Movies: From the arthouse to your house

There's nothing like catching a movie on its opening weekend -- the stadium seating, the smell of popcorn, the buzz of Oscar-worthy performances booming through state-of-the-art sound systems.

But thanks to video on demand (VOD), cable TV subscribers now can watch some of the latest indie films from the comfort of their own couch.

Although Lars von Trier's "Antichrist" -- one of the most controversial films from this year's Cannes festival -- opened Friday at the Lagoon Cinema in Minneapolis, it's been available for 2 1/2 weeks to 500,000-plus local Comcast subscribers through the IFC in Theaters pay-per-view program.

Moreover, these films stay available for 90 days or so, compared with a few weeks in theaters (if they're lucky).

IFC, which branched out from cable TV to feature-film production 12 years ago, launched its pay-per-view service in 2003. On-demand helps the company hedge its bets by broadening the potential audience for its theatrical releases.

"The theatrical business is tough," said IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring, with expenses skyrocketing and revenue in constant flux. Plus, "the prices to acquire movies went up dramatically and we saw a lot of great movies going without distribution."

As a result, the company added a second service last year: IFC Festival Direct, featuring films bought from worldwide festivals.

Besides the 24 titles a year carried by IFC in Theaters, "we were seeing another 75 to 100 really good films," Sehring said. "For [those] titles, the economics didn't make sense to go out to invest in prints and spend the money in advertising."

Now viewers can choose from as many as 16 films at a time. Each costs $6.99 for a 24-hour rental. Titles include "Uncertainty," featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, star of this summer's indie breakout hit "(500) Days of Summer"; "Paris," a French drama with Oscar winner Juliette Binoche, and Swedish director Lukas Moodysson's English debut, "Mammoth," featuring Michelle Williams and Gael García Bernal (available starting Wednesday).

Many of these films might otherwise have gone straight to DVD, or into obscurity.

A plus for filmmakers, too

Thanks to VOD, filmmakers are "able to connect with audiences and see more revenue on the back end," Sehring said.

Chicago-based filmmaker Joe Swanberg has released his three most recent films on IFC's VOD platform, including this year's "Alexander the Last."

"VOD is really great because it can make small films available to a very wide audience," Swanberg said by e-mail. "It also makes the films available to people who live outside of major cities without having to wait months or years for films to hit DVD."

On-demand also can be the crucial piece of the puzzle that makes a film profitable.

IFC released the British political comedy "In the Loop" both in U.S. theaters and on VOD July 24. So far, the film has sold about $2.4 million in tickets, plus another 100,000 on-demand buys (at $7 apiece), according to Sehring.

With on-demand revenue growing at 20 percent a year overall, according to industry estimates, it seems inevitable that other distributors -- maybe even major studios -- will follow IFC's lead. Magnolia Pictures has experimented with VOD, making some of its films available via Amazon.com before their theatrical release, including Steven Soderbergh's latest, "The Girlfriend Experience." Three years ago, the cable service HDNet offered Soderbergh's "Bubble" the same day it was released in theaters.

Still, even Sehring admits the living-room couch isn't his first choice.

"Would I rather watch a movie in a movie theater, especially one of our movies?" he said. "Absolutely. But I can't go out every night."