By Otaku no Culture
E: Gen X’ers, geeks, Gen Y’ers and nerds should unite! Nearly 50 years of pop culture cinema is being offered at the Great Digital Film Festival, which is playing all across Canada in select Cineplex Odeon theatres (January 31 to February 6).
21 films will be playing throughout the day for one week, and if James and I do not collapse from exhaustion (there’s only so much my buddy’s old age can take), we may take in more than five films of this mega-extravangza. The one thing I find interesting is that while I know it was not intentional, this show takes place right before the Victoria Film Festival.
J: The film line-up is one to drool over. There are many great past favourites of mine like TRON and Flash Gordon (Ming!). But what’s important about viewing these films is not to revisit ones you saw in the theatre before but to have a chance to see films you always wanted to see as they are intended. Films like Tim Burton’s Batman is not as high priority as On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
E: If only Freddie Mercury (God Bless His Soul) was still alive so that Queen’s music can be heard live. Yes, I’d see Flash Gordon again. He’s alive … aaah-AAAH! Okay, great, now that I have the title song stuck in my head. But yes, all these films have to be experienced as it should, on a big silver screen.
Out of all the movies that I love to see on the big screen again, only four are definitive: Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Logan’s Run and TRON. If these films were to be played on a IMAX (read: 72 ft × 53 ft square shaped format) screen, I’d be there in a heartbeat. As for who I want to share my popcorn with during this festival, there would still be no change. I’d definitely add Monty Python and the Holy Grail since that’s a shared experience for all to enjoy.
J: Though I have seen that Monty Python movie many, many, times (NI!), it doesn’t compare to the big screen experience in a room full of Python fans. The Vic Theatre showed Holy Grail within the last two years but with my busy schedule I missed it. Now that I am going to cross off one from the movie bucket list, would it be too much trouble for Cineplex to obtain Help! starring the Fab Four.
E: To see James at the Silver City Victoria that night will be amazing in itself. Usually when I try to go the movies with him or anyone else, it’s a tough case of trying to drag them out of the house and away from the PS4. During the times I meet up with James for some entertainment, I see him half asleep.
J: I can get by, the films are shown at different times of the day and at different days of the week. I know that sounds like an ad but the Cineplex festival’s schedule is accommodating.
But in adult life, even one that belongs to a geek, we can’t always have our cake and eat it too. I can sure as hell try at the Digital Film Festival. Silver City, here I come!
Participating Theatres (Partial List)
Cinéma Banque Scotia Montréal
Address: 977 rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest,
Montréal, QC, H3B 4W3
Cineplex Cinemas Avalon Mall
Address: 48 Kenmount Road,
St. John’s, NL, A1B 1W3
Cineplex Cinemas Park Lane
Address: 5657 Spring Garden Road,
Halifax, NS, B3J 3R4
Cineplex Odeon Devonshire Mall Cinemas
Address: 3100 Howard Avenue,
Windsor, ON, N8X 3Y8
Cineplex Odeon Gardiners Road Cinemas
Address: 626 Gardiners Road,
Kingston, ON, K7M 3X9
Coliseum Ottawa Cinemas
Address: 3090 Carling Avenue,
Ottawa, ON, K2B 7K2
Colossus Langley Cinemas
Address: #20090 91A Avenue,
Langley, BC, V1M 3Y9
Galaxy Cinemas Saskatoon
Address: 347-2nd Avenue South,
Saskatoon, SK, S7K 1L1
Scotiabank Theatre Chinook
Address: 6455 Macleod Trail SW,
Calgary, AB, T2H 0K4
Scotiabank Theatre Edmonton
Address: #3030, 8882-170 Street,
Edmonton, AB, T5T 4M2
Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver
Address: 900 Burrard Street,
Vancouver, BC, V6Z 3G5
SilverCity Polo Park Cinemas
Address: 817 St. James Street,
Winnipeg, MB, R3G 3L3
SilverCity Victoria Cinemas
Address: 3130 Tillicum Road,
Victoria, BC, V9A 6T2
Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
Address: 259 Richmond Street West,
Toronto, ON, M5V 3M6
