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
Category: Theaters
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
Russian Ark & Buena Vista Social Club: Saturday night at the Pacific Film Archive
I saw Aleksandr Sokurov's Russian Ark and Wim Wender's Buena Vista Social Club Saturday night at the Pacific Film Archive. The first film was part of the ongoing series Guided Tour: Museums in Cinema. The second one closed the long-running series Wim Wenders: Portraits Along the Road. But they had an interesting thing in common. … Continue reading Russian Ark & Buena Vista Social Club: Saturday night at the Pacific Film Archive
Adapting Shakespeare: Ran and Chimes at Midnight
400 years after his death, people still love William Shakespeare. I can think of no other story teller whose works have remained popular so long. His talent, obviously, has a lot to do with it. But so is his adaptability. His plays, written with almost no stage directions, give actors and directors countless interpretations. Most … Continue reading Adapting Shakespeare: Ran and Chimes at Midnight
Late Spring at the Pacific Film Archive
As people grow, the way they relate to their family inevitably changes. Some fight the change, and others accept it. I went to the Pacific Film Archive Wednesday night to see Yasujirô Ozu's 1949 masterpiece, Late Spring, about a young woman resisting change. She wants to stay with her widowed father, but he senses that … Continue reading Late Spring at the Pacific Film Archive
3 Views of America: What I saw in theaters this weekend
I saw three movies in theaters this weekend. Free State of Jones at the Elmwood Being a history buff, and particularly one interested in the Civil War and reconstruction, I couldn't help rushing out to see Gary Ross' Free State of Jones. I caught it at the Elmwood. Matthew McConaughey stars as an actual historical … Continue reading 3 Views of America: What I saw in theaters this weekend
Friday at the PFA
I caught two very different films, from two very different series, at the Pacific Film Archive Friday night. Both films were shown without an introduction. Bachelor's Affairs This was the second screening of the UCLA Festival of Preservation 2016 series, and the first in that series that I was able to attend. Before the feature, … Continue reading Friday at the PFA
Bayflicks 