You Won't Believe Your Eyes At The Music Box's Beloved 70MM Film Festival

By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 29, 2017 6:07PM

'2001: A Space Odyssey'

Cinephiles can be a fetishistic bunch, especially when it comes to "retro" technology, but be clearly advised: anyone who confuses the Music Box's excellent, annual 70mm Film Festival as throwback gearhead romanticization makes a huge mistake. The fest—which returns on Friday with 11 films being screened in that under-utilized, ultra-wide gauge over two weeks—is one of the absolute musts of the Chicago film calendar.

As film fans are quick to explain, it's all about image resolution. The extra width of 70mm film allows for an incredible level of detail, color and visual crispness. But films are rarely shot on 70mm these days due to cost (The Hateful Eight was a notable recent exception), and once digital established its firm foothold most theaters scrapped their 70mm projectors altogether. (Technicality note: not all the films screening at this year's fest were shot in 70mm but even the three "blowups" in the bunch—Hook, Top Gun and Short Cuts—should show marked visual improvement.)

The main attraction this year is Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi mind-melt masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), as perfect a candidate for such a festival as any. The print being screened for the festival was in fact specially commissioned by the Music Box from the last remaining full-service 70mm lab in the country. The movie remains a staggering, influential achievement (catch last week's Twin Peaks, by chance?), and seeing it in this format should be a (literally) huge treat.

The full schedule includes:
2001: A Space Odyssey
Hook
Sleeping Beauty
Top Gun
The Agony and the Ecstasy
Spartacus
Lord Jim
West Side Story
Short Cuts
Kong: Skull Island
Interstellar

The Music Box 70mm Film Festival runs Friday, June 30 through Saturday, July 15. Full details and ticket information can be found here. Tickets for 2001 are $14; other films cost $12. A festival pass runs $75.