No offense to those from Erie, but the only thing going for you was Millcreek 6 or “the dollar theater.” People back home were always so jealous when I said I could go see a ‘nearly new’ movie for a dollar.

Now, the dollar theater has closed and I am in a permanent state of mourning.

The dollar theater, while disgusting and old, was a wonderful place to visit any day of the week. The movies played were late being released, but who really minded the wait? Now you are forced to pay $8 to go to Tinseltown instead of waiting for it to hit the dollar theater.

Not only was the dollar theater cheap, but I felt that it gave Erie the chance to play more movies. Since Millcreek 6 and Tinseltown were both Cinemark theaters, they could pair up to bring more independent movies to Erie.

What many may not know is that Erie does not show many independent films or must wait to receive them.
When ‘The Artist’, ‘The Iron Lady’, and ‘My Week with Marilyn’ were released they took time to show at Tinseltown, which gets all other movies on time.

I cannot even confirm that ‘My Week with Marilyn’ even played there. All of these titles received Oscar nominations, wins and included star studded casts.

Movies come out so rapidly that theaters must continue to rotate them. Since the titles mentioned weren’t as well known when they were released, they were not sent to all theaters.

Because of the dollar theater, Cinemark was able to play them longer at both theaters.

Now that the dollar theater is gone, I fear that less independent movies will be shown in the area.

I had to spend my whole fall break contemplating when I would see ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ because I knew it would never come to Erie theaters. Yet, that movie was much better than any Nicholas Sparks fluff movie.

I hope that the closing of the dollar theater will not cause Erie to stop playing what I feel are good movies.

Thanks to the Langer Film Series and the Erie Film Series, we won’t be fully without them.

Also, you couldn’t beat the atmosphere in the dollar theater. Yes, it was so gross that you had to shower immediately after, but it was fun. It was a classic theater, full of history. I am not from Erie, but I am sure those who spent numerous hours in that theater will be heartbroken.