Friday, January 12, 2007

Novi Town Center 8

In our quest to see as many potentially Oscar-nominated films as possible, Erika Stephanie and I drove to Novi last night to see Babel (which I'll grade tomorrow). Being a mere 30 minutes from Ann Arbor, I thought for sure that the Novi Town Center 8 would be just like any other suburban movie theatre. Boy, was I wrong! To start, NTC8 was like the theater that time forgot, but not in a classy, historic way. No, this theater was dark, dingy, and certainly not up-to-date (anyone from Russ Vegas should instantly envision a pre-renovation Picwood). The whole place had the vibe of leftovers.
But there's more. Novi Town Center 8 has, naturally, eight screens. On five, they show indie films. On the other three, they show INDIAN films. This place is Little Bollywood! I couldn't believe it! There were posters for all kinds of Indian movies, and a banner for an Indian restaurant in Ann Arbor. Best of all, the concession stand serves samosa, a delectable deep-fried Indian appetizer. It was awesome! Last night, in addition to Babel, The Queen, The Departed, Bobby and Apocalypto, the theater was also showing Bhagam Bhag, Babuul (not to be confused with Babel), and Annavarunum. It was an unexpected treat to find something so weird so close to home. Not that India is weird. I suppose I should have known something like this existed in southeast MI, but I never thought I'd go there. It was crazy.

I can't stop thinking about the Novi Town Center 8. It's a dingy little jewel.

Novi Town Center 8 - B-

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