#Statement: On a recent Monday night, the amber lights flashed across the marquee of the State Theatre in a stunning blaze, drowning out the competing glare from the traffic signals at the intersection of East Liberty and State streets. The streets were empty and slushed over, and most of the storefronts were beginning to shutter as the evening came to a resolute end. Yet there I was, standing under the facade, reading the names of films that were then playing: “Nickel Boys,” “The Brutalist,” “A Complete Unknown,” “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” The titles spoke to me in methodically spaced black font, asking me to select which one would entertain me for the night. While I had already decided much in advance that I would watch Brady Corbet’s post-war epic “The Brutalist,” I allowed myself to be enamored with the spectacle of the State Theatre’s exterior for a moment longer. While there isn’t an exact figure for the number of independent theaters in southeastern Michigan, the State Theat...