AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center

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.

‘Blade Runner: The Final Cut’ begins on the 2nd of May – no word yet if it’s 35mm or a DLP presentation.

Here are 2008 photos of the AFI Silver: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Hopefully, from that experience management will know better to secure a better copy of the film. Or, at least a decent backup copy. This isn’t your local Regal or AMC multiplex where crap presentation can be expected, this is the AFI for pete’s sake.

from a couple of online friends that did go to the ‘El Cid’ screening, a number of people left in utter disgust – supposedly this is the beginning of a AFI/Weinstein film showcase – if they can’t provide actual film and not hard drive masters – they are going to have similiar problems down the line.

Did anyone go to January 28th screening of ‘El Cid’ I heard from a couple of people it was one of the worst screenings due to several factors – however the Weinstein company distributed this film in tape or hard drive form – the entire left side of the screen was fuzzy. I’ve seen digital projection a couple of times on the main screen – ‘Sharkwater’ and ‘Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream’ (Silverdocs) and they were excellent – here, for ‘El Cid’ it sounded like it was an utter travesty.

Liberals….conservatives….geeze oh Pete people give it a rest. If the world was as black and white as you’d have it then it would be soooo easy to tell the good guys (white?) from the bad (black?) (I’m addressing all you Rush Limbo types here). Y'know, I’m pretty much a social liberal and a finantial conservative. You know…libertarian kinda (and as for Republicans being finantialy conservative…puh-leease….let’s borrow a couple of billion from China, pass it around $600 at a time to make us all feel good, cause in a decade or two China is gonna own us).

Last I checked, the AFI is not controlled by the government (funded in part perhaps, but not totally) and the folks at the Silver can do what they darn well want to do with their screens. I have found it frustrating myself on occasion…but get over it already!

Would I have loved to have seen “Godzilla” up on the historic screen? Sure! But you know what….any chance to see the big G man is golden…and it’s not like the “smaller” screens s*ck, y'know. These people work cinema magic, and should be commended for showing these films that wouldn’t get play otherwise.

Some people just gotta complain, I guess. Myself, I just renewed my $100 membership. Third year in a row! Even when I leave the DC area in a few years I’ll still support this most worthwile cinematic endeavor.

The Liberals at the SILVER need to put up or shut up! Either make the information available (by phone, newspaper or internet) as to what film is playing in the historic theatre (and which are in the small new theaters) or continue a reputation of BAD Customer Service. Freedom of Choice —– not a thing liberals like to allow for OTHER people, like customers.

Nice update, Howard. I like the history write up, to include its restoration effort and current technical offerings. Its the best write up of any theater on this site. And, yes, I’m biased because its in my area. :)

I’m contemplating catching the restored El Cid tomorrow night. Even though its a workday and some of the reviews were not too kind and with the reporting of its two stars; Sophia Loren and Charlton Heston not getting along led to wooden performances, I feel if someone went through the money and expense of restoration, it must be worth a look.

The Avalon posts information, as to which film is in which theater, as a part of offering good Customer Service. The Silver DOES NOT offer this as a part of their BAD Customer Service. There is no excuse for bad Customer Service.

The only reason that AVALON posts which theater the film is being shown in is because of ADA. There is only a staircase to get to the second level. There is NO ELEVATOR so even if they wanted to put the higher attended movie downstairs, they would have to update the recording to notify. Hence the evil words SOLD OUT.

Juno was very good. I saw it in DP at Landmark Balto. I’m glad its doing well at the AFI. I’m surprised to see its calendared to run well into February.

On the issue of what is showing in the Historic Auditorium, we’ve been over this subject over and over, over the years and its not going to change, unless they’ve booked a 70mm movie. Posting here may be a good outlet but one has to call AFI management and voice your protest or start an organized petition for what you want.