What's special about the George Eastman Museum?

They hold one of the largest film archives in the world, and they screen prints most days. Being connected to Kodak, they're very committed to preserving and extolling the benefits of celluloid.

I haven't been there in years, but in a very short span, I was able to see pristine 35mm prints of Raging Bull, Lawrence of Arabia (an archival print of the theatrical cut) and The Passion of Joan of Arc. Probably not on the schedule when you're there, but they also do nitrate print screenings, which are incredibly rare. And the grounds are beautiful - this isn't just a repertory house, it's an estate with a museum on it. Just look through their website, it's pretty detailed.

I've enjoyed Metrograph since they opened. They are definitely getting prints from private collections, have a great screen, and advanced seating so there's no pressure to get there early (cough Film Forum cough).

The George Eastman Museum is having a Storaro retrospective, with Apocalypse Now Reduces on 35mm playing! So sad I can't be there
BTW, how far away is it from NYC and is there public transportation that gets there?

It's in Rochester, NY so it's a 6-hour drive. I'm not sure if you can take Amtrak, but I would personally advise against it. Believe me, between Lincoln Center, BAM, MOMA, MOMI, Metrograph, Film Forum, and Anthology (and Alamo Drafthouse, and Nitehawk, and the Quad which reopens soon) there will be no shortage of film to see.

I'm glad you brought up advanced seating as I'm not a fan of this practice and find it refreshing that Lincoln Center, Film Forum, Lincoln Plaza haven't done this yet.

The renovation is actually an expansion. There's been a vacant lot behind the theater that sits on Cornelia Street. IFC (er the Dolans) wants to expand into the lot but the community has been fighting it. Especially the folks that live and work on Cornelia Street. If anyone knows Cornelia Street, it's a quaint little street with old New York style residential apartments and a cluster of small but popular restaurants. And of course, IFC is owned by the Dolan family. They have as much NY cred as the Trump family. So, not very popular. I believe it's still being negotiated but the community board is a bear to deal with. So, who knows what the outcome will be.

Unfortunately for me, I have not been able to get to the Metrograph. During the week their afternoon schedule is limited. I prefer afternoon movie going because I wake for work well before the roosters and the worms. But at some point I will get there.

Your options are pretty large. Drucker named all your options. We try to post some of the calendars and events here if that helps.

Downside of Metrograph - the exposed brick walls. They show some pretty rare stuff, and it's definitely got some of the nicest amenities outside of the actual screening, but I still prefer Lincoln Center and MoMA for sound.

Is that why sometimes high pitched noises sound so piercing in that venue?

I wish Lincoln Center, MOMA, and BAM were more transparent with the format being shown. I've found that if it doesn't explicitly list "35mm" or "16mm", there's a good chance it's digital. I think the copy of The Leopard I saw at Lincoln Center was a blu-ray, which was disappointing and not advertised as such.

No shit, The Leopard at Lincoln Center was on BD???

That's just baffling, it's so commonly shown in NYC on 35mm prints - the last one I went to was actually the new Film Foundation restoration at MoMA and they went the extra mile of printing it on a 35mm print, and it looked amazing. There's really no good excuse for this.

But re: Metrograph, probably. It's stupid, they spend the money on uniforms and nice designs, but they won't buy some panels or anything to cover the walls. Honest to God I feel like the people in charge just can't hear well and can't tell the difference.

It was billed as being the restoration, but after the credits, an Olive video logo popped up and perhaps even a blank BD menu screen. The former definitely occurred, not sure about the latter. It was definitely not a print though.

Wow, AFAIK the only available version in the U.S. is Criterion's BD, which is not the restoration - perhaps Olive snagged the rights and is about to put it out?

Even 20th Century Fox has 35mm prints. It's absolutely ludicrous and infuriating that they think playing a Blu is acceptable.

This was 4 years ago. I figured they must have the rights to produce theatrical distribution or something?

Ah, never mind then.

Wait, so Criterion's BD of the film is not of the Film Foundation restoration? Are there any blu rays with that restoration?

No it is not, had they waited a year, they probably would've been able to do it.

There are some BD's overseas that use the restoration, but only one (issued in Australia) with English subtitles, and that one went out of print fast.

How much of an improvement is the newer restoration?

Definitely better, you see it in the grain and texture - finer, as if each bit of grain was smaller and better rendered, and yet the actual picture detail is sharper and better defined without artificial sharpening.

IFC Center for Fire Walk With Me yesterday morning. Didn't see a rat problem; the newly-christened and much welcome all-gender restrooms are very clean (granted, it was 10:30am), and the upstairs foyer adorned with a nice mini-gallery of Lynch film posters from around the world. The film print was warm and worn in all the right ways; I'm going back to see 35mm of Inland Empire and Wild at Heart and I'm especially curious to see how the former operates on 35mm. Apparently, there was a gaffe wherein the studio did not actually have either a 35mm of Lost Highway (which was advertised) or a DCP, so they're playing it off of the German Blu-ray. They found out last minute and tried the Blu-ray, but it wouldn't play properly at the first screening. There's an apology letter in the window assuring folks that yes, indeed, they've figured out how to play Blu-rays...

I had no idea JD & the Straight Shot owned IFC, no wonder I've never been fond of the place. Cornelia Street is great tho, the whole WV running up to 14th is a cool mystery to explore.

When Dolan's company took over that theater he let go of all the union people affiliated with the theater, including the projectionists. He replaced them with non-union folks. He is a notorious union breaker.