Moviegoers set your alarms early, because the Toho Cinemas chain will in March begin its third annual Gozen Jū-ji no Eiga Sai (10 a.m. Film Festival). This year's event is the second series under the tag line "50 Films That Never Get Old," and the yearlong "festival" showcases 50 classic films, ranging mainly from the 1950s through the 1970s though with some exceptions thrown in. The movies will be shown exclusively at the 10 a.m. time slot and with a reduced entry price at 25 Toho theaters across the country.
The selection process for the festival was through a fan poll that Toho set up online, and each film is shown in the latest remastered version available on film format. This traditional approach favors the classic way of viewing movies in a time where most theaters have begun the transition into digital projection. The 2011 series featured time-honored films such as 1952's "Singin' in the Rain," 1962's "Lawrence of Arabia" and 1972's "The Godfather."
The classic films selected for this year's event come from a wide range of genres, from drama with "Gone with the Wind" to comedy with "The Bad News Bears."