Apollo 11 documentary in IMAX. WOW! this film, IMO, is outstanding. really amazing footage, some i know i've never seen before. and audio i am pretty sure that has never been included in any Apollo film. and if you are at all interested in this film, make sure you do all you can to see this on an IMAX screen. blew me away. lastly, if you go, stay for the scenes shown during the first few screens of credits.
Saw two this wknd: Free Solo and Arctic. The former had me gripping my armchair in terror throughout, even though I knew the guy survived this adventure. I did think, though, “I’m watching a dead man”. He may have made it through this, but he won’t reach “retirement age”... Arctic was solid, but grim. Having seen the (terrific) trailer, I (sadly) found no surprises in the movie...
I saw Mortal Engines on Christmas Day with the family. We all thought it wasn’t very good. Then my wife and I saw Mary Poppins Returns about a month or so ago. We both really enjoyed it! We have a bunch of coupons for concessions, but most of what we want to see is already gone from the theaters, and neither of us are fond of the art house theaters here in town. I like to go every three months or so.
I just saw it. Sadly, I didn't get to see it in a real IMAX, but one of the BS AMC ones. It was a bigger screen than usual and a excellent sound system, but it was tiny compared to a real IMAX. My main issue was that it was a standard 4K projector and even though I was in the third row, I could see the pixel structure and see aliasing on the animations. If I had known, I would have waited a week and seen it in a regular AMC and saved myself a few bucks.
It was at the Univ. of Chicago's DOC Films series: Thursday, 15 November at 9:30 PM "VENUS IN FURS" Jésus Franco, 1969 ------------------------------------------------------------ A jazz trumpeter finds himself in over his head in what might be all in his head. One night at a party for jet set creeps, he witnesses the torture of a woman. When he finds her corpse on the seashore the following morning, a sick strain of eros takes hold of him. He encounters an identical woman alive and well in Rio, but upon pursuing her, he discovers she may not be as alive as he thought. Featuring Klaus Kinski as a perverted millionaire, Venus In Furs is an arthouse fantasia disguised as a porno--a Godard with more chutzpah. Run Time: 86m. Format: 35mm. Admission was $8.00. The print was from AGFA. It looked spectacular. This is likely going to be released on Blu-Ray.
Apollo 11 Outstanding. Breathtaking. If you are even a little bit of a space geek, you will be mesmerized by the enormity of what they accomplished. And you are RIGHT THERE with them when you watch this film. Awesome.
My wife Vickie is, I'm not. Due to circumstances beyond rational comprehension, we live in different cities most of the time - she's home in Chicago and I'm down in Kansas City. And even though AMC is headquartered in the Kansas City area, and their closest theater is only 2 miles from me, it's very difficult to get to. I don't drive, and the last bus returning from that closest AMC theater leaves at 6:30 in the evening. So I see most of the films I do at Cinemark Palace at the Plaza, where I can see them for $5 a piece. Sadly Cinemark's program is terrible, and would actually cost me more than I'm currently paying per screening.
I was surprised this documentary - which I just got back from - put you entirely “in the moment”. I wasn’t really expecting that, but I hadn’t read anything in advance about it... There are zero talking heads reflecting on the accomplishment, no narration, nor even any explanations of the “science aspects” of the trip (I even noted a comment in the credits that all instruments for the soundtrack were available at that time). That’s a bold filmmaking choice. There were some youngsters a few seats away from me, and I bet they had LOTS of questions for dad when it ended, because the film didn’t explain anything.
Did the film need to explain anything? I thought the graphics that showed the trajectory to the moon and then the one back to earth, along with the docking with and jettison of the LEM explained everything. Or is that because I already knew? I do wonder what someone who was too young to experience Apollo 11 as it was happening would think of this film.
I’m too young to have any memory of it, but I know the story reasonably well. I suspect younger viewers would be helped by some exposition, however that would take you out of the straightforward “you are there” perspective this film obviously was shooting for. I can see advantages to both approaches. I just think 98% of filmmakers would’ve chosen otherwise, so this choice was ... intriguing. Curious what the semi-legendary Vickie, who’s seen 1000x more documentaries than I have, would say about the choice. (Cue @Chris DeVoe)
She Tweeted: 92) Apollo 11 @ Navy Pier IMAX. WOW, this was great. Every second a breathless journey, even mundane details you never get to see elsewhere. Many tears of awe. Give me a day-long marathon w The Right Stuff, First Man (not nominated for Best Picture, tragic!), this and Apollo 13. This is the Navy Pier IMAX: It's a real IMAX, not the bulls**t AMC one my brother and I went to.
An enjoyable Sunday afternoon at the BFI in London :- Tod Browning's "Outside the Law" (1920) starring Priscilla Dean (I don't remember having seeing her before) with live piano accompaniment; followed by Howard Hawks' "Ball of Fire" (1941) (one from a Barbara Stanwyck season this month)
Van Gogh: Of Wheat Fields and Clouded Skies Great study of the man's work, focusing more on paintings and less talking heads. Concentrated on the Muller museum's collection, and it was interesting to contract the founder's life with Vincent
I’ve yet to see any 2019 movies, but I expect that to change in a couple of weeks with the release of Jordan Peele’s Us...
