IMAX Rewards Guardians Fans with a Special Poster, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Anyone who went to see Marvel Entertainment’s Guardians of the Galaxy Thursday night were given a surprising treat. In select IMAX theatres belonging to Landmark Cinemas and Cineplex in Canada, a slick and glossy 13×19” poster showing off the silhouettes of the rag-tag team of renegades … er Guardians to display on their wall.

This image is not part of the IMAX Fanfix program. Instead, it is a design by Poster Posse, a collective of artists from around the world who design unique collectible art, where their work is truly limited (distribution will vary by region, if not contract). This particular work is created by Marko Manev. It’s certainly worth framing to proudly put in any Marvel Comic’s Universe enthusiast’s den, and display next to the suitcase that holds Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Avengers Assembled collection.IMAX The movie certainly kicks off Phase Two with a righteous start!

Any viewers who attended the early exclusive 17min preview of this film will find that even the earlier mini-poster complements this new one in an evolutionary way. The July 7th poster is a study that Andy Warhol can be proud of. And Manev’s work reminds art aficionados that he may be going after a look much like the Band of Brothers — but this time, instead of soldiers silhouetted against a stormy sky, these misfit warriors are proudly ready to take on any challenge with their spaceship ready to transport them to wherever danger will lurk. The cassette tape is symbolic of the 70’s and 80’s to remind onlookers that director James Gunn was aiming to pay tribute to the pulps of a later age — to which he greatly succeeded at doing.

Gunn has confirmed that a second film will happen. With the team’s origin tale out-of-the-way, the real frontier action can begin!

[Victoria, BC] The Rocky Mountain Express Returns to the IMAX at the Royal BC Museum

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Throughout the years, IMAX filmmaker Stephen Low has made many a documentary about some of the world’s amazing vehicles. From planes and trains to automobiles, he has finally covered them all. His most recent work, Rocky Mountain Express, is making a return to Victoria, B.C’s National Geographic IMAX theatre August 1st, and it will certainly be a crowd pleaser.

This movie looks at the Empress (CPR 2816), the little train that could. It carried more than just supplies and people cross-country. It also symbolized hope, and it really carried the dreams of many to unite a nation. Since BC was the last to join the Confederation, without the initial train line to connect the two sides of the country together, this nation might have taken on a different shape.

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[Victoria, BC] The Royal BC Museum’s IMAX Theatre Grows and Schedule Offerings

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Perhaps the only true IMAX movie theatre is located at the Royal British Columbia Museum at the Inner Harbour. Cineplex Odeon’s Westshore location is second best with its UltraAVX offerings but not a lot of moviegoers from downtown Victoria will want to make the commute out there and back for movies projected in true surround sound or played back at 48 frames per second. But when considering the upgrades done at the museum’s own theatre, perhaps the competition has begun.
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IMAX Fanfix Gears up for Spider-Man 2 Mondo Poster!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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If the first IMAX 12:01 Amazing Spider-Man poster looked good, then the Fanfix version that will soon be distributed is going to be spectacular! Inspired by the trends that feature film intros have been making lately — to have film credits in the opening sequence blend with the background or become part of the camera shot and disappear as it pans — then this new exclusive for movie-goers going to the very first IMAX screening is certainly going to be a treat.

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IMAX’s Fanfix 2014: Divergent gets an Inspired Poster

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Perhaps both the filmmakers and IMAX are being selective in what films will get the FanFix upgrade. This program is designed to give the hard-core fans a treat for being first in line for certain movies, and the 2014 year begins with a gorgeously 70’s deco inspired print (almost ala The Matrix meets Pink Floyd) by artist Victo Ngai for the movie Divergent.

This talented illustrator from Hong Kong is based out of New York and she has done works for clients like The New Yorker, The New York Times, Leo Burnett, McDonald’s, WIRED, Plansponsor, International Herald Tribune, The Progressive, Tor Books and many more. Her work has been in shows in New York, Los Angeles, London, Germany, Australia, China and can be purchased from galleries/stores including the Victoria and Albert Museum Shop.

But for people curious about the books that this movie is based on, including this author, the official synopsis is as follows:

“In a future world where people are divided into distinct factions based on their personalities, Tris Prior is warned she is Divergent and will never fit into any one group. When she discovers a conspiracy to destroy all Divergents, she must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it’s too late.”

Divergent releases Thursday, March 20th.

For a list of participating theaters, click here.

Star Trek: Into Darkness and IMAX’s FANFIX program

These Star Trek “limited edition” prints may well number roughly 25,000 since enough product has to be printed and shipped to all the participating theaters across North America.

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The IMAX premiere of Star Trek: Into Darkness was a crowd pleaser. Not only were fans treated to a well done movie, mixing some rebel rousing high brow action with a familiar story, but they were treated to a memento, a glow-in-the-dark poster of the Enterprise orbiting the Earth, with a rising sun to signify the final frontier. The painting of a sun and a starry background by artist Mark Englert will glow when the lights go out.

This item may seem gimmicky, but for the people who love merchandise, this collectible will no doubt be numerous and will last until stocks run out. Technically, they were available for people attending the Wednesday night show, and only select theaters are eligible to receive this box of posters to distribute. For the IMAX company, it’s their way of saying thank you for coming out and of introducing IMAX FANFIX™ to the masses. It’s not quite a rewards program, but it is a gesture with good intentions behind it.

These Star Trek “limited edition” prints may well number roughly 25,000 since enough product has to be printed and shipped to all the participating theaters across North America. Now if they were individually numbered, that would make a difference.

Gone is the IMAX 12:01 program, which saw a distribution of smaller 13.5×19.5 posters last year.