Cinemark brings back the classics

   The Cinemark theater chain is bringing beloved film classics back to the big screen in what they call the Cinemark Classics series.

The series allows theaters to show films that many people have never seen on the big screen, or haven’t seen on the screen in a very long time, according to Cinemark Tinseltown general manager Bill Groll.

“The digital aspects of theater technology today provides for many more available screens to show these kinds of movies,” Groll said. “Before, we were subject to the limited amount of physical 35mm prints that the studios still had. (Today) this is no longer an issue.”

The series opened Aug. 23 with “Jaws” (1975) and will close with “The African Queen” (1951) on Sept. 27.

“There’s a lot of movies I would like to see on the big screen again,” said Alex Lechuga, sophomore English major. “Like movies that I watched as a kid and I grew up on, I think it’d be great to put them up here. Like redefined, bigger and better and to just experience the whole thing again.”

According to Lechuga, movies that are coming out now are usually straight forward explosions, and bringing in classics will provide some variety to movie theaters.

Andrew Drewes, senior civil engineering major, purchased a pass to see all six films and was excited to see “Jaws” on the big screen.

“When you see the everyday Adam Sandler and the run-of-the-mill action flick like the sequel’s and remakes like ‘Total Recall’ you get to appreciate what’s meant to be seen on the big screen, the originals,” Drewes said. “We’re talking about artists like Roman Polanski, Spielberg when he was at his best and classics like ‘High Noon.’ We’re talking about films that have a big sense of history; it could be really special to relive all these.”

The films being featured in this installment of the Cinemark Classics series include different genres. From a classic noir western “High Noon,” (1952) to the chilling neo-noir detective thriller “Chinatown” (1974) and director David Lean’s epic adaptation of “Doctor Zhivago,” (1965) and his war classic “The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957).

For the casual filmgoer, this is a chance to appeal to them based on the novelty of the film. In other words, to get them excited to see something they may have only heard about, or may not have seen on screen in a long time, Groll said.

Ryan Hatch, junior digital production major, said the series provides a wonderful experience for film fans to see movies the way they were meant to be seen: on a large screen in an auditorium.

“Films become considered classics for a reason. Regardless of how old a movie might be, it still has the ability to reach out to a large audience,” Hatch said. “Screening these old movies along with some of the newer ones may give your average movie goer the incentive to go check them out.”

The community has been enthralled about seeing the classics on the big screen, Groll said.

“They are totally supportive of this series. And when a film like ‘Jaws’ or ‘The Godfather’ show on the Cinemark XD screen, they are even more excited about it,” Groll said. “The goal is to continue this series for a long time.”

The Cinemark Classic series is hosted in all three Cinemark locations and is screened in XD Extreme Digital where available. Prices vary by screen. The lineup will be screened twice at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. every Thursday. The classics include “Doctor Zhivago” Sept. 6, “Chinatown” Sept. 13, “The Bridge on the River Kwai” Sept. 20 and “The African Queen” Sept. 27.

For more information, visit cinemark.com/cinemarkclassicseries.

Mario Simental may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.