SEE IT BIG! Moving Image to Screen WEST SIDE STORY, INTERSTELLAR & More on 70mm This Summer

Even in these days of improving digital projection, there is nothing comparable to the crisp, bright images and rich sound of 70mm film. With a higher resolution and more light hitting the frame, 70mm film offers a bigger, brighter image than 35mm. It traditionally offered richer sound, with more space on the soundtrack as well. It is the ideal film format for ambitious cinematic spectacles, yet with the transition to digital filmmaking, 70mm movies have become increasingly rare.

This summer, Museum of the Moving Image will present See It Big! 70mm, every weekend from August 7 through 30, featuring eight films made between 1961 and 2014 -- all of them shot in 70mm and to be shown in 70mm prints in the majestic Sumner M. Redstone Theater.

"The fact that such visionary filmmakers as Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Christopher Nolan prefer to shoot in 70mm, is testament to the enduring power of this format." said Chief Curator David Schwartz. "These days, a new 70mm film is an event. We're pleased to show a combination of new and classic movies in this series. With the recent death of Omar Sharif, it will be a fitting tribute to see his most beloved film, Lawrence of Arabia, in its original format."

The series will include two recent films, Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (2014) and Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master (2012), as well as famously big-screen films from the 1960s and 1980s. They are David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins's West Side Story (1961), Stanley Kramer's Hollywood comedy epic Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), and the groundbreaking science fiction films Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (in an encore of last summer's sold-out 70mm shows), Douglas Trumbull's Brainstorm (1983), and Disney's Tron (1982), directed by Steven Lisberger.

See It Big! is an ongoing series organized by Reverse Shot editors Michael Koresky and Jeff Reichert, Chief Curator David Schwartz, and Assistant Film Curator Aliza Ma.

The full schedule is included below. Tickets for MOMI screenings are $12 ($9 seniors & students / free for Museum members at the Film Lover level and above). Advance tickets are available online at movingimage.us.

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SCHEDULE FOR 'SEE IT BIG! 70MM,' AUGUST 7-30, 2015:
All screenings take place in the Sumner M. Redstone Theater at Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35 Avenue in Astoria, New York. Tickets for MOMI screenings are $12 adults ($9 seniors and students / $6 children 3-12) and free for Museum members at the Film Lover level and above. Advance tickets are available online at movingimage.us. Ticket purchase includes same-day admission to the Museum's galleries.

2001: A Space Odyssey
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 7:00 P.M.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 2:00 P.M.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2:00 P.M.
Dir. Stanley Kubrick. 1968, 159 mins (with intermission). 70mm. With Keir Dullea. As brilliantly engineered as the space program itself, Kubrick's mysterious and profound epic-"the ultimate trip"-is about nothing less than the beauty and banality of civilization, blending cool satire, an elaborate vision of the future, and passages of avant-garde cinematic inventiveness.

Brainstorm
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 6:00 P.M.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 6:00 P.M.
Dir. Douglas Trumbull. 1983, 106 mins. 70mm. Douglas Trumbull's science-fiction thriller about a device that can record thoughts and dreams features stunning visual effects to portray telepathic experiences, cutting between widescreen and standard size. It also features the last performance by Natalie Wood, who died during the making of the film. Brainstorm has not been shown in 70mm in New York for more than 20 years. This 70mm print is also notable for its original magnetic soundtrack.

Tron
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, 7:00 P.M.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 7:00 P.M.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 7:00 P.M.
Dir. Steven Lisberger. 1982, 96 mins. 70mm. With Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, Barnard Hughes. Groundbreaking for its pioneering use of computer graphics, the cult favorite Tron follows rebel computer programmer Kevin Flynn as he is scanned and transported into an autocratic universe of zipping vectors and shiny surfaces, somewhere inside of a computer mainframe. An expensive and risky venture for Disney at the time, TRON is notable for its sophisticated sets and elaborate costumes designed by renowned French comic-book artist Moebius (Alien, 1979), but perhaps the film's true innovation lies in its extensive use of 3-D CGI combined with photographic images.

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2:00 P.M.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2:00 P.M.
Dir. Stanley Kramer. 1963, 205 mins. 70mm. With Spencer Tracy, Edie Adams, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman. This epic Hollywood comedy is a three-hour-plus extravaganza of slapstick excess that lets loose an unparalleled cast of legends-including Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, Spencer Tracy, and Jonathan Winters (and that's just for starters)-in a wild plot about a hunt for buried treasure. With its super-wide frame, jam-packed with gags big and small, Stanley Kramer's classic is endless juvenile fun that has retained an intense fan following.

West Side Story
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 7:00 P.M.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2:00 P.M.
Dirs. Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise. 1961, 151 mins. 70mm. With Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno. Beautifully restored in 2011 for the 50th anniversary of its release, West Side Story has stood the test of time as one of the most beloved film musicals. In its adaptation of the Romeo and Juliet story-featuring unforgettable songs by Leonard Bernstein and choreography by Jerome Robbins-feuding families are replaced by warring New York City gangs, the white Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks. When forbidden love escalates their rivalry, tragedy strikes and doesn't stop until the climactic and heartbreaking ending.

Lawrence of Arabia
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 6:00 P.M.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 4:00 P.M.
Dir. David Lean. 1962, 217 mins (with intermission). 70mm. 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, and rocketed Peter O'Toole 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. The film also introduced Omar Sharif, already a major star in Egyptian cinema, to English-speaking audiences. With its overwhelming widescreen desert vistas, this is one of cinema's most transporting experiences.

The Master
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2:00 P.M.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 2:00 P.M.
Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson. 2012, 144 mins. 70mm. With Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Joaquin Phoenix. Phoenix, Hoffman, and Adams all received Oscar nominations for their performances in Paul Thomas Anderson's spellbinding saga of post-World War II America. Phoenix creates the unforgettable Freddie Quell, a wayward soul who falls under the spell of a spiritual guru (Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his greatest performances), who may or may not be a huckster. In this haunting drama, Anderson creates one mysterious, richly evocative image after another.

Interstellar
FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 7:00
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 6:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 6:00 p.m.
Dir. Christopher Nolan. 2014, 169 mins. 70mm. With Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain. A stunningly realized science-fiction epic with philosophical, cinematic, and narrative ambition reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar is an immersive and exhilarating film experience that captures Nolan's love for large-format celluloid film.

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Museum of the Moving Image (movingimage.us) advances the understanding, enjoyment, and appreciation of the art, history, technique, and technology of film, television, and digital media. In its stunning facilities-acclaimed for both its accessibility and bold design-the Museum presents exhibitions; screenings of significant works; discussion programs featuring actors, directors, craftspeople, and business leaders; and education programs which serve more than 50,000 students each year. The Museum also houses a significant collection of moving-image artifacts.

Hours: Wednesday-Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Friday, 10:30 to 8:00 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Film Screenings: Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays, and as scheduled. Unless otherwise noted, tickets for screenings are $12 ($9 students and seniors / free for Museum members at the Film Lover level and above) will be available for advance purchase online at movingimage.us. Screening tickets include same-day admission to the Museum's galleries.
Museum Admission: $12.00 for adults; $9.00 for persons over 65 and for students with ID; $6.00 for children ages 3-12. Children under 3 and Museum members are admitted free. Admission to the galleries is free on Fridays, 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.
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
Membership: movingimage.us/support/membership or 718 777 6877

The Museum is housed in a building owned by the City of New York and located on the campus of Kaufman Astoria Studios. Its operations are made possible in part by public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Natural Heritage Trust (administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation). The Museum also receives generous support from numerous corporations, foundations, and individuals. For more information, visit movingimage.us.