Out of Print

An affable yet thoroughly one-sided documentary, Out of Print tells the story of Los Angeles’ famed New Beverly Cinema and its rise from obscurity to become one of the country’s most well-regarded repertory movie houses – with the film boasting laudatory comments from a wide variety of familiar faces (including Edgar Wright, Kevin Smith, Rian Johnson, and Patton Oswalt). It’s certainly not surprising to discover that director Julia Marchese was a long-time employee at the New Beverly, as the movie, for the most part, feels like a love letter to the cinema itself and its various employees and regular customers. (That’s at best; at worst, the film resembles a promotional video designed to court potential advertisers and customers.) There’s little doubt, then, that Out of Print is at its best when focused on topics relating to cinema in general, as Marchese does a relatively nice job of exploring issues revolving around the title concept – with, for example, the movie boasting a recurring emphasis on the need for actual 35mm prints to remain in circulation (ie there are many, many obscure films that will likely never receive the digital treatment). Likewise, Out of Print benefits from the ongoing input from its myriad of celebrity talking heads – as it’s difficult not to get a kick out of some of their comments and stories (eg Wright discussing his encounter with David Lynch, Joe Carnahan lamenting folks who text during movies, etc). The end result is a passable documentary that’ll have a much greater impact on those familiar with the New Beverly than to newbies, which is a shame, really, given the potential afforded by the movie’s celluloid-oriented title.

**1/2 out of ****