Seattle 70mm Film Festival September 30th-October 6th (1 Viewer)

[Adam Gregorich]

Just a heads up to anyone in the greater Seattle area that the Cimerama will be showing lots of 70mm films in September:


Film buffs will be treated to 15 classic widescreen movies during the Cinerama Film Festival, including extremely rare 70mm prints from studio vaults and the archives of The Academy of Motion Picture & Sciences.



The festival opens Sept. 30 at Seattle Cinerama Theatre and runs through Oct. 16. Opening weekend will feature two of only seven movies ever produced for Cinerama’s three-projector technology, This is Cinerama and How The West Was Won.



The other movies featured will be widescreen classics in 70mm, including West Side Story, Lawrence of Arabia and Cleopatra. The 70mm prints Cinerama goers will enjoy are on loan from Hollywood studios’vaults and rarely seen by general audiences, said theater operator Greg Wood. Prints will be loaned by The Academy of Motion Picture & Sciences, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Disney & MGM.



The festival is sponsored by Seattle Cinerama Theatre and SIFF.



3-Strip Cinerama films:

This Is Cinerama

How The West Was Won

70mm films:

The Sound Of Music

Lawrence of Arabia

Cleopatra

2001: A Space Odyssey

My Fair Lady

West Side Story

Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Playtime

Baraka

Lord Jim

South Pacific

Tron

For more details including the schedule please visit: http://seattlecinerama.com/761/70mm-film-fest/

 

[Sam Posten]

I know Tyler signed up for SOM, wish they had one of these on the east coast!

 

[Charles Smith]

I would kill for this on the east coast.

 

[MatthewA]

Wow. Just. Wow.


This sounds like the holy grail of large format film festivals. No blow-ups, and mostly recent prints.

 

[JeremySt]

I live in Seattle, but am moving to SoCal right before this festival starts. Im kinda cranky about it. Ive lived here for 4 years, and this is the first 70mm festival in my time here. Im considering staying or coming back for LOA and This is Cinerama

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Got tickets to take the kids to Chitty, Chitty. I'm looking at doing one or two others.

 

[dmiller68]

I might have to get tickets to a few of these. Thanks for sharing.

 

[MatthewA]

Has there been any talk about what the vintage of the prints is? I have not heard that Chitty got a reprint, because when the American Cinematheque showed it years ago they could only get a battered, red 70mm print. I would guess My Fair Lady is from the 1994 restoration.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Originally Posted by MatthewA

Has there been any talk about what the vintage of the prints is? I have not heard that Chitty got a reprint, because when the American Cinematheque showed it years ago they could only get a battered, red 70mm print. I would guess My Fair Lady is from the 1994 restoration.

I saw it today and unfortunately it was the battered print. The intermission title card was red, but the rest of the film was sepia, no color. They audio had serious issues and a rough reel change. I was actually surprised that they showed it as all the 70mm prints I have seen there in the past where really nice looking. If I had known it was that rough, I would have probably skipped it and bought tickets to another title. It was unfortunate that there was also a spot where two sections of the screen had separated on the left/center.

 

I attended six movies at this festival, from Thursday 10/6 through Saturday 10/8. "The Sound of Music" was a good 70mm print, but there were terrible problems with the soundtrack. The entire opening of the film played silent, up until near the end of Julie Andrews' title song. From then on, the sound would intermittently cut out, most unfortunately during "My Favorite Things" all the way into the middle of "Do Re Mi". It happened about 6 or 7 times. The theater was clearly embarrassed by all this and offered refunds. Later that night, "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" played perfectly. Looked like a new print too. The next three I saw, "West Side Story", "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Cleopatra", were also excellent prints, and the shows went off without a hitch. "Lawrence" was a Friday night sell-out. My final show was "2001" on Saturday, a near sell-out. This print was a little more beat up than the others, but I'm sure it's gotten the most use over the last few years. If I had to pick one show that stood out above all the others, I'd go with "West Side Story". It's been a favorite of mine since I was 8 years old, but I'd never seen it on that scale before, the way it was designed to be seen. I waited 50 years to see it in 70mm, and thanks to the Seattle Cinerama that dream was realized. Well worth the trip from New Jersey. Seattle is a really cool city, too. The Space Needle and the Monorail are 49 years old, but they still look like the future to me.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Originally Posted by Bill Huelbig

I attended six movies at this festival, from Thursday 10/6 through Saturday 10/8. "The Sound of Music" was a good 70mm print, but there were terrible problems with the soundtrack. The entire opening of the film played silent, up until near the end of Julie Andrews' title song. From then on, the sound would intermittently cut out, most unfortunately during "My Favorite Things" all the way into the middle of "Do Re Mi". It happened about 6 or 7 times. The theater was clearly embarrassed by all this and offered refunds. Later that night, "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" played perfectly. Looked like a new print too.

The next three I saw, "West Side Story", "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Cleopatra", were also excellent prints, and the shows went off without a hitch. "Lawrence" was a Friday night sell-out. My final show was "2001" on Saturday, a near sell-out. This print was a little more beat up than the others, but I'm sure it's gotten the most use over the last few years.

If I had to pick one show that stood out above all the others, I'd go with "West Side Story". It's been a favorite of mine since I was 8 years old, but I'd never seen it on that scale before, the way it was designed to be seen. I waited 50 years to see it in 70mm, and thanks to the Seattle Cinerama that dream was realized. Well worth the trip from New Jersey. Seattle is a really cool city, too. The Space Needle and the Monorail are 49 years old, but they still look like the future to me.

Thanks for the report Bill, I'm glad you were able to watch quite a few and enjoyed the city while you were here. My wife and I saw My Fair Lady a few years ago there in 70MM and it looked and sounded great. I wish I was able to make the two Cinerama showings this weekend, but I have other commitments.