Amazing Tales from the Archive First, Robert Byrne of the Festival discussed the restoration of The Half Breed, the 1916 Douglas Fairbanks feature that will have its restoration premiere Saturday. He and his team had to work with three different, incomplete prints, most from questionable sources. Byrne divided his talk into three categories: Continuity: Trying … Continue reading SF Silent Film Festival, Saturday Report
Category: Festivals
Prix de Beaute: Silent Film Festival Opening Night
This year's San Francisco Silent Film Festival opened at the Castro Thursday night with Louise Brooks' last starring role, Prix de Beaute (The Price of Beauty). I wouldn't put this French feature quite in the same category as Pandora's Box, but I liked it very much. Brooks plays a working girl who enters and wins … Continue reading Prix de Beaute: Silent Film Festival Opening Night
Jewish Film Festival Preview
So far, I've screened three films and one TV episode that will play this year's San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Here's what I thought of them: B+ Afternoon Delight The plot sounds like broad, comic farce: A young Jewish mother and housewife invites a stripper and sometimes prostitute to move into her home and become … Continue reading Jewish Film Festival Preview
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival officially announced its 33rd run this morning. Probably the largest of all the "identity film festivals" in the area, it will play five venues around the Bay Area from July 25 through August 12. This year's theme, "Life through a Jew(ish) lens," raises two questions: What does that mean … Continue reading San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Hitchcock 9, Part 3: Sunday
B The Pleasure Garden For a new director's first film, The Pleasure Garden is surprisingly assured--creatively using all the cinema's tools to tell a good story. Based on a popular novel of the time, it follows two young women, both dancers, as their professional and love lives go in different and contrasting directions. One goes … Continue reading Hitchcock 9, Part 3: Sunday
Hitchcock 9, Part 2: Saturday
I spent most of yesterday at the Castro, watching the Hitchcock 9 festival of early, silent Alfred Hitchcock movies, all newly restored. Here's what I saw: B Champagne With it's ditzy heiress ingénue, romantic plot, broad humor, and class consciousness, this Hitchcock silent has all the ingredients of a screwball comedy except sparkling dialog. I … Continue reading Hitchcock 9, Part 2: Saturday
Hitchcock 9 Report, Part 1: Blackmail
Friday night Blackmail A beautiful young woman ditches her boyfriend (a Scotland Yard detective), flirts with another man, then kills him in self-defense. The next morning she's at the mercy of a blackmailer. Alfred Hitchcock's tenth feature and second thriller already shows touches of the master. Her night wanderings after the incident, her reaction to … Continue reading Hitchcock 9 Report, Part 1: Blackmail
Frameline LGBT Festival Preview
I've previewed three films that will screen at the upcoming Frameline LGBT film festival. Here's what I thought of them: B The Campaign By following a handful of organizers and volunteers, this documentary provides a close and intimate look at the unsuccessful campaign to defeat Proposition 8. But aside from some brief historical context, The … Continue reading Frameline LGBT Festival Preview
Bay Area Silent Summer 2013: Great Opportunities to Watch Movies with Live Musical Accompaniment
Perhaps it's the fog. When summer rolls around in the Bay Area, people want to go to the movies. And a sufficient number of those people want to go to silent movies, preferably accompanied by live music. You can devote three of June's five weekends to silent film. And that doesn't even include the biggest … Continue reading Bay Area Silent Summer 2013: Great Opportunities to Watch Movies with Live Musical Accompaniment
DocFest Preview
I've managed to preview three films that will screen at the upcoming DocFest (two of them Bay Area-based). Here's what I thought of them: A- Public Sex, Private Lives Skip this movie if you're simply looking for titillation. But if you're really curious about the performers who make a living (and apparently a good one) … Continue reading DocFest Preview
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