The A+ List: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance at the Pacific Film Archive

June 30, 2015December 14, 2015 ~ Lincoln Spector

Sunday night, I attended a screening at the Pacific Film Archive of one of my favorite western's, John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance--another film on my A+ list [URL changed 12/14/2015] of movies that I've loved dearly for decades. The PFA screened it as part of the series Cinema According to Víctor Erice. In … Continue reading The A+ List: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance at the Pacific Film Archive

The Castro in July

June 29, 2015June 29, 2015 ~ Lincoln Spector

The Castro's July calendar is up--at least in its details-free "Coming Soon" version is up. Here are some highlights: July 5: Jaws plays a lot in the theaters I cover, but this time it will play on a double bill with one of the first Jaws rip-offs, Roger Corman's Piranha. Not a great movie, but … Continue reading The Castro in July

Early DeMille and early Tarkovsky: Saturday at the movies

June 28, 2015June 28, 2015 ~ Lincoln Spector

I saw two different movies at two very different theaters on Saturday. The Cheat at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum I not only attended this screening. I was part of it. I introduced this 1915 Cecil B. DeMille melodrama at the Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival. Among major American auteurs, DeMille stands alone as something … Continue reading Early DeMille and early Tarkovsky: Saturday at the movies

The A+ List: 8½

June 25, 2015March 27, 2019 ~ Lincoln Spector

Federico Fellini's surreal, autobiographical, self-referential comedy (of a sort) captures the dread of writer's block, the pressures on a filmmaker, and the male mid-life crisis better than any other film I've seen (Barton Fink may equal it in terms of writer's block). Fellini takes us deep into the worries, dreams, and memories of a successful … Continue reading The A+ List: 8½

SF Jewish Film Festival: 35th edition

June 24, 2015 ~ Lincoln Spector

The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, which claims to be "the first and largest festival of its kind," turns 35 this summer. The 17-day collection of screenings and other events will take place all around the Bay Area. Whether it really is the first or largest, it is certainly my favorite of what I call … Continue reading SF Jewish Film Festival: 35th edition

Finally Catching Up with Apu

June 17, 2015June 17, 2015 ~ Lincoln Spector

I finally saw Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy in its entirety this week. And yes, I loved it. Epic in scope, the trilogy follows the life of poverty-born Apu from birth through young adulthood. None of the three films has a plot in any conventional sense, but they all brim with drama, laughter, joy, suspense, and … Continue reading Finally Catching Up with Apu

Three Ways to See Three-Strip Technicolor at the PFA

June 16, 2015June 16, 2015 ~ Lincoln Spector

They stopped making three-strip Technicolor movies about 60 years ago. The movies are still around, and they're still beautiful. This summer, the Pacific Film Archive will screen three different films shot in the still-loved format, and thanks to the way they're being screened, each one projected using a different technology. You can decide which is … Continue reading Three Ways to See Three-Strip Technicolor at the PFA