The owner of the quaint little Manlius Art Cinema likes to greet his patrons before the film rolls.

Here’s the skinny at the Manlius Art Cinema.

When my dear wife Karen and I visited his narrow little joint to see Jackie during its exclusive run, Mr. Nat Tobin went up to the front and got some stuff off his chest.

He’s had to rework the theater’s web site, he said. You’ll now find descriptions about the movie showing.

That’s a good addition, I thought.

Then he went on. He complained that the change came because “The Syracuse Newspapers” refuse to list art films next to mainstream films. Well, sir. I did not need to hear about any fight you may be having with the Syracuse media before seeing the movie. Besides, here’s my opinion, if you care: Anybody who takes the trip to see an “arts film” in this day and age doesn’t do so because of details caught in a newspaper grid. Also, you should have the movie description on your site because some folks might keep it bookmarked on their devices and use it as a reference, as in: “would I like to see what’s playing at the Manlius Arts Cinema this week?”

Now that you’ve got my Grumpus going …

It’s nice that you talk about the movie that’s about to be shown. But please be careful about playing the spoiler. I thought you gave away too much about the motivations within Jackie.

Also, please have some of the younger folks I saw selling popcorn and such get a Swifter and reach up to clean the cobwebs off the fixtures that line the walls of the theater room. I feared that the one over my head would catch a breeze and come down upon me.

Anyway, thanks for bringing arts films to Central New York.

Where do you get your movie details these days? How much do you want to know about a movie before you see it? Would you embrace a little talk about the movie before it starts?