“The Monkey” Chicago Premiere at the Music Box Theatre
The Monkey is a brand new horror movie that has yet to be released in public theaters as I am writing this, but I was able to see it early. I attended the Chicago premiere of the movie at the historic Music Box Theatre in the Lakeview neighborhood. It was also an extra special premiere because the director was there and stayed after to answer questions about the movie.
The Music Box Theatre is one of the oldest still-operating movie theaters in Chicago. It opened during the Great Depression in 1929, and the construction has not been modified since. They have done an incredible job of maintaining the classic feel, both inside and out, and actually just recently renovated the main theater with new seats and a ton of refurbishments. Besides hosting premieres and special events like this one, they also regularly screen new movies like other theaters. They also have a ton of programs where they screen older, classic movies from throughout the years, usually with some seasonal theme or specific reason. Given the large population of film and television students at DePaul as well as its close proximity to the Lincoln Park campus, the Music Box is unsurprisingly a very popular spot for students to go see movies, both recent releases and old favorites.
The vibe for this event was awesome. I am a computer science major who enjoys movies, but I went to this premiere with my friends who are all film majors and REALLY enjoy movies. They had been to premieres before, but this was my first. The biggest surprise to me was the feel of the audience. It could be because this was a horror movie, and more of a comedic one at that, but the people in the theater had some big reactions to a lot of the scenes on screen. Every movie I’ve been to at a normal theater always has that pre-movie message about being quiet, and people will shush you if you talk. This was totally different, and I felt encouraged to react to what was going on during the movie. The entire experience of the premiere was really fun, and I think the vibe of the Music Box with the gothic architecture and the pre-show organist really added to the whole atmosphere.
As I mentioned, the director was at the premiere and took questions from an interviewer for about 30 minutes after the movie. We were all hoping he would take questions from the audience, but unfortunately that did not happen. His name is Osgood Perkins, and he recently released a different horror movie starring Nicolas Cage called Longlegs. That movie has gained a good amount of popularity, and so it was very cool that he made the trip out for this premiere. He took questions about The Monkey, obviously, but also about Longlegs as well as his general filmmaking process and thoughts on things related to that. He had a fun demeanor, and it was surprisingly cool to watch the movie and then have the person who made it talk about the process directly after.
I tend to write about these types of events a lot, but this is one of those things that I was only able to go to because I chose DePaul and DePaul is located in Chicago. The city is filled with places like the Music Box that end up hosting events like this premiere. The best part is, you really don’t need to put in that much effort to find them thanks to the internet and social media. Going to events like these have been some of my favorite things I’ve done in my time as a DePaul student, and they always serve to remind me how cool of a city Chicago is.
~Jeff