The Projectionist

A boring documentary about a shallow and uninteresting man.

He seems like a lovely guy and his story is probably worth telling, as it is unusual but film or this film is not the way to do it.

Maybe 30 minutes of film or a long magazine article but not a feature length movie.

The Projectionist is an enjoyable documentary, of interest to anyone who is a movie-theatre buff, interested in the history of film exhibition, or just looking for a nostalgia piece about Manhattan/Brooklyn in the 70s and 80s.

Nicolas Nicolaou is a colorful but quietly subdued immigrant from Cyprus who fell into the movie-theatre business at a young age and worked his way up the ladder ...it's an "live the American dream" type of story. The movie works best when Nick is telling his history and expressing his love for the film-exhibition business, and probaby works worst (for many viewers) when we cut to scenes from porno films of the 70s and early 80s (Nicolas had success with adult-film theatres before he went mainstream).

Brooklyn in particular has a lot for which to thank Nicolas...few places in America these days still have a non-chain neighborhood movie theatre charging fair prices for tickets and refreshments. I wish him and his family the best, especially since 2020 has been so difficult for the film-exhibition business in particular. Hopefully Nick's theatres will continue to thrive and prosper long after the pandemic is dead and gone.