70mm Screenings in NYC

[Douglas Meltzer]

In September, the Paris Theater in Manhattan is having a number of 70mm screenings:

2001: A Space Odyssey

Baraka

Lawrence of Arabia

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Playtime

Roma

Top Gun

The Wild Bunch

I've never seen Baraka and have yet to see 2001 on a big screen. Now's my chance!

Just curious...is there a Manhattan Theater in Paris?

[Ed Gordon]

An article from 2018:

America took a great journey 50 years ago.

That journey was a movie, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” which premiered a half-century ago this month.

Heard of it? If so, you might wonder what all the excitement was about and why some still talk of the film as an unforgettable experience. “2001” is fairly slow moving, with a small cast and little dialogue. It’s also got a plot that’s challenging and difficult to follow, certainly nothing like a modern sci-fi thriller with its simplistic explosions and camera tricks.

If you’ve viewed it since then in the movies or via DVD, you haven’t “really” seen it. I saw it in a movie theater in Syracuse, N.Y., a house equipped to show it in Cinerama, which is the way it was designed to be shown – and the way in which this film really has to be experienced.

Cinerama, which has vanished from our movie universe, was a screen that literally wrapped partway around the theater, covering about 180 degrees of your vision. One reason for its disappearance was that the true format required a new super-wide screen and a three-projector system.

Only a few actual Cinerama movies were ever made from the early 1950s through the 1960s, and I can’t think of any since “2001.”

Cinerama was integral to this film, as to no other. It wrapped you in the world of the movie. When you saw the first piece of technology (a bone used by apes as a weapon) morph into a magnificent space ship, you couldn’t help but say silently “so this is how we got where we are.” No longer a viewer, you had become a participant in the story, isolated by the all-encompassing wide screen from your own daily distractions and carried along on a sweep of millions of years.

Try that kind of rumination while you’re sitting in front of your own puny TV, wondering if you’d remembered to ask for sausage on half the pizza.

“2001” enjoyed good success (and ticket sales) in its time, though some reviewers were puzzled, and now it enjoys landmark status.

Some aspects of the movie have passed into popular culture and are referenced today. The computer known by the acronym HAL quickly suggested to audiences the dark side of technology when it developed its own needs and purposes and set out to hijack the space mission. The snippet from “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” brought mass recognition to a provocative musical work from late 19th century.

Other aspects remain exciting mysteries for movie fans. What were those huge black monoliths, and what did they have to do with apes and humans alike? Who or what was the “space child” decked out in a protective suit and headed to Earth after a wild journey through a landscape of shape and color?

Regardless, we don’t see Cinerama movies these days. Other wide-screen formats such as Cinemascope, VistaVision, Todd AO and Panavision have conditioned the way we now look at films. But they don’t have the exaggeratedly wraparound effect. When you see them on your TV, it’s in letterbox format or with the sides chopped off.

If somewhere there is a theater with true Cinerama and it schedules a showing of “2001,” go see it, if you have not seen it in that form. As you watch, ask your own questions about what is happening, and what it might mean for civilization, just as audiences half a century ago did.

That wide-screen “space odyssey” might be the best trip you’ve ever taken.

Source: https://www.timesleader.com/features...ce-in-cinerama

[Osi Osgood]

I never knew that "The Wild Bunch" was a 70mm film .. or was it shot 35mm and blown up to 70mm?

[Brian Fretwell]

As for 2001 A Space Odessey being the last CInerama production, I saw a couple of other films in the Casino Cinerama in the west End of London after that. they were also 70mm Super Panavision 70 productions "Song of Norway" trailers for "Ice Sation Zebra" and "Grand Prix". Of course the last Super Panavision 70 film did not get a London Cinerama showing but on the flat screen at the Odeon Liecester square - it was "The Hateful Eight", at least ir was shown from a 70mm print with a 1:1.25 anamorphic lens!!

[Douglas Meltzer]

Osi,

Although shot in 35mm, The Wild Bunch has had 70mm showings since 1970. According to in70mm.com, "It featured six-track stereophonic sound and full-frame imagery blown up from anamorphic 35mm."

[Ed Gordon]

...
Although shot in 35mm, The Wild Bunch has had 70mm showings since 1970. According to in70mm.com, "It featured six-track stereophonic sound and full-frame imagery blown up from anamorphic 35mm."

The Wild Bunch, like 2001, was a milestone movie. Westerns no longer were "bang, bang, I win"

[Steve Klare]

Interesting: My 21 year old and I watched 2001 last night.

-as expected, he said what most people do:

"...-but what does it mean?!!"

I offered to take him to see it in 70mm, but I think he's still processing last night!

(He'll be ok!)😁

[Osi Osgood]

Well, I would assume that it would not be as stellar on 70mm as 2001.

[Graham Ritchie]

Impressive line up of 70mm films Doug, I have only ever watched Baraka on DVD and later Blu-ray. There was a 35mm that did the cinema run here a few years ago but never saw it at the cinema. It would be an excellent film to watch on 70mm that's for sure.

Regarding 2001 its worth watching Douglas Trumbull talking about it and other films he has worked on over the years, its very interesting.

[Melvin England]

Doug - Many years ago I saw both 2001 and Lawrence of Arabia in 70mm projected onto the Imax screen in Bradford UK. If you do get the chance to see these two films on the big screen in glorious 70mm, there is a word that describes them both that is thrown about quite casually these days but I use in its true sense. They are....... AWESOME !


The Wild Bunch ? 70mm ? Now there's a thought.....

[Douglas Meltzer]

Melvin,

I will be seeing both Lawrence & 2001 (not a double feature!). Baraka may not work with my schedule, but I'm still hoping.

[Melvin England]

Doug - You are in for a treat ! By the way, my viewings of 2001 and Lawrence were not a double feature. Both involved 140 mile round trips from my home, as did the other 70mm presentation I saw "Back To The Future - Part 2"

[Douglas Meltzer]

Melvin,

That would make an interesting double feature though, lasting over 6 hours and including 2 overtures! Good thing they both have an intermission.

[Brian Fretwell]

Possibly good for a "Midnight Matinee". The BFI IMAX did a couple of all night showings of the Dark Knight Trilogy that sold out in a day or so!!!

[Douglas Meltzer]

As a kid I once went to see a quadruple feature of monster movies. I stuck it out till the fourth one.