<<< May 7 - 13, 2009 >>>

Also, May 21 – 29 at the Aero Theatre Featuring Some Repeated Titles and Some Unique!

Seeing a movie shot in or blown up to the 70mm format is always something special. It brings a unique exhilaration to an audience that is hard to define, akin to childhood experiences on amusement park rides or at magical Saturday afternoon matinees in bygone-era movie palaces. From Super Technirama 70 to Ultra Panavision to Dimension 150 and more, the 70mm large-screen format promised – and delivered – a Barnum-esque world of spectacular sights and 6-track sounds. If the movies were always larger than life, then 70mm movies were MUCH, much larger! From 1955 to 1970 – the Golden Age of 70mm filmmaking – there were nearly 60 Hollywood features shot in large-format, with many more released in special engagements as 35mm-to-70mm blow-ups (which still offered superior sound and image quality to their 35mm counterparts). This time around we’ll be screening 70mm prints of THE WILD BUNCH, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, THE ROAD WARRIOR, LIFEFORCE, VERTIGO, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, THE UNTOUCHABLES and more! Plus a very special evening at the Aero with James Cameron in-person with his own impossibly rare 70mm prints of ALIENS and THE ABYSS!

Thursday, May 7 – 7:30 PM

70mm! THE WILD BUNCH, 1969, Warner Bros., 145 min. Saddle up for a screening of director Sam Peckinpah’s magnificent, ultra-violent Western, starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Warren Oates and Jaime Sanchez as a band of doomed outlaws trying to outrun history. Exceedingly controversial upon its initial release, THE WILD BUNCH forever changed the way violence was depicted and perceived in the movies. And it is even more startling in its bigger-than-life 70mm incarnation. Co-starring a tough guy’s who’s who of western greats, including Robert Ryan, Edmond O’Brien, L.Q. Jones, Bo Hopkins and Strother Martin. Trailer

Friday, May 8 – 7:30 PM

70mm! LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, 1962, Sony Repertory, 216 min. Dir. David Lean. Peter O’Toole was catapulted to stardom as the tortured Man Who Would Not Be King, T.E. Lawrence, who helped the Arabs revolt against European and Ottoman hegemony. Director David Lean’s epic is a timeless masterpiece – as close to perfect as a film can get. Featuring one of the finest casts in any motion picture: Omar Sharif (in his first major English-speaking role), Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Claude Rains and Alec Guinness as Prince Faisal. Director of Photography Freddie Young’s 70mm photography is rightly considered to be a work of genius, matched by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson’s screenplay, Maurice Jarre’s stirring score and John Box’s production design. Winner of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. "The word 'epic' in recent years has become synonymous with 'big budget B picture.' What you realize watching LAWRENCE OF ARABIA is that the word 'epic' refers not to the cost or the elaborate production, but to the size of the ideas and vision." – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times Trailer

Saturday, May 9 – 7:30 PM

70mm Double Feature:

THE ROAD WARRIOR,1981, Warner Bros., 94 min. Hockey mask-wearing Lord Humongous whips his speed-freaks into a frenzy, while Mad Max, the Road Warrior (Mel Gibson), tries to save the remnants of civilization in director George Miller’s lean, mean thrill machine – along with James Cameron’s ALIENS, the finest action film of the decade. And as in the case of ALIENS, this film sequel manages to be every bit as good -- if not better than -- the original. Trailer

LIFEFORCE, 1985, Sony Repertory, 101 min. Sex-starved space vampire Mathilda May terrorizes the world while looking for something to wear, in director Tobe Hooper’s gleeful, over-the-top sci-fi flick – one of the great pulp movies of the 1980s. Steve Railsback co-stars as the lovestruck astronaut dazzled by May’s charms, with help from Peter Firth as a government agent and "Star Trek’s" Patrick Stewart as the head of an asylum. Co-starring Frank Finlay, Michael Gothard (THE DEVILS). Trailer

Sunday, May 10 – 7:30 PM

70mm! 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, 1968, Warner Bros., 139 min. Arthur C. Clarke was the author of more than 100 fiction and nonfiction books. He achieved his greatest fame in 1968 when his short story The Sentinel was turned into 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. Director Stanley Kubrick’s mindblowing meditation on the dangers (and wonders) of technology, the limitless vistas of space, and the future of the human race itself is one of the Cinematheque’s most requested movie titles. This is another opportunity to see one of the essential cinema experiences on the giant screen, in truly psychedelic 6-track stereo sound! With Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood as the in-for-the-long-haul astronauts, two men who enjoy the companionship of the ship’s supercomputer HAL –until HAL starts getting his own ideas on what is best for the mission. Trailer

Wednesday, May 13 – 7:30 PM

70mm! VERTIGO, 1958, Universal, 128 min. With its stunning visuals and gripping characters, Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological suspense masterpiece continues to entrance audiences. Showcasing Kim Novak in a startling dual role, VERTIGO finds suspended San Francisco detective "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart) becoming obsessed with Madeleine Elster (Novak), a troubled woman he is privately hired to follow. Tragedy ensues, and when Ferguson later stumbles upon Judy Barton (also played by Novak), a young woman who bears a striking resemblance to Madeleine, his obsession spirals out of control. Trailer