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In Reply to: Wrong. I've seen over half of your list. posted by Harmonia on September 23, 2002 at 22:26:21:
Dawn Patrol was released in 1938... just a wee decade or two before my time....I worked in a film library full time for three years out of high school, then summers while I worked my way through college, doing everything from cleaning to repairing to viewing films to write catalog copy and rental pitch commentary for trade shows.... this was one of the larger libraries in the country at the time with many thousands of titles in stock. Remember this was pre-video tape, so rental customers included schools, colleges, prisons, government agencies, private industry, etc.
One of perks was being able to cue up a film to watch each day during lunch (one hour only so we usually only saw half a film each day); and I was able to bring home as many movies as I cared to watch on nights/weekends. In my second year the boss gave me a 35mm projector to keep and I built a soundproof box for it and invested in a movie screen instead of projecting the image against the wall... eventually my parents let me set the system up permanenty in their basement and I had the projector cleaned and serviced..... bypassed the projector's built in speaker in favor of a single beat-up but still serviceable Klipch Cornwall for glorious mono sound. In addition to the projection setup I had a pinball machine, my beloved little Sony Trinitron and my stereo which consisted of a hulking JVC receiver, Miracord turntable, Pioneer reel-to-reel and ESS AMT-1B monitors... had a full drum kit too... and of course a big 'ol ratty couch and comfy chairs..... needless to say, it was a very popular hangout for me and my friends.
I can't begin to tell you how much fun it was to roll a movie in those pre-VHS/LD/DVD days... the only TV channels available then were CBS/NBC/ABC and a couple of fuzzy UHF stations... although I think that one of the first broadcast cable stations was just beginning to air on UHF (anyone remember "ON-TV"?). I watched hundreds of movies during those years, REAL FILM, not video, which was an experience that I believe still betters even the best current DVD/surround sound presentation in many ways.
Follow Ups:
Cool!In the 70's, I was a student at the Art Institue of Chicago. Not only did I take Stan Brakhage's film history course for 3 years, I also hung out with the 'toot film buffs in the Film Society. We had access to everything in the Art Institute's library. One or more evenings a week consisted of us watching movies til the wee hours in a spare room of the school, which at that time, while the new school was under construction, was almost entirely underground. (See the film "Mahogany", which was filmed at the School of the Art Institute - we had yellow arrows painted on the floors to help us navigate the labrynthine subterrenean reaches of the basements.)
During those years in Chicago, "repertory cinema" was still a functional concept. The Playboy Theater, on the near north, ran a double feature at midnight every Friday and Saturday - classic, cult, foreign, independent, avante garde, Hammer horror, sci-fi - you name it. There were a couple other theaters that programmed rep sporadically too. Where else could you see a double bill of Top Hat & The Boy Friend, Blow Up and Performance, Putney Swope & Blow Out, The Fearless Vampire Killers & Bride of Frankenstein, A Hard Days Night and Yellow Submarine????
Double Cool!I cut my teeth on Hong Kong cinema at the Art Institute... Chinese vampire films were a particular favorite. Saw my first Jackie Chan film there too.... and the director's cut of Blade Runner when it was re-released.
Lazy afternoons hanging out at Oak Street Beach.... bicycling along the lakefront.... those were the days!
DOC films at University of Chicago, Facets Multimedia and the Chicago Film Festival. Saw the original Solaris at CFF long, long ago...Delicatessen more recently. I'm a bit worried about Soderbergh's remake of Solaris..In the early seventies, the Chaplin films were all being re-released to the big screen in new prints. Saw all those Chaplin films at Oak Street Cinema, which is now long gone.
The Art Institute maintains a great public film series. I atill have friends and relatives in Chicago, so I try to catch whatever's being shown when I'm in town. I wish I'd been able to see more of the Hong Kong series, I only got to see 2 or 3. I also enjoyed their film noir series.
I wish Indianapolis had the quality of programming Chi-town enjoys with the Music Box. Indy is a wonderful location for classical music...less so for film...although it's getting better. Thank goodness for DVDs.
Facets, the Chicago Film Festival, and the Parkway theatre, I think it was. French films, a double feature of "Loulou" and "Going Places" with Depardieu. And Dave Kehr's reviews in the Chicago Reader. Home video has made things more convenient, but I do miss those experiences!
I was so terrified, terrorized when I viewed that film....and enjoyed every minute of it !
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