For nearly one year, I have been eagerly awaiting this weekend. From the time I saw the first preview, I could not wait to see the movie Dunkirk. Tomorrow I will do just that.
Dunkirk tells the true story of the nearly impossible evacuation of Belgian, British and French soldiers who were surrounded by Germans during WWII.
Not only is it based on an incredibly compelling story, it is written and directed by one of my favorite movie makers of all time: Christopher Nolan.
Nolan is responsible for some of my favorite movies including: Momento, The Dark Knight Trilogy, The Prestige, and Inception. The only movie he has ever made that I would not watch again is Interstellar. Based on that track record, I have a reason to be optimistic.
In addition, Nolan is presenting the movie in my favorite format: 2D IMAX. As a special cherry on top, it is also available in 70mm.
In other words... it is movie perfection.
Nolan is no stranger to the use of IMAX. He blazed a trail by using it in the blockbuster movie The Dark Knight. Nolan shot several scenes with an IMAX camera for that installment of the Batman trilogy. Those scenes were stunning.
I actually remember gasping when I saw this on the HUGE screen.
Not satisfied with the amount of salivating I did merely dreaming about this film in 2D IMAX, Nolan decided to throw me into a complete frenzy by also using 70mm film.
Yes. Film still exists. And it is amazing. 70mm film offers a clearer and brighter image and has three times the resolution of standard projectors.
Last year I saw Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight in 70mm and it saved the movie going experience for me (I love Tarantino... but I was not a fan of that western). The picture was larger and clearer than anything I had ever seen. It was amazing.
The cinematography was the real star of The Hateful Eight.
So when I go to see the movie tomorrow, I want to see it as Nolan had imagined it: in 70mm 2D IMAX.
Great. I want to see a movie. I can simply sit down at my computer and buy tickets. Why the post?
There is a problem. Actually there are several. First, not all IMAX theaters are actually IMAX theaters... MANY are LieMAX theaters. Please check out my previous post on LieMAX if you'd like more details on that scam.
Here's the Cliff's Notes on LieMax: It's much smaller but they charge you the same amount as real IMAX.
Second, not all IMAX theaters are equipped with 70mm projectors.
Third, and most important, IMAX doesn't want to make it easy for you to find out which theaters are "real" and which are not.
You would think you could simply go to the IMAX website and find the best theater. Wrong.
Here is the only information they will give you.
IMAX will let you know if a theater has stadium seating, a cafe, handicapped accessible seating, assertive listening devices, reserved seating, and a ticketing kiosk (not pictured).
So in order to find a theater capable of presenting the movie Dunkirk as Christopher Nolan had intended, I had to dig... a lot.
Luckily I found the website nolanfans.com. This site found a secret list of all the theaters presenting Dunkirk in its perfect form.
Hopefully there is one near you.
Theaters presenting Dunkirk in 70mm
ALBERTA
Scotiabank Chinook 16 IMAX (Calgary)
Scotiabank IMAX (Edmonton)
ALABAMA
IMAX Dome Theater (Birmingham)
US Space Center IMAX (Huntsville)
ARIZONA
AMC Westgate (Glendale)
Grand Canyon IMAX (Grand Canyon Village)
Harkins Tempe Marketplace (Tempe)
Loft (Tuscon)
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Cineplex Colossus IMAX (Langley)
Cineplex Park (Vancouver)
CALIFORNIA
AMC Burbank 16 (Burbank)
Century Daly City (Daly City)
Regal Hacienda 20 IMAX (Dublin)
ArcLight Hollywood (Hollywood)
Regal Irvine Spectrum IMAX (Irvine)
ArcLight 14 (La Jolla)
Grossmont Center 10 (La Messa)
Regal Long Beach Stadium (Long Beach)
Cinemark 18 (Los Angeles)
Landmark 12 (Los Angeles)
Regal Ontario Palace 22 IMAX (Ontario)
Sagewood Camelot (Palm Springs)
Esquire IMAX (Sacramento)
Tower Theatre (Sacramento)
AMC Mission Valley (San Diego)
AMC Metreon IMAX (San Francisco)
Cinemark San Francisco Center (San Francisco)
Century Oakridge (San Jose)
Hackworth IMAX (San Jose)
AMC Mercado (Santa Clara)
ArcLight Sherman Oaks (Sherman Oaks)
AMC Del Amo 18 (Torrance)
Cinemark Union City 25 (Union City)
AMC Citywalk IMAX (Universal City)
COLORADO
Regal Contiental (Westminster)
AMC Westminster 24 (Vancouver)
WASHINGTON D.C.
Regal Gallery Palace Stadium 24 (D.C.)
FLORIDA
Cinemark Palace (Boca Raton)
Coral Gables Art Cinema 1 (Coral Gables)
AMC Disney Springs 24 (Lake Buena Vista)
AMC Aventura (Miami)
Regal Waterford Lakes (Orlando)
AMC Veterans (Tampa)
AMC Parisian (West Palm Beach)
GEORGIA
Regal Atlantic Station (Atlanta)
Regal Mall of Georgia 20 (Buford)
IOWA
Sci Dome IMAX (Des Moines)
ILLINOIS
River East 21 (Chicago)
Keresotes Showplace Icon (Chicago)
Music Box (Chicago)
Cinemark Evanston (Evanston)
INDIANA
White River IMAX (Indianapolis)
KANSAS
AMC Town Center (Leawood)
LOUISIANA
AMC Elmwood Palace (New Orleans)
MASSACHUSETTS
AMC Boston Common (Boston)
Coolidge Corner 2 (Brookline)
Somerville 5 (Somerville)
MARYLAND
AFI Silver 3 Theatre (Silver Springs)
AMC White Marsh (Baltimore)
Cinemark Egyptian (Baltimore)
Maryland Science Center IMAX (Baltimore)
MICHIGAN
AMC Livonia (Livonia)
AMC Forum 30 (Sterling Heights)
MISSOURI
OMNIMAX (St. Louis)
Marcus Ronnies (St. Louis)
NORTH CAROLINA
Discovery Place IMAX (Charlotte)
Regal Stonecrest (Charlotte)
AMC Southpoint (Durham)
NEW JERSEY
AMC Cherry Hill (Cherry Hill)
AMC Hamilton 24 (Hamilton)
AMC Garden State (Peramus)
NEW MEXICO
Cinemark Rio 24 (Albuquerque)
NEVADA
AMC Town Sqaure (Las Vegas)
NEW YORK
Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Brooklyn (Brooklyn)
Farmingdale 14 (Farmingdale)
Regal New Roc City (New Rochelle)
AMC Lincoln Square IMAX (New York)
City Cinemas East 86th St. (New York)
Cinema 1,2,3 (New York)
Village East 7 (New York)
Regal E-Walk Stadim (New York)
OHIO
Gateway Film Center 7 (Columbus)
Cinemark Valley View (Valley View)
ONTARIO
Cineplex Coliseum IMAX (Mississauga)
Cineplex Varsity 12 (Toronto)
Cineplex Colossus IMAX (Woodbridge)
OREGON
Hollywood 3 (Portland)
Regal Bridgeport (Tigard)
PENNSYLVANIA
AMC Neshaminy 24 (Bensalem)
Regal King of Prussia 15 IMAX (King of Prussia)
Tuttleman IMAX (Philadelphia)
AMC Waterfront (West Homestead)
NEWFOUNDLAND
Cineplex Banque Scotia 12 (Montreal)
RHODE ISLAND
Providence Place IMAX (Providence)
SASKATCHEWAN
Regina IMAX (Las Vegas)
TENNESSEE
AMC Thoroughbred (Franklin)
Regal Pinnacle Stadium (Knoxville)
Regal Opry Mills 20 IMAX (Nashville)
TEXAS
Studio Movie Grill 9 (Arlington)
Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin)
AMC Northpark 15 (Dallas)
Look 11 (Dallas)
Studio Movie Grill Royal Lane 9
Cinemark 17 IMAX (Dallas)
OmniaMAX Fort Worth (Fort Worth)
AMC Gulf Pointe (Houston)
Regal Edwards Freenway Grand Palace (Houston)
Cinemark Tinseltown (Pflugerville)
Cinemark West Plano (Plano)
Santikos Palladium 19 (San Antonio)
VIRGINA
AMC Hoffman Center (Alexandria)
AMC Tyson’s Corner (McLean)
WASHINTON
AMC Pacific Place 11 (Seattle)
Cinerama (Seattle)
WISCONSIN
Marcus Majestic Cinema of Brookfield (Waukesha)