This year's San Francisco International Film Festival ended nearly a week ago. Either the festival programmers did an excellent job selecting titles or I had exceptional luck picking ones to see. Of the 16 new films I caught this year (two on preview DVDs and 14 at the festival itself), six earned a full A, … Continue reading SFIFF: Summing Up the Festival
Category: First-person Report
SFIFF: Closing Night
This year's San Francisco International Film Festival closed last night with a screening of On Tour at the Castro, followed by a party at The Factory. I got to the Castro early--about 6:15 for a 7:00 show--and discovered something that would reasonably upset most moviegoers. Almost the entire middle section of the house was reserved … Continue reading SFIFF: Closing Night
Oscars at the Cerrito
I discovered just how fun an Oscar party can be. It happened last night at the Cerrito. But I must confess: I did not, after all, come costumed as a lesbian gardener ballet dancer with an eye patch. A few people were costumed as movie characters, however, and a great many dressed up formally for … Continue reading Oscars at the Cerrito
The Leopard at the Castro
Historical epics like Lawrence of Arabia, Gandhi, and Cleopatra tell us stories about people who changed history. Others--what I call passive epics--concentrate on people whose worlds are changed by the history happening around them. Gone With the Wind, Ben-Hur, and Dr. Zhivago fit into this category. Luchino Visconti's 1963 film The Leopard takes this passivity … Continue reading The Leopard at the Castro
Silent Film Festival Winter Event
I devoted yesterday at the Silent Film Festival Winter Event. Great way to spend a Saturday. Here are the details: It’s Mutual: Charlie Chaplin Shorts Before the movie started, I visited the retail section on the Castro's mezzanine. At the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum table, I bought a bumper sticker - "Films have a … Continue reading Silent Film Festival Winter Event
Forbidden Planet & Bad Day at Black Rock @ the Castro
Friday night I attended the Ann Francis memorial double bill at the Castro. Always fun to see a couple of old favorites on the big screen. Not that it was a perfect presentation. Both films were originally released in the mid-50s with 4-track magnetic stereo soundtracks, but the Castro presented them with mono sound. I'm … Continue reading Forbidden Planet & Bad Day at Black Rock @ the Castro
The Gospel According to St. Matthew
Until yesterday, I'd never seen a film by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Feeling a need to rectify that, and suspecting that I couldn't stomach Salo, I watched The Gospel According to St. Matthew last night. If you have any sense of film history, you can't watch this stark, low-budget, black-and-white, telling of the life of Christ … Continue reading The Gospel According to St. Matthew
A Weekend in Black and White, Part 2: Noir City
It was dark. It was dangerous. Lust, greed, and fear hung heavily in the air. It was enough to drive you crazy. That's right. I spent Saturday at the Castro with two Noir City double bills. That's four pictures from the 40s and early 50s I'd never seen before. While the movies where dark and … Continue reading A Weekend in Black and White, Part 2: Noir City
A Weekend in Black and White, Part 1: Nuremberg
I saw five movies theatrically over Friday and Saturday, all of them in black and white. I started Friday night with a screening at the Shattuck of Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today. The director's daughter, Sandra Schulberg, who also oversaw the restoration of this 1946 documentary, spoke before and after the screening. Her father, Stuart … Continue reading A Weekend in Black and White, Part 1: Nuremberg
My Top 10 Movie-Going Experiences of 2010
I didn't see enough new movies last year to do a top ten list. And I didn't cover enough festivals to do a Festival Top 10, either. So instead, here are my top 10 movie-going experiences of 2010. Half of these were silent film screenings. This was a great year for silents--dominated by Metropolis and … Continue reading My Top 10 Movie-Going Experiences of 2010
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