CINEMA RETRO CONTRIBUTOR MIKE THOMAS TAKES US INSIDE SOME EXCITING FILM-RELATED SCREENINGS AND SEMINARS SPONSORED BY A.M.P.A.S.
SHOWTIME AT THE ACADEMY
by Mike Thomas
When Gregory Peck was President of the Academy of Motion
Pictures Arts & Sciences he inaugurated a policy of public outreach
programs, apolicy that that continues to this day. The once-private
organization became a beacon of film education; awarding grants and
fellowships, and holding screenings for the public.
In the last week alone, the Academy has presented three
public programs that are equal to the best of their kind anywhere in the world.
On Friday, April 25th, the Academy saluted the 40th anniversary of “2001: A
Space Odyssey,†in glorious 70mm with stars Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood in
attendance, introduced by one of the film’s greatest admirers, a wonderfully
witty Tom Hanks.
On Monday night, April 28th as part of its ongoing “Great to
be Nominated†series, Quentin Tarantino and a dozen or so colleagues from
“Pulp Fiction,†discussed the making of the film and the world-wide phenomenon
it became following a screening of the film.
And on Thursday, May 1, TCM personality Robert Osborne reminisced
about his long-time friend, Bette Davis, on a 100th birthday tribute to the
immortal giant of the silver screen, highlighted by a surprise visit from
Warner Bros. colleague, the equally legendary Olivia De Havilland.
Now, taken individually, any one of these three events would
be the year’s highlight for any number of the world-wide motion picture
institutions, the fact that the Academy has three such events in a single week
conclusively demonstrates again, if any reminder is needed, that it is the
premiere film organization in the world, and its public programming is worthy
of an Oscar itself. And the $5 admission price to see the finest
available prints on one of the greatest screening rooms in the world, is a
tremendous bargain that cannot be matched anywhere.
The “2001†screening was a reminder of the staggering
achievement of Stanley Kubrick. After blowing up the world in his earlier film,
1964’s “Dr. Strangelove,†the usually cynical Kubrick, spent the next three
years giving us his most optimistic film: a meditation on the past, present and
future of the human race. The Academy pulled out all the stops for this event,
the evening’s program notes were a beautifully designed replica of the original
theatrical program book’s cover. A special video provided by NASA, shot aboard
the orbiting space station, featured the actual astronauts paying tribute to
the film. Tom Hanks provided a warm reminiscence of his initial encounter with
the film in 1968 and the panel discussion with the two stars, special effects
wizard Douglas Trumbull who pioneered many revolutionary SFX for the film, and
other members of the cast and crew provided fascinating insights into the
making of one of the most films groundbreaking studio films ever made.