The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival moves out of San Francisco this week to settle in Palo Alto and Berkeley. (That’s why we’re called Wandering Jews.) And once again, I’m placing the SFJFF screenings at the end of this post. Also, the SFFS Screen opens again Friday at the Kabuki with Alamar. Since I missed … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 30 – August 5
Month: July 2010
Joel Hodgson, Mystery Science Theater, and Cinematic Titanic
Next Tuesday, Mystery Science Theater 3000 creator Joel Hodgson, along with other MST3K veterans, will invade the Castro to riff on a 1968 Japanese science fiction called War of the Insects. “It’s a great looking print, widescreen, really well made,” Hodgson told me earlier this month in a phone interview. “It’s kind of the story … Continue reading Joel Hodgson, Mystery Science Theater, and Cinematic Titanic
Kurosawa Diary, Part 21: High and Low
After two detours into early Kurosawa films I couldn’t catch the first time around (see this and that), I’m finally back to the main point of what this Kurosawa Diary project: an examination of all of his films in chronological order. And what a relief that is—returning from the uneven (and often dreadful) quality of … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 21: High and Low
What’s Screening: July 23 – 29
Disclaimer: This may not be up-to-date. I’m actually writing this Monday, July 19, before going off on a vacation. Should anything change, I won’t be able to update it. Another Hole in the Head continues through the week, and the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival opens Saturday night. I’ve placed Jewish Film Festival screenings at … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 23 – 29
Silent Film Festival Report, Part II
I took Sunday morning off from movie-watching, and got to the Castro in time to see the last three screenings of the festival. A- Man with a Movie Camera: I read about Dziga Vertov’s 1929 surreal documentary in college, but I didn’t see it until yesterday. The genre was actually fairly common in the late … Continue reading Silent Film Festival Report, Part II
Silent Film Festival Report
Four days of silent films, spectacularly presented with live music at the Castro, is too much even for me. I left before last night’s screening of Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages and, as I type this, am missing Amazing Tales from the Archives: First the Bad News...then the Good! I plan to miss The Shakedown, … Continue reading Silent Film Festival Report
Silent Film Festival Opening Night
Last night I attended the San Francisco Silent Film Festival opening. The movie: John Ford’s first big-budget western, The Iron Horse. I had seen it once before on television. It was much better on the Castro’s very big screen. Ford biographer Joseph McBride introduced the film, comparing it to Jaws in the effect it had … Continue reading Silent Film Festival Opening Night
What’s Screening: July 16 – 22
Festival climate for this week: silent but scary. The San Francisco Silent Film Festival runs through the weekend, and Another Hole in the Head continues all week. I’ve separated the Silent Film Festival listings at the bottom of this newsletter. A Love and Honor, VIZ Cinema, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Yoji Yamada makes Samurai films … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 16 – 22
Kurosawa Diary, Part 20: The Most Beautiful and The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail
It’s official! I have now seen every film Akira Kurosawa ever made. I still have nine films left in my Kurosawa Diary project, but that’s mostly about revisiting films I’ve seen before, this time in chronological order. Last night at the Pacific Film Archive, I caught a double-bill of The Most Beautiful and The Men … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 20: The Most Beautiful and The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail
What’s Screening: July 9 – 15
This is a heavy week, festival-wise. Another Hole in the Head and LOL-SF both run through the week. And the San Francisco Silent Film Festival opens Thursday night. I’m devoting an entire section of the newsletter to LOL-SF. Unfortunately, I don’t have links to specific films on the schedule. The Iron Horse, Castro, Thursday, 7:00. … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 9 – 15
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