Indy last resort for art films

The disappearance of Showplace East Art\nAfter the abrupt closing of Von Lee Theatre, the Kerasotes Theatres chain now forces moviegoers to go to Showplace East 11 to see arty independent films. Although there's a section in the theater's newspaper ad that is referred to as Showplace East Art, it's unclear just exactly how many screens in the theater are actually devoted to showing independent films each week. To make the matter even worse, it's unlikely you'll ever see more than one foreign language film playing there.\nIn a good week, the Showplace East would devote as many as three screens to showing art films, which is the same number of screens Von Lee used to have. But in a bad week, there would be one or no independent movie showing at all. Although the Ryder Film Series always offers a good alternative, moviegoers do prefer watching the 35mm and 72mm prints shown in regular theaters over the 16mm prints and videos formats the Ryder is using.\nThankfully, two reliable and tasteful arthouse cinemas are in the not-too-distant Indianapolis. The Castleton Arts Cinemas and South Keystone Art Cinemas are showing some of the hottest independent films in the country. If you can't wait to see acclaimed Danish director Lars von Trier's latest masterpiece "Dancer in the Dark" or the sweet Sundance favorite "Two Family House," you can now finally get a chance to see them with just an hour worth of driving one way. \nEven some of the more commercial multiplexes in Indianapolis, including the Loews Cineplex College Park and United Artists Galaxy 14, are showing independent and foreign movies like "The Yards" and the powerful Iranian film "A Time for Druken Horses."\nCollege Park is one of the 16 Loews Cineplex theaters across the country participating in the Shooting Gallery Film Series, and dedicates one of its screen to showing a new foreign or independent film every two weeks. The Shooting Gallery is a small distributor which produced the successful indie hits such as "Sling Blade" and "Croupier," and it has selected many exciting new films from around the world for its film series.\nIf you are fed up with the crap Kerasotes is showing us with its powerful monopoly in Bloomington, it's time to go to Indy and check out the arthouse theaters there. God knows if these movies will ever be shown in Bloomington before they hit the shelves of video stores.\nAn inundation of politics on television\nThe forthcoming presidential election is obviously an important event, but can any of us honestly stomach any more mention of candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore? If you watch CNN Headline News for two consecutive hours, you'll probably hear the names of presidential hopefuls more than 50 times. It's bad enough that we have to hear them rehashing the same three issues on a regular basis everywhere they go, but most of these campaign coverage in the media has nothing to do with issues.\nMaybe both of the candidates really have something substantive to say, but their speeches are often reduced to catchy snippets of sound bites by news editors. What makes the campaign coverage even worse is the news media's relentless obsession with poll results. The CNN Headline News announces the latest results of the latest polls from three different sources once every 15 minutes. What is more ridiculous? The fact that three agencies conduct different polls on a daily basis among likely voters or the results being announced every 15 minutes? \nAnd where's the coverage on Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan? Maybe they are not going to win, but they haven't dropped out of the race yet. By excluding these two candidates, how are the media providing fair and unbiased election coverage? People who take the election seriously certainly will be interested in hearing what these two candidates have to say, but instead they have to let the media dictate what is important to them. \nThankfully, the election coverage is about to conclude. But are any of us really ready to put up with Dubya's smirk or Gore's showmanship for another four years?