Take a seat by MATTHEW HAYS It may not sound like earth-shattering news, but for those of us who love our cinemas as much as we do our movies, it is. The Imperial, easily the most beautiful and oldest Montreal cinema still in operation, has been equipped with entirely new seats. Bums everywhere will appreciate. Film critics too. The Imperial, of course, is the home of the World Film Fest, but also provides a home for Fantasia and a ton of other whacked film events (like last year's excellent Macabre Halloween film fest and the sci-fi fest of last summer). When there's so little commitment to keeping gorgeous places of worship like this open (most filmgoers, conventional wisdom has it, are more interested in megaplexes), the World Fest's organizers deserve praise for keeping the Imperial alive and granting it some new furniture. Screw the big noise and the arcade--this is the way to see movies. I was intrigued to see World ringmaster Serge Losique suddenly open up to the press and grant not one but two interviews over the weekend (at The Gazette and La Presse). The Gazette went as far as to intimate that Losique's lack of media exposure is simply due to a lack of interview requests made by journalists. Actually, I've been trying for years to get Losique to sit down and discuss the fate of the fest, but to no avail. He obviously chose his venues carefully, talking to old friends. Sure enough, when I phoned up the Fest to ask if Losique was continuing this new policy of openness, I was told he was simply too busy to chat about the World. As usual, the Cinéma du Parc is showing an odd concoction of movies this week, many of them rep faves. Playing on Friday (Aug. 25) and Sunday (Aug. 27) is The Marriage of Maria Braun, Fassbinder's masterpiece about the rather slutty gal expertly portrayed by Hanna Schygulla. Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris is a wee bit long at 165 minutes, but is well worth the sit (screening on Friday, Aug. 25 and Thursday, Aug. 31). And while we're in that part of the world, one of my favourite Swedes, Ingmar Bergman, continues to be toasted with a retrospective at the Parc. Regulars Liv Ullman and Max Von Sydow star in Shame (Friday and Saturday, Aug. 25-26, and Monday, Aug. 28), Bergman's meditation on war and morality. Those clever sods over at the Parc have also announced they'll be having a mini-John Waters fest. Those who haven't seen films like Pink Flamingos, Desperate Living and Female Trouble should get to these films, and pronto. I screened them for the first time when I was 18, and frankly, they changed my life. They are among the most twisted visions ever captured on celluloid and they've proven inspirational to many notable types, from David Letterman to Alan Rudolph to Armistead Maupin. The screenings begin next week. COMMENTS: mhays@mtl-mirror.com