AFI Silver Theatre
8633 Colesville Road,
Silver Spring,
MD
20910
8633 Colesville Road,
Silver Spring,
MD
20910
24 people
favorited this theater
Showing 276 - 300 of 374 comments
anyone planning on seeing the three showings of ‘Ben Hur’? (I can’t my weekend is unfortunately pretty much booked) Would love to hear how the print looked and sounded
oops that meant to say January 2004
I think you are correct on the titles but I know you are incorrect on your dates. The AFI/Silver didn’t open until April 2003. 70mm capability didn’t go on line until about August of 2003.
SG
The Silver has also shown in 70mm:
I know it’s more than a year off, but I hope Ron Fricke’s sequel to Baraka – Samsara can play (premier?) at the AFI Silver as part of the annual DC Environmental Film Festival in all it’s 70mm goodness – I was watching portions of Baraka the other night upconverted to 1080p, this is one title I’d love to see released on blu-ray.
You’ll get no argument from me about the lack of different titles in 70mm as compared to other current 70mm theatres. I think the Silver has run Lawrence, 2001, Playtime, Mad World (UP70 at that), Baraka, and Hello Dolly.
SG
Steve, maybe that’s what I was referring to. Remember when the Uptown showed a so-called “virgin” print there…not sure if it was 1990 or before but that is/was my first and best experience of that film to date. There was no color degradation, perfect sound and there was some mmmmmmmm during the Stargate corridor sequence. Sitting in that sweet spot and being engulfed in the sound and picture made one feel as if he was in the show.
Trying to keep on topic about the Silver though, it would be nice to get the 70mm movies that Hollywood locales such as the Astro, Academy, Egyptian and even their own sister AFI Arclight get for retrospectives. Again, the Silver seems to show only Lawrence and 2001. Heck, even the Castro gets some decent 70mm bookings of the older films.
I would most certainly agree….the Uptown can make any film seem that much better. I love its deep-curved screen though it made showing films there more challenging. Don’t believe what you hear about “digitally restored and remastered” for 2001 at the Uptown…it was the original mix there every time (though with noise reduction as new prints were made).
In my opinion, the last of the really good prints of 2001 were made in the 1980s (I want to say in 1980 or 81) before Metrocolor was shut down. They were the BEST 70mm print house by far…followed by Technicolor-London. Unfortunately, any print made prior to about the fall of 1982 would have faded quite a bit by now…most any print (in general) made in 1983 or beyond should still have decent color.
HAL is most interesting in 2001…he is modulated on ALL 6-tracks about equally as he is omni-present.
I also ran 2001 at the K-B Cinema in Washington, DC…but the Uptown was the most enjoyable for me…both showing (historical reasons, if for no other) and for view the movie.
SG
If it were up to me, build up of ANY print would be banned Steve. Call me old fashioned, but give me 20 minute reel-to-reel changeovers any day. If i’m out of touch, than so be it!!!
On 11-4-01, I saw “2001” at the Uptown (DC) in a 70mm reissue, in 6 track? there was sound from the back of the auditorium. Sound had been digitally restored & remastered. The manager told me the sound was on the magnetic tape of the film. The print was perfect. The AFI is a wonderful movie theater, but the experience of seeing “2001” on the huge, curved Uptown screen could not be topped!
2001 in 70mm does not have any subwoofer track. There was a version in the ‘90s (quite rare) that they did a 5.1 mix on with…The track layout was similar to that of a 6-track mix on a dubber (Left, LS, Center, Rs, Right, Subwoofer). This is a potentially dangerous track configuration since it could end up in a conventional house and feed the subwoofer signal to the surrounds.
All other versions of 2001, including the AFI/Silver’s recent playing featured the original “Todd-Ao” mix with five front channels and a mono-surround.
The print they received though definately watchable, was most certainly “previously enjoyed” and rather heavily so. The previous caretaker also didn’t break the film down from their platter very well…cutting whenever they felt like it rather than finding the actual ends of the reels. Seriously, for limited circulation prints, build ups in any fashion should be banned (large reel or platter).
SG
Last night, I caught the last showing of 2001. The print was slightly better than the one I saw last year. No annoying soundtrack ticks but there were print annoyances such as appearing ‘butterfly’ during the “Dawn of Man” sequence and some ghostly film images in the middle. I’m not sure if its just me but the film seemed to be less of an ‘experience’ than in previous times. I believe there was more of subwoofer mmmmmmm during the Stargate Corridor sequence.
Overall, it was nice to visit this classic. Its just seems to be less than what I remember. In the Main News section of the site, they report an Academy screening for the 40th anniversary, perhaps they got a better print than what AFI got?
First off, it isn’t supposed…they are well documented facts (film’s resolution, contrast, color space).
As to WHY you see better DP shows…there are several factors at work…first…look at your local multiplex’s booth…who is operating it? By and large, nobody or poorly trained somebodys that often are not alloted the time or care for showing the movie. It is well documented that the exhibitor does not make much money on the movie itself, but the concession stand items they sell. As a business, it therefore tends to have them spend LESS on showing the movie itself since it is merely the vehicle to sell their profit items.
Then look at their equipment…by and large, they buy for low-cost, fast installation…not quality. You, therefore, are not going to get all out of a film that is actually on the film. When less expensive alternatives to the current crop of DLP projectors become available, believe me exhibitors will flock to those…right now, every Digital projector is the BEST that the technology has to offer, not the bottom end, as is often the case with film.
As to film’s degradation…it can be mitigated with just minimal care…that I admit, that the chains just don’t care about. I’ve personally run prints for weeks on end and they look every bit as good at the end of the run as at the beginning…in fact, we cleaned the dust that was on the print when it came out of the can off.
As for DP being brighter…it isn’t…in fact it is limited due to its lack of contrast ratio…if the DP image is brighter in a side-by-side test, one of the systems wasn’t set up properly…it isn’t a trait of the system. In fact, film wins the brightness contest too. “Sharper” is a good one. By and large, it IS easier to focus a DP than film. Film pulsates in the gate as the heat hits the film (it swells towards the heat source) and thus has a tricky situation for the lens to resolve. That said, projected film has a greater resolving power than DLP…BUT since DLP has lower resolution, its limited pixel density IS sharp. What you get with that is a very sharp, lower resolution image (less detail) that has an exaggerated 2-D appearance to it. If you were to see the same image projected film versus DLP and go down to the screen you would see that the film has more detail in the image as compared to the grid like nature of the DLP image.
The next thing taking away from film is the use of digital intermediates. Many films use a 2K digital intermediate which is like a horrible filter that removes detail. In essence, the film is downgraded. But that is something that will not be with us for too much longer as films start to get 4K DIs (and hopefully greater, if they HAVE to do DIs). Note, these DIs also cut in on film’s contrast too.
DP, on the other hand, has the distinct advantage that it does NOT have to suffer the duplication processes that a typical release print must go through. This puts a big variable into what a release print will look like on film.
I don’t object to you all enjoying DCinema but I do object to the notion that DCinema is some sort of “upgrade”…it is actually a downgrade as all of the detractions from film are overcomable and one is comparing the best of DP with the worst of film.
SG
but even the independent’s seem to have problems with the prints they get – Landmark E Street I’ve seen four movies there so far this year, where the 35mm prints are hideous looking, not to mention ‘There Will Be Blood’ being flipped upside down at one point, with a reel change – those are the times, when you know DP wouldn’t have problems like these.
If film is supposed to be so much better than DP, why do the film’s in the plexes look so awful then? The DP movies I’ve seen over the years looked brighter, sharper and with more contrast than the same films at your local multiplex. No dust, grain, scratches, degradation. Maybe in an optimal setting film is better but in the real world and in our local movie houses, they are not (except maybe AFI and the independents).
All three auditoriums are DLP equipped. However, don’t sound so dissappointed…remember 35mm film, at its worst resolution (1.85:1 ratio) is roughly TWICE the resolution of 2K DCinema, with a greater color spectrum and greater contrast ratio. For CinemaScope features, films advantage grows exponentially since digital’s resolution DROPs for scope whilst film’s resolving power goes up.
SG
I asked while I was there last Friday regarding ‘Blade Runner’ and the projectionist said it will be 35mm not DLP (which the main auditorium incidently does have)
Yep.
WOW.
As much as I dig the foreign & indie films, the one sure thing to get me to the AFI are the revival festivals. I used most of my member passes last year during the TOTALLY AWESOME films of the 80’s. It was such a gas to watch Fast Times at Ridgemont High on the big screen with the Original Soundtrack…not the lame one that’s been on all the video releases since 1986 (I have a beta copy with the original soundtrack intact…but my Beta player died years ago…).
MORE REVIVALS!
Can’t wait for Blade Runner next week! I saw it at the Uptown a few months ago…WOW!
the tick on the print there, but at least it’s only during the first part of the film and not the ones in space. The sound of the other hand – Wow, let me repeat theat Wow!
while I agree the Uptown is larger and more engulfing – I have a problem with the surround sound channels firing directly into the balcony area – if you’re on the first floor it’s fine, but the balcony sound configurement is not ideal. For the record, The AFI main theatre is also THX certified.
2001 at the Uptown would be such a great experience. The screen is 2x larger and more user engulfing for that ‘ultimate trip.’
I agree with the 2010 booking, especially now that Helen Mirran (sp? sorry) is such a big deal!!!
I must miss it by accident everytime. I know ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ is a continual favourite. This engagement will be the first time I will have seen it at the Silver, the prior time I saw 2001 in 70mm was a mini-festival of 70mm films over at the Uptown.
They always book 2001. I hope its not the print with the annoying tick that they showed the last time I saw it here. They should book its sequel, 2010, in 70mm, too.
‘Blade Runner: The Final Cut’ begins on the 2nd of May – no word yet if it’s 35mm or a DLP presentation.