The Embassy has a knockout slate of retro screenings to celebrate its 100th birthday!
Our home base, The Embassy Theatre, is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2024! This is an incredible milestone for this beautiful building that means so much to many of us. To celebrate this, the Event Cinema team that runs the theatre has recently announced a Retro Classics series and given us two passes to two classic films to give away.
The Embassy has announced several titles already, some among the most acclaimed films ever made, and we understand there might be more to come! We encourage you to get out and support these screenings if you, like us, want to see more celebration of classic cinema and opportunities to see great films from the past the way they were meant to be seen.
They’re kicking things off with two films by a filmmaker on Wellington Film Society’s 2024 programme, Stanley Kubrick! The Embassy is playing 2001: A Space Odyssey this weekend (Sunday, April 7) and A Clockwork Orange next weekend (Friday, April 12). If you’ve not seen these before, or only at home, we’d strongly encourage you to see these films in a cinema with a crowd.
The Embassy has kindly offered us a double pass to Lawrence of Arabia and Casablanca – to be in to win email filmsociety@gmail.com with retro classics in the subject line and for which tickets you wish to win!
Along similar lines, we don’t think anyone should miss the opportunity to see David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen – it’s playing on April 21. This film’s cinematography of landscapes has inspired filmmakers ever since it came out in 1962. Its influence can be seen in films today; Dune 2 is a recent example.
We were reminded of Casablanca (April 28) a few weeks ago during our screening of Night Train to Munich; both are films about World War II, made during the early stages of the War. Spending time with Rick and Ilsa is always welcome.
Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpieces The Godfather (May 12) and The Godfather Part II (June 2) are a common answer to the question “what is the greatest film ever made?”. Their iconic status can sometimes mean they’re almost taken for granted, but they shouldn’t be, they’re incredible, operatic epics that are a pleasure to return to.
Rounding off the list (so far) is The Wizard of Oz. We know that this film has a special place in the hearts of many film lovers. You likely saw it for the first time during childhood, so why not introduce it to the kids in your life or indulge your inner child and experience the iconic moment where the dour black and white world of Kansas becomes the technicolor Oz.
Your Wellington Film Society membership gives you discounted tickets at The Embassy. We also recommend joining their Cinebuzz membership program as they’re offering special pricing for these films (Standard seats are $12, and their premium leather seats are $14).
The Embassy is also hosting a marathon of Star Wars films, the Architecture and Design Film Festival, and the French Film Festival in the coming months.