In this day and age, movies on par with “The Godfather,” “Casablanca” and “The Shawshank Redemption” are few and far between.

Many of today’s mainstream movies require their audience to have a decent beer buzz just to make it through the trailers, not to mention the full-length film. So why not officially synthesize the drug and the entertainment into a cinematographic event?

That’s just the idea behind Brew and View, which ingeniously joins the boisterous fun of a regular bar and the entertainment value of a kitschy mainstream movie. The Vic Theatre, located just west of the Belmont stop on the El, houses the offbeat movie theater when it isn’t functioning as a performance space for concerts.

Voted “Best Alternative Place to Hoist a Brew” in 2001 by Citysearch, Brew and View is known for its laid-back atmosphere. The audience often speaks along with the dialogue, spews sarcastic remarks and even dances.

“It breaks all the normal theatrical rules — in other words, you can eat, drink and smoke in the auditorium,” said general manager Dennis Borowski. “You can move the furniture around and put your feet up. Talking is allowed. You don’t have an usher running around, telling you to shush and all that.”

For communication senior and film major Emir Eralp, Brew and View’s low price was its main draw.

“I loved it,” he said. “You get pitchers for not very expensive, and you’re basically paying $5 to see two movies. Last time I went, I snuck in a bottle of pocket gin, so it was $7, which made it even cheaper.”

Eralp has seen “Kill Bill: Volume 2,” “Hellboy,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” and “Freddy vs. Jason” at Brew and View, and he enjoyed the bonus of bar-like rules every time.

“I’m a heavy smoker and you can smoke there, which is cool because you don’t have to go take a smoke break during the movie,” Eralp said.

With three bars open during the films, Brew and View hosts a cross-section of the bar-aged crowd. Borowski said his average customer is between 24 and 32, and equally male and female.

This week’s movies are “Alien vs. Predator” and “The Bourne Supremacy.” Most of Brew and View’s features are second- and third-run action and comedy films. The most popular in recent weeks were “Dodgeball” and “Anchorman,” according to Borowski. In addition to feature-length films, Brew and View also puts on special television events.

“We’ve done the Super Bowl, the Academy Awards — it’s like watching a 24-foot television, while the average TV is about 24 inches,” Borowski said. “We’ve done ‘Survivor’ premieres, the show ’24,’ ‘Enterprise’ — we even showed a couple before they aired on TV.”

Upcoming features include “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “Little Black Book” and “The Village.” “‘Team America’ is going to be the big, wild thing,” Borowski said.

If you’re looking to savor every nuance of cinematic mastery, Brew and View may not be your scene. But if you’re up for a good time and an “off-the-beaten-path” night at the movies for a $5 cover charge (and nightly drink specials), you may want to check it out.

“If it wasn’t at Belmont, and if it wasn’t freezing in winter, I’d probably be there every night,” Eralp said “Or at least every time there were new movies playing.”

Brew and View, which is 18 and over with valid ID, is open seven days a week unless the Vic is hosting a concert. Find showtimes and schedules at www.brewview.com.4

Medill freshman Anna Maltby is a PLAY writer. She can be reached at [email protected].

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No more shhhhhhh

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Laid-back ‘View’ joins theater and bar atmospheres

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anna maltby