The Pacific Film Archive (or, as they'd prefer I call it, BAMPFA) pretty much shuts down in the second half of May. But come June, the movies come back. Here are the ten series running from June through August: Bergman 100: A Summer Interlude (June 1–July 15) This subdivision of the PFA's year-long Bergman 100 … Continue reading Summer at the Pacific Film Archive
Category: Theaters
A Snapshot of San Francisco Movie Going, 1977
Peter Moore of the Roxie recently shared a bit of history with his Facebook friends - of which I thankfully am one. It's a facsimile of the San Francisco Chronicle movie listings for Wednesday, May 25, 1977. You'll find a photo of the complete listing at the bottom of this article. May 25th was the … Continue reading A Snapshot of San Francisco Movie Going, 1977
January and February at the Pacific Film Archive
Documentaries old and new, movies about movies, and films directed by Ida Lupino, Sergei Eisenstein, and Ingmar Bergman. The Pacific Film Archive doesn't simply screen films, it screens film series. Here are the series it will run over the next two months: Ida Lupino: Hard, Fast, and Beautiful (January 13–February 24): To my knowledge, Lupino … Continue reading January and February at the Pacific Film Archive
Wide Screens and Tall Screens
A widescreen movie should be projected onto a wide screen. That only makes sense. But in recent years, most new theaters project big, widescreen movies at the same width as not-so-wide movies. To show you the full image, they shrink the picture vertically - sort of like letterboxing on your TV. This may be a … Continue reading Wide Screens and Tall Screens
Brando, Baldwin, Keaton, & The Marx Brothers Coming to Pacific Film Archive
August is nearing its end, so it's about time to tell you about the film series going on at the Pacific Film Archive in September and beyond. Marlon Brando: The Fugitive Kind September 1–October 28 Marlon Brando burst onto screens at the beginning of the 1950s, changed the art of acting, then self-destructed. In between, … Continue reading Brando, Baldwin, Keaton, & The Marx Brothers Coming to Pacific Film Archive
Film and Television
We cinephiles had an expression back in the 1970s: "Film is art. Television is furniture." Today, you can barely tell the two mediums apart. We watch movies, uncut and in the right aspect ratio, at home on large televisions. And we even watch television in movie theaters. These used to be two different mediums. Now … Continue reading Film and Television
Lubitsch at the Stanford
Believe it or not, I went more than 15 years without visiting the Stanford. The problem is geographical; it's a long drive, often in horrible traffic. I don't remember when I last visited David Packard's personal movie palace, but it was before I started writing this blog in 2004. Saturday afternoon, my wife and I … Continue reading Lubitsch at the Stanford
