A few months back when me and my girlfriend spent the weekend in the city of Dunedin, we had the privilege of seeing a brilliant film that we both loved in the cinema, instead of just on Blu-Ray. The film was Lawrence of Arabia, David Lean’s beautiful, timeless epic, a 60s masterpiece that will always remain one of my favorite films of all time.
But seeing classic movies in the theater isn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s very rare for cinemas in New Zealand to show classic films, so this was really once in a lifetime. In the city I live in, there’s only one cinema, and it only shows new releases. This, I think is pathetic. But we’ve had to live with it.
My good friend John at The Droid You’re Looking for recently wrote a post about how the experience of watching a film can sometimes be lost when watching it on the small screen, and many people responded with their thoughts on the matter. And this begs the question:
What are some of your favorite films that you want to see in the cinema? What are some films that you really, deeply love, but have never been given the chance to see in a theatre? Films that you believe would look much better in a theater than at home.
For me, the choice is tricky, but I’d probably have to go with either Citizen Kane (1941), Fanny and Alexander (1982), Apocalypse Now (1979) or Play Time (1967). Probably Play Time would be my number one pick, because there is so much to see in every single shot that watching it at home completely cuts out so much of the amazing tiny little details the film has to offer.
