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Sci-Fi Film Festival Invades Cinerama

Four reasons to check out the newly formed festival.

Posted by: Seth Sommerfeld on Apr 18, 2012 at 12:00PM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

The iconic robot from Metropolis.

“Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today, but the core of science fiction—its essence—has become crucial to our salvation, if we are to be saved at all.” —Isaac Asimov

Cinerama kicks off its first annual Science Fiction Film Festival on Thursday and will screen many of the timeless works of the genre over the following two weeks. Rather than giving a rundown of all the films being show, we decided to highlight the top four reasons to check out the festival.

1. Metropolis with an Orchestra.

1927’s Metropolis is arguably the first landmark science-fiction film with its startling (for the time) visual effects and futuristic dystopian vision. While it’s a silent picture, director Fritz Lang originally intended to have a live orchestra perform the film’s score at screenings. That intent will become reality when Boston’s Alloy Orchestra, which Roger Ebert described as “the best in the world at accompanying silent films,” live scores three screenings of Metropolis (Apr 19–21). This is sure to be a medium-melding treat.

2. A New 70mm Print of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi masterpiece remains as visually stunning and emotionally jarring today as it was when it was first released. But at the festival, the visual onslaught will be kicked up a notch as Cinerama presents a new, never-before-seen 70mm print. Expect minds and eyes to be blown away during the famed (and trippy) “Star Gate” sequence, now in vivid 70mm detail on Cinerama’s massive screen.

3. Double Features.

What’s better than catching one great sci-fi flick? How about seeing its awesome sequel the same night? The festival features back-to-back screenings of Mad Max and Road Warrior on April 25 as well as Terminator and Terminator 2 on April 27. The unfortunate catch is that moviegoers have to buy tickets to each screening separately. But still.

4. A ~~Forbidden~~ Forgotten Gem.

While it doesn’t have a prominent screening time (Sunday, April 29 at 11am), don’t sleep on (or sleep in and miss) Forbidden Planet. The 1956 film about a space recon mission gone wrong (staring a young, hunky Leslie Nielsen long before he took a turn as a comedic actor) massively influenced both George Lucas and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.

2001: A Space Odyssey – Star Gate Sequence

The First Annual Science Fiction Film Festival
Apr 19–May 2, $12–$30, Cinerama
For the complete festival schedule visit seattlecinerama.com.

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Tags: Film Fest, Seattle Cinerama, Seattle Film News

Film News

Washington State Film Initiative Passes

Filmmakers will once again catch a break in-state; now, someone get The Killing to relocate to Seattle.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Mar 09, 2012 at 12:00PM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

The Killing is set in Seattle and shot in Vancouver, despite our authentic cloud coverage.

Just saw this bit of good news over on the Seattle Office of Film and Music blog: The state House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed legislation (92-6) renewing filmmaking incentives in Washington, putting the bill on Gov. Gregoire’s desk. If approved, the Motion Picture Competitiveness Program—which expired last June and had languished in committees until recently—will be reinstated through July 1, 2017, granting rebates to movies, television shows, and commercials in production in the state of Washington.

This is big. Without carrots to dangle, the state has been losing business to Vancouver, which has a robust incentives program and, of late, has drawn high-profile indie films (50/50 starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and TV shows (AMC’s The Killing) despite their being “set” in Seattle. Under the amended bill E2SSB 5539, nonprofit Washington FilmWorks can continue to reimburse in-state spending by production teams—now up to 35 percent if a TV show sticks around for six or more episodes. Rather than offering tax breaks like so many states (39 in the U.S. have some kind of incentive plan), this program only pays out if filmmakers invest locally.

Gov. Gregoire has 20 days to sign the bill into law.

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Tags: Seattle Film News, Washington FilmWorks

Film News

The Columbia City Cinema to Reopen?

Nonprofit SEEDArts is hoping to relaunch the darkened movie house.

Posted by: Stephanie Rubesh on Dec 21, 2011 at 12:30PM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

If all goes well, we could be watching The Hobbit: There and Back Again in Columbia City.

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There’s still hope for the recently shuttered Columbia City Cinema, thanks to southeast Seattle nonprofit SEEDArts. The art-loving administration just announced plans to revive the much-missed movie house.

Closed since May, the three-screen cinema went under after the city denied owner Paul Doyle’s request for more time to install fire code-mandated sprinklers. (To be fair, the city said it tried to work with Doyle and discussed options over the course of a year.) SEEDArts, which also owns the Rainier Valley Cultural Center and the Columbia City Gallery, has decided to step in, and is currently working with a community advisory board to raise $60,000 for rent on a one-year lease. That will allow them the time and space to conduct a feasibility study and raise $1.1 million to reopen. The study will take about three months to look at community resources, talk to potential donors, and scope out interest levels in a revived community cinema. Should the results come back positive, the campaigning begins.

If everything goes according to plan, the theater could reopen—fully refurbished with a new sprinkler system—as early as September 2013, said art director Jerri Plumridge. They plan to show first- and second-run films, foreign, and independent films. Given the recent successes of the revived Uptown and Neptune theaters, this could be a very good thing for Columbia City.

Want to help make it happen? Donate at seedseattle.org/donate.

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Tags: Columbia City, Seattle Film News

Trailer Tuesday

Chronicle: The Found Footage Movie Set in Seattle That No One’s Heard Of

Posted by: Matthew Halverson on Nov 22, 2011 at 10:30AM Speech Bubble 0 Comments

If you’re a fan of genre/alien/bigfreakingmystery movies, you know that Super 8 comes out on Blu-Ray and DVD today. (You might have even entered the @Super8Movie scavenger hunt around Seattle.) If you’re not a fan of genre/alien/bigfreakingmystery movies, you should check it out anyway. J.J. Abrams’s latest—ostensibly about an alien terrorizing a small Ohio town—is actually a heartwarmer about a young boy who’s trying to come to grips with his mother’s death…while he searches for the alien terrorizing his small Ohio town. (Trust me, it works.) And even though it’s a blatant homage to ’80s-style adventure movies (Steven Spielberg produced) it manages to nod to the modern “found footage” approach that made Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity fun.

And speaking of found footage flicks, why aren’t we talking about Chronicle? Its trailer—which follows three teenagers through their increasingly dangerous experiments in telekinesis, and also happens to feature the Space Needle in every other shot—dropped a month ago yesterday. But no one I know is talking about it. Okay, it doesn’t come out until February. And maybe the rest of the country is burned out on superpowers and movies that look like they were shot with a Flipcam. But you’d think the Seattle connection could at least generate a little buzz around here. Me? If there’s more to it than just a bunch of kids blowing stuff up with their minds—like, say, an underlying theme exploring the challenges of being “different” as a high schooler—color me intrigued. And it’s written by Max Landis, son of prolific director John Landis. So that’s something.

What do you think? Are you over the found footage genre, even if it comes with a heaping helping of drizzly Seattle backdrops? Let us know in the comments.