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
Category: Silent Films
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
Voices of Light & The Passion of Joan of Arc
Last night, I enjoyed the greatest film/live music experience of my 40+ years as a silent film aficionado. The film was Carl Theodor Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc. The music was Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light, "An Oratorio with Silent Film." Mark Sumner conducted the 22-piece orchestra and approximately 180 singers from multiple … Continue reading Voices of Light & The Passion of Joan of Arc
Leaves From Satan’s Book at the PFA
I saw Carl Th. Dreyer's Leaves From Satan’s Book at the Pacific Film Archive this afternoon. Made in 1919 through 1921, it's easily the earliest Dreyer film I've yet seen. Judith Rosenberg accompanied this silent film on piano; a translation of the Danish intertitles were read aloud by someone who's name I failed to get. … Continue reading Leaves From Satan’s Book at the PFA
Metropolis Blu-Ray
There's so much good to say about Kino International's forthcoming Metropolis Blu-ray disc (to be released November 23) that I may as well start with the disappointment: Despite what we were told at this summer's San Francisco Silent Film Festival, Kino has not included the Alloy Orchestra's powerful and unique score as an alternate soundtrack. … Continue reading Metropolis Blu-Ray
Nosferatu & The Club Foot Orchestra
After watching Blockheads at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum yesterday afternoon (see this and that for quick reports typed on my phone), I drove to San Francisco to see Nosferatu at the Castro—the last of four silent film screenings accompanied by the Club Foot Orchestra. Quick summary: Great movie. Great score. Horrible print. Here's … Continue reading Nosferatu & The Club Foot Orchestra
A CENTURY AGO: THE FILMS OF 1910
For the fourth year in a row, Randy Haberkamp of the Motion Picture Academy came to the Rafael with an overview of one-hundred-year-old films. For the first time, I was there to see it. Haberkamp introduced and presented seven one-reelers (pretty much all there was in those days) from 1910—six of them narrative fiction. Despite … Continue reading A CENTURY AGO: THE FILMS OF 1910
More Keaton on Blu-ray
With this post I’m inaugurating something new in Bayflicks: Blu-ray reviews of classic films. Sherlock Jr. and The Three Ages Kino releases its third Buster Keaton Blu-ray title on November 16, and while it’s nowhere near as exciting as The General (or, I assume their Steamboat Bill Jr. disc, which I haven't seen), it’s a … Continue reading More Keaton on Blu-ray
Silent Film News
Three exciting Bay Aread silent film events coming up that I just had to tell you about. Sunday, October 17: This one doesn’t even require you to leave the house. In a segment on this Sunday’s 60 Minutes (CBS, 7:00), Morley Safer will interview the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum’s own David Kiehn. (Yes, I … Continue reading Silent Film News
Silent Film Festival Report, Part II
I took Sunday morning off from movie-watching, and got to the Castro in time to see the last three screenings of the festival. A- Man with a Movie Camera: I read about Dziga Vertov’s 1929 surreal documentary in college, but I didn’t see it until yesterday. The genre was actually fairly common in the late … Continue reading Silent Film Festival Report, Part II
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