but we had to accommodate everyone's tastes so usually that meant moving beyond the arthouse.)

photo cred

One of my most formative memories was seeing You've Got Mail on Christmas Eve 1998. The theater was oversold and it was Upper West Side mania. I wish I had kept a full list of Christmas Eve movies. Some I remember: Little Women, King Kong, Far from Heaven, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. The theater feels like part of my family history. For years, my grandmother and my great-aunt would go there every Sunday afternoon after brunch and see whatever was playing at the time that fit their schedule. The sight of two tiny nonagenarian women watching Glee: The 3D Concert Movie tickles me. We also once lost my grandmother there during a family outing to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. She went to the bathroom and then walked into a screening of the same movie that had already started in a different theater. Figuring she just missed the beginning and couldn't find us in the dark, she sat down. My mother briefly thought she had been kidnapped and me and my dad ran up and down every auditorium checking for her. It was a nightmare, but also a little funny.

Look, is it the best theater in the city? No. It has a mouse problem. I've seen them. Don't put your popcorn on the ground. But I love that huge ass IMAX screen and that goofy mural and the kitschy faux Egyptian design. I still feel like going to the movies is an event.

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

My snack is pretty basic: Popcorn. Pretzel bites for a special treat. I mourn the loss of Arclight's caramel corn, the snack of my childhood. I have done an informal ranking of the best Diet Coke in NYC movie theaters. The best, hands down is the fountain Diet Coke at Walter Reade. It's bubbly, sweet, and perfect. If I'm at an AMC with a Freestyle machine I do mostly regular Diet Coke, but then a splash of Cherry Vanilla Diet Coke. You can't do all Cherry Vanilla or it would be overwhelming.

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

This is going to sound really silly: But I wish there were more options for tasty but also healthy snacks. I go to the movies so much and I'm often hungry but I feel like I can't have popcorn every day.

Also: I am sad I was always under drinking age when I was going to Arclights in my youth. I really think a glass of red wine and that caramel corn would have hit.

5. First movie you remember seeing in a theater?

My parents took me to see Aladdin at the El Capitan in Los Angeles when I was 2. The Cave of Wonders freaked me out so much I started screaming and had to be removed. I probably don't really remember this, but I remember being told about it, and how the concept of Aladdin scared me for years following.

Aladdin dir. Ron Clements & John Musker (Disney)

6. Last movie you saw in a theater?

Last night I saw Office Killer at Metrograph. Incredible to hear the audience react to that wild movie.

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

So for a while the answer would have been Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, a pandemic release that deserves a big crowd laughing along, but The Paris recently played it and I made a bunch of friends go with me for my birthday. But I'll say this: I strongly believe more comedies should be shown in rep. It sounds cheesy, but it's so fun to laugh with a group. I showed Broadcast News at the Los Feliz 3 for the release of my book, and watching Albert Brooks get flop sweat in a sold out house was just a serotonin boosting experience. Someone needs to program Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, stat. I've never seen it in a theater.

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me dir. Jay Roach (New Line)

8. Please describe your ideal movie theater seat.

Upright with a bit of cushioning but not too plushy. Basically, I don't want to recline but I want good back support because I'm getting old. Also I want my feet to be able to hit the floor. I hate the big recliners because I feel obligated to put the foot rest up. If not, my feet are just dangling and I feel like a child.

9. One thing you would change to make movie theaters better?

If there was a way to stop people from using their phones and taking photos of the screen, that would be great. It's an epidemic. I wrote about it during the Wicked release.

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

It's probably a knock on my cinephile credentials to admit this, but for a long time I loved movies but I was not an omnivorous movie watcher. For most of my childhood I was afraid of anything that I thought was going to be too scary or violent. I mostly watched classic rom coms like Roman Holiday and The Philadelphia Story over and over again. My anxiety was not at all rational. I was obsessed with the Lord of the Rings trilogy but afraid of Martin Scorsese movies. The concept of crime terrified me. Go figure. I remember being really nervous to see The Departed, but I walked out on cloud nine. It changed my approach to movies forever.

The Departed dir. Martin Scorsese (Warner Bros.)

11. Is there a trailer you’ve seen before a movie recently that stuck with you?

Every new One Battle After Another trailer has gotten me hyped up.

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

God, so many, but One Battle After Another and Marty Supreme are near the top of my list.

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

I think Jane Campion could do something really great with Josh O'Connor's whole dirtbag sad boy vibe.

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

I'm going to say Sabrina, because my perfect movie dress is the Givenchy she wears on the tennis court.

Sabrina dir. Billy Wilder (Paramount)

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

I almost have trouble answering this because the answer is so obvious to me. Seeing a move in a theater is one of the most special, easily accessible experiences you can have. We need movies to survive so we need theaters to survive.