Almost nowhere still projects 70mm, and this is Kubrick's 2001 in a real 70mm print, complete with its intermission, in a theatre the Museum of the Moving Image designed around exactly this kind of scale. It closes the 11th See It Big series, which also ran Lawrence of Arabia, Amadeus and The Untouchables this summer. If you have only ever seen the Star Gate sequence on a laptop, this is the correction.
What to expect
You sit in a purpose-built theatre for a projected large-format print rather than a digital file, with the grain and depth that implies. The film runs close to two and a half hours with a scheduled intermission. Expect a film-literate audience and the museum's exhibitions available to walk before the screening.
Good to know
- The M or R to Steinway Street, or the N or W to 36th Avenue, both leave a short walk
- Buy ahead; the series finale is the screening that sells out
- The film runs long with a scheduled intermission, so plan the rest of the day around it
- Museum admission to the exhibitions is ticketed separately from the screening
- It suits film enthusiasts, though the title needs no special knowledge
- Astoria's restaurant blocks are minutes away for before or after
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Common questions
What is 70mm and why does it matter?
It is a large-format film stock roughly twice the width of standard 35mm, giving markedly greater resolution and depth. Very few venues still keep projectors that can run it.
How long is the screening?
The film runs 149 minutes and is shown with an intermission, so budget close to three hours in the theatre.
Where is the Museum of the Moving Image?
At 36-01 35th Avenue in Astoria, Queens, on the Kaufman Astoria Studios campus. Screenings are in the Sumner M. Redstone Theater.
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