Entertainment
How indie theaters are evolving in a new era: “Everybody wants movies in their lives”

Audiences have been enjoying films at movie theaters for decades, but streaming and expensive ticket prices have impacted moviegoing habits. For the owners and operators of independent theaters, survival means getting creative.
Kevin Smith, the man behind cult classics like “Clerks” and “Mallrats,” bought a theater in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, in 2022. It was the cinema he’d gone to growing up. He renamed it Smodcastle Cinemas, and hoped that even as it reeled from COVID-19 shutdowns, he could rekindle the magic he’d loved as a child.
“I learned more about myself sitting in this (theater) than I ever did sitting in a classroom or sitting in church or something like that, and it led me to the rest of my life,” Smith said.
But the reality of operating the movie theater was difficult, even for a celebrity like Smith. They operate as a non-profit, Smith said, because if they functioned as a for-profit business, they “would die.” Smith can bring in celebrity guests for Q&A sessions and other events. The theater also hosts an annual film festival.
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“Saving my childhood theater with my friends? Dream come true, worst financial investment I ever made in my life,” Smith said.
On the opposite coast, film store Vidiots has been bringing new movies to audiences for 40 years. When it opened in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, in 1985, it operated as a traditional video store with an extensive and rare collection of films. In 2023, Vidiots moved to Eagle Rock and expanded into an exhibition space, reviving the historic Eagle Theater.
“We opened to uncertainty,” said executive director Maggie MacKay. “We had no idea if people would come, and they did. And they’ve been coming ever since.”
MacKay said Vidiots has become a touchstone for local kids.
“One of the biggest surprises and the happiest surprises for us and the thing that I think I most wanted to happen here is that young people come here,” she said. “Teens, tweens are getting dropped off by their parents. And because this place is affordable and welcoming and nonjudgmental and safe, they are coming here all the time. We’ve got kids growing up here who call the video store their video store. We have a kid who calls it ‘my video store.’ That kid has no idea that that is a very unique thing to say in the 2020s.”
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Like Smodcastle, Vidiots operates as a non-profit. That isn’t the only path to success for these kinds of theaters, though, as New York City’s Metrograph proves. The two-screen theater in Manhattan’s Lower East Side shows international and arthouse fare and operates as a for-profit. Business is booming, CEO Christian Grass said, with the theater recently enjoying its best summer on record.
“People love going to the movies and people love the experience,” Grass said. The theater also has a bookstore, a magazine, a streaming service, an extravagant concession stand and a swanky bar and restaurant. The establishment has focused on building a sense of community, said Metrograph director of programming Inge de Leeuw, which ensures people keep coming back. MacKay said she’s also found people are looking for connection, community and a place they can go.
“Everybody wants movies in their lives, whether they know it or realize it or not,” MacKay said. “To save this thing, you have to make available every point of access for it. You have to make a return to a social experience.”
While independent theaters are taking different paths to success, they have one thing in common: They want to keep introducing new and classic films to audiences.
“You want to learn something about somebody, sit in the darkness and watch movies with them,” Smith said. “You will learn a lot about a person. You’ll find out if they’re empathetic. You’ll find out what makes them laugh. You’ll find out if there’s a real human being there, if there’s a heart underneath that all, man.”
Entertainment
Diane Keaton, quirky and iconic actress known for “Annie Hall” and “The Godfather,” dies at 79

Diane Keaton, the quirky actress known for her roles in “Annie Hall,” “The Godfather,” and the “Father of the Bride” films, has died at 79, Dori Rath, a producer and friend of Keaton, confirmed to CBS News in a phone call on Saturday.
Additional information was not immediately available. Keaton’s family, which has not responded to CBS News’ inquiries, has not released a statement, and is not planning to today, according to Rath.
People Magazine, which first reported Keaton’s death, said the actress died in California on Saturday, Oct. 11, citing a family spokesperson.
An actress for more than four decades, the beloved star thought she would be a singer, telling “CBS Sunday Morning” in February 2010, “I wanted to sing. I did everything I could to be a singer.”
Born in 1946 in Los Angeles, Keaton appeared on the stage in the musical “Hair” at 22 years old and then in Woody Allen’s “Play It Again, Sam” in 1968, for which she would receive a Tony nomination.
Keaton said her voice wasn’t good enough, and she moved on to acting, making her first film appearance in “Lovers and Other Strangers” in 1970, while her many early TV credits include appearances on “Mannix,” “The F.B.I.,” “Night Gallery,” and “Love, American Style.”
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She starred as Al Pacino’s girlfriend Kay in “The Godfather” in 1972 and repeated the role in the crime saga’s two sequels. The couple became romantically involved after the filming of The Godfather Part II, Keaton said.
Keaton then became well-known for a string of movies she did with famed director Woody Allen — starting one of the 70s most enduring screen partnerships. She starred in “Manhattan,” “Annie Hall,” and “Love and Death, among others.
She said she had a “huge crush” on Allen right from the moment she saw him.
“He was hilarious,” Keaton told “CBS News Sunday Morning.”
She was also romantically linked to Warren Beatty, who directed her and with whom she co-starred in “Reds.”
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Keaton won her first Oscar for “Annie Hall” — an exceptionally rare win for a comic performance — at the 50th Annual Academy Awards and would go on to be nominated three more times, for “Reds,” “Marvin’s Room,” and “Something’s Gotta Give.”
Keaton never married and didn’t start a family until she was 50, saying she was “a late developer.” Keaton said if she got married, she would’ve had to “compromise too much.”
She said she wanted to try more adventurous things for herself and also said she was “afraid of men.” She said she was always being turned down and overlooked. “I wasn’t marriage material.”
Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File
She adopted two children when she was in her 50s: a daughter, Dexter, and a son, Duke. Keaton said she really enjoyed being a daughter and didn’t embrace parenthood until after her father died.
“I had to accept I had to move on,” she said.
She continued to act throughout her life, her last appearance coming in 2024’s “Summer Camp.”
Hollywood stars pay tribute to Diane Keaton
Tributes to Keaton poured in from fellow Hollywood actors after they learned of her passing.
In a post on social media, Bette Midler said, “I cannot tell you how unbearably sad this makes me.”
“[Keaton] was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star,” Midler, who starred alongside Keaton in “The First Wives Club,” wrote on Instagram. “What you saw was who she was…oh, la, lala!”
Kimberly Williams-Paisley, who played Keaton’s daughter in “Father of the Bride,” said working with the legendary actress will always be one of the highlights of her life.
“You are one of a kind, and it was thrilling to be in your orbit for a time. Thank you for your kindness, your generosity, your talent, and above all, your laughter,” she wrote.
In a short tribute posted to X, actor and comedian Ben Stiller said Keaton was “one of the greatest film actors ever.”
“An icon of style, humor and comedy. Brilliant. What a person,” Still wrote.
Nancy Sinatra, actor, singer and the daughter of Frank Sinatra, said she adored and idolized Keaton.
“She was a very special person and an incredibly gifted actor, who made each of her roles unforgettable. Her light will continue to shine through the art she leaves behind,” she said. “Godspeed, Diane. My heart goes out to her family and to each of us grieving this heartbreaking loss.”
Mandy Moore, who acted as Keaton’s daughter in the film “Because I Said So”, said it was an honor of a lifetime to get to call her “mom” for a few months.
“What an incandescent human Di is and was,” Moore wrote on Instagram, sharing an image of the two together from the 2007 film. “I am so sad she’s gone for all the reasons but also because it felt like she’d be here forever, dazzling us with her talent and charm (and her style, c’mon)!!! One of the very best to ever do it. All my love to her children and loved ones.”
Entertainment
Queen Elizabeth II dancing skills protected by ‘NDA agreement’

Queen Elizabeth II had a cheeky side to herself, says a professional dancer.
Strictly Come Dancing’s La Voix is tou bhi g upon a time she met Her Majesty at the Dorchester Hotel to celebrate Christmas party thrown by Prince William and Prince Harry.
The dancing professional spills she spotted then Elizabeth II shaking a leg to Bruno Mars’ chart-topping hit, Uptown Funk.
She said of what she witnessed: “I’ve [performed] for the Royal Family for two years in a row. I did their New Year’s Eve party at the Dorchester for two years in a row for Prince William and Harry – it was their party and it was amazing.
“Obviously there were loads of NDAs signed and things that I’m not allowed to talk about – I can’t give you too much – but, I can say, I’m one of the only people to have watched the Queen dance to Uptown Funk, Queen Liz.”
“She was amazing! The biggest experience I had from that was it was like watching a regular family have a party – it just felt so normal and so wonderful. I was really honoured to have been able to do that, it was amazing,” she added.
Entertainment
Ed Sheeran reveals his final album will be dropped after death

Ed Sheeran has made an eerie confession.
In a recent interview with Zane Lowe, the 34-year-old musician revealed that he will never stop contributing to the music industry, even after his death.
For those unversed, his latest album Play dropped on September 12.
During the chat, Sheeran explained that he has arranged for a posthumous album to be released after his passing, with his wife Cherry Seaborn, mother to their two children, in charge of its completion.
“Eject is the album in the will,” he shared.
“It’s actually in my will and Cherry gets to pick the tracks for it. It’s fully in [the will] if I were gone tomorrow.”
The English singer said the album would include songs spanning from when he was 18 until his final years, with Cherry deciding which ones make the cut.
“Lots of people won’t like that of me,” Sheeran admitted. “But there will be lots of my fans that would find that super interesting.”
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