When a shabby old bodega on South Third Street and Bedford Avenue closed last year, we never thought it would be reborn as an artsy film, theater, and music venue. But this being Williamsburg, we really should have seen it coming. Introducing Spectacle Theater, a new 35-seater screening semi-obscure, non-mainstream films "unavailable on DVD" at least five nights a week. Admission is $5, and that includes shorts and other pre-show entertainment. Co-owner Akiva Saunders tells us they opened about two months ago, and they still have a bit more work to do, but he's proud of how his team turned this "filthy" old bodega into a cozy art house theater.
With indieScreen just a stone's throw away on Kent Avenue, this makes for two alt screening rooms rubbing shoulders in Williamsburg. And the two venues could compliment each other nicely, with indieScreen focusing on newer releases, and Spectacle emphasizing older obscure films, midnight movies, and live performance. But one has to wonder how much longer it will take for some entrepreneur to open a mainstream theater somewhere in north Brooklyn. We love "lost classics of modern cinema" as much as the next guy, but it would also be nice to be able to see Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole without schlepping to the other end of the earth.
