captainsolo said:
Tack said:
I'm going to take a minute to talk about one of my favorite films and my uncanny habit of finding REALLY good showings of it; Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
First, my personal history with the film. One night, I came across the last half of it on AMC, and was totally mesmerized by it. I eventually caught the whole thing, and fell almost hopelessly in love with it.
A couple of years ago, I actually went to Devil's Tower itself. And, albeit on a 20 inch CRT monitor, I and fifteen others actually WATCHED the film itself at the foot of the mountain. It was one of my favorite film experiences ever.
Then, last night, I went to a showing at the Alama Drafthouse. Oh. My. God!
OK, first of all, we were shown the Duck Dodgers in the 24th1/2 Century cartoon right before. Awesome. Second, the print was... a print! And it was gorgeous, and epic, and had character. And, third... I ought to explain.
A couple months ago I went to a similar showing of Jaws, and there there was a guy who had brought a large collection of Jaws related memorabilia. It inspired me to do the same here, especially since I actually own a couple Starlog issues with Close Encounters-related stories and the Marvel comic. So, I brought them. This got me way farther than I expected.
Apparently word got around the ushers, and eventually... I got to look at the print myself! Not to mention, I had a great conversation with the projectionist about the art of real film being in decline and the replacing of it by digital prints.
And, if you're wondering what I think of the film after all this... It's still one of my favorite films.
Sometimes, it all just somehow inexplicably comes together.
I'd probably end up living in the Drafthouse if I ever get the chance to go. ;)
It'd be nice to see the original CEot3K on the big screen. Like this: (from the annual German 70mm festival last year. I want to cry every time I see photos of each year's event.)
Wow! Yeah, luckily their print was a 1999 strike of the director's cut, so not only were the colors and visual quality phenomenal, but it was a hybrid of my favorite scenes from the two previous versions. So, Cotopaxi and bathroom scene from special edition and the press conference and yard-destroying scene from the theatrical cut. It was the perfect combination.