If you're curious about the film that Sony Pictures shut down and then ultimately decided to release, you'll have to go to Canandaigua or Auburn.
Movietime Cinemas 10 in Canandaigua and MoviePlex 10 in Auburn are the only area theaters showing "The Interview." That's the comedy that portrays two tabloid journalists recruited by the CIA to kill North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. North Korea threatened 9-11 style attacks against any American theater that showed the movie.
Bill Yantz, owner of the Canandaigua and Auburn theaters, said he's not concerned about that, but he has taken extra security measures.
"When you go into a movie theater in this country, you go through a point where you have to buy a ticket. And when you buy a ticket, every single person there is viewed coming through the theater, which is unlike malls and department stores and grocery stores, where there is no control whatsoever. Here, we do have control."
Yantz said he did not hesitate to agree to show the film when he was contacted by a Sony representative. He said American movie-goers deserve the right to see it.
But, Derek Reis, general manager of The Little Theater, (which is operated by WXXI), questions Sony's motives.
"Was it really, truly a problem from the beginning? Or was this what the underlying rumor suggests - a promotional plan to hype up a film which is, honestly, in my opinion, a bad film."
Reis said the Christmas Day release date provides some fuel for that theory.
"They're doing it on Christmas Day, which they know is one of the busiest days of the year. They just happened to come their senses and release this film on Christmas Day? They could have waited until the holidays were over and then released it to all the theaters that wanted to have it."
Reis said he never considered carrying "The Interview" at The Little because it's not the type of movie the theater's patrons and members would expect to see there.
