We already had tickets bought for the NIN concert in Chicago coming up on Friday, October 7. Then Christy noticed that 2001: A Space Odyssey is playing at The Music Box that weekend, in 70mm. The key to what I just wrote is the "in 70mm" part. Viewing a true 70mm film is a breathtaking experience. And it is an experience that few have undertaken due to the paucity of theaters that have a 70mm projector on which to show these films. There is only one such theater in Chicago, and there are only a handful remaining across the country. I have been fortunate enough to view several 70mm films at Roger Ebert's film festival in Champaign, Illinois, which remarkably enough has a historic theater with a 70mm projector. Most of the remaining 70mm projectors are to be found in large metropolises like Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, and Atlanta.
I have already seen 2001 in 70mm at the Virginia in Champaign. It was stunning. And everyone among the crowd of 1,200 that saw it with me would agree. The print was absolutely pristine. A couple of the special guests that night (including Keir Dullea) remarked that it looked even better than they remembered it looking when it opened back in 1969.
Unfortunately, the filmgoing experience at The Music Box will fall a little short of the Virginia experience. The Box's screen is about 1/3 the size of the screen at the Virginia. To make up for this deficiency I am going to sit up front, probably in the first five rows. 2001 is a spectaculary visceral experience that loses a lot on television.
Oh, I almost ended this post without describing exactly what the difference is between 70mm and 35mm, the standard for today's film releases. 70mm is brighter and sharper. Much sharper, almost to the point of seeming 3 dimensional. If 70mm is so good, then why was the format largely abandoned by the early 1970s? Cost. The film and cameras were much more expensive, which is why only select movies were filmed in 70mm.
