15 Questions With Tory Kamen
"9am showtimes. Coffee at concessions. Hot and iced."
Name: Tory Kamen
Location: Los Angeles
Occupation: Screenwriter (Editor’s note: Check out Eleanor the Great later this year!)
Links: Tory’s Instagram
1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?
If I’m seeing something new that I’m really excited about, I want the first possible prime-time showing. Thursday or Friday, 8pm. Otherwise, I love a 10:30am Sunday movie. I’ve tried to be the kind of person who indulges in a mid-day weekday movie but I feel too guilty to actually enjoy myself. I just sit there thinking “who the fuck do I think I am seeing a movie at 2:30PM?” over and over until the movie ends.
2. What’s your favorite movie theater?
I’m from New York and growing up, there was nothing more special than seeing a movie at the Ziegfeld on 54th between 6th and 7th. It was this big, beautiful single-screen theater with plush red chairs and a matching red ceiling. It’s where I sobbed through Dreamgirls on Christmas Day and now it’s just another anonymous event space in Midtown.
In Los Angeles, where I’ve been for the last decade, I mourn for the ArcLight, I ride for the Vista, but I’m usually at the AMC Americana.
3. What’s your go-to movie theater snack & drink combo?
A small popcorn that I finish during the trailers and a water.
4. What’s your dream movie theater snack & drink combo (if noise and sound weren’t an issue)?
The last thing I want to do in the dark is manage utensils. It has to be a handheld food. Nothing too messy and drippy, which is a shame since all of the great foods are messy and drippy. And nothing that will leave my fingers sticky. For me, it’s an unlimited basket of curly fries with a flight of interesting dipping sauces. Which ones? I don’t know, I’m not a chef.
5. First movie you remember seeing in a theater?
The first movie I remember seeing in a theater was A Goofy Movie right around my third birthday. I have the clearest memory of sitting on my kitchen counter with my little legs dangling off the ledge while my dad taught me how to look up showtimes in the paper. I got all dolled up in my favorite denim dress and put two cow print ribbons in my hair. I was ready to see and be seen. But the excitement got the best of me and I fell asleep waiting to leave the house. I still resent my dad for not waking me up. I just asked him why he let me sleep and he said it was because I “looked peaceful, like an angel.” Pressed further, he admits he does not remember any of this happening. We went the next day and it was glorious.
6. Last movie you saw in a theater?
Materialists. I have yet to meet a person who is capable of having a casual conversation about this movie, everyone’s insane about it.
7. Is there a movie you wish you could have seen in a theater?
For the first time: Goodfellas. Do The Right Thing. Broadcast News.
Again: The Social Network. Uncut Gems!!!!
8. Please describe your ideal movie theater seat.
I like sitting in the row behind the wheelchair section so I can put my feet up on the railing, usually two or three seats over from the aisle. (I don’t do this if someone is using the wheelchair space, to be clear).
9. One thing you would change to make movie theaters better?
9am showtimes. Coffee at concessions. Hot and iced.
Also this is so unoriginal but if someone checks their phone for longer than a millisecond during the movie, I want that phone to burst into flames. That said, if you’re the lone soul sitting in the very last row of an otherwise scarcely attended showing, go ahead, check your phone! At that point, who are you distracting other than yourself?
10. Where do you stand on intermissions?
My ideal movie is 92 minutes long, so this is not my battle to fight.
11. Is there a trailer you’ve seen before a movie recently that stuck with you?
The trailer for the latest Final Destination movie, the one with the blender and the lawnmower. It’s so gross and terrifying and effective. I can’t do horror like that but if I could, I’d be there opening night.
12. What’s a movie you’re looking forward to seeing?
Sentimental Value and Marty Supreme.
Also, not to plug my friend’s movie — though Ilana mentioned mine when she did this questionnaire, so I feel like I’m paying it forward — but my friend Nora Garrett wrote After The Hunt, which comes out in October and I cannot wait to see.
13. What’s your dream combination of director and lead(s)?
Nicole Holofcener and Chris Messina.
Luca Guadagnino and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
14. If you could live in a movie, which one would it be?
The Parent Trap, but without the part where my parents get back together.
15. Why do you think people should continue seeing movies at the movie theater?
It’s romantic, it’s tradition, and it makes you so much more interesting.
So cool. They shot Eleanor the Great at my synagogue on the Upper West Side. Can't wait to watch it.
A Goofy Movie hive lfggggg 😮💨