We’re only three days from Memorial Day weekend, which in my mind constitutes the unofficial start of summer, and Salt Lake-area movie buffs know what that means: It’s time for the annual “Summer of 35mm” film series at the Tower Theatre!
The Salt Lake Film Society’s website describes this recent tradition as “a summer-long repertory series of late-night, classic B-movies and iconic generational cinema … These are films that audiences know, love and can’t get enough of. Running Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend at Tower Theatre, a new film plays each Friday and Saturday night at 11 p.m. with a matinee screening at noon on Sunday.”
Despite our best intentions and wishes, The Girlfriend and I only ever manage to make it to two or three of these special screenings per year, and we can’t really handle the late shows anymore, preferring the Sunday matinees like the old farts we’re fast becoming. Nevertheless, we’ve had a lot of fun seeing old favorites on the big screen thanks to this series. I was holding out hope, as always, that this year might bring Highlander or Escape from New York, or perhaps even Heavy Metal. No such luck, but there’s some good stuff coming up anyway. Here’s a convenient schedule you can print out and stick on your fridge:
Of these offerings, The Wrath of Khan is, of course, the big no-brainer. We will be there for that one. The Terminator is also a high priority, for me at least, if not Anne. On my list of secondary choices, i.e., the ones I’d like to see but won’t be terribly upset if we miss them, I’d place Fast Times, The Big Lebowski, Dazed and Confused, and possibly Roger Rabbit. I’ve never seen The Warriors, although I’m aware of that one and have long been curious about it; it could maybe go on my secondary list as well.
A Clockwork Orange is a film I appreciate but can’t really say I like — which describes how I feel about most of Kubrick’s oeuvre, if I’m being honest — so I feel okay about skipping that one. I’ve also never cared for Legend, one of the few of the early-80s fantasy films that failed to grab my socks back in the day. And the really cultish titles on the schedule — Repo, Pink Flamingos, Ruben and Ed, and Hedwig — just aren’t my thing at all. As for Reservoir Dogs… sorry, Tarantino fans, but I don’t have much interest in that one either. Finally, I hate to admit this, but I don’t know what Badlands is, although the title is vaguely familiar.
So, to sum up, this year’s series includes two “for sures” and four or five “maybes.” Not bad, not bad.
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On a somewhat related note, it’s come to my attention that the Salt Lake Film Society, which owns and operates the Tower as well as the Broadway Centre Cinemas, is currently trying to raise funds to convert both facilities over to digital projection by the end of this year. I don’t know if the plan is to maintain traditional film-based projectors alongside the new digital system, but I suspect not. Hollywood isn’t striking new 35mm prints anymore, and there are fewer and fewer existing ones available to loan to theaters as they wear out. Plus, I’d be surprised if there’s enough physical space in the Tower’s booth for two different projection systems. Which means that this Summer of 35mm film series is probably the last one… at least the last one for which that name will mean anything, i.e., the last to be presented via actual film. As my Loyal Readers can probably guess, that makes me sad. The ending of eras usually does — that’s just my nature — but this particular ending is especially poignant for me.
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