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Cine Gear Expo proved once again to be Hollywood’s pre-eminent gathering for members of the top motion picture, video and new media community to see the latest industry art, technology and trends. This year did not disappoint the nearly 16,000 attendees. Highlighting the 2016 Special Screenings was Vittorio Storaro being honored with Cine Gear’s Cinematography Lifetime Achievement Award.

A cat burglar offers advice on home security while invading someone else’s house in a spot introducing the security and home automation system Sage By Hughes. Directed by A Common Thread’s Eli Green for Colorado agency Victors and Spoils, the spot lends a comedic touch to a product category often promoted through fear. While paging through the owners’ books and lounging on their bed, the glib thief explains that his Sage system includes monitoring features that he can control from his phone, “which means I have more confidence to take out of town jobs, like this one.”

X-Men: Apocalypse, the latest entrant in Twentieth Century Fox’s popular superhero franchise, features more time-bending magic from Australia’s Rising Sun Pictures. The visual effects studio contributed to several key sequences in the film, most notably an electrifying scene where Quicksilver (Evan Peters) uses his hyper-speed ability to rescue students from an exploding mansion. Quicksilver’s Rescue builds on a notable scene from the preceding X-Men: Days of Future Past where the character races around a Pentagon cafeteria to prevent security guards from shooting a trio of X-Men. RSP’s impeccable work in making pots, pans, bullets and water drops freeze in mid-air helped the film earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.

Universal Pictures premiered the restored 1929 silent film classic The Last Warning June 4 at the Castro Theater as part of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Directed by Paul Leni and starring Laura La Plante, The Last Warning is a dramatic horror centered on an unsolved murder during a theatrical performance and the revival production meant to solve the mystery. This restored version is a part of Universal's silent restoration initiative announced last year.