Ripe for revival

Triangle audiences are showing up to see old movies on big screens. They have no idea what drama is involved in acquiring those 35 mm prints

Guy Fawkes Day this month was a special occasion at the Colony Theatre in Raleigh. That's when the art movie house unspooled a 35 mm print of the 2006 film "V for Vendetta" -- you know, where a baldheaded Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving in a Guy Fawkes mask conspire to take down a totalitarian British government. There were even a couple of guys roaming the theater dressed like the masked, dark knight.

The Colony has been screening 35 mm favorites twice a month, calling the series "Cool Classics at the Colony." With the Colony, the N.C. Museum of Art and the Rialto in Raleigh and the Carolina Theatre in Durham, there are plenty of places where local fans can take in revival screenings of well-known movies.

While the Triangle may not be a major revival market like New York, Los Angeles, Boston or even Austin, Texas, it has its share of movie houses where cinéastes and other budding movie-lovers can check out the classics and build an enthusiastic moviegoing community.

What a lot of those who make up the audience for the Triangle's revival culture never see is the drama that goes on before a film reaches the projection booth. It's hard for theater managers and programmers to get their hands on the prints.

The effort is worth it for local cinephiles, who think there is something essential about seeing a movie in its big-screen celluloid version, especially in these digitally projected, downloadable times.

With younger, indifferent audiences preferring to catch a movie on their laptops instead of at the movie house, revival fans are reminding Triangle audiences what a moviegoing experience is supposed to be.

Jim Carl of the Carolina Theatre says the audiences for these films are mostly people in their 20s and older, because they remember seeing the 35 mm versions the first time around. The Carolina sponsors a monthly Retrofantasma double feature and the annual Nevermore and Escapism festivals.

"There's something aesthetically that, even though consciously you may not be able to tell the difference, subconsciously you can feel the difference between 35 mm and DVD presentation," Carl says. "And I think that a lot of today's younger generation misses out on that."

The horror, the horror

Over at the Carolina, the theater prides itself on being the destination in the state to catch revival screenings of popular and obscure throwback horror films.

But the director of operations, Matt Pennachi, says he often has trouble getting a print of an '80s horror flick from the studio that distributed it. Sometimes studios aren't even aware that they own a specific title, as was the case when Pennachi and the senior director, Carl, went looking for a print of the 1986 "Night of the Creeps."

"We called Sony, and they said, 'No, we don't own the rights,' " Pennachi says. "And Jim was like, 'Please check. We're pretty sure that you do.' And the guy called back and said, 'You know what? You're absolutely right. I have not had a request for that in 10 years, and I would've bet money we didn't. But we do.' "

Sometimes, they luck out and get a print from a studio. Other times, they have to reach out to other sources, such as the UCLA Film Archive and the UNC School of the Arts.

They still have to pay the studio or distributor for screening rights if they rent or borrow from these sources. But they can bypass the studio altogether if they get the filmmaker to show up with the film, as when director Mark Goldblatt came to the Carolina to show his 1989 version of "The Punisher" for this year's Escapism festival.