LEDE: The recently opened Angelika Film Center in Carmel Mountain kicks off a new film series called “Off the Wall” and featuring films from its poster wall. KPBS film critic Beth Accomando has this preview. CLEO 1 (ba) :42 Forget that new Gods of Egypt film with its ridiculous CGI. What you need is an old school Hollywood epic. CLIP Elizabeth Taylor is Cleopatra siren of the Nile… The 1963 Cleopatra in all its glorious excess kicks off the Angelika Film Center’s new Movies Off the Wall program that runs Mondays at 7pm. The month of February is dedicated to Oscar Snubs and will showcase Doctor Zhivago, Jaws, and Raiders of the Lost Ark – all films that play better on a big screen. John Sittig, director of projection & sound, will introduce each film. You can also check out the poster wall featuring some of the top grossing films of all time. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.
Angelika Film Center
11620 Carmel Mountain Rd. San Diego, CA.
"Movies Off the Wall"
Mondays in February at 7 p.m.
Feb. 8 "Cleopatra" (1963)
Feb. 15 "Doctor Zhivago" (1965)
Feb. 22 "Jaws" (1975)
Feb. 29 "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981)
Tickets: $10
San Diego's most recently opened luxury cinema, Angelika Film Center in Carmel Mountain, kicks off a new film series called “Movies Off the Wall,” which features films from its poster wall.
Forget that new "Gods of Egypt" film with its ridiculous CGI. What you need is an old school Hollywood epic.
The 1963 "Cleopatra" in all its glorious excess kicks off the Angelika Film Center’s new "Movies Off the Wall" program that runs Mondays at 7 p.m. The February edition is called "Oscar Snubs." The film stars Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, Richard Burton as Marc Antony, and Rex Harrison as Julius Caesar.
"Cleopatra" is a film that may be better remembered for what went on behind the scenes than for what's on screen. The troubled production skyrocketed from $2 million to an unheard of $44 million, burned through a pair of directors, and lit up the gossip columns with the on-set romance between Liz and Dick (both of whom were married to other people at the time).
This is the kind of deliciously overripe and irresistible melodrama that Hollywood just doesn't make any more, perhaps because there aren't stars like Elizabeth Taylor any more.
Also screening will be "Doctor Zhivago" (a much more respectable historical epic), and a pair of pop classics from Steven Spielberg, "Jaws," and "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
All these films deserve to be played on the big screen. If you have friends or children who have never seen these films before, this is the perfect opportunity to introduce them to these classics.
John Sittig, director of projection and sound for Reading Cinemas, will introduce each film. You can also check out the poster wall — where the luxury cinema is pulling the film titles from — featuring some of the top grossing films of all time.
The Angelika Film Center described its poster wall as displaying "the top grossing films from the 1920s, with four of the top five films being silent pictures, to the 1990s and 2000s. There are two films that were in the top five, both as silent films in the 1920s and wide screen spectacle remakes in the 1950s, 'The Ten Commandments' and 'Ben-Hur.' Walt Disney has five films represented (six if you include 'Lion King') and Steven Spielberg has four, including the film that introduced the summer blockbuster, 'Jaws.'"
Here are some of the posters featured on the wall:
