15 Questions With Richard Rushfield of The Ankler
"When I saw Blue Moon, I wanted to be hanging out at Sardi’s with Lorenz Hart and E.B. White so bad it hurt."
Name: Richard Rushfield
Location: Los Angeles
Occupation: Columnist, The Ankler
Links: Richard’s Letterboxd, Instagram, Substack
1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?
Late show, after my family is sleep and the work of the day is done and the theater, hopefully, is half empty.
2. What’s your favorite movie theater?
If I can break this down to a few categories…
My favorite theater that still exists - kind of - is the currently shuttered (awaiting renovation) Village Theater in Westwood. Growing up, that was what it meant to be seeing a big movie on a giant screen in a true palace. And where, inevitably, I stood in line to get tickets for every great film of film’s greatest era - the mid to late 1970’s.
My favorite that isn’t here anymore, the one I would love to bring back is the Plitt Century City in the ABC Entertainment Center - where CAA currently sits. The whole complex was so glamorous in this modern Jetson’s design and that screen seemed impossibly huge - the size of the side of a mountain. It’s where I saw Star Wars at age 9 which was of course, at the time, a big deal.
But growing up, the New Beverly and the Nuart were everything. They were where I had my film education and learned everything about film. It seems impossible but the Nuart would have a different double bill every single night. So in a week you could almost see the complete works of Visconti.
3. What’s your go-to movie theater snack & drink combo?
I’m very boring with this. Popcorn and soda. They got it right from the inception. If I was on a tear and adding candy to it, that would either be Whoppers or Red Vines. Must be Red Vines. I really think I could never be close to anyone who preferred Twizzlers. I know its the East Coast option, but there’s something broken in a person who thinks Twizzlers are better than Red Vines.
4. What’s your dream movie theater snack & drink combo (if noise and sound weren’t an issue)?
This is a huge, and extremely important question. If you take the sound factor out, it really opens a lot of doors. But it would still have to be something you could eat in the dark, with your hands. So nothing that requires knife and fork. And would have to be something where the structural integrity is very solid, as you’re fumbling in the dark. A burrito, for instance, things could go very wrong. A hot dog really is the perfect construction for theatrical dining…it’s hard to deny. Cut roll sushi would work well too, although it does not pair with buttered popcorn.
5. First movie you remember seeing in a theater?
I was 4, still living in New York, and my mother took my to see Disney’s The Sword and the Stone; which I was excited about because I knew stories about King Arthur. But it was sold out so instead we saw Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. If you wanted to convince a 4 year old that film was an experience that could rocket them to another dimension, taking me off the windy streets of New York to see the Oompa Loompa, Gene Wilder and the boat going down the psychedelic chocolate river was about as powerful a gut punch as you could deliver. I remember coming out and just feeling “what the hell was that and when can we do it again?”.
6. Last movie you saw in a theater?
Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie for the third time, bringing my son who enjoyed it very much.
7. Is there a movie you wish you could have seen in a theater?
Every time I watch a movie at home and I like it, I curse myself for not seeing it in the theater. But now that you mention it, my favorite movie (this month) is All That Jazz and I haven’t seen that on a big screen for a long long time. That’s overdue.
8. Have you ever seen a movie more than once in theaters?
Back when, in my youth, you still had first run, second run and third run theaters. And Westwood Village, where I’d spend my weekends, had all three. So if you loved a movie you’d follow it from the giant screen, to the medium sized, to the lowliest 99 cent theater. And films could easily stay in theaters for a year or more. So there were tons of movies I’d revisit every weekend - not just the big ones like Star Wars, but Richard Pryor comedies I’d probably see 10, 15 times before they left the theaters. Anything that spoke to you would become a friend you’d go to visit every weekend until it was embedded in your brain.
9. Do you stay through the credits or leave once the film ends?
I honor and respect everyone who works on a film. You are my heroes. That said, the ritual of solemnly staring at a 20-minute crawl of names after you’ve been sitting in that chair for hours was invented by people who believe nothing is of value unless it feels like homework.
10. What’s one thing you would change to make movie theaters better?
Allow theater employees to use tasers and excessive force on anyone who glances at their phones during movies. Anyone who keeps it on for more than... a millisecond should be put in the stocks for public shaming and beatings.
11. Tell me about an especially memorable moviegoing experience that stands out in your mind.
In 1996 when the highly anticipated alien invasion film, Independence Day came out, I went with some friends to see the midnight show, the night before release at the multiplex in Burbank, where they managed to grab tickets for what was quickly a sold out show. The theater was filled with local teenagers and the energy was off the charts as the movie began, screaming with excitement for every act of extraterestrial destruction. The audience stayed with every beat of the movie and the energy grew and grew even though it was 2 in the morning as we approached the final act.
Then, after Jeff Goldblum had figured out how to upload a computer virus into the alien mainframe, as the jet squadron took off and soared up to the final battle on which the fate of the planet lay - the film got caught in the projector. And burned.
For about a minute, the audience sat in stunned silence staring at the now empty screen. Until all at once, like a starter’s pistol had been fired off, they leaped out of their seats and with a roar, ransacked the theater and the candy counter. Kids were climbing over the seats, swinging on the curtains. Someone took the giant bags of leftover popcorn and they were throwing it all over the theater, tossing the looted Junior Mint boxes to everyone.
I’ve never been at the center of a riot before, but somehow this had a wholesome Prom Night Gone Wrong feeling, and despite the mayhem was oddly un-menacing.
We sat in our seats and managed to stay there as the police came and cleared out the uprising, and finally, somehow, they got the film back on and me and my four friends watched the final act.
When we emerged from the theater it was after 4 a.m., we stood on the silent Burbank streets, comparing the excitement on the screen, with the excitement off. Then as we were about to go, a very shy, small-framed usher who must have been hiding in a closet the whole time poked his head out and looked warily around. He saw us there and seeing it was safe, tip-toed his way out on to the sidewalk. He looked at us and shook his head and murmured, “I hope the crowd is better behaved tomorrow night.”
12. What’s a movie you’re looking forward to seeing?
At whatever festival I go to next, I’m going to walk into a movie knowing nothing about it except maybe the title, and in the two hours that follow, I’m going to be taken someplace I could have never imagined and be absolutely sent to the moon by the power of movies. That’s the movie I can’t wait to see.
13. What’s your dream combination of director and lead(s)?
I’ll take Kristen Dunst and Barb and Star/Strays director Josh Greenbaum who could take her under-utilized comedic powers to unimaginable heights.
14. If you could live in a movie, which one would it be?
When I saw Blue Moon, I wanted to be hanging out at Sardi’s with Lorenz Hart and E.B. White so bad it hurt.
15. Why do you think people should continue seeing movies at the movie theater?
It’s the only part of our society where we give ourselves to a story outside of ourselves, completely, without phones (BURN YOUR PHONES!), distractions, or outside life. And in doing that, we are connected to a world greater than ourselves.
Richard is a legend. Great interview!
Josh Greenbaum + Kirsten Dunst omg I would be so sat