In this week’s Chicago Tribune is an article by film critic Michael Phillips about the demise of the small-town movie theatre. Converting the projectors to digital costs money and mom-and-pop theatre owners just don’t have the fund since they’ve often been running on fumes. The problem is a lack of incentive, of course. The cost of creating a 35 mm print is about 12 times higher for the studios — from a dollars and sense perspective, this is a no-brainer. But what about from a cultural preservation perspective? Where is Henri Langlois when we need him?

(pictured: Justin West, owner and operator of the Galva Autovue drive-in theatre in Galva, Ill.)