On Sunday, for the first time in my life, I attended two film festivals on the same day. Only in the Bay Area. Modern Cinema/Black Powers: Reframing Hollywood SFFILM and SFMOMA don't officially call their various series festivals, but they qualify in my book. When you can see eight films in three days, all built … Continue reading A Day of Two Film Festivals
Category: First-person Report
A Day of Jazz and Noir at the SF Jewish Film Fest
I saw two films at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Saturday; both at the Castro. I liked them both, but neither of them blew my mind. B Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes This documentary traces the history of the revolutionary jazz label that brought Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Thelonious Monk onto vinyl. The … Continue reading A Day of Jazz and Noir at the SF Jewish Film Fest
After revisiting 2001, I put it on my A+ list
After seeing Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey on the big screen for the first time since - well, at least ten years - I realize that it's a much better film than I remembered. (For what it's worth, that last time was also in 70mm at the Castro.) I know now that it's as … Continue reading After revisiting 2001, I put it on my A+ list
Last Sunday at the Nitrate Picture Show
The people running The Nitrate Picture Show, the film festival in Rochester, NY I attended last weekend, reminded us several times that this wasn't just canned entertainment. The act of projecting decades-old nitrate film is a form of live performance. Before each feature, we were asked to turn around and applaud the two expert projectionists … Continue reading Last Sunday at the Nitrate Picture Show
Last Saturday at the Nitrate Picture Show
When a film festival celebrates a technology, as does The Nitrate Picture Show, and it's located at the George Eastman Museum, you should expect more than just movies. Last weekend's event included two lectures by preservationists, workshops on making nitrate film, and tours of more than the nitrate vaults. I attended a Technology Collection tour, … Continue reading Last Saturday at the Nitrate Picture Show
Last Friday at the Nitrate Picture Show
You know you're at a geek-oriented film festival when the program provides information About the print before telling you About the film. "The film is in excellent condition, with deep, rich contrast and very little scratching or damage. Shrinkage: 0.63%." The Nitrate Picture Show, which I attended last week, is as much about the prints … Continue reading Last Friday at the Nitrate Picture Show
Last Thursday: In the Vaults with Nitrate Film
I wrote this article a week ago, on Thursday, May 3. For technical reasons concerning the tablet I took on my trip to New York state, I was not able to add photos, which I felt were necessary for telling this story. So here it is. I will continue, through Sunday, posting a daily report of … Continue reading Last Thursday: In the Vaults with Nitrate Film
The Nitrate Picture Show Program Announced
Like Telleride, The Nitrate Picture Show - the film festival that brought me to Rochester, NY - keeps its schedule secret until the opening morning. I now have that schedule. Here are the films we'll all be seeing: Friday: 4:30: Nitrate Shorts 7:30: Summer Interlude, a little-remembered Ingmar Bergman film from 1951. 10:00: Holiday, a classic comedy with Cary … Continue reading The Nitrate Picture Show Program Announced
Chinese “Angels” and an Alcoholic, Paraplegic Cartoonist: My Last Day at SFFILM Fest
Technically, the San Francisco International Film Festival is still going on. Today and Tuesday, you can catch movies you missed, but only at the Roxie and the Victoria. But last night was the official Closing Night, which sort of makes everything after that a bit anti-climactic. Here's what I saw on my last day at … Continue reading Chinese “Angels” and an Alcoholic, Paraplegic Cartoonist: My Last Day at SFFILM Fest
A Great Scholar and a Very Bad Mom: Saturday at SFFILM Festival
Like many film festivals, SFFILM creates a different trailer every year, which screens at the beginning of each show. Most years, I'm deeply bored of the trailer well before the end of the festival. Not this year. A snappy, exciting montage set to an infectious beat, this year's trailer is short and fun, and has … Continue reading A Great Scholar and a Very Bad Mom: Saturday at SFFILM Festival
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