Stepping into The Flicks in downtown Boise is a step into a cinephile’s wildest dreams.
On the left, a ticket taker with a welcoming smile on their face stands in front of a vast library of DVDs available to rent — films from every genre and country one can imagine. To the right, a full bar and kitchen offers snacks, burgers and beverages to satisfy mid-movie cravings.
This is the environment Carol Skinner was looking to create when she and her husband Rick opened The Flicks in Boise in 1984. The couple wanted to recreate the magic captured in indie cinemas from other cities.
Carol Skinner was born in Tacoma, Wash., but her love for cinema was born in Fort Hood, Texas where her father was stationed in the Army.
Every Saturday afternoon, Skinner and a friend would go see a movie. After watching Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’, Skinner excitedly told her parents to go see the film, but her mom told her they were going to see ‘Tea House of the August Moon’ instead.
“25 years later, the studio released a 25 year anniversary edition of ‘Vertigo’, and I called my parents, and I said I just want you to know they’re not showing a 25 year anniversary of ‘Tea House of the August Moon’,” Skinner quipped.
Skinner’s love for cinema stayed with her after her move back to Tacoma as an adult. There, she continued to explore the independent film sphere. However, the most memorable movie theater from her life wasn’t in Texas or Tacoma.
The Harvard Exit in Seattle, Wash., screened the kind of eccentricities that mainstream theaters didn’t think they could make enough money from. It featured introductions from the theater owners on why they chose to screen the films, furnishings from the 1920s, fresh flowers in the bathrooms and a piano in the lobby.
The theater also happened to be within walking distance of Skinner’s college apartment. On her evenings off from the University of Washington and working as a dental office secretary, she would stop by for both the films and the community experience. The Harvard Exit is now closed, but it lives on through the inspiration Skinner took from it when opening The Flicks.
Skinner made her way to Boise after divorcing her first husband in Washington. She moved in with her cousin, who introduced her to a man named Rick Skinner. Rick shared Carol’s love for film, and the two instantly clicked.
On their first date, Rick asked Carol what she would be doing if she wasn’t working with dentists, and she said she’d open an art theater because without one, she didn’t think she’d stick around.
“He said, ‘oh that’s really great, because I have the blueprints for that in my trunk, would you like to see them?’,” Skinner recalled with a smile. “And he had already bought this land.”
Rick owned the land The Flicks has sat on since 1984, when she and Rick opened with just one screen and a whole lot of love for film in the Boise community. Rick also owned the law office next door, and the couple sold it to invest in their shared dream.
Over 40 years later, The Flicks is a pillar of independent cinema in Boise. It bustles with crowds on weekends, but on weekdays, you can find regulars sitting with a hot drink by the fire or in riveting conversation with employees. The welcoming environment attracts a warm and inviting community.
“[Skinner] cares a lot about this place, and she just wants to make sure it’s the best it can be,” said Flicks employee Valentine Heaton. “She puts a lot into The Flicks, and we would not be here without her.”
“It’s a very inclusive and progressive business compared to a lot of other places in Boise,” said McKenna Walsh, a Boise State student and Flicks employee. “This job gave me the greatest sense of community with people.”
“It’s more fun here,” Skinner said of what makes The Flicks so special in comparison to chain theaters that’ve come and gone. “You can have wine, and we mostly have better movies. The popcorn is better, we use real butter and we make warm chocolate chip cookies that you probably don’t make at home. And you’ll see somebody that you know.”
