B Documentary Directed by Robert Gardner War is inevitable. That depressing message permeates Robert Gardner’s 1964 documentary Dead Birds, which depicts daily life amongst the Neolithic tribes of remote West Papua—people who had had minimal contact with “civilization” at the time Gardner shot this film.Their lives are a constant state of ritualized, low-intensity warfare with … Continue reading Dead Birds
The Mill Valley Film Festival
This year’s Mill Valley Film Festival started out the gate Tuesday morning with a press conference. By coming at the end of summer, the Bay Area’s other big film festival has one big advantage over that spring shindig in San Francisco: It gives this part of the world our first chance to catch some of … Continue reading The Mill Valley Film Festival
What’s Screening: September 10 – 16
B+ The Bridge On the River Kwai, Castro, Friday through Thursday. The longer it’s been since you’ve seen David Lean’s World War II adventure, the better it gets in your memory. That’s because the brilliant story of an over-proud British POW (Alec Guinness) sticks in the mind. But to see the actual movie again is … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 10 – 16
What’s Screening: September 3 – 9
Our first Kurosawa-free newsletter in months. The celebration was fun, but I’m glad it’s over. A Romeo and Juliet (1967 version), Pacific Film Archive, Sunday, 4:00. Franco Zeffirelli’s version of Shakespeare’s popular romantic tragedy changed forever how filmmakers approached the Bard–and changed it for the better. Beautiful, violent, funny, sad, and lusciously romantic, it makes … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 3 – 9
A Few, Upcoming Mini-Festivals
A few small, short festivals are coming up soon. Iranian Film Festival, San Francisco Art Institute, September 18-19. While much of the American media is whipping us up to go to war with Iran, let’s do something very unpatriotic and learn something about the people. Actually, the films to be screened are not all from … Continue reading A Few, Upcoming Mini-Festivals
Kurosawa Diary, Part 30: Madadayo
And so I come to Akira Kurosawa’s last film, made five years before he died. When I watched Madadayo last night at the Pacific Film Archive, I completed my journey through all of Kurosawa’s works in (mostly) chronological order. That same screening also ended the PFA’s own, non-chronological retrospective of the same 30 films. Madadayo … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 30: Madadayo
The Clay Remains Open
I just received the following press release from Landmark Theaters: 30 August, 2010 - Landmark Theatres announces that they have come to an agreement with the landlord of San Francisco’s Clay Theatre to remain open for the short term. "We hope continuing operation at the Clay will give all interested parties the opportunity to pursue … Continue reading The Clay Remains Open
PFA Coming Attractions
I’ve had the new September/October Pacific Film Archive schedule for a few days now. I’m finally getting around to telling you about it. From my point of view, the most interesting series on the schedule is Shakespeare on Screen, running for the entire two months. It contains some obvious choices (Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, Olivier’s … Continue reading PFA Coming Attractions
What’s Screening: August 27 – September 2
The Maya Indie Film Series, showcasing six Latino-themed films, runs this week (Friday through Thursday), at the Camera 7 Pruneyard theater. Once again, I’m putting several Kurosawa films at the end of the schedule. If you’re getting sick of him, fear not. The centenary series are running out. B- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Castro, Friday through … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 27 – September 2
Kurosawa Diary, Part 29: Rhapsody in August
Little actually happens in Akira Kurosawa’s 29th and penultimate film, Rhapsody in August, and nothing really bad. Something horrendous happened 45 years earlier (the atom bombing of Nagasaki), but that’s ancient history. It’s time for Japan and America to forgive and, if not forget, then to honor the memory together. Six years after the devastatingly … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 29: Rhapsody in August
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