Four days of silent films, spectacularly presented with live music at the Castro, is too much even for me. I left before last night’s screening of Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages and, as I type this, am missing Amazing Tales from the Archives: First the Bad News...then the Good! I plan to miss The Shakedown, … Continue reading Silent Film Festival Report
Silent Film Festival Opening Night
Last night I attended the San Francisco Silent Film Festival opening. The movie: John Ford’s first big-budget western, The Iron Horse. I had seen it once before on television. It was much better on the Castro’s very big screen. Ford biographer Joseph McBride introduced the film, comparing it to Jaws in the effect it had … Continue reading Silent Film Festival Opening Night
What’s Screening: July 16 – 22
Festival climate for this week: silent but scary. The San Francisco Silent Film Festival runs through the weekend, and Another Hole in the Head continues all week. I’ve separated the Silent Film Festival listings at the bottom of this newsletter. A Love and Honor, VIZ Cinema, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Yoji Yamada makes Samurai films … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 16 – 22
Kurosawa Diary, Part 20: The Most Beautiful and The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail
It’s official! I have now seen every film Akira Kurosawa ever made. I still have nine films left in my Kurosawa Diary project, but that’s mostly about revisiting films I’ve seen before, this time in chronological order. Last night at the Pacific Film Archive, I caught a double-bill of The Most Beautiful and The Men … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 20: The Most Beautiful and The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail
What’s Screening: July 9 – 15
This is a heavy week, festival-wise. Another Hole in the Head and LOL-SF both run through the week. And the San Francisco Silent Film Festival opens Thursday night. I’m devoting an entire section of the newsletter to LOL-SF. Unfortunately, I don’t have links to specific films on the schedule. The Iron Horse, Castro, Thursday, 7:00. … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 9 – 15
Kurosawa Diary, Part 19: Sanshiro Sugata Parts I & II
I’m making an exception to the chronological format of this diary to cover Kurosawa’s first and third films as a director. I briefly discussed his first film, Sanshiro Sugata, in my first diary entry. I didn’t discuss the second because until last night, I had never seen it. I saw both movies last night at … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 19: Sanshiro Sugata Parts I & II
Kurosawa Diary, Part 18: Sanjuro
Akira Kurosawa only made two sequels in his career, and only one after he reached his artistic maturity. Sanjuro didn’t start out as a sequel to Yojimbo, but as the earlier movie became box office dynamite, Kurosawa inserted the nameless main character from the first one into the center of his current screenplay. (Well, not … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 18: Sanjuro
Everyone Else
B Relationship drama A young German couple, very much in love in a very physical way, deal with relationship issues on vacation in Sardinia. This is actually a working vacation for Chris, an architect hoping to get an assignment fixing up an old villa. He’s a fairly calm, practical person, although insecure. His girlfriend Gitti, … Continue reading Everyone Else
What’s Screening: July 2 – 8
And if you’re looking for horror or laughs, both Another Hole in the Head and the Bay Area’s newest festival, LOL-SF, open on Thursday. Also, I’ve got so many listings here for the Castro’s Hollywood on Hollywood series that I’ve put them together at the end of the newsletter. B Double Bill: Sanshiro Sugata & … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 2 – 8
Jewish Film Festival Preview
I've now seen five movies that will screen at the upcoming Jewish Film Festival. Here they are, from the best to the worst. B+ Scarface (1932 version), Castro, Sunday, July 25, 10:00; Roda, Wednesday, August 4, 9:15. The best of the three films that started the 1930’s gangster genre, Scarface tracks the rise and demise … Continue reading Jewish Film Festival Preview
Bayflicks 