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David McRaney | Journalist
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Film shows truth about Hub City Last night I went to The Turtle Creek Mall with my wife to see "An Inconvenient Truth," and of course, today I am incensed.But, I'm not mad over the irrefutable facts presented in the documentary. I'm upset I almost missed it. Last year, when I heard Hattiesburg was going to get a megaplex movie theater, I shed a little sparkling tear of joy. I dreamed about the stadium seating and fantasized about the mini-restaurants; I saw the oversized screens in my mind's eye and shook with pleasure. But, as with much of life, the reality fell short of the vision. What we ended up with is 24 or so movie screens showing just 13 movies. We have two major movie theaters in this town, and they both show the same movies. I think I had finally gotten used to it and accepted my fate ... until last night. I got on Google and typed in "Hattiesburg showtimes" as I often do. Then, peering out of the digital mists, I saw Mr. Gore's documentary. I shuddered; I couldn't believe a limited release, controversial documentary appealing to my demographic was showing in the Hub City. And, then, after watching it, enjoying it and getting online to research some of what I saw, I started getting angry. Why do I have to drive to New Orleans to see "Little Miss Sunshine" or "Who Killed the Electric Car" when I live in a thriving college town with 20-plus movie screens? I know it's always been this way around here. But, last night, I went to the Turtle Creek Mall theater for the first time since The Grand Theatre opened down the road, and I realized how nice it was to have the opportunity to see this movie without risking illicit downloads or waiting a year and hoping one of my local video stores would take a risk and shelve it. I read in the Hattiesburg American a few weeks back that The Grand Theatre receives so much business, somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 people a week, that they are expanding to the tune of $2 million. Unfortunately, I expect this will only lead to four screens showing "Snakes on a Plane 2". Anyway, I hope one day I'll be able to see a preview for a movie and expect to see it here in town. Until then, please check out Mr. Gore's flick; who knows when you'll get a chance like this again. Originally published in The Student Printz on August 24, 2007
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