I had a great movie-going day yesterday. Two great movies, both expertly presented in their best available format. I started the morning at the Camera 7 Pruneyard, south of San Jose, for a special press screening of Super 8 (I’ve just added Camera Cinemas to Bayflicks’ list of theaters). Theater manager Alejandro Adams organized the [...]
Filed under: Technical | 2 Comments »
You’ve probably read about 3D movies doing disappointing business lately. Some say that today’s 3D craze is bottoming out. Others argue that, like a killer in a bad horror movie (probably shot in 3D), the stereoscopic format will rise again. But I say: Look to Hollywood’s past for perspective on 3D’s future. Will it swiftly [...]
Filed under: Silent Films, Technical | 1 Comment »
Last night, Cave of Forgotten Dreams became the first film I’ve seen digitally projected in two different theaters. The experience taught me something important: The difference between people who love digital projection and people who hate it may be the difference between the theaters they patronize. That the film was in 3D both times accentuated [...]
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This year’s San Francisco International Film Festival ended nearly a week ago. Either the festival programmers did an excellent job selecting titles or I had exceptional luck picking ones to see. Of the 16 new films I caught this year (two on preview DVDs and 14 at the festival itself), six earned a full A, [...]
Filed under: Festivals, First-person Report, SFIFF, Technical | Leave a Comment »
From 1932 through 1948, Johnny Weissmuller starred in 12 Tarzan movies–six for MGM followed by six for RKO, and all now owned by Warner Brothers. The Rafael will present two of these movies–both from the MGM 1930s–over the next two Sundays in a series called Hollywood & Vines: The Movie Magic of Tarzan. Visual effects [...]
Filed under: Bad Movies, Technical | 2 Comments »
If The Social Network wins the big prize this month, as many think it will, it will be the first picture to do so not shot on film. The Mark Zuckerberg biopic was shot digitally. A year ago, a lot of people thought that Avatar was going to win, and it would have achieved that [...]
Filed under: Awards, Technical | 2 Comments »
Twice this month I saw, projected digitally, an older, arguably classic film, originally intended to be screened in 35mm. One was a major disappointment—technically, at least. The other was perfectly acceptable. Both films were new “director’s cut” versions. I’m guessing that the owners of these films chose not to spend money on a 35mm print, [...]
Filed under: Film Preservation, Technical | 2 Comments »
For some time now, the Balboa has been the only theater I regularly cover here with only mono sound, but that’s changing. The theater’s new Dolby sound system officially launches Friday with the opening there of the new Robin Hood. According to the theater’s newsletter, Robin Hood will be screened in “Dolby Stereo.” I’m not [...]
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The San Francisco International Film Festival presents as many as 26 features, talks, and short subject collections a day. How do they handle all those movies? Festival Technical Director Jeremy Stevermer was kind enough to sit down with me Thursday evening and explain how it’s done. I was particularly curious about the challenges of running [...]
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I’ve now arrived at an important transition in Akira Kurosawa’s career. In my project of watching all (or all available) Kurosawa films in chronological order, I’ve completed his pre-widescreen work. Every film I’ve watched so far, from his first, Sanshiro Sugata, to his 17th, The Lower Depths, was shot in the old Academy Ratio of [...]
Filed under: Kurosawa Diary, Technical | 1 Comment »
