Month: March 2012

What’s Screening: March 30 – April 5

~ Lincoln Spector

Feeling festive? Sorry. No festivals this week. However, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts starts a series called Great Directors Speak!  And here's something that doesn't happen often: Saturday, you can choose between two great French silent films, each accompanied by a full orchestra, playing within five miles of each other. A+ Napoleon, Oakland Paramount, … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 30 – April 5

This Year’s San Francisco International Film Festival

~ Lincoln Spector

This has been a tough year for the San Francisco Film Society, the organization that produces the San Francisco International Film Festival. In August, Executive Director Graham Leggat died of cancer. Then his successor, Bingham Ray, suddenly died in January. But that's not stopping the Society from putting on a festival this year, and making … Continue reading This Year’s San Francisco International Film Festival

Great Napoleon Photo

~ Lincoln Spector

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival included this photo in a recent email. I thought I should share it: Click it to see the full-sized image. I've also added this image to my report on Saturday's screening.

Napoleon at the Paramount: An Incredible Day at the Movies

~ Lincoln Spector

Abel Gance's Napoleon so overwhelmed me that I hardly know where to start. Despite a few slow sequences, the experience was as innovating, exciting, and entertaining as anything I've experienced as part of an audience. I doubt I have ever seen such a perfect melding of cinema and showmanship; the movie requires this special presentation, … Continue reading Napoleon at the Paramount: An Incredible Day at the Movies

Casablanca: The Accidental Masterpiece

~ Lincoln Spector

I've already told you about watching Casablanca at a big multiplex. Now I can talk about the movie itself. To my mind, Casablanca is Hollywood's accidental masterpiece. The handful of equally beloved films from the studio era--Citizen Kane, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, It's a Wonderful Life--were unique from their inceptions. They were either independent … Continue reading Casablanca: The Accidental Masterpiece

Watching Casablanca, Digitally Projected, at a Big Multiplex

~ Lincoln Spector ~ 6 Comments

Last night, Turner Classic Movies and Fathom--a company that distributes high-definition operas and stage plays to movie theaters--presented Casablanca in 485 theaters--mostly or entirely big multiplexes--across the USA. Needless to say, the movie was digitally projected. The event was tied to Casablanca's 70th anniversary. In fact, the show was officially titled Turner Classic Movies Presents … Continue reading Watching Casablanca, Digitally Projected, at a Big Multiplex

What’s Screening: March 16 – 22

~ Lincoln Spector ~ 1 Comment

Both the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival and the San Francisco Dance Film Festival continue through Sunday. The Bengali Film Fest opens today (Friday) and continues through Tuesday. B- Peaches Christ presents Pam Grier as Coffy, Jackie Brown, and herself, Castro, Saturday, 8:00. The B- grade goes to Coffy, as I haven’t seen … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 16 – 22

Great Directors and a Catholic Education

~ Lincoln Spector

Let me start with a quote from Roger Ebert’s autobiography, Life Itself: In my childhood the Church arched high over everything. I was awed by its ceremonies. Years later I agreed with Pauline Kael when she said that the three greatest American directors of the 1970s—Scorsese, Altman, and Coppola—had derived much of their artistic richness … Continue reading Great Directors and a Catholic Education