Wide Screen Weekend 2001 |
This article first appeared in |
| Issue 65 - July 2001 | |
It
went very well this year
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Further in 70mm reading: |
Excellent Job!
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 Projecting
Cinerama. Picture by Thomas Hauerslev
Programming is always fine but some more time between the films for eating, drinking, etc. would be appreciated. I consider Cinerama and the restored films like "Vertigo" and "2001: a space odyssey" the most popular performances. I'd like to see the Wide Screen Weekend develop in the future along the same road like it does now? Bill Lawrence and his staff are doing an excellent job! The only thing that I find sad, is that only in Bradford (UK), people have taken the time and effort to keep cinema history alive and saved for the future and that in my country Belgium not even the film museum in Brussels can get enough money to keep on going. |
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Superb Projection
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 British
2OO1 re-release of "2OO1: A Space Odyssey" to a full house. The
extraordinary loyal Widescreen Weekend audience. Picture by Thomas HauerslevPress picture to see a larger version "Windjammer" is still a wonderful experience even though I do not understand the German commentary. However, scheduling it on Friday afternoon meant coming to Bradford on Thursday night. The print may be pink, but who cares? Why is it that these 3 strip films are so watchable, when most of the current Imax offerings are so boring? "Cinerama Holiday" was pure nostalgia but what a shame to bring it over for only 1 showing! 70mm is great but Cinerama is a mechanical miracle every time it hits the screen. I would like to see every effort made to bring other such prints to Bradford in 2002. "Camelot" proved to be very enjoyable and "2001: A Space Odyssey" proved just how good sound and picture can be in 70mm. I really enjoy the (now gone) era of musicals and would like to see "Hello, Dolly!" and "Sound of Music" again in 70mm. If the weekend has to start on Fridays, maybe some golden oldies can come back for another showing. I also feel that if there are any 35mm Mag prints around of the 1950`s Fox era, then these should also be included. The social gathering was a good start but more room, and more introductions especially from our friends abroad who make such a contribution to Cineramamacana etc. Beers as well as wine please! "Heavens Gate" - well, at least I've seen it once! 3 major films per day is enough and the schedules were good. The projection was superb and the venue also. Is once a year really sufficient when you can have this much fun? Cheers. |
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Three High Spots
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 Bill Lawrence continues to prepare and present this annual feast, and in doing so tries to include something to everyone's taste. Inevitably there are items that to some attendees are of no interest, and then there are others that pull like a magnet.One has to be selective...if only to get something to eat! Despite the on-screen repast; foodwise, Wide-screen Weekend can be a hungry business. With so many films on offer, there are bound to be difficulties with scheduling and timing but, the occasional announcements not-withstanding that "we are running late", no one was perturbed. We were all too busy enjoying the occasion. The discussion groups introduced this year are a fine idea. An opportunity to chat and exchange viewpoints with those of like mind and similar interests. They could be the source of innovative suggestions and ideas, that no doubt deserve consideration and could eventually be implemented. For me, Widescreen Weekend had three high spots. It was just great to see "How The West Was Won" back up on the curved screen, and more particularly to be able to listen to that heart-pounding introductory music resounding throughout the theatre. "Cinerama Holiday" was an innocent delight. A fascinating, nostalgic wallow back to the 1950s. Was everyone really so courteous? So good-natured? So naive? I can still hear the astonished incredulity in John Marsh`s voice "From St. Louis to Zurich in eighteen hours!" Jacques Tati`s "Playtime" is a brilliant evocation of the post-war European invasion by Corporate America. Although the film's European locale is Paris, the beachhead had been established in London. We had already seen armies of former GIs, now clad in the obligatory Ivy League uniform...button-down Arrow shirts and Brooks Brothers` suits. Tati incisively captured the awkwardness and difficulties that Parisians felt, in trying to accept, adapt to, and emulate these ambassadors of affluence. Incidentally, during post-"Camelot" conversations, it seemed as though every member of the audience had spotted that Band-Aid on Richard Harris`s finger. 70mm has it's draw-backs. On reflection, the likes and dislikes, the bouquets and brickbats of Widescreen Weekend were really made possible by the crew in the booth behind us. Lugging the reels, checking the sound, feeding the projectors. Thank you chaps....and Jenny! |
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Two
happy guests; Mr. David Page and Mr. Barrie Pick (England). Picture
by Thomas Hauerslev.