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Hello from New York City, where we masked outside this week because of the smokey air that's a result of how we've mistreated this planet. I almost made this a whole post about how this can't become the new normal, but I don't have the words beyond "this cannot be the new normal." I hope you have air purifiers at home and replace their filters, friends.

But, now, a break from my half-year interval contemplations, because of the topic of the week for anyone who's talking movies.

The good news is that movies are so back right now, as evidenced by this theater worker filling a giant Trojan horse.

Well, less by this horse than the situation at hand. The AMC Lincoln Square 13 in New York City, one of the city's best theaters, is screening Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" at a round-the-clock pace. Take today (Sunday, July 19) for example, there will be 7 a.m., 11, a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m., and 11 p.m. screenings for this 2 hour and 52 minute film. On Thursday, it's 10 a.m., 2 p.m., 6 p.m., 10 p.m., and then 2 a.m., and all of these screenings are sold out to the gills, to the point of AMC's website erroring out when I try and look at availability to research this article. What's the big deal? After years of unfortunately struggling domestic box office numbers, how is this happening? Well, this is the IMAX theater, and Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" is the IMAX movie. 

What the heck am I talking about? Let's start with the film they shot it on.

While I've seen movies on IMAX-branded screens since I was a child at the Liberty Science Center, this large format movie theater is still new to some people. Earlier this summer, I learned that some friends had never been to one of the IMAX movie theaters when we went to see Steven Spielberg's "Disclosure Day" at the aforementioned Lincoln Square theater. This gigantic, 75.6-foot high, 101-foot wide (and slightly curved) IMAX screen of this theater may be the biggest screen in America, but it was also just too much for one of my friends. Also, we had middle row, near aisle seats, which made it all a bit drastic. Some people go to the movies to relax, not to go on a thrill ride. But in an era where the TVs keep getting better, the top 4K Blu-ray players offer pristine reference quality and a proper surround sound system can make your living room sound like a regular theater, IMAX is seen as one of the main reasons to get off the couch. Interest for it seems as high as ever, especially after Ryan Coogler's aspect ratio explainer helped drive audiences to Sinners in IMAX last year.

For those who want IMAX without the overwhelming, I suggest the back row of your local, but those are harder to come by (more on scarcity below). Aside from overall largeness, how does IMAX define that whole more, more, more mentality? The best IMAX theaters take over your field of view, so think about the aforementioned 75.6-foot height of the Lincoln Square theater, as it allows for a nearly-square 1.43:1 aspect ratio. This is part of why sitting too close to these screens might be too much for some, as they tower high.

Nolan's found so much previous success with 1.43:1 IMAX-ratio moments in "The Dark Knight" and "Oppenheimer" that he wound up shooting all of "The Odyssey" on IMAX cameras. By shooting 65mm Kodak film, which got printed on 70mm IMAX film, he gets the highest resolution film possible. This is best explained by looking at how big the film itself is. While regular 35mm film and 70mm film are large enough that they use four and five (respectively) perforations to move through projectors, IMAX 70mm film requires 15 perforations.

This would be all well and cool if it was easy to find a theater showing The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm near you, but that’s not the case. Despite the fact that IMAX theaters have been selling tons of tickets, only 25 U.S. theaters can show Nolan’s new movie in its full-image totality. This means that most people seeing this film will be seeing a cropped-in version, and there's an official site to show you how the aspect ratio you see the movie in will change things, except you're only viewing/adjusting the trailer. This, combined with other marketing about how IMAX 70mm is superior, has led many to go out of their way to catch it "the right way."

Some folks are likely remembering how early episodes of "The Simpsons" were incorrectly streaming on Disney+, which cropped out some visual gags. While I don't like that most audiences aren't going to see the whole image, I don’t think Nolan would allow for something similar to happen here, especially considering how most people will see the movie outside of the 1.43:1 aspect ratio.

I don't seem to have much to worry about, at least if I'm going by the notes from film-loving content creator Cerys. She saw it in both IMAX 70mm and 35mm and said the larger format was better for spectacle, but thought that the smaller format was better for focusing on the plot, dialogue and characters. This might be something you always gain from a repeated viewing, but her overall positive reaction to the 35mm version is good to hear.

I don't blame Nolan for his choice. He's an artist, and it's his right to go huge. He wants the highest image quality possible, and to take over the whole goddamn IMAX screen for nearly three hours. To make the mightiest picture possible. But his creative ambition has definitely led to an awkward release that will leave some pretty frustrated by the lack of local options.

The blame for this whole problem is squarely on the people behind IMAX, who are apparently looking for a sale, which one would hope will help the production of more 1.43:1 screens.

As much as I want movie theaters to be doing well, financially, something has felt wrong about all of this for over a year now. Tickets for "The Odyssey" were put on sale a year ahead of the release date, in a moment that guaranteed that only the most-online folks and scalpers were able to get opening night seats. Do I sound jealous? I'm less jealous than I am annoyed with something that feels like the Ticketmasterization of the movies. Every time more tickets went on sale, the various apps and online points-of-sale crashed. I just gave up trying. 

Before I knew it, the combination of demand and a lack of many 1.43:1 IMAX screens meant that premium format version of "The Odyssey" was sold out for weeks. Me and some friends managed to get regular screening tickets, which I get the feeling will be enough.

What if someone wants to see the full 1.43:1 aspect ratio of Nolan's film without the super-sized, super-staggering experience? I'm listing this third because I know it's the least likely, but I do wish there was some solution, but you can't make that aspect ratio work without the high-resolution, and yes everything is a compromise.

Seriously, it wouldn't work. Imagine watching a nearly-square shaped movie at a regular theater. It would remind you of how Instagram used to frame everything as a square. Everything would probably look too small.

When I explained the topic of this newsletter edition to a friend I'm seeing "The Odyssey" with, she asked if I was stressed that we weren't seeing it in IMAX, and reading those words made me chuckle.

For weeks, until the reviews hit, I wasn't exactly sold on the of this movie, because I was getting bogged down by the ticket sale snafus of it all. Then, though, all the right people said "The Odyssey" is a great movie (yes, I haven't seen it, of course I'm going to talk about everything else), and I started to stop thinking about how much Nolan's "Oppenheimer" didn't land with me.

But then I started seeing clearly when I thought about my favorite movies of the year. None of my top 27 films of the year so far had any special IMAX tricks up their sleeves. The aforementioned "Disclosure Day" had no 1.43:1 ratio scenes. In fact, I saw four of my 10 least-favorite films of the year at that IMAX theater.

There are bigger reasons to see movies than to experience spectacle. To enjoy art with your friends (who may not want to see the biggest version possible). And, in this case, get away from where you are and go on a journey.

I'll follow up after I've seen "The Odyssey," but my big takeaway right now is similar to my take about seeing movies projected from film and not digital.

Focus on the film, not the theater format. 

Radio Bakery, first of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and now also Prospect Heights (also in Brooklyn) does a lot well. Some will tell you the tomato croissant is the move (they’re not wrong), others will say the brown butter corn cake is a must (no argument), but this twist on a familiar everything bagel is the thing that sticks in my head days after I had it. It stacks cream cheese, dill, pickled onion, and smoked salmon inside, and outside you’ve got a nice coating of everything seasoning.

Thank you for reading this far.

I’m still trying to figure out the topic for next week.