AFI Silver Theatre
8633 Colesville Road,
Silver Spring,
MD
20910
8633 Colesville Road,
Silver Spring,
MD
20910
16 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 211 comments found
There is a 70mm Film Festival in NY, NY sponsored by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Unlike AFI Silver, they are screening “Star!,” “The Sound of Music” and “My Fair Lady” in 70mm – 3 films I had really hoped AFI would have offered but did not. I also agree with Giles – there should have been more evening screenings at AFI Silver. In the summer, many of us are away on the weekends or just caught up doing other things which are difficult to get away from.
so if you saw it in DP, you obviously didn’t see it here at the AFI, personally I wasn’t wow’d by the story or the movie on the whole, but in supporting 70mm releases, sometimes you just got to suck it up and give your money to the cause, and support.
Any news on how well the movie is doing here? I saw ‘The Master’ in DP but was underwhelmed by the story…Forgive my simplistic summation, but all I got from it was that Joaquin Phoenix character is a sexually repressed drunk, seeks answers from Phillip Hoffman’s Ron Hubbard-like character, fails, but finds happiness at the end, by meeting and getting laid by a bar floozy. So..there is a happy ending, after all to a ‘happy ending.’ :–)
What I did like was the acting. For sure, Joaquin and Hoffman will get nominations for their acting. Phoenix has come a long way from when I first saw him ‘Inventing the Abbots’ and the jealous schemer in ‘Gladiator.’ Hoffman, proves again, what a great character film actor he can be.
For sure, the DP print I saw, captured an excellent first generation scan, presumably 65mm. Colors, texture, even the wrinkles of Joaquin’s face in the opening shot, with what looked like rosacea could be seen…so is it worth seeing AGAIN?
yes, the print was stunning, but the sound I thought sounded too strident and overly loud at times – all in all though, thank you P.T. Anderson and the Weisteins for actually releasing a ‘new’ movie in 70mm – let’s the floodgates open now [okay it’s a pipedream, but I hope some director’s take note and realize the potential 70mm still has (I want to hear what a modern soundtrack can sound like in five front channel mag sound)]
I saw “The Master” here in 70mm on the 21st at 7:15. The show was almost sold out, which I honestly didn’t expect. The print was stunning.
I will probably see it mid-week. From what I’ve gleaned from a few reviews, there probably isn’t much surround sound but the Post makes comment about it being visually stunning. If its that good, I’ll probably check out the 1 35mm venue and the digital print for comparisons.
Howard, I’m surprised they didn’t use the curtain at the Ziegfield for at least this movie. I’m sure they had a projectionist running the movie since it is 70mm, why couldn’t he just push the button to open and close the curtain, too?
Yesterday, saw “The Master” in 70mm at the Ziegfeld in NYC, where it looked stunning! No use of curtain, and no surround sound but the score was great. At least a few hundred people attended the 3:30 PM show. Anybody see it here at the AFI?
Visiting from out of town, I liked the weekend matinees! They had 2 or 3 screenings of each film, so sure, they can show one in the evening, too.
I would like to see the AFI website identify the auditorium any film is to show in. 70mm can only be shown in the historic auditorium, but I’d like to know for the 35mm shows which films will be there.
not to be a broken record about this, but if and when the Silver gets around to doing another 70mm film fest – I really hope they get a clue and showcase the films in the evenings – the weekend (and weekday) screenings were TOO early. The missing of ‘Those Magnificent Men’ was a bitter disappointment.
:–) You know, Giles, I wasn’t planning on seeing it because of what you guys blogged about the possibility of them showing a pinkish print. I missed most of the 70mm screenings for lack of interest and because I work more weekends now. I had to leave as the end credits started. Today, is my brother’s birthday.. Blog about Chicken @ Landmark’s page. I wouldn’t mind seeing that and Samsara this week if I can finish my work early.
I’m going to have low expectations for “The Master.” This way when I see it, I’ll be amazed. ;–)
I hear what you’re saying about not having a trailer in front of “South Pacific.” Back in the day when they had 70mm event films, 70mm trailers were almost equally or even more exciting because you had the w-i-d-e format and the superior surround sound to get excited about what’s coming. Since “The Master” sounds like one of those event films, at least as far as 70mm is concerned, not the fact that its a big action adventure movie, I think it deserved a plug here. I think there probably was no 70mm trailer to tack on to the beginning of “South Pacific” anyway.
wish I had known you were there Jodar, I would have said hi – I had to unfortunately fly out of there right at the end of the cast end title crawl – was meeting some friends over at Landmark Bethesda for a screening of ‘Chicken with Plums’ – they had the longest trailer I’ve seen for ‘The Master’ – can’t wait!
I liked how the overture/movie just started, sometimes the trailers diminish the effect of a movie- particularly musicals.
After reading the comments yesterday, I was hesitant about seeing “South Pacific” today, but I did anyway. I made an excuse to leave work a few hours early to catch the 1pm show.
They started 2 minutes late, with the overture music. The curtains were used. I think there was just one part in the beginning where the color was pinkish. The sound was all in the front. No surrounds. Other than that, like Howard has posted, the colors were quite good for an older film. Howard, I was thinking the same thing when I saw Ray Walston. I grew up watching him on tv, too, but years later when that program was into syndication.
They are already pre-selling tickets for next week’s new 70mm movie “The Master.” I haven’t seen any preview yet. I was thinking they’d show it today but pre show ads, no nothing. Straight to the movie. They are reporting on the news, that that movie has the highest per-screen average this weekend of any other. Hopefully, this will bode well for the AFI Silver here next weekend.
Once again, they did not have decent pretzels. Rushing straight to the theater, I had to satisfy myself with junk food..the hot dogs. They now serve the skinny Nathan kind as opposed to the larger Costco-type they used to serve. I think they microwave them now as opposed to the roller grill. Thankfully, I did not develop stomach problems as one of the hot dogs was not quite hot. They must improve on the food items. Quality wise and selection wise.
saw ‘South Pacific’ this afternoon – impressed, but not completely wowed by the print – ‘Lord Jim’ looked the most mint in condition of the four 70mm films I saw. The sound was gorgeous, aside from a smidgen of the dialogue echoing into the surrounds, was this mag sound? Decent turn out of folk too!
I really enjoyed the gorgeous print today of “South Pacific” The color filters didn’t damage the fun. Overture music before curtain opened, intermission at 1 hr 40 min, music again at end of intermission & at end of movie. Sound was excellent. 70mm beauty of this film beats the living daylights out of anything in 2k. I agree with other Internet reviewers who said this film isn’t right for a TV screen, that you need to see it on a larger screen (like the AFI Silver main auditorium) When Ray Walston appeared on screen, I expected to see antennas arise from his head, having watched so much of the TV show “My Favorite Martian” long ago.
That use of those color filters at certain points in the film has been controversial since the time of the film’s original release. Some people think it was some odd photographic choice, but actually it was Logan’s carrying over from his stage production this use of color filters to establish a mood. It appears to have worked on stage, but many (including myself) do not think it is effective on film. It is just another example of Logan’s inadequacy as a film director.
Considering what could have been done with a lush tropical setting, this version of “South Pacific” (which is well-acted with that wonderful score) looks very static with many scenes evidencing a “nail the camera to the floor” (or, in this case, “anchor the camera in the sand”) approach. One can only wonder what the film would have been like if Robert Wise had been chosen as the director; now there’s someone who understood what a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical could look like in Todd-AO.
the severe color tinting of ‘South Pacific’ is also a tad distracting if you ask me. Fox did a boffo hidef transfer and the bluray is sharp as a tack, so I guess I should expect the print to not look as good then :(
If it is the same print of “South Pacific” that was shown at the 70mm Festival at the Seattle Cinerama last year you might be a little disappointed; that print was in fair condition, but the film deserves some sort of award for the “Least Imaginative Use of Wide-Screen Photography.” Joshua Logan was a great Broadway director, but I do not think he had any insight into how to use Todd-AO.
yes, I did see ‘Lord Jim’ and I thought the print looked stunning. I guess since this is rarely shown the print hadn’t had so much wear and tear that usual 70mm prints of ‘2001’ have. The blue skies (including the eyes of Peter O'Toole) were so lifelike
Equally ‘Khartoum’ was visually astounding – the five front channel spread was meticulous and powerful (I love the music score by the way). I had forgotten for films at 2.76 the screen doesn’t spread horizontally, like at the Uptown, but drops down from the top.
I gathered from what Mr. Guttag has noted to me in the recent past, is that the Silver can’t playback films in DCP harddrive form – I might be wrong, but something like ‘Prometheus’ or any newer film for that matter has to be 35mm. I didn’t see ‘Prometheus’ in IMAX, but the DCP I saw at the Cinemark Egyptian (3D) XD screen had a truly amazing 7.1 mix that wouldn’t be featured as such in IMAX – nor at the upcoming Silver showing. I think it would be cool if the Silver could see if Fox has any 70mm prints of ‘Alien’ or ‘Aliens’
oh, and I’m checking out ‘South Pacific’ on Sunday afternoon ]
Quickly looking at the Internet for what has been shown elsewhere, I think it is likely that “South Pacific” will be shown in 70 mm, 6 track stereo. I’d still be eager to hear about the sound track of “Khartoum” that was shown. Did anybody see “Lord Jim”?
I just looked through the AFI calendar and they have scheduled the Alien movies in November! No word on 70mm anything. I’ve only seen Aliens in 70mm, at the closed Fine Arts downtown. I suppose it will be Alien, the director’s edition in digital. The rest probably all film. At least Aliens should be the expanded edition. Prometheus is scheduled, but that is best experienced in IMAX Digital 3D. The ship’s tactical displays show off the format in its dimension and clarity.
JodarMovieFan, I saw Jurassic Park in digital sound, DTS, I think, at the Uptown when it was issued in 1993. An Internet search indicated Khartoum prints had been put in DTS sound. I’m hoping Mr. Guttag will clarify.
Howard, it seems you’re recent 70mm experience has been the same as mine. The sound is all coming from the front. Disappointing. Maybe Steve can shed some light on this if/when he sees these postings.
For all we know, we could be duped into watching 35mm and 4 track stereo and be fooled. :) Probably not.
If the AFI can play all formats, then the question is what prints arrived and was the AFI able to play them the way it should be exhibited? We can reasonably assume that the 70mm presentations were most likely run by a projectionist, especially the rare titles. It seems studios would like to protect these prints and not risk damage do them by platters. Then again, who is to say a projectionist could not mess it up..drop his drink on the print, touch it with dirty hands..etc.
My love for movies is, in part, the experience and 70mm played a great part of it, even if most of them were blow ups from 35 mm.
Curious about your DTS comment. When you surmise the newer print was with DTS and not 6 track mag, do you meant to say that DTS in the newer prints has diminished sound compared to the original? I thought the digital sound takes the original and cleans up scratches and other unwanted noise and enhances the fidelity of the original. If this is true, then DTS should exceed the original.
My first DTS experience was ‘Jurassic Park’ @ the Universal Studios theater and that THX-certified auditorium was rocking loud and booming. All they needed to do is add smellovision and you could smell T-Rex’s breath in addition to his roar. :)
A month ago I came here for the first time and saw “The Bourne Identity”, which I missed during its original run. It took a second to get used to 35mm again.
I guess the print was from 2002, but it was in excellent shape. Some minor scratches on the right hand side about 20 minutes in that didn’t last long. Phenomenal sound too.
Really impressive overall. I will see “The Master” in 70mm here.
I saw “Khartoum” yesterday (meeting none of you but a local friend joined me) & posted a photo of it on the marquee (though during day, not eve when vertical lights up). The movie was enjoyable. All the bells & whistles were employed starting with overture music before curtain opened, and including intermission after 1.5 hours. It seemed to be in 2.76 wide aspect ratio. The print looked excellent. The sound was from behind the screen. I will guess this was a newer print with DTS sound rather than 6 track, but I would like to know if anybody can post.
What aspect ratio will Khartoum be shown? 2.35 scope or the wider 2.75 or 2.76 various websites say it was originally shown? http://www.reelclassics.com/Techtalk/aspectratio-graphics.htm