In a major article for LA Weekly, writer Gendy Alimurung takes a sobering look at the future of cinema and it isn't pretty, at least if you're a purist who values 35mm film. The mad rush to go to all digital projection is being driven by the major studios because it saves them a fortune in terms of producing prints and shipping them to theaters. With digital, those costs are reduced to a trickle as the "print" is basically a lightweight unit that plugs into a projection system. Picture perfect quality is also an upside- unless you're a film director like Christopher Nolan, who shot his forthcoming Batman epic The Dark Knight Rises on traditional 35mm film. Nolan is among those filmmakers who think that the alleged purity of digital pales in comparison to 35mm. These die hard adherents to traditional film also point out some of the other downsides of digital: the data costs more to store and is very vulnerable to destruction. (An accidental touch of a "delete" button almost erased the master copy of Toy Story 2 for all eternity.) Additionally, theaters are less-than-happy about digital, especially smaller, independent establishments. It can cost up to $150,000 for a theater to convert to digital. Studios are helping to subsidize the cost, but only for a while. After that, procrastinators will have to front the entire expense themselves. The digital revolution will mean the end of many boutique, art house cinemas. They simply won't have product to play. Studios will no longer be investing in restoration of movies in 35mm format. Once the existing prints are deemed too worn out, a movie will no longer be available in 35mm. Additionally, it's clear that studios will not be investing in transferring mid-range and "B" movies to the digital format, meaning a lot of quirky films might not be available in any format once studios get out of renting 35mm prints. (Paramount has only one 35mm print of Breakfast at Tiffanys available for rental, as the studio is pushing its new digital, restored version.) To read the article click here