Music Box's Son Of 70mm Film Festival Is A BFD

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 24, 2014 3:30PM

In 70mm you'll be able to see each of these famous faces up close. Illustration for the ad campaign of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World by Jack Davis, via Print magazine

Why exactly do we here at Chicagoist nerd out about 70mm? The projected image isn't bigger and it isn't because we have a fetish for analog technology. (Well, okay, that's partly the reason.) But you really do see more when you watch a movie in 70mm, an ultra-high resolution format that provides a clearer, more immersive experience. This can lead to some surprising insights. Watching classics like Lawrence of Arabia and Vertigo in 70mm allows you to inhabit their worlds in a way that feels amazingly real; watching a misfire like Doctor Doolittle, on the other hand, lets you revel in the movie's artificiality, enabling you to study Rex Harrison's hairpieces and other entertainingly dated special effects.

Those three movies and many others are all part of the Son of 70mm Film Festival at the Music Box, July 11-24. The theater hasn't posted the full schedule on their website yet, but here's what else is on tap:

Spartacus
2001: A Space Odyssey
Brainstorm
The Master
Tron
It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Patton

All tickets are $12; a limited number of festival passes will be available for $70