Taxi Driver, Alamo Bay, and 4K Digital Projection at the PFA

~ Lincoln Spector

Saturday night, my wife and I attended two screenings at the Pacific Film Archive. Both were parts of the series The Resolution Starts Now: 4K Restorations from Sony Pictures. And this time, unlike Thursday night's screening, the movies were actually projected in 4K. And they both looked fantastic. This was not a double feature. You … Continue reading Taxi Driver, Alamo Bay, and 4K Digital Projection at the PFA

DCP, Grover Crisp, & Bonjour Tristesse at the PFA

~ Lincoln Spector

Thursday night I attended the second event in the Pacific Film Archive series, The Resolution Starts Now: 4K Restorations from Sony Pictures. This was more than just a movie screening. It was a talk by Sony's head archivist--and one of the current heroes of film restoration--Grover Crisp. Then came the movie: Otto Preminger’s Bonjour Tristesse. … Continue reading DCP, Grover Crisp, & Bonjour Tristesse at the PFA

What’s Screening: December 6 – 12

~ Lincoln Spector

The only festival this week is Another Hole in the Head, which continues through the week and beyond. C+ Sweet Dreams, Opera Plaza, Shattuck, opens Friday; Clay, Saturday, 1:30; Rafael, Sunday, 7:00.  This upbeat, everything-turns-out-okay documentary tries to tell three different stories in 84 minutes. While it has its high points, it doesn’t do justice … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 6 – 12

The New and Improved Embarcadero Multiplex

~ Lincoln Spector

This fall, Landmark shut down, refurbished, and reopened their Embarcadero Center Cinema multiplex, which has become their San Francisco flagship. This morning, I visited the Embarcadero for a press screening. It was the first time since the makeover. Here's my report: If you turn right after entering the theater, you'll see the concession stand where … Continue reading The New and Improved Embarcadero Multiplex

Sweet Dreams: Drumming, Ice Cream, and the aftermath of genocide

~ Lincoln Spector

C+ documentary Directed by Lisa and Rob Fruchtman This upbeat, everything-turns-out-okay documentary tries to tell three different stories in 84 minutes. While it has its high points, it doesn't do justice to any of them. The location, modern-day Rwanda not quite 20 years after the genocide, promises something fascinating and disturbing. In 1994, one of … Continue reading Sweet Dreams: Drumming, Ice Cream, and the aftermath of genocide

Music, Fame, and American Insanity: My Blu-ray review of Robert Altman’s Nashville

~ Lincoln Spector

For an all-too-brief time in the 1970s, the Hollywood studios financed and released serious art. They greenlit films without likeable heroes, clearly-defined villains, or conventional, three-act plots. They even financed Robert Altman, who did his best work during that time. And Nashville was unquestionably one of his best. It's tragic, funny, thoughtful, and filled with … Continue reading Music, Fame, and American Insanity: My Blu-ray review of Robert Altman’s Nashville