The Castro Theater’s 70mm Film Series
This past weekend I headed down to the Castro theater to see one of my all-time favorite films in glorious, gorgeous 70mm. What film is that, you ask? It’s Tron. Yes, Tron. The film that almost killed Disney back in 1982 with its fancy computer animation and poor, poor box office sales.
The Castro was absolutely packed for the event and the queue to get into the film stretched all the way to 18th street. The audience was everything I love about San Francisco movie audiences: loud, engaged, laughing, cheering and of course, hissing. An engaged audience makes all the difference.
Seeing the film in 70mm–a San Francisco first–was a revelation. I’d only ever before seen the home video pan & scan butchery of Tron. The colors were crisp, Wendy Carlos’s soundtrack was thunderously moog-alicious and the whole experience was fantastic. I highly recommend checking the rest of the schedule to see what other films may appeal to you. If messianic allegories about video games fighting oppression aren’t your thing maybe you’d like to see Cleopatra or Titanic?
I’m so jealous! I really wanted to see Tron.
That line was sooooo long.
I was bummed I didn’t find out about it until a few days after 2001. I have a standing rule to see 2001 whenever it’s shown in 70mm. Don’t miss It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World on Wednesday! :-)
Ugh. Too bad I was out of town. Glad I missed the hissing, though.