When I first moved to Los Angeles, I was blown away with the Arclight theater in Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard. Amazing screens, great picture and sound, no commercials, limited trailers, and something novel to me: assigned seating. You could either show up and select your seats or, the way we roll in a post Year-Two-Thousaaaaand world, on the internet. And it was good. I could decide to see a movie on say, Thursday, buy tickets for Friday night, show up 5 minutes before the film started and have a good time. It became the only way to see movies for me. No getting to the theater early to stand in line to make sure I got good seats. I could just buy them early. All it took was a little forethought. In fact it was such a good idea and became so popular in LA that a lot of our theaters are reserved seating. And that’s kind of a bad thing.

The Shriekfest Film Festival, held yearly here in Los Angeles since the year 2000 (the year twooo-thousaaaaaaaand) has a special place in my heart. It was the first festival I ever covered and one of the first times I realized that saying “Press” meant I didn’t have to pay for things. But it’s deeper than that. Shriekfest is a true filmmaker’s festival. You won’t show up to find big studio pictures being played or people walking down a red carpet, smiling, waving, leaving. When the cast and crew shows up, they sit there with you in a small theater. Hang around to answer your questions. That’s pretty cool. Showcasing both shorts and features, there’s plenty to see for any horror or science-fiction fan. Sure, not every thing you see is going to blow your mind, but every year you’ll manage to find a handful of gems before anyone else gets a chance to see them. On to the winners!

This week’s Culture Warrior takes a look at three great American cities and their equally great cultures of movie nerd-dom.

We got a chance to talk to the star of In Search of a Midnight Kiss and, now, Independent Spirit Award Winner Scoot McNairy about love and loss in Los Angeles.

While everyone is busy lambasting Righteous Kill, head to your favorite video spot and rent Michael Mann’s amazing Heat this weekend. You won’t miss going to the theater if you do.