The Flicks: Rick's Cafe Americain — Attraction in Boise

The Flicks, despite having a modest number of screens (4), works extremely hard to bring little-seen and hard-to-find first run films to the Treasure Valley. Owner Carole Skinner is constantly scouring festivals such as Sundance to find entertaining, enlightening and moving stories. There are always the more popular art films playing, as well as some unusual selections that'll help expand the scope one's film appreciation.

In addition to studio films, The Flicks is constantly working with regional organizations (Idaho Human Rights Center, Soroptimist International of Boise) to bring awareness to local films, filmmakers and causes. It's not unusual for one of the theaters to be booked to screen a documentary premiere or even a lecture. For many years the Flicks has also hosted one weekend of the i48 film festival, and several other festivals each year as well. They also host meetings for local non-profit groups such as The Triangle Connection and Humanists of Idaho.

The cafe is also just wonderful, with tasty foods available such as baked brie and hot panini sandwiches, as well as a selection of beers and wines. They've plenty of classic theater food as well, with special touches such as brewer's yeast on the popcorn and Italian sodas.

Lastly, the Flicks is one of the last places in Boise to rent films. They've a large selection of older cult films, classic flicks and recent releases. And their website updates what's in and what's been out every ten minutes, so you don't have to guess what's available (thank you, Flicks webmaster!).

A Treasure Valley institution, The Flicks works hard to be a center of community learning, growth and - as a theater should be -...

Very cool theatre! We love this little theatre we just found. As you can see by the other reviews, most people do. Lunch was great as well. Therefore, I will address accessibility. I use a mobility scooter. The parking lot is poorly marked but there is a handicap spot with a ramp. It just needs some paint on the lines. It is a narrow entrance but I fit in the front door. The only dilemna was the actual door to theatre 3 and 4 are extremley narrow and the ticket check podium is majorly in the way. So it took a little manuvering to get in and out without ripping my scooter arms. Once in the theatre, there is no place close to put my scooter as there is one handicap seat which has an empty spot next to it for a wheelchair in the far back. But I needed to transfer to a seat. My husband was able to assist me and move the scooter out of the aisle. I hope if they renovate, they keep this in mind. And the podium would be a very easy fix by relocating it to one side or the other. The seats have minimal leg room as expected for an old theatre. I am 5'6" and it was okay but my husband had to keep shifting around to keep his legs and knees comfortable. I did not visit the bathrooms. The concession area is comfortable. The staff were extremly kind and...

It doesn't seem like this theater has a policy in place to prevent late arrivals. My screening was at 4:20, which meant the movie started around 4:30, and someone showed up ten minutes later. This individual was joined by someone else twenty minutes after that. Since there is nothing separating the auditorium from a brightly lit adjoining room, each late arrival meant the entire auditorium was flooded with light. They then proceeded to talk through the remainder of the movie, which isn't the basis for this review, but further underscores their discourteousness.

I have to wonder how this was allowed to happen. Either they were able to buy tickets to a movie that was already underway, which shouldn't happen, or they bought them earlier and the ticket taker outside the auditorium still allowed them in, or perhaps was no longer present, neither of which should happen.

I hope someone who works for the theater reads this and finds a way to prevent this kind of thing from...