Museum of the Moving Image Hosts See It Big!- Classics On The Big Screen
By: Gabrielle Sierra Oct. 24, 2011
The phrase "you've got to see it on the big screen!" is often heard by film audiences, and it's true-some movies were simply meant to be seen large. Embracing this concept and celebrating its stunning new theater, Museum of the Moving Image presents See It Big!, a series that showcases grand Hollywood epics, eye-popping sci-fi journeys, and other works by great visionary filmmakers. From October 28, 2011, through January 1, 2012, the series will include David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (in 70mm), Disney's Fantasia, Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Empire of the Sun, Jacques Tati's Play Time (in 70mm), Ridley Scott's Alien, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and Barry Lyndon, Terrence Malick's Tree of Life, James Cameron's Avatar (presented in 3-D), and more.
All the films in the series will be shown in the Museum's beautiful 267-seat theater-the centerpiece of the Museum's recent renovation and expansion-which was saluted as the" best theater in New York" by Moneyball director Bennett Miller and selected as the "best new theater for old movies" by New York Magazine. Conceived by architect Thomas Leeser as a space capsule for the imaginary voyage of moviegoing, the theater has a wraparound ceiling and walls made of 1,136 fabric panels in a sensuous, vibrant Yves Klein blue, altering the viewer's depth perception and encouraging a sensation of being suspended in space. With a screen of classic proportions and projection equipment for every format from 16mm to 70mm and high-definition digital 3-D, the theater provides an unsurpassed filmgoing experience.
See It Big! is guest-curated by Michael Koresky and Jeff Reichert, editors of Reverse Shot, a quarterly, independently published online film journal.
"The way we watch movies is getting smaller, in a lot of ways, thanks to iPads and iPhones and YouTube," said Michael Koresky. "We just wanted to give audiences the opportunity to see some of the great films of all time on the big screen, the way they were meant to be seen."
"In many cases, if you haven't seen these films in a theater, with the lights off, the sound cranked, and the images overwhelming you, then you haven't seen them at all," said Jeff Reichert. "With See It Big!, audiences have a chance to experience these films at the best theater in New York, possibly even the country."
In conjunction with the series, Reverse Shot will publish articles about the films being shown at the Museum.
SCHEDULE FOR 'SEE IT BIG!' OCTOBER 28, 2011-JANUARY 1, 2012
All screenings take place at Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35 Avenue at 37 Street, Astoria) in the Museum's main theater. Unless otherwise noted, screenings are free with paid Museum admission. Advance ticket purchase is available for some screenings online at movingimage.us or by calling 718 777 6800. The schedule below is also online at http://www.movingimage.us/films/2011/10/28/detail/see-it-big/
Alien
Friday, October 28, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 30, 4:00 p.m.
Dir. Ridley Scott. 1979, 116 mins. With Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Ian Holm. Ridley Scott's elegant creep-show transported the haunted-house genre to outer space. After a particularly nasty foreign agent smuggles itself-in famously gruesome fashion-onto a mining ship, the crew is picked off one by one. A gothic for the ages, thanks to the pitch-black widescreen compositions, Carlo Rambaldi's iconic creature design, and Weaver's star-making performance as Ripley.
The Shining
Saturday, October 29, 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Stanley Kubrick. 1980, 142 mins. With Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall. Rivers of blood spew from an elevator. The ghosts of two girls beckon in a hallway. An axe blasts through a bathroom wall to get at the terrified woman inside. With one grandly macabre image after another, Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's tale of a caretaker driven mad in a cavernous hotel during an isolated Colorado winter is a landmark of art horror.
Play Time
Friday, November 4, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 5, 3:00 p.m.
Dir. Jacques Tati. 1967, 124 mins. 70mm print restored by a consortium of French archives. Tati's architectural and cinematic masterpiece sets the hapless Monsieur Hulot adrift in a bustling yet sterile modern cityscape. Alienation has never been so spectacular or so richly detailed. This was Tati's single film in 70mm, the only format suitable for its rich pictorial detail.
Lawrence of Arabia
Saturday, November 5, 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 6, 6:00 p.m.
Dir. David Lean. 1962, 216 mins.. Restored 70mm print. With Peter O' Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn. The apex of David Lean's magnificent career was this unparalleled spectacle, which won seven Oscars, including Best Picture. O'Toole rocketed to stardom as real-life adventurer T. E. Lawrence, a former British officer whose expedition to Cairo in 1916 leads him to side with the Arabs against the Turks, eventually organizing his own guerrilla army. The widescreen desert vistas are overwhelming; this is one of cinema's most transporting experiences.
Fantasia
Friday, November 25, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 26, 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 27, 3:00 p.m.
(Eleven uncredited directors) 1940, 124 mins. Archival 35mm print of the original road-show version. Walt Disney put it all on the line for this passion project combining his love of cartoons and classical music. Though the result baffled many in its day, Fantasia went on to be one of the most beloved, influential films of all time. Set to works by Bach, Beethoven, Stravinsky, and more, the wordless, exquisitely drawn segments that make up this ambitious masterpiece constitute a high point in animation.
Gone with the Wind
Saturday, November 26, 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 27, 6:00 p.m.
Dir. Victor Fleming. 1939, 238 mins. New digital restoration. With Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, Leslie Howard, Hattie McDaniel. David O. Selznick produced this ravishing adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's behemoth best-selling novel, a Technicolor epic that represents the pinnacle of Hollywood craftsmanship in terms of cinematography, art direction, costume design, effects, music, and performance. It doesn't hurt that Leigh turns selfish Civil War-era Southern belle Scarlett O'Hara into one of cinema's most complex characters.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Friday, December 2, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 3, 1:00 p.m.
Dir. Steven Spielberg. 1977, 137 mins. New 35mm print of the director's cut. With Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, François Truffaut. This operatic tale of a group of humans (including Dreyfuss's suburban everydad) preparing to make contact with mysterious outer-space visitors is an emotionally stirring, visually jaw-dropping journey. Featuring Oscar-winning cinematography by the great Vilmos Zsigmond, Spielberg's first story about extraterrestrial life is out-of-this-world moviemaking. On the big screen, that's one mother of a spaceship.
Empire of the Sun
Saturday, December 3, 4:00 p.m.
Dir. Steven Spielberg. 1987, 152 mins. With Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson. Spielberg's spellbinding adaptation of J. G. Ballard's memoir of his experiences growing up with his British expatriate family in Shanghai and being captured by the Japanese during World War II is a modern Hollywood epic of the highest order, and one of Spielberg's most underappreciated achievements. Thirteen-year-old Christian Bale's breakthrough performance anchors this grand tale of survival, packed with Spielberg's trademark visual sublimity.
Raging Bull
Friday, December 9, 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Martin Scorsese. 1980, 129 mins. Restored 35mm print. With Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty. With Raging Bull, Scorsese turned the boxing movie on its head, forgoing every cliché to create an indelible work of art. In an Oscar-winning role, De Niro is Jake La Motta, whose life story is dramatized with a mix of Shakespearean tragedy and documentary-like realism. Michael Chapman's glistening black-and-white cinematography is one of the glories of contemporary cinema.
Nashville
Friday, December 16, 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Robert Altman. 1975, 159 mins. With Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin, Henry Gibson, Lily Tomlin. The peak of Altman's prolific career was this panoramic view of American life circa 1975, set in the nation's country-music capital. Cramming his wide screen with the comings and goings of a 24-character ensemble, Altman creates an incredible cacophonous entertainment, equal parts comedy and tragedy, which features terrific original songs and an unforgettable ending.
Tree of Life
Thursday, December 22, 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Terrence Malick. 2011, 139 mins. With Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken. One of the movie events of this year (and probably the past decade), this mammoth work of cinematic poetry is Malick's personal vision of a young boy's coming of age in suburban 1950s Texas. It's also a deeply philosophical take on life, death, and the whole shebang, featuring an astonishing depiction of the creation of the world. It must be experienced in a theater.
Tickets: $15 public / $10 Museum members (Free for Silver Screen members and above).
Lola Montès
Friday, December 23, 7:00 p.m.
Dir. Max Ophüls. 1955, 115 mins. Restored 35mm print. With Martine Carol, Peter Ustinov, Anton Walbrook. The Austrian director Max Ophüls was known for his swoon-inducing camera moves and ornate, melodramatic entertainments. His final film-his first shot in color-is his most wonderfully grandiloquent, a moving drama about a real-life courtesan and showgirl. Full of visual invention, this is large-scale filmmaking at its most extravagant, as well as a provocative, ahead-of-its-time look at the downside of fame.
Avatar
Thursday, December 29, 7:00 p.m.
Dir. James Cameron. 2009, 162 mins. Dolby Digital 3-D. With Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver. In Cameron's state-of-the-art epic, a paraplegic marine is dispatched to the moon Pandora and sent in avatar form on a unique mission. In this enthralling, provocative story that questions and embraces the place of technology in the natural world, Cameron pushes the limits of filmmaking to create an awesome, immersive 3-D experience. Avatar is the all-time box office champion (although adjusted for inflation, Gone with the Wind is number one).
Tickets: $15 public / $10 Museum members (Free for Silver Screen members and above.)
Barry Lyndon
Friday, December 30, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, January 1, 6:00 p.m.
Dir. Stanley Kubrick. 1975, 184 mins. Restored 35mm print. With Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee. William Makepeace Thackeray's novel about an eighteenth-century Irish opportunist's rise and fall is, in Kubrick's hands, a painting come to life. Oscar-winning cinematography, art direction, costume design, and music combine with Kubrick's fine-tuned sense of irony and drama for a one-of-a-kind sensory and intellectual experience. Ever the innovator, Kubrick employed special camera lenses built for NASA to best capture candlelight on screen.
MUSEUM INFORMATION
Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Friday, 10:30 to 8:00 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Holiday hours: The Museum will be open on Mondays from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. December 26 and January 2. On Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) and New Year's Eve (Dec. 31), the galleries will close at 5:00 p.m. The Museum is closed on Thanksgiving (Nov. 24) and Christmas Day (Dec. 25).
Film Screenings: Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays, and as scheduled.
Museum Admission: $12.00 for adults; $9.00 for persons over 65 and for students with ID; $6.00 for children ages 3-18. Children under 3 and Museum members are admitted free. Admission to the galleries is free on Fridays, 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Tickets for special screenings and events may be purchased in advance by phone at 718 777 6800 or online.
Location: 36-01 35 Avenue (at 37 Street) in Astoria.
Subway: M (weekdays only) or R to Steinway Street. Q (weekdays only) or N to 36 Avenue.
Program Information: Telephone: 718 777 6888; Website: movingimage.us
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