15 Questions With Hannah Benson
"For private reasons, I would love to see Halina Reijn and Josh O’Connor collaborate, specifically if he gets to keep his hoop earring on."
Name: Hannah Benson
Location: Los Angeles
Occupation: Writer
Links: Hannah’s Substack, Instagram, Letterboxd
1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?
A Thursday 7:30pm showing increases my outlook on life by about 5,000 percent. Thursday is a day of hope. There’s anticipation for the weekend ahead and early screenings for movies set to release the next day. Walk out of the theater at 9:30/10pm on a Thursday and you’ll be texting your friends about how lovely the moon looks right now.
2. What’s your favorite movie theater?
My most formative, and by default, favorite movie theater is The Pageant in my hometown of Chico, California. It has a big, red couch that acts as the first row and has quite literally seen too much, but you bet I’m showing up early to nab it. It’s the town’s sole independent theater and the place that made me realize; ‘Oh, I feel a certain way about movies as does everyone else in this room and that’s so special, I’m going to be chasing this high all my life, aren’t I?’ My very own Cinema Paradiso.
Vidiots is my number one in Los Angeles. They’ve created such a beautiful community plus their programming is spot-on. I highly recommend catching one of their Sing-Along screenings. I once found myself vigorously dancing alongside an entire audience to the Mamma Mia! credits scene (which they definitely put drugs in) and it really emphasized the magic of movie theaters: Getting strangers together, reminding them of human connection, which is solely based on a shared love of Meryl Streep and ABBA music.
3. What’s your go-to movie theater snack & drink combo?
I’m always threatening to get a large Vanilla Sprite at the magic AMC soda machine but I’m all talk at this point. I actually have to get water as my drink to counteract all the popcorn I’m consuming. On occasion I get the E.T. special: Reese’s Pieces.
4. What’s your dream movie theater snack & drink combo (if noise and sound weren’t an issue)?
Cereal. Think of the options! Also Night Cereal is way different than Morning Cereal. Adding to this wholesome vibe, tea would be a welcome addition, especially if you’re someone like me who has to bring a sweater to the movie theater no matter the season. I realize I’m outing myself as “soo small, soo cold, need big mug of tea to be changed forevermore by Celine Song”, but this is my call to action.
5. First movie you remember seeing in a theater?
I vividly remember entering the theater to see the most perfect superhero movie of all time, Sky High. I was with my dad and the lobby seemed massive. It had that carpet and a black ceiling with little lights to mimic stars.
6. Last movie you saw in a theater?
Universal Language which is a very gentle story fusing Tehran and Winnipeg in a Venn Diagram-like way. Go for the awesome kid dressed as Groucho Marx. Stay for the candlelit Tim Hortons.
7. Movie you wish you could have seen in a theater?
To see Ferris Bueller’s Day Off fresh in theaters in 1986…I can’t imagine being rocked to my core like that. The John Hughes cult classic completely obliterated 11-year-old me and I haven’t been the same since, which is so funny considering the film is about living life with an easy going attitude. Every time young Matthrew Broderick looks me straight in the eye, I feel more myself, so yeah, I guess I take this movie pretty seriously.
8. Please describe your ideal movie theater seat!
Smack dab in the middle and everyone in front of me is below-average height/has bad posture.
9. One thing you would change to make movie theaters better?
I am going to cause a ruckus with this one, but I’d love to see more thought put into theater attire. I’m not asking for gowns and tuxedos—just a little more effort dedicated to the outfit game. Less sweatshirts, more cardigans, etc. Intentional dressing is a means of respect and the movie theater is no average space.
I grew up attending a good number of midnight franchise premieres where dressing up was a huge part of the magic, so I’m a lifelong champion of a theme. Referencing Catherine Deneuve, my best friend and I wore bows in our hair to a recent screening of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and it felt really freakin good!
10. Where do you stand on intermissions?
After dehydrating my body in preparation for Killers of the Flower Moon, I’m pro-intermission. Also, my Nora Ephron-riddled brain thinks this could be an ideal meet-cute scenario with a seat neighbor or person reaching for the same box of Junior Mints.
11. What’s a movie you’re looking forward to seeing?
Mother Mary with Michaela Coel, Anne Hathaway, Hunter Schafer and FKA Twigs. It’ll be nice to have the fabric of time and space ripped apart upon release. We could use it.
12. What’s your dream combination of director and lead(s)?
Sofia Coppola and Rachel Sennott could do some real damage together. For private reasons, I would love to see Halina Reijn and Josh O’Connor collaborate, specifically if he gets to keep his hoop earring on. For similar, top secret reasons, Luca Guadagnino and Dev Patel…grab lunch or something at least.
13. What’s one movie you’d recommend that people might not know about or should give another chance to?
Someone I care for very deeply once suggested Albert Brooks’s Modern Romance to me. Here, Brooks outlined “the problem” in 1981, years before women took to front-facing camera videos, lamenting over a man's avoidant behavior. Brooks’s typical dry humor weaves throughout the story of a Los Angeles man who breaks up with his girlfriend only to immediately come crawling back. In the midst of screaming with laughter, I also felt incredibly validated. Albert Brooks really got the boys on this one.
14. If you could live in a movie, which one would it be?
When Harry Met Sally. Completely disregard the “grand declaration of love” bit, I want to live in a world where I can rely on an annual invite to an absolutely massive New Year’s Eve party. A New York City where it’s perpetually the holidays, Sharper Image isn’t bankrupt and Casablanca is on cable.
15. Why do you think people should continue seeing movies at the movie theater?
Movie theaters were invented with the intention of bringing people together to watch a medium that speaks to the thoughts and emotions we all share. Laughing and/or crying alone next to a stranger in most other public settings is considered “disrupting” “off-putting” and even “super weird”. Why would you want to give up the opportunity to openly feel sans judgement?
So real for calling out JOC’s little hoop earring
thursday IS a day of hope. someone had to say it