Another interesting upcoming event: On Friday, September 19, the 4Star will screen a silent martial arts film made in Shanghai in 1929. Red Heroine tells the story of a young woman rescued from an evil army by a Daoist hermit named White Monkey. Thanks to White Monkey's training, she can soon fight villains, fly, disappear … Continue reading Silent Martial Arts Movie on the Way
Category: Silent Films
Silent Film Festival Report
I discovered something about myself this weekend. I can only watch so many silent films in three days. I attended all but two events at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival this weekend. I had a great time, but I feel like I fried my mind. A quick overview: The General Vibe There's more to … Continue reading Silent Film Festival Report
The Movie Theater vs. DVD
Owning a movie on DVD shouldn't keep you from seeing it theatrically. After all, if you love it enough to buy it, you should love it enough to leave the house and see it under the best possible conditions. I'm seeing three such films this week--four if you count Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence is a … Continue reading The Movie Theater vs. DVD
Silent Film Festivals
School is out, and parents yearn for quiet. What better time to get out of the house and watch a silent film? Perhaps that's why the Bay Area's two big weekend-long celebrations of movies with live music come two weeks apart in late June and early July. If you've never experienced that unique blend of … Continue reading Silent Film Festivals
A Century Ago on Film
The cinematic art is just barely old enough for centenaries. After all, the oldest movie to still retain some popularity as entertainment, "A Trip to the Moon," is only 105 years old. On December 6, the Rafael will look back at the year 1907 in a collection of shorts that promise to capture that transitional … Continue reading A Century Ago on Film
San Francisco Silent Film Festival–Winter Edition
We think of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival as a summer event, but they’re taking over the Castro on December 1 for three presentations--two of them with live musical accompaniment. There’s a good reason why the 11:00am show won’t have live music: It’s not silent. Warner’s Vitaphone short subjects were among the first widely-seen … Continue reading San Francisco Silent Film Festival–Winter Edition
The Altered Charlie Chaplin Problem
If people know anything about Charlie Chaplin, they know he made silent movies. And if they know anything about silent movies, they want said movies to be accompanied by live music. And yet the upcoming Chaplin series at the Pacific Film Archive, screening nearly all of his features and all of his later shorts, has … Continue reading The Altered Charlie Chaplin Problem
Niles International Film Festival
This weekend the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum runs its three-day Niles International Film Festival. Actually, it would be more accurately titled the Niles European Film Festival, since the six features and seven shorts are all from that particular semi-continent. All films are silent, of course, with piano accompaniment. The George Melies short, "The Impossible … Continue reading Niles International Film Festival
Capra at the Stanford
The Stanford's new schedule is up, and the theme is Frank Capra. Of the 26 films they've announced, 18 are Capra's. Actually, they're starting off Saturday night with a Billy Wilder double bill--Sunset Boulevard and Some Like It Hot. Great movies, but obvious choices that any cinephile has seen countless times. Still, if it's been … Continue reading Capra at the Stanford
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