The neon lights of Voltage Video Games flash through the front windows of the Manlius Art Cinema, a kaleidoscope of blues and yellows contrasting against the evening sky. The warm scent of buttery popcorn wafts through the front lobby, intermingling with the sounds of “Boy Erased” behind the double doors.

It’s a chilly Thursday evening in Manlius. But for one hour and 55 minutes, visitors are transported from the conventions of their everyday reality into the world of film.

The Manlius Art Cinema first opened its doors in 1918 as a small, 200-seat movie house screening silent films on Manlius’ East Seneca Street. The theater will celebrate its historical milestone as the oldest theater in Onondaga County with a 100th birthday celebration and specialty film screenings on Saturday, Dec. 8.

Nat Tobin has owned Manlius Art Cinema for 26 years. For the past 12 years, he has been joined by his wife, Eileen Lowell — a former high school history and French teacher — as co-owners.

“Feels like around 26,” he said with a smile.

Tobin first arrived in Syracuse in 1982, following a career in movie advertising at United Artists in New York City. A decade later, he came across the Manlius Art Cinema’s owner, who was looking to sell the theater. The rest, he said, is history.

“During my tenure up here, I happened to meet the gentleman who owned this theater and The Westcott at the time, and he offered me this theater,” Tobin said. “And I told him that if I could turn it around and make it profitable, then I would buy it from him. And that’s pretty much what I did.”

Tobin’s commitment to screening diverse films stems from his passion for the craftsmanship of filmmaking. While not showing the latest blockbusters isn’t always the most profitable business model, he said that he wants the Manlius Art Cinema to provide an opportunity for moviegoers to experience the beauty of cinema rather than its mass-market appeal.

“We have a very loyal audience,” Tobin said. “They’re more educated than most, they have a better understanding of what film is — that grasp of film.” Lowell added that their customers are “discerning moviegoers,” who see the theater as both an artistic and an educational experience.

Along with screening more abstract and independent films, the theater is also participating in the New York Film Critics National Series, London’s National Theatre Live program and the Royal Shakespeare Company for Shakespearean play screenings.

The intimacy of the Manlius Art Cinema extends not only from the films they screen, but the staff themselves. Tobin and Lowell run the theater on their own, along with a small handful of high school students as employees. Each screening begins with an introduction of the film by Tobin, after sharing greetings with patrons as they file in.

Handshakes are exchanged, and updates on children and grandchildren are shared. And that, Lowell said, is what has ultimately allowed the cinema to endure.

“We make this a comfortable place for them to come, a home away from home, a place where we remember how we take their coffee,” she said. “We’re a comfortable place for our regulars and our new people to discover us.”

The theater’s proximity to Syracuse University and Le Moyne College has also amplified the moviegoing experience, Tobin said. For some of the historical films they have shown — such as “I Am Not Your Negro” and “Viceroy’s House” — Tobin and Lowell have invited faculty members from SU to host panel discussions and Q&A sessions with audience members following the screening. The value of these conversations, he said, is immeasurable.

“That’s priceless. You can’t get that anywhere else,” he said. “And that’s because of our community.”

This weekend’s birthday celebration features a five-movie lineup, with the final titles decided on following “a lot of breakfast meetings,” Lowell said. The selection includes “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “In Bruges,” “Loving Vincent” and, of course, “The Big Lebowski.”

“Which goes without saying,” she said with a laugh.

Their initial plans for the 100th anniversary included screening a film from 1918 to pay homage to the theater’s roots. But after reviewing the “sexist and racist” content in films from that era, both Tobin and Lowell said they felt it best to promote the progressiveness of recent works as opposed to the problematic elements of older films.

Tickets for the celebratory screenings will cost 10 cents — a tribute both to the theater’s historical legacy and as a thank you to its patrons.

“It makes us part of the cultural fabric of the community,” Tobin said. “That is our brand. We have created this brand, not only around the films that we show, but how we treat our customers.”

Published on December 5, 2018 at 10:43 pm

Contact Kelsey: katho101@syr.edu | @writtenbykelsey