This week, at an IMAX theatre with 70mm film equipment, I’ll see 2001: A Space Odyssey in a theatre and in 70mm for only the second time in my life. I was a kid the first time, here:
The marquee of the RKO Boston Theatre, April 1968
I believe I’m in for a treat:
“For the first time since the original release, this 70mm print was struck from new printing elements made from the original camera negative. This is a true photochemical film recreation. There are no digital tricks, remastered effects, or revisionist edits. This is the unrestored film – that recreates the cinematic event that audiences experienced fifty years ago.” – Christopher Nolan
US 70mm film screenings are listed here. UK and Ireland listings here.
Lucky you! You going to New York to see it at Lincoln Square? That is a grand theater. Report back afterwards and let us know who it was.
Thanks!
Deb.
New York would be nice, but this one is about ten miles from my office – and twenty miles from where I first saw it. Ha! It’s playing in several places in the Northeast, details here.
I should have known that there would be special screenings of some sort for the 50th anniversary, but I’m embarrassed to admit that I found out only by happenstance just this morning while looking for a picture of the RKO Boston Theatre during the premiere of the film.
The screening last night was nice. There was a bit of a focus problem (yes, I did remember my glasses) for a while, but it improved. The “butt kickers” under the IMAX seats only kicked in during the stargate sequence, making me uneasier than usual at that part – entirely appropriate.
The theatre was only one-third full, but they were well-behaved for the most part – for instance, there was complete silence during the no-sound spacecraft scenes. The number of bright screens before it started worried me, but they all shut them off when the lights dimmed.
However, the guy – my age, fercripesake! – three seats to my right turned his phone on three times during the first half of the film to reply to incoming texts that flashed bright white on his phone’s LED. Had he been just two seats away, I feel certain an involuntary spasm would have afflicted my entire right arm in the precise direction of his tapping hands. Needless to say, I moved after the fifteen-minute intermission.