15 Questions With Sudana Krasniqi, Writer
"What I really need is a re-release of the Spice Girls’ Spice World in 70mm."
Name: Sudana Krasniqi
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Occupation: Part-time writer, full-time lover
Links: Sudana’s Substack
1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?
I love a Saturday matinee! I’m such a disgusting early bird, even on the weekends. Heading to an afternoon showing with a nice dinner reservation to look forward to afterwards sounds kind of perfect to me.
2. What’s your favorite movie theater?
The Paris Theater on New York’s upper west side is a cornerstone of the city’s arthouse cinema— and the longest running. The regal monument of a building is reason alone for me to keep going. They run fantastic Q&A series of all sorts and their selection doesn’t disappoint. I was lucky enough to be in the audience for a sold out 70mm screening of Lawrence of Arabia and it was nothing short of transcendent.
Of course, what kind of a cinephile would I be without a favorite AMC? Mine is in Paramus, New Jersey. It’s everything you’d want in a modern movie theater attached to a massive NJ mall. Lush, reclining seats. A plethora of screening options, including IMAX. That A-List rewards program is truly unmatched and, sorry to say, Regal serving Pepsi over Coke is a deal breaker for me. This is a Diet Coke family, always.
Most importantly, this is the AMC I take my nieces to often. Some of my best memories are our afternoons at the movies. As their self-appointed cool aunt, it’s my duty to raise them right and make sure we get through some blockbusters early on so they’re ready to be Michael Haneke-pilled by the time they’re sixteen. The Zootopia to The Piano Teacher pipeline is real.
3. What’s your go-to movie theater snack & drink combo?
Swedish Fish + Sour Patch Kids + large Diet Coke. I usually let whoever I’m with grab the popcorn and claim I don’t want any, and ten minutes into the previews stick my grubby little hands into their bucket because I’m an asshole that way.
4. What’s your dream movie theater snack & drink combo (if noise and sound weren’t an issue)?
A fresh baguette. Butter. Strawberry jam. Maybe a mimosa…
5. First movie you remember seeing in a theater?
The Lion King. I remember being absolutely gutted — I mean full on bawling— by Mufasa’s death.
6. Last movie you saw in a theater?
Sentimental Value on New Years Day. I like to start the year off right — with a good cry followed by a phone call to my father.
7. Is there a movie you wish you could have seen in a theater?
Initially I had written down David Lynch’s Blue Velvet but in my heart of hearts, what I really need is a re-release of the Spice Girls’ Spice World in 70mm. How fun would it be to bring campy energy to the theaters again? That much girl power in one room would reset my brain chemistry, I just know it.
(I’m a Posh Spice sun, Ginger Spice rising btw)
8. Have you ever seen a movie more than once in theaters?
Absolutely. I’m a simple girl. I see a theater showing When Harry Met Sally, I go. Pretty sure it’s New York law.
9. Do you stay through the credits or leave once the film ends?
I sit through the credits. It gives me time to decompress and take in what I just saw before I have to step back outside into the real world.
10. One thing you would change to make movie theaters better?
The manners of other movie-go’ers.
And what’s up with needing to take out a loan to afford a large Diet Coke?
11. Tell me about an especially memorable moviegoing experience that stands out in your mind.
A small theater in Montclair, New Jersey was showing Jaws for its 50th anniversary last summer. My niece Maddie, age nine, had never seen it. She loves the ocean and I was a bit afraid this might scare her off but, in the middle of the movie, kid turns to me and goes “we’re going to need a bigger theatre.” I knew she’d be juuuust fine.
12. What’s a movie you’re looking forward to seeing?
Pillion next month, FINALLY!
(Ok, and I’ll hate-watch Wuthering Heights. Who am I kidding.)
13. What’s your dream combination of director and lead(s)?
A Paul Thomas Anderson- directed romance starring Kate Winslet and Steve Buscemi.
14. If you could live in a movie, which one would it be?
Bury me in the Italian villa featured in Under the Tuscan Sun.
15. Why do you think people should continue seeing movies at the movie theater?
Simply put, cinema celebrates humanity. It speaks to a need we’ve had since the dawn of time for communal storytelling. As one of the only (affordable) places left where we still come together to share the same experience, movie theaters don’t need us— we need them.
Spice World rerelease lfgggg!!!
I grew up near Paramus and am thrilled to hear there is a good AMC there