Jan 13, 2010

March 24th Sci-fi Double Bill @ the Mayfair Theatre, The Start of the Canadian Cult Revue!

 

eXistenZ 1999, Director by David Cronenberg, 97mins, 1.85, Dolby Digital, Rated R, 35mm, Studio print. 7PM

David Cronenberg's labyrinthine take on video games and virtual reality was most commonly compared to The Matrix when it was released in 1999, and the general consensus was that it suffered in comparison. Mainstream audiences were confused by its darker tone, and some critics, expecting dazzle, wrote it off as a lesser effort in the Cronenberg canon.  In retrospect, eXistenZ is a much better science fiction film than The Matrix, with real ideas, and much better performances including ones by leads Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Don McKellar.  A fairer comparison is to Cronenberg's own reality-bending works, like Naked Lunch and Videodrome, and it stands up well. So yourself plug in, play the game, and watch for those clues.


Cube 1998, Directed by Vincenzo Natali, 90mins, 1.85, Dolby SR, Rated R, 35mm, Archival print
9:15PM

Cube was the first feature film produced out of Norman Jewison's Canadian Film Centre.  An impressive directorial effort from Vincenzo Natalie, Cube follows the trials of seven individuals as they mysteriously awake inside of, and try to escape from, the Cube, a morphing prison-puzzle filled with death-traps.  A true representation of the sci-fi “What If” scenario, Cube acquits itself well both as a science fiction film and as a model of ingenious low-budget film making.

Jan 5, 2010

The 70mm Film Festival (The "Grandfather of IMAX")

Another film series we are working on is the 70mm Film Festival to be held in September 24th-26th, 2010 at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec. This festival will give audiences a chance to experience the once prominent, but now virtually "lost" wide-screen 70mm format with 6 track sound (the Museum has one of the only remaining 70mm projectors in the Ottawa area). For more detailed info go here.

The 70mm films booked so far include:


 










Lawrence of Arabia 6-track mag, Super Panavision 70
Spartacus  6-track mag, Technirama
Baraka 6-track mag, TODD-AO
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 6-track mag, Super Panavision 70
Untouchables (Blowup) 6-track mag, In 70mm Dolby Stereo
Star Trek VI (Blowup) 6-track mag, In 70mm Dolby Stereo
Top Gun (Blowup) 6-track mag, In 70mm Dolby Stereo
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Blowup), 6-track mag, In 70mm Dolby Stereo

Canadian 70mm Short Films:










Seasons in the Mind, 1971, 6-track mag, In 70mm

A Place to Stand, 1967, 6-track mag, In 70mm

Multiple Man, 1968, 6-track mag, In 70mm (NFB Produced Short Film)

Where the North Begins, 1971, 6-track mag, in 70mm

Festival, 1971, 6-track mag, In 70mm












The Museum of Civilization's 500 seat theatre, and the Victoria 8, 70mm projectors