Category: Silent Films

Four nights at the movies: The Crowd, Preston Sturges, a Teenage Girl, & 2 Noirs

~ Lincoln Spector

I managed to see four feature films theatrically in the last four nights--plus another on television. Sunday: The Crowd My wife and I, along with another couple, went to the Castro to see one of the greatest silent films ever made, and arguably the most difficult American masterpiece to see, King Vidor's The Crowd. I've … Continue reading Four nights at the movies: The Crowd, Preston Sturges, a Teenage Girl, & 2 Noirs

Resnais and Stroheim at the Pacific Film Archive

~ Lincoln Spector

Friday night, I attended two very different screenings at the Pacific Film Archive. The first, Alain Resnais' Hiroshima mon amour, is a widely-acknowledged masterpiece. The other, Erich von Stroheim's Queen Kelly, is the uncompleted final work of great but controversial filmmaker. It was my first experience seeing either film. Hiroshima mon amour Why did it … Continue reading Resnais and Stroheim at the Pacific Film Archive

Early DeMille and early Tarkovsky: Saturday at the movies

~ Lincoln Spector

I saw two different movies at two very different theaters on Saturday. The Cheat at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum I not only attended this screening. I was part of it. I introduced this 1915 Cecil B. DeMille melodrama at the Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival. Among major American auteurs, DeMille stands alone as something … Continue reading Early DeMille and early Tarkovsky: Saturday at the movies

Silent Film Festival opens with All Quiet on the Western Front

~ Lincoln Spector

Most people think of All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)--the Oscar-winning movie that opened this year's San Francisco Silent Film Festival last night, as a talkie--and they're right. But in the early days of talkies, it was common to make an alternative silent version for theaters that had not yet converted, and for the … Continue reading Silent Film Festival opens with All Quiet on the Western Front

War and music: The Kronos Quartet at the San Francisco International Film Festival

~ Lincoln Spector

Wednesday night, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet came to the San Francisco International Film Festival to present their music-and-moving-image piece, Kronos Quartet Beyond Zero: 1914-1918. I was in the audience. This was not the usual silent movie presentation. The Quartet commissioned Aleksandra Vrebalov to write the music. Then they commissioned Bill Morrison to create a new … Continue reading War and music: The Kronos Quartet at the San Francisco International Film Festival

Cinema’s past and cinema’s future: Sunday at the San Francisco International Film Festival

~ Lincoln Spector ~ 1 Comment

Yesterday was a very strange day for me at the San Francisco International Film Festival. I didn’t see a single, complete film. But it was still worthwhile. Mel Novikoff Award: Lenny Borger The Novikoff Award goes to someone who who "has enhanced the film-going public’s appreciation of world cinema." Sometimes it goes to someone famous, … Continue reading Cinema’s past and cinema’s future: Sunday at the San Francisco International Film Festival