Seven 70mm showings in Washington, D.C. area, Aug. 31-Sep. 3, 2012

Fans of TRON (1982) will be interested to know that the American Film Institute Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C., will be offering seven showings of the film in 70mm (and, therefore in multichannel stereo as well) in late August and early September 2012. The specific times are Friday, August 31st at 7:00 p.m. and 11:59 p.m., Saturday, September 1st at 2:00 p.m. and 11:59 p.m., Sunday, September 2nd at 4:00 p.m., and Monday, September 3rd at 11:15 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The showings are part of the theater's June-29th-through-September-16th "70mm Spectacular" series. See http://www.afi.com/silver/films/2012/v9i3/70mm.aspx for a complete listing of the series; go to http://www.afi.com/silver/films/2012/v9i3/70mm.aspx#tron for the specific listing of the film.

Showing TRON in 70mm is of particular significance since this movie is one of the relatively few in film history that were not merely exhibited in 70mm but were actually partially or completely shot in the corresponding 65mm-negative format, as opposed to being shot on a 35mm negative and later being blown up to 70mm. (The latter process being good enough, of course, if you're one of those moviegoers who just like to see things get blown up.)

The American Film Institute Silver Theatre is located at 8633 Colesville Road, about three blocks northeast of the Red Line Metrorail subway's Silver Spring station (which is also the main Silver Spring station for the Metrobus system and other local buses, and is the Silver Spring station of the Brunswick Line of the MARC commuter train system). This makes the theater easily accessible from Washington Union Station, the Washington Greyhound station, and National Airport; somewhat less easily accessible from BWI and Dulles airports. The theater is also about six blocks northwest of Greyhound's Silver Spring station, and about a mile and a half south of the Capital Beltway (I-495), exit 30 or 31. Catching a Metrorail train, or a bus on one of the major Metrobus routes, should not be a problem after any of the showings, particularly since the Metrorail and Metrobus systems run until the middle of the night on Friday and Saturday nights.

Downtown Silver Spring has several hotels, all within easy walking distance of the theater.