Recent Stories with tag imax

Oh hello, nerds. Can't wait another two and half months for your precious Tron sequel? You're in luck, as on October 28th, Disney is hosting Tron Night all over the country (and even internationally), in which devoted geeks can briefly leave their mothers' basements stop playing WoW excitedly stand in line see twenty minutes of the new Tron film. (20th Century Fox did something similar for Avatar last year, which definitely served to boost the hype.) 

Locally, there's five Seattle-area IMAX theaters where you can catch the Tron Legacy sneak peek: Lincoln Square, Alderwood, Southcenter, Thornton Place, and Pacific Science Center. As of right now, it looks like free tickets are still available for all five locations. Have at it, nerds.

It is generally acknowledged that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first to summit Mt. Everest, a feat they accomplished on May 29, 1953.

But for many, their accomplishment, as bold and brave as it was, has always come with an asterisk because of something that may, or may not, have happened on June 9, 1924. That’s when a British team consisting of George Mallory and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine set out for a summit attempt and never returned.

Whether or not Mallory and Irvine could have or did in fact make the summit that day is the subject of an excellent IMAX documentary, The Wildest Dream, currently showing at the Pacific Science Center's Eames IMAX Theater. [Ed: That's the theater to your west, if you're facing south at the ticket gate.]

Narrated by Liam Neeson, Dream is a fascinating look into what has come to be known at the Golden Age of Exploration. Mallory was definitely a man of that age, when men became obsessed with conquering some unknown territory or physical obstacle.

Mallory was obsessed with being the first to summit Everest. It was he who, in answer to a reporter’s question on why anyone would want to climb Everest, memorably answered, "Because it’s there." Mallory participated in three expeditions to Everest in 1921, 1922, and 1924 and the first surprise of Wildest Dream is that National Geographic Society filmed both the 1922 and 1924 expeditions.

The grainy, black-and-white footage is amazing. You are transported to a time when the Earth was filled with unexplored places and man was reaching out to close those gaps, sometimes at fearsome cost. There is a certain, tangible sadness in Mallory’s story, but his desire and bravery is also compelling. It’s amazing this story has never made it to film before.... (more)

Good lord, you're all so pretty.

Yeah, there's Toy Story 3, but that's not so much a summer popcorn flick as it is a chance for grown men to cry in a movie theater. Besides that, the cinemaplex is a vast entertainment desert. Everything else in wide release is for children or manchildren. So there's really no reason to spend much time at a theater between now and--oh, let's say October, just to be safe. 

Enter Inception. In a studio environment dominated by remakes, sequels, and sequels to remakes, Inception is truly something new.  While Christopher Nolan's dream-within-a-dreamscape has nods to 2001, Mission: Impossible, the entire James Bond franchise, and The Matrix, it does so in a winking way, rather than ripping off those ideas or beating you over the head with the references. Though it retains the structure of a heist flick, Inception is daringly original and unafraid to aim high. The film occasionally threatens to collapse under its own weight (and two-and-half-hour running time), but somehow it doesn't. And Nolan, along with his dexterous, high-flying cast, pulls it off in a rather sly fashion.

The plot? This is definitely one of those films where the less you know, the better. Leonardo DiCaprio (thankfully sans Boston accent, as well as Marty Scorsese) makes his living spelunking into others' dreams, with the help of a team of suit-clad professionals, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy. Usually, their work involves invading a dreamer's subconscious to extract information, but this time around, they've been hired by global business magnate Ken Watanabe to get into the dreams of one of his rivals (Cillian Murphy) and plant the seed that he needs to dissolve his corporate empire. You know, business stuff. Ellen Page plays the architect who creates the dreamworld they enter, and as the newest member of the team, she serves as character that helps explain The Rules to the audience.... (more)

Well friends, this is it. The final weekend of SIFF! The festival closes on Sunday night with Get Low, a showcase for some of Hollywood's finest actors of a Certain Seniority. Robert Duvall is fantastic as the mysterious and feared hermit who comes into town from his woodsy cell to ask Bill Murray to plan his funeral party. The mostly comedic enterprise sets in motion a series of emotional encounters, revealed secrets, and gestures toward catharsis. While opening and closing selections often fall into the territory of inoffensive blandness, this one oozes with charm and benefits from its cast of stately older actors at the top of their game.

Of course, a good part of the appeal is that whole thing is followed by a blowout gala at the Pan Pacific featuring lots of drinks, food, dancing, and a chance to debrief with fellow filmgoers about the fest (Screening is at 6:30 p.m. at Cinerama; party follows).

Many slots in the festival schedule originally listed as TBA have been announced. Along with additional screenings for festival favorites, three new films have been added. There's Thunder Soul, the story of a reunion of a high school band turned funk sensation (June 13, 1:30 p.m. @ the Egyptian); Vengeance finds a French chef in Hong Kong returning to his former killing ways (June 12, 9 p.m. @ Harvard Exit; June 13, 11 a.m. @ Harvard Exit); and Michael Douglas and an all-star cast in Ebert-approved Solitary Man (June 12, 8:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place). And, those interested in a mass singalong to Grease, probably already bought their tickets weeks in advance (June 12, 3:45 p.m. @ SIFF Cinema).

Before you send the festival off into the good night, consider some of these selections for your weekend and use the comments section to let us know if we've missed any highly recommendable films. For all film screenings, the general/member ticket prices are $11/$9 (and matinees $8/$7), except for special presentations, which cost more.

Protektor a love story between a radio operator and his glamorous Jewish actress wife during the Nazi occupation of Prague during the 1930s. He cooperates to survive; she takes up with a subversive projectionist to fight depression. (June 11, 6 p.m. @ Pacific Place; June 13, 4 p.m. @ Egyptian)

The Wildest Dream Chronicles two journeys to the summit of Mount Everest: Mallory's original fatal quest and  Conrad Anker's attempts to follow in his footsteps to vindicate the early explorer's achievement. Did we mention that it's all in IMAX? (June 11, 7 p.m.; June 12, 1:30 p.m. @ Pacific Science Center)

Cargo: Swiss in Spaaaace! Suspenseful science fiction on a shoestring aboard long haul space flight. (June 11, 9:15 p.m. @ Egyptian; June 12, 1:30 p.m. @ Egyptian)

Rocksteady: the Roots of Reggae: Genre pioneers reunite forty years later for a tribute concert in Kingston. (June 11, 9:30 p.m. @ Uptown; June 13, 11 a.m. @ SIFF Cinema)

Howl James Franco plays Alan Ginsburg in this celebration of the Beat poet laureate, complete with simulated interviews, recreated readings, and hallucinogenic animations. Rush tickets only. (June 12, 7 p.m. @ Egyptian)

Micmacs Jean-Pierre Jeunet's affection for quirky characters, coincidence, and contraptions combine in a comedic conspiracy to pit a pair of warmongers against each other as payback for inadvertent offenses against a protagonist with a bullet lodged in his brain. This has been on rush forever and opens in wider release later this month. (June 11, 7 p.m. @ Uptown)

Leaving: Kristin Scott Thomas faces mid-life French ennui. (June 12, 9 p.m. @ Uptown)

Last Train Home China's rural past confronts its industrial present during a holiday week in which factory workers swarm to available trains to spend precious time with their physically distant family members. (June 12, 6 p.m. @ Pacific Place; June 13, 1:30 p.m. @ Pacific Place) 

Au Revoir Taipei A night in the life of disaffected lovesick youth, in which Parisian plots are reconsidered, friends are kidnapped, and new crushes develop. (June 13, 9:15 p.m. @ Pacific Place; June 12, 6:00 p.m. @ Kirkland)

Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives The title says it all, really. (June 12, Midnight @ Egyptian; June 13, 9:30 p.m. @ Egyptian)... (more)

• Hubble 3D plays at the Pacific Science Center's Boeing IMAX Theater through at least June 11.

How good could Hubble 3D be, I asked myself? I don't think I could have imagined it, beforehand. I just had a niggling interest in seeing those cool galactic photos on a big, big screen. But just think how good a film called something really sexy like Hubble has to be to win a weekend-average against the cineplex offerings. Which it did last weekend, says the Baltimore Sun:

...the best news may be that the highest per-screen average for last weekend ($9,146 per theater) belongs to Hubble 3D, Toni Myers’ eye-popping, mind-enlarging IMAX 3-D documentary about the final servicing mission to the Hubble orbiting space telescope.

That is the 43-minute story: After a brief introduction to telescopes (Hey, it's for the kids!), the film traces the life of the Hubble, from its initial launch into space, to the discovery of its blurred vision, and subsequent repair attempts...and more repair attempts. The "present day" takes up with NASA's final attempt to upgrade Hubble in 2009--and a 3D IMAX camera comes along for the ride.

You visit with astronauts prepping for the task in a 6-million gallon pool (that simulates weightlessness) containing a replica of a shuttle payload bay and the Hubble. It's like an outtake from The Abyss, but with better lighting. You're up on the gantry when the visibly worn Atlantis shuttle takes off. You watch from a camera outside the shuttle as the rocket boosters disengage and fall away. You suddenly develop vertigo during a 3D spacewalk; helmet cams show their tussle with a stuck bolt. Inside, it's like how many astronauts can you fit in a phone booth. Trips to the bathroom, an astronaut says, waggling a vacuum hose, rely on the power of suction.... (more)