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Is the film IMax still running at Huntsville Space Museum, or did they also desecrate that one with digital?
Worse, USSRC dropped IMAX completely back in 2019. The switched the dome to a 5 laser Evans & Sutherland system (https://www.rocketcenter.com/INTUITIVEPlanetarium)
Just as well since the dome never worked well for Hollywood movies. And the IMAX dome laser system seems subpar (I haven't made it to McWayne in Bham to see in person though)
I usually go to TN Aquarium for IMAX (especially if 1.43 content like Dune). I back last year they were talking about getting Oppenheimer in 70mm but that fell through. The projectionist working Opry Mills is from the Aquarium and said the gutted the booth when they converted to GT Laser making it impractical to get the 70mm projector back.
I would have preferred to go to the Aquarium vs Opry Mills (I did see Oppy in dual laser there and it reinforced my preference for the venue).
Asking me? I never said OPRYheimer. I said Oppenheimer, Opry Mills, and Oppy (as short for Oppenheimer)
I would have preferred TN Aquarium in Chattanooga over Opry Mills in Nashville if they had been able to get the 70mm projector working.
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I saw Oppenheimer several times, IMAX 70mm twice in Nashville, IMAX GT laser in Chattanooga (also a 5/70 showing and 35mm showing).
Looks like Cineplex just confirmed extensions on all of their 70mm film locations that were running it in Week 8 - Vaughan has also listed IMAX 70mm presentations through the next week!
Looks like Cineplex just confirmed extensions on all of their 70mm film locations that were running it in Week 8 - Vaughan has also listed IMAX 70mm presentations through the next week!
I’m squeezing in a showing at Cineplex Langley in BC tomorrow.
Reconfirmed with the BL&S projectionist at Regal Colorado Mills (Lakewood, CO) - they will be breaking their 5/70 print down the morning of Friday, September 15; the last showing will be 9:50 PM Thursday, September 14.
Saw it for, sadly, the last time last night, it still looks absolutely.perfect at run count 192.
Just a few more comments, as events aligned so that I was able to attend the last 5/70 showing of Oppenheimer (ever?) at the Regal Colorado Mills in Lakewood, CO. (The print is getting broken down the morning of September 15.)
Some stats:
Number of runs on the print: 195
Number of zero attendance 5/70 screenings over the entire run: 0
Even on day one, the 70mm screenings sold better and faster than the digital or digital IMAX ones did, which made the projectionist hopeful it will lead to more 5/70 prints and screenings in the future.
I am hopeful their print is selected to go to the archives as it was still absolutely pristine. Credits typically show the most wear as they are letters on a completely black background and there were no speckles, scratches or any other marks whatsoever (that actually goes for the entire run time for that matter.)
William, I am thrilled to hear there is a print in solid condition at that venue, but let's be realistic because you are using the term "perfect" here and that's an awful strong word.
The only thing the theater had to keep the print clean are those useless PTR rollers. By the end of the head leader those PTRs will have already spun around hundreds of times, and each spin the PTR rollers become less effective. Keep in mind the PTRs will spin a few times per SECOND of film that passes as well, and we are talking about a 3 hour 70mm film running nonstop through the projector without even a chance to clean the PTR rollers partway through (not that it would make any difference). PTRs are simply ineffective in the field.
Unless the projectionist at that venue brought in his own 70mm Kelmar cleaner and ran the print wet with FilmGuard on each show, there is no way that print is in "perfect" condition. It's just not possible. Dirt WILL accumulate on the print slightly more with each run and that does not constitute a "perfect" print. I believe you when you say there are no scratches on the print, but I think you just aren't very sensitive to dirt.
Perhaps a more suitable description for the Lakewood print would be "excellent" condition. That's a believable term.
Regardless, ALL of the Oppenheimer prints are being inspected post-run. They are being separated in various groups such as:
FilmGuarded print
Dirt, but no scratches
Emulsion black/green vertical lines with no base damage
Emulsion green/yellow vertical lines with no base damage
Emulsion diagonal/horizontal lines
Base lines only
Damaged section/missing footage
Within each of those categories they are also being separated as changeover vs. platter. Historically, the platter prints almost always fare better in the end because most changeover projectionists still to this day can't keep their KFC finger-lickin' hands off of the lab countdown leaders. Dirt migrates into the next layer of film on the reel with each rewind, so running a print changeover without practicing the true archival practice of threading at the start of an extended long rundown leader and motoring it down to reach the Fotokem leader's starting frame means there is simply no possible way the ends of the reels won't end up getting dirty and experience cinch mark scratches due to the every-show action of rewinding, which is made far worse when people thread on the Fotokem countdown leader.
Remember the dust that migrates into the ends of the reels slip between layers during rewind (and projection) and that tiny bit of slipping is what causes the cinch mark scratches. (Little tiny dashes of "rain" which everyone has seen before on a used print at the heads and tails of each reel.) With the platter prints the film is handled once during build and once during breakdown, so the cinch mark rain never occurs. The only way to prevent that on a reel to reel system is LONG head and tail leaders (100 feet at minimum), making sure the reels being used have absolutely round and true hubs, using a rewinding system with a varying backtension (the tension must decrease as the supply reel diminishes) and most important of all...never, ever threading on the lab countdown. Case in point the changeover prints that went out "doubled up" will absolutely not experience ANY of this film damage at the reel join halfway through the "double" reel. That is ALWAYS the case without exception.
In selecting the final prints to keep, any theater that used FilmGuard with a Kelmar cleaner will be super easy. One quick pass through an ultrasonic cleaner and there will be no trace of the FilmGuard remaining on the print. Unless there was a major threading mistake, the print will be (to use your term) "perfect" as in effectively lab new condition and other than the leaders being cut it will look as if it's never been projected. For anyone that has used FilmGuard back in the 35mm days you know that is exactly what it does. For those that haven't used it, you simply haven't seen the difference it makes.
Prints that have some dirt, but no scratches (such as this one you speak of) will be relatively easy, but will depend on the size of the lamp used, if the theater ran without a heat filter or water cooling and so forth in regards to if the dirt has become embedded into the emulsion. If the dirt hasn't become embedded, then a couple of slow passes through the ultrasonic cleaner should make it in effectively lab new condition. If there is embedded dirt, then more aggressive steps must be taken which depending on the circumstance will depend on if it can be restored to like new condition or not.
Emulsion black/green vertical lines with no base damage can be made to project like new again through our custom designed rewashing processor. A number of members here have seen demos where we made black and green emulsion lines disappear. Sometimes yellow lines can be made to be invisible and other times yellow lines will be less obnoxious. It just depends on a ton of factors. (We don't use any lacquers, coatings or nonsense like those awful "rejuvenation" companies did in the past, as our system is archival-oriented.)
It all starts to get more tricky and difficult from there, but the point being only the absolute best prints will be saved for vault and repertory use. In the past prints have been saved by asking each projectionist to rate his//her print, which is a ludicrous concept. Too many people have differing opinions of what constitutes an excellent condition print, so having each person rate their print is a waste of time. We all know those self-grades are going to be artificially inflated as well (to make themselves look better) and very few of them will actually be accurate.
Having all prints inspected by a third party eliminates that skew and insures that the best prints really ARE being kept, which is the proper end goal. It does nobody (or film in general) any good to save a print with damage.
Do you know if the same exact 3rd party inspection will be done for the IMAX 15-perf prints, and if they keep similar numbers of archival IMAX prints as they do 5-perf? I suspect since IMAX does not do repertory print screenings at any location that does not simply store their own prints that the needs beyond a vault print would be incredibly low.
I don't think it is reasonably feasible for IMAX to do such a thing. As I understand it any venue that may play the print in the future simply keeps it in the booth, but I am not the person to ask for definitive IMAX questions like that.
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