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Since its inception 25 years ago, Film Forum’s repertory screen has presented classic films in the best possible 35mm prints, premiering nearly 1,000 new prints and restorations along the way. (On this calendar alone, you’ll find forty-five 35mm prints, ten of them spanking new). While we’re more than ever committed to showing classic films on film, the tremendous advances being made in transferring classics to DCP (Digital Cinema Package), the industry standard, just can’t be ignored. The best DCPs scan original negatives at such a high rate that all of the attributes of a photochemically-produced 35mm (or even 70mm) print — the detail, color density, film grain, etc. — are vividly re-created and even exceeded. But is watching a DCP the same experience as watching a film print? The jury is still out, so for this one-week series, we’ve chosen the crème de la crème of classics on DCP and have invited Sony Pictures’ Grover Crisp, one of the true giants of film restoration, to explain things on opening weekend. You be the judge.

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If nothing else, this gives a list of some classic movies available in DCP format.

They are showing Dr. Strangelove, Taxi Driver, Guns of Navarone, Bye Bye BIrdie, From Here to Eternity, Five Easy Pieces, Goldfinger, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, Red Shoes, Searchers, West Side Story and Rear Window.

No mention is made of these being 2k or 4k presentations.
 

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Posted by Mark Ogden (Member # 43) on 03-04-2012, 02:33 PM:
 
Dr. Strangelove was 4K. Not sure about everything else.

I'm sure this will all look impressive as hell on the Film Forum's gigantic 12 foot screen
 

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Posted by Jock Blakley (Member # 6552) on 03-04-2012, 03:39 PM:
 
Sony have TAXI DRIVER out in 4K...

Maybe we could repeat the series down here on our 63' screen.
 

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Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 03-04-2012, 07:56 PM:
 
'Bye Bye Birdie' - oh I love that film! where the heck is the bluray?! You know when the Film Forum has gone over to the darkside ... er Digital projection, the end of 35mm is truly on it's last legs.
 

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Posted by Jenn Jennings (Member # 6455) on 03-05-2012, 02:45 PM:
 
Oh you beat me to the post. I thought this was a very interesting sign of the times. It's all part of conditioning folks of this new digital stuff. It'll be interesting to see how many other theatres follow this kind of terminology.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-05-2012, 02:54 PM:
 
Eh, I don't buy the "conditioning" idea. I still think that at least 90% of our moviegoers have no idea that we're not still using film. Nor do they care.
 

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Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 03-05-2012, 03:35 PM:
 
For me it's a selling point. I put "Digital Cinema" on everything.

I had one family last night who told me they had drive 2 hours one way to come to the show here just because it's Digital Cinema.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-05-2012, 07:28 PM:
 
I guess I don't like to trumpet it out too much for two reasons:

1. Minimize irritating any film purists that happen to be out there;

and

2. Our film picture was really good to start with, so I don't want people showing up, not seeing a heckuvalotta difference and coming out disappointed that they weren't blown away. (They get that feeling often enough from the movies themselves.)
 

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Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 03-06-2012, 12:01 AM:
 
yet '2001' and 'West Side Story' in 70mm form still have the upper hand, in terms of audio - the original five front audio mix. Until DCP can encode and present the original pre-1977 70mm and 8-SDDS mixes - I'll be happier.
 

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Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 03-10-2012, 05:51 PM:
 
I've noticed that Landmark here in DC (E Street) has a Classic Cinema showcase:

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/flyers/CapitalClassics_2012_0106_0226_web.pdf

as well as a film series called 'Cine Classics' over at the Bow Tie Cinema out at Reston Virginia:

http://www.bowtiecinemas.com/cine-classics-reston.php

given that the E street listings all denote digital projection and all the screens at Reston are DLP - there seems to be quite a few 'classic' films becoming available in DCP form.
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 03-11-2012, 07:30 AM:
 
Don't read too much into those postings. There is no reason to believe that they are showing DCP versions of anything. Both BluRay and ECinema (like from Emerging Pictures) are often used to show classic movies, not DCP.

When did E-Street go DCinema? They were all film with a couple of A/V projectors for showing BluRays and the like the last time I was in the booth there for a screening.
 

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Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 03-11-2012, 11:57 AM:
 
I had never heard of ECinema before. As for E Street I know they have one Sony 4K projector setup - it used to be on screen 1, but is now on screen 3.
 

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