| 1. | (18 posts) | "Spirited Away" in Hollywood |
We looked at 74 posts by 35 different contributors.
Mostly calm week dominated by a single thread.
Lots of conversation about the September 10th premiere of "Spirited Away" in Hollywood with Miyazaki. Paul Mayer (with contacts within the Cabal of Projectionists) wrote, "Regarding the upcoming Spirited Away screening with Miyazaki-sensei in LA, I just got off the email with Dennis Bartok, the film programmer for the American Cinematheque. Disney has asked that the SEP 10 screening be moved down the street to the El Capitan since it is a slightly larger venue than the Egyptian (1000 seats versus 616)."
Jee Hoon Lee asked, "will Disney have the song and dance before the screening? Last time I saw an anime there, they didn't"
Paul replied, "No song and dance, but since this screening is being sponsored by Disney as a benefit for the Egyptian theatre, they may indeed play live music on the El Cap's mighty Wurlitzer, just like they did for Mononoke in 1999. That night they played a medley of Disney standards, then started the screening with a rendition of the El Capitan march. The El Cap's pre-show sequence is really quite something, a throwback to the days when showmanship in a movie theatre meant something. Maybe I should send some Ghibli music books down there and get them to play a Hisaishi medley for the walk-in to this show! ^_^"
In another message Paul described the theater, "It's a fantastic theatre, built in 1926 with an ornate East Indian interior motif designed by G. Albert Lansburgh. Disney spent several million dollars restoring it, much like they did with the Pantages down the street.
The theatre seats 1000, with about 400 seats in the orchestra and the rest in the balcony. The balcony is very steep, even steeper than
today's stadium auditoria--sight lines are not a problem from up there. My favorite seats in the place are anywhere towards the front of the
balcony, above the projection booth. . . The El Cap, along with the Egyptian are probably the two finest public-access theatres in Hollywood these days, staffed with dedicated full-time projectionists, and capable of showing anything from DLP to 70mm. Projection and presentation at the El Cap is absolutely first-class all the way. Once you've seen a picture there, you will never again be happy with your old neighborhood multiplex.
Several other message about parking and other related activities flitted around, but as the screening is sold out the details are unnecessary. For those who can't make the premiere, the El Capitan will show the film in a regular run at the end of September. Chris Kuan spotted a flyer for the showings reading, "see an exclusive Miyazaki art exhibit. Among the treasures will be concept art and storyboard sketches that went into the making of many Miyazaki films."
Lee Johnson announced a move of his Ghibli DVD comparison pages. Marc Gregory spotted a "man on the street" anime question. Deborah Goldsmith noted the US release of the "Spirited Away" soundtrack at Amazon.com. Paul Mayer posted a link to the Midnight Eye's review of "The Cat Returns". I spotted an nice article in the Christian Science Monitor about Miyazaki. Frederic Faucheux saw a few Miyazaki films in the "Sight and Sound" Movie Poll. David Mankins noted that "Spirited Away" is rated PG for "some scary moments". David also saw an article at animenewsservice.com about Miyazaki taking over as director of "Howl's Moving Castle".
See you next week!