My wife has a beef with Mark Cuban. She’s never met him, but she doesn’t care for the man. She holds him personally responsible for what’s happened to the Inwood Theatre over the last several years because his company, 2929 Entertainment, owns Landmark Theatres, which owns the Inwood (and the Magnolia).
She can’t stand flat-screen TVs used unnecessarily as menus at the snack bar. She hates that they don’t issue tickets anymore; they hand you part of a paper receipt as your ticket. (She conveniently ignores that even she likes most of the major renovations that have been made, to the auditoriums and the restrooms.) But the biggest problem, of course, is that what was once the premier art-house in town now more frequently features “family-friendly” dreck. She loves the Inwood, so she hates to see how it has changed.
Well, recently she called the box office to ask what would be playing (she doesn’t have an iPhone), and she had the following exchange with an Inwood employee. I present their conversation in its entirety. Keep in mind that this employee has no previous knowledge of my wife’s thoughts about the Inwood or Mark Cuban:
Box office: Hi. Inwood Theatre box office.
The Mrs.: Hi. Can you tell me what’s playing tomorrow night?
Box office: We’ve got Did You Hear About the Morgans?, the Twilight movie, and Brothers.
The Mrs.: What’s the Morgans?
Box office: It’s the one with Sarah Jessica Parker.
The Mrs.: <audible sigh> Don’t you miss the Inwood being the Inwood?
Box office: Yes. Yes, I do.
The Mrs.: Mark Cuban is evil.
Box office. Yes. Yes, he is.
13 comments
Dear Mr. Heid:
Will this post be worth it if the Inwood employee gets fired over it?
@SLR: Why should the worker be in trouble? “The customer is always right.”
That guy is so toast. Mark will track him down personally.
I’m with SLR. And I’d sure like to read your answer to SLR’s query.
Would she be mortified to know that the main downstairs theater has floor lovesacs for seating and are magnets for food spills and other human messes? Most of the employees have been there for a long time and remember the good ol’ days. If it weren’t for the popcorn-to-go, I would never set foot in there. “Family-friendly” drek is a perfect description. I’m guessing that the indi films are not as profitable as the “drek” in this neighborhood.
Though I agree with your wife’s sentiment, gotta side with SLR. Especially given how Cuban is likely all over the web.
Congrats, Jason. This post is almost as reckless as Tim posting that poor girl’s license plate earlier this year.
I tend to agree with SLR here. No reason to throw an honest employee under the bus. None!
Who could have guess the Mark Cuban would have dummied down the Landmark’s film selection?
Anyone else remember “The Mark Cuban” TV show?
Also, can’t we just get rid of all the superfluous advertisements and “reviews” in the print edition as well? I am just interested in the content. Damn you for trying to maximize revenues!
I fail to see why Sarah Jessica Barbaro is Cuban’s fault.
This seems unfair to the employee. Perhaps I’m not suprised that D is such a target for lawsuits regarding reckless journalism.
Apparently, the lesson here is never ever say anything in conversation with anyone that you don’t want posted on Frontburner. The walls have ears.