Pacific Film Archive Coming Attractions

~ Lincoln Spector

I got the new Pacific Film Archive schedule in yesterday’s mail. And once again, I just sort of want to move into the theater.

They’ve got the beginnings of a summer-long Kurosawa retrospective (in honor is his birth centenary) and a series of recent Romanian Cinema. They’ve got another one on recent additions to the PFA collection. They even have two—count ‘em, two—series on entertaining, low-budget shlock.

Not surprisingly, for a May/June calendar, it starts with the San Francisco International Film Festival at PFA series, allowing us East Bay folks to enjoy some of the screenings without crossing the bay. Unfortunately, the excellent The Day God Walked Away and the very good My Queen Karo aren’t included. (Click here for more on these two films.)

The most exciting series for me, of course, is the Akira Kurosawa Centennial runningPhoto Courtesy of Rialto Pictures. from June 4 through August 29. The good news is that they’ll be screening 27 of his 30 films. The bad news: The three missing ones include the only two I’ve never been able to see: Sanshiro Sugata Part II, and Those of Tread on the Tiger’s Tail. I’m going to try and fit some of them into my current project of watching all of his films in chronological order. I can’t do all the remaining ones that way, in part because they’re not screening that way.

If you, like me, have been delinquent in following the cinematic trends of former Soviet satellite states, you might want to catch some of Tales from the Golden Age: Recent Romanian Cinema, running June 11 thrugh June 27. This five-film series includes the well-reviewed Police, Adjective and The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu.

As the name Pacific Film Archive suggests, the PFA doesn’t just show movies; it preserves them. In Brought to Light: Recent Acquisitions to the PFA Collection (May 29 through June 23), they’ll screen 11 films recently added to their archives. These include Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, the recently restored Lola Montez, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, and the Korean horror movie, The Host.

If you’re in the mood for silly entertainment rather than high art, they’ve got Strange Mex_SciFi_ShipofMonsters2[1] Tales of the Whistler (May 29 through June 5)—seven B noirs from the 1940s. Because of their short running times, these will be screened two or three at a time as double (and one triple) bills. And if these aren’t silly enough, there’s El Futuro Está Aquí: Sci-Fi Classics from Mexico. With titles like The Aztec Mummy vs. the Human Robot and Planet of the Female Invaders, I’m going to assume that these are “classics” in a very loose sense of the word. And speaking of science fiction, the L@TE: Friday Nights @ BAM/PFA series will present the original Invaders from Mars on May 28.

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Published by Lincoln Spector

Lincoln Spector writes about cinema, technology, and cinema technology. From 1986 through 2008, he wrote Gigglebytes, the first technology-oriented humor column. From 1977 through 2016, he wrote PC World's Answer Line column and blog.

2 thoughts on “Pacific Film Archive Coming Attractions”

  1. Look closer. Both the titles you seek are going to play the PFA, and it won’t strain the budget to see them! Sanshiro Sugata II is playing June 7; the same night as Sanshiro Sugata I, and is included in the same admission price. Similar situation with Men Who Tread On The Tiger’s Tail, which follows The Most Beautiful on June 14th.

    And I can’t figure out the third missing title at all, for the life of me!

  2. You’re right!

    The good news is I’ll be able to see them. The bad news is I’ll have to sit through The Most Beautiful again.

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