2006 Pontiac G6 $199/month, 2006 GMC Envoy $199/month; Credit problems? We can help! 27 preowned vehicles under $9,888 By Bonnie BrittonA state-of-the-art cinema opening Friday on Indianapolis' Northside will serve anything but traditional fare -- plus drinks to wash it down.Workers in hard hats scrambled Monday to finish the new Keystone Art Cinema & Indie Lounge at the Fashion Mall, Keystone at the Crossing. The $10 million project is dedicated to independent cinema, foreign language films, documentary features and classic revivals.

The theater boasts seven screens, full stadium seating with a total of 1,164 seats, an auditorium equipped with cutting-edge Sony digital projection, more than 100 cinema speakers from locally based Klipsch throughout and plush seats imported from Australia."They're the best (seats) in the industry," said Michael Fant, director of development for Landmark Theatres, the chain that owns the cinema.In the Indie Lounge portion of the theater, patrons will be able to order drinks -- including full bar service -- along with appetizer-type foods, and eat and drink there. Or, they can carry food and drinks into the auditoriums. The lounge will be open to the public, and live music will be on tap during weekends. A snack bar in the lobby carries typical movie fare.An invitation-only grand opening Wednesday will bring Landmark owners Mark Cuban -- who also owns the Dallas Mavericks NBA team -- and Todd Wagner to town. The two are Indiana University graduates.Landmark Theatres, based in Los Angeles, is the nation's largest art-house chain, with 59 theaters and 215 screens in 15 states and the District of Columbia. Cuban and Wagner's parent company, 2929 Entertainment, is also into filmmaking. The company co-produced "Good Night, and Good Luck," and has an agreement with Steven Soderbergh to exclusively distribute his new film "Bubble.""The Squid and the Whale," "The Passenger" and "Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic," among the theater's first offerings, aren't expected to challenge "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" for mass appeal, but they will give moviegoers looking for alternative fare a break from mainstream films.How edgy will the selection be?Hugh Wronski, senior regional publicist for Landmark, said Monday "we'll see what the market will bear, and we'll try to stretch the market. I'm kind of happy with our opening lineup of films, that we have the Sarah Silverman film in there." The caustic comic takes on the Holocaust, 9/11, AIDS, race and sexuality."That's edgy with three capital 'Es.' Some people will be offended by it, but it's something different."Seven screens is the minimum number for new Landmark theaters. But Indianapolis is really gaining a net two independent auditoriums.The three-screen AMC Castleton Arts shut down in late November. The space was owned by Simon Property Group, which also owns the Fashion Mall. And Ron Keedy, owner of the two-screen Keystone Cinemas, switched from independent, foreign and art films to discounted films that have left their first run, such as "Flightplan," and changed the name to Key Cinemas Beech Grove. When the new theater was announced, Keedy called it a death knell for his independent theater offerings.While waiting for the fire marshal to inspect the new theater, Wronski said, "I think we'll provide a different range of films than have been provided previously by Key and Castleton. I think we'll dig a little deeper. We're a small fry in the overall film exhibition business. We're a bigger fry in the specialized end."Instead of wild neon lights and a soaring lobby ceiling as many new theaters boast, the new Landmark theater, next to the second floor of the Parisian store, is low-key and decked out in hushed colors, with cinnamon spice and muted burgundy in the outer areas and blues in the auditoriums. It's accessible from the first floor by escalators or by a walkway from the parking garage.The new theater is also open to screen rentals. With the demise of Castleton Arts, the northside home of the Heartland Film Festival for several years, Wronski said he'll be talking to Heartland."We'd very much love to tie in with that. I don't know if there is an active Jewish film festival here or a gay and lesbian film festival here. These are things we aggressively court in other places, and would love to have them. (Even) video games onscreen. It's amazing. It's a great place for special events," he said.Wronski thinks Indianapolis is ready for Landmark's business."We have a lot of repeat business, a lot of loyal customers who are willing to take a chance on a movie they haven't heard of because it's playing in our theater. It's unfortunate, but there's a small segment of the population that never goes to see any films that they don't see advertised on television. It's a shame. There are so many good films of all kinds that don't have the ad budget to do that, but people would really like."

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