There are movie theaters in the Boise area with luxury reclining loungers, motion-experience seating, couches built for two and giant screens.
But none of them have Carole Skinner.
The owner of The Flicks in downtown Boise celebrated the venue’s 40th anniversary Saturday night with a special showing of “Casablanca” in front of a sold-out crowd.
It was one of the movies Skinner hand-picked for the theater’s grand opening in 1984. (Talk about the beginning of a beautiful friendship.) And in some ways, you can walk into this old-school venue just off Myrtle Street and feel as if not much has changed since Ronald Reagan was president.
In other ways, The Flicks was a modern forerunner.
“When we opened, the population of Boise was so much less, and I think in some ways we were a little ahead of our time to have a movie theater where you could have beer and wine and you could have real food, and not just a hot dog going around on a heater for hours on end,” Skinner said.
“I like the fact that our staff all are friends. I think you can feel it when you come in the door, too. No one’s like, ‘uh,’ rolling their eyes at each other. I feel like our customers are so dedicated. They feel like this is their home away from home, and we love it that they feel that way.”