The Daily Triangle

By Harold

The Varsity Theatre had been operating for 83 years in the middle of downtown Chapel Hill… until it closed this spring. And this summer when I told anyone who had ever set foot in Chapel Hill that The Varsity closed, I would get a look back like I just said someone they knew had died.

How great was the theater? It was hard to judge from the eulogies that were written. Within weeks, it started getting The Rathskeller treatment. That is what I refer to articles like this from the Chapel Hill historical society about another landmark that recently closed, a place with the worst nickname of all time for a restaurant: “The Rat.”

Fortunately I had the opportunity to eat at The Rat while at Duke, and had the legendary lasagna, which was seriously a vat of boiling cheese (as the above article suggests) like fondue but with nothing to dip into it but your fork. I did appreciate the history of the place, but when the owner blamed the “changing business climate” for its closing, I can’t help but think that translates to “other restaurants opened with better food options.”

Unlike The Rat, I assumed I would just be forced to rely on other people to know how great The Varsity was. But then an amazing thing happened. Presumably while Starbucks and Barnes & Noble were fighting over the space, a local couple bought the theatre and reopened it right before Thanksgiving, and with a motto near and dear to my heart.

I finally went tonight to see The Informant. First of all, it’s hard to complain when you only spend $3. And since I actually haven’t seen a movie since I moved to Chapel Hill, second-run is like first-run to me. It’s nicely furnished and it’s the only movie theater that’s walking distance to campus. There’s two screens and neither was showing Twilight.

Now the downsides: it’s incredible how much I took arena seating for granted. And unless it’s an epic disaster movie that requires a big screen, or a comedy that’s much funnier if drunk people around you are laughing (see: The Hangover) it’s so easy just get the movie from Netflix and watch it at home. That’s not a complaint about the Varsity, just a statement about moviegoing in general nowadays.

Final verdict: I give the place three stars*, one for each dollar it costs. Great to have The Varsity back, if only so I don’t have to hear people reminisce about it.

*Or, according to the original Daily Triangle rating system, I give it three out of five baskets of hushpuppies.