<<< May 21 - 29, 2009 >>>

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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 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 21 – 7:30 PM

70 mm Print! TOMMY, 1975, Sony Repertory, 111 min. Having already brought an outlandish, hellzapoppin quality to such films as THE DEVILS, director Ken Russell was the perfect choice to helm The Who’s landmark rock opera TOMMY, transforming it into a stream-of-consciousness catalog of wild performances from the likes of Roger Daltrey, Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Tina Turner, Elton John, Keith Moon, Jack Nicholson and others. Trailer

Saturday, May 23 – 7:30 PM

70mm Print! 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

70mm Print! THE UNTOUCHABLES, 1987, Paramount, 119 min. Director Brian De Palma and screenwriter David Mamet turn the raw material of 1960s television and American crime history into the stuff of glorious cinematic mythology in this literate, visually arresting gangster epic. Kevin Costner is treasury agent Eliot Ness, Robert De Niro is his nemesis Al Capone, and Sean Connery is the grizzled cop who does things "the Chicago way" as bullets fly in dynamic, expertly staged action sequences. De Palma’s bloody riff on BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN’s "Odessa steps" sequence alone is worth the price of admission. Trailer

Sunday, May 24 – 7:30 PM

70mm Print! 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

Friday, May 29 – 7:30 PM SOLD OUT

70mm print! ALIENS, 1986, 20th Century Fox, 137 min. Seven years after Ridley Scott’s original ALIEN, Cameron returned with this sinister, explosive WWII movie in space, about a platoon of U.S. Marines stranded on planet LV-426. Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley is darker and richer here -- haunted by alien nightmares, going face-to-face with her deepest fears. Watch for Cameron’s flawless feel for detail and pacing in ALIENS, the way he builds suspense scene by scene (the creatures don’t even appear until almost 50 minutes into the movie!) With Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen and Paul Reiser. For added realism, director James Cameron hired Marine Corps vet Al Matthews as platoon sergeant -- "If one of the actors dropped their rifle, he’d run over and scream in their face, ‘Your rifle is your life, soldier! Give me 50!" -- Cameron. Trailer

70mm Print! THE ABYSS, 1993, 20th Century Fox, 172 min. Deep-water expert Ed Harris and soon-to-be ex-wife Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio square off against Navy SEAL Michael Biehn and a crew of N.T.I.'s (Non-Terrestrial Intelligences), in James Cameron’s gripping undersea epic. The stunning underwater scenes -- shot in a flooded nuclear cooling tower, with camera and diving gear developed by Cameron - soon became the stuff of Hollywood legend; but the film’s real power comes from its brilliant ensemble work and Cameron’s claustrophobic sense of suspense. Discussion in between films with director James Cameron. Trailer