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  • December 28, 2010

    Film 2010: Moments, Trends, Docs and the Best of the Bay Area

    Susan Gerhard
    Dec 24, 2010

    The Bay Area film community sounds off on the best/worst trends, times, docs and Bay Area-made films of 2010.

  • Home

    Film 2010: Moments, Trends, Docs and the Best of the Bay Area

    Susan Gerhard
    Dec 24, 2010

    The Bay Area film community sounds off on the best/worst trends, times, docs and Bay Area-made films of 2010.

  • January 6, 2010

    Film 2010: Moments, Trends, Docs and the Best of the Bay Area

    Susan Gerhard
    Dec 24, 2010

    The Bay Area film community sounds off on the best/worst trends, times, docs and Bay Area-made films of 2010.

  • Reviews

    Film 2010: Moments, Trends, Docs and the Best of the Bay Area

    Susan Gerhard
    Dec 24, 2010

    The Bay Area film community sounds off on the best/worst trends, times, docs and Bay Area-made films of 2010.

  • December 23, 2010

    Film 2010: Think Globally, View Locally

    Adam Hartzell
    Dec 20, 2010

    Why one local cineaste has made a resolution to support his local theater, the Bridge.

  • December 28, 2010

    Film 2010: Think Globally, View Locally

    Adam Hartzell
    Dec 20, 2010

    Why one local cineaste has made a resolution to support his local theater, the Bridge.

  • Home

    Film 2010: Think Globally, View Locally

    Adam Hartzell
    Dec 20, 2010

    Why one local cineaste has made a resolution to support his local theater, the Bridge.

  • In Depth

    Film 2010: Think Globally, View Locally

    Adam Hartzell
    Dec 20, 2010

    Why one local cineaste has made a resolution to support his local theater, the Bridge.

  • Home

    'Left in the Dark' Savors the Bay Area's Cinema Past, Present

    Susan Gerhard
    Oct 4, 2010

    Photo/essay book 'Left in the Dark' offers a way in—and out of—San Francisco cinema's rich, gritty, glamorous past.

  • October 7, 2010

    'Left in the Dark' Savors the Bay Area's Cinema Past, Present

    Susan Gerhard
    Oct 4, 2010

    Photo/essay book 'Left in the Dark' offers a way in—and out of—San Francisco cinema's rich, gritty, glamorous past.

  • Q & A

    'Left in the Dark' Savors the Bay Area's Cinema Past, Present

    Susan Gerhard
    Oct 4, 2010

    Photo/essay book 'Left in the Dark' offers a way in—and out of—San Francisco cinema's rich, gritty, glamorous past.

  • 07-21-2010

    Reeling in the Years with the Red Vic

    Michael Fox
    Jul 19, 2010

    Look back in (anything but) anger: Members of the Red Vic Collective wax nostalgic on wild times, amazing meals and surprise visits from the theater's biggest fan, Danny Glover.

  • Home

    Reeling in the Years with the Red Vic

    Michael Fox
    Jul 19, 2010

    Look back in (anything but) anger: Members of the Red Vic Collective wax nostalgic on wild times, amazing meals and surprise visits from the theater's biggest fan, Danny Glover.

  • Q & A

    Reeling in the Years with the Red Vic

    Michael Fox
    Jul 19, 2010

    Look back in (anything but) anger: Members of the Red Vic Collective wax nostalgic on wild times, amazing meals and surprise visits from the theater's biggest fan, Danny Glover.

  • In Production

    'All About Evil'-doer Joshua Grannell in post

    Michael Fox
    Jun 17, 2009

    Blood-soaked, darkly comic All About Evil has writer-director Joshua Grannell and editor Rick LeCompte on an express-train schedule rare for an independent feature.

  • Popular

    'All About Evil'-doer Joshua Grannell in post

    Michael Fox
    Jun 17, 2009

    Blood-soaked, darkly comic All About Evil has writer-director Joshua Grannell and editor Rick LeCompte on an express-train schedule rare for an independent feature.

  • Reviews

    'Strand' Follows Thread to Rep Cinema's Glory Days

    Michael Fox
    Feb 3, 2009

    In Strand: A Natural History of Cinema, Christian Bruno pays homage to the pivotal and shifting role of movie theaters in San Francisco's cultural life.

  • Reviews

    'Strand' Follows Thread to Rep Cinema's Glory Days

    Michael Fox
    Feb 3, 2009

    In Strand: A Natural History of Cinema, Christian Bruno pays homage to the pivotal and shifting role of movie theaters in San Francisco's cultural life.

  • Reviews

    Bollywood By the Bay

    Laura Irvine
    Feb 16, 2008

    Every morning I wake up with Bollywood movie tunes going through my head. Every. Single. Morning.

  • Q & A

    Jesse Hawthorne Ficks's Midnight Movie Empire

    Dennis Harvey
    Dec 3, 2007

    Midnites for Maniacs unearths populist yet esoteric genre and exploitation flicks that have mostly disappeared into the netherworld of discarded VHS rental tapes.

  • Reviews

    Dead Channels : The San Francisco Festival of Fantastic Film

    Dennis Harvey
    Apr 19, 2007

    Taste a bit of the vintage grindhouse experience at the last of Dead Channels' Month of Sleazy Sundays triple bill of under-the-radar movies.

  • Q & A

    The Red Vic Movie House's Top 5

    Susan Gerhard
    Feb 9, 2007

    We asked the collectively owned and operated theater to come up with a list of their five favorite screenings over the years.

  • Q & A

    Frank Lee on 4 Star Theatre's Second Life

    Laura Irvine and Jennifer Young
    Dec 11, 2006

    Last week, theater operators Frank and Lida Lee won the battle to save the 4 Star, and announced they'd purchased the building.

  • Reviews

    Teshigahara at The Castro

    Dennis Harvey
    Nov 23, 2006

    Filmmaking was just one among many creative outlets for Japanese multimedia artist Hiroshi Teshigahara.

  • Reviews

    50 Years of Janus Films

    Max Goldberg
    Nov 15, 2006

    It doesn't seem like a stretch to group Janus with those American institutions which have represented a vision of what art is and can be.

  • Q & A

    Mary Badham, On a "Mockingbird" Mission

    Laura Irvine
    Nov 13, 2006

    I was six months old when I went to my first movie — and I swear I remember images from it. You see, I sometimes have flashes of shots from “To Kill a Mockingbird,” but all of them are upside-down. My mother tells me that I saw the film from a bassinette on the theater seat — thus began my life-long love affair with the film. I grew up in Alabama, which is also the setting of the book and the film. Every year, one of the three television stations we received would show “To Kill a Mockingbird.” My mom would gather the whole family in front of the TV, and we would watch the film — again. One year, it was opposite the Super Bowl. Now, the two things you don’t mess around with in the South are religion and football. But despite my brothers’ pleas, Atticus Finch took precedence over the Super Bowl at our house.

    What is it about this film that — even today — inspires such devotion? Mary Badham, who played the memorable tomboy, Scout, believes as long as racism, bigotry, and intolerance exist, the film and the book provide a starting point for discussion and self-examination. Hence her own dedication to a film that has remained a driving part of her life for over 40 years — a dedication which prompted her to travel the world with the film sharing her experiences while making the film, growing up in the South, and fighting to spread the film’s message of tolerance and compassion. Badham visits San Francisco with the Marc Huestis program “In Praise of Mockingbirds,” Sun/19 at the Castro. I got a chance to speak with her last week.

    SF360: Despite the fact that you never acted before, why do you think the filmmakers cast you as Scout?

    Mary Badham: I think because I was a tomboy. The coloring was right. I looked like I could have been Gregory Peck’s daughter. I had a real big imagination as a kid — which they were looking for. The haircut was right. Everything they were lookin’ for just kind of jelled in me. They wanted kids who were real Southern children who were very natural and not actors.

    SF360: When I watch the film, I’m struck by how natural you seem with Phillip Alford (who plays Scout’s brother Jem) and John Megna (Dill). It feels like we’re watching a real brother and sister.

    Badham: Yes, they would let that happen on the set naturally because here were John and Phillip, and John just idolized Phillip and followed him around like a puppy dog. And here was this ratty little girl who wanted to get in the middle of whatever they were doing. You know, I just wanted somebody else to play with. And so, evidently we would have these big fights — I don’t remember any of it, but Phillip seems to think we fought all the time.

    SF360: Phillip says he tried to kill you by rolling you in the tire toward a truck.

    Badham: (Laughing.) Yeah, when it came to the tire scene they were so excited because ‘Oh, finally we can get rid of this menace.’ They thought they were going to do away with me. Too bad, so sad.

    SF360: It’s seems like many women, including myself, see themselves in Scout. Why do you think the character is so memorable to women and girls?

    Badham: I think because she was allowed to just be herself. Even Miss Dubose fussed at Atticus because he allowed her to wear the clothes that her brother had outgrown. But it was the Depression, a dress at that point would have been very expensive and money was in tight supply. And the fact that she was so educated. Atticus let her read and had real conversations with her. That’s the main role of a parent — to engage their children in conversation and teach them basically how to function in an adult world. Scout took to that tooth and nail. She wasn’t cut in the same mold as the little proper Southern young lady who had to wear dresses and not discuss anything important. It was that way even when I was growing up. Women were to be seen but not heard. They were not engaged intellectually much. So for Scout to be able to put her ideas out there, to see her think through situations is really important because you don’t see that very often. Most children when they would ask a question — I see it today with parents working and being tight on time — parents will be short with their kids… not wanting to engage the kids in conversation because they’re tired and they don’t have time. But that’s so critically important. I think that’s what we see with Atticus. He does engage his children in conversation, and he does try and let them think through situations and expand on them.

    SF360: And that’s especially true in this film wi

  • Q & A

    A Marc Huestis Presents 20

    Susan Gerhard
    Nov 10, 2006

    The List: The impresario Ôs remarkable 11 years of A-to-Z-list celebrity-repurposing projects.

  • Reviews

    Reopening "Pandora's Box"

    Dennis Harvey
    Nov 7, 2006

    Many stars are forgotten for a while, then “rediscovered” and newly appreciated by a later generation. But the case of Louise Brooks is somewhat unique — she was, really, only a “star” in retrospect. Her Hollywood profile was headed that-a-way when she foolishly (according to the industry) abandoned it to make a couple European movies. When she returned, her moment had passed.

    A paltry if promising career and early dead-end-at the time, it constituted barely a blip on the radar. Yet those European films grew in stature over ensuing years, and with that the gradual realization that Brooks had been one of the great screen presences, however briefly. Her striking look — porcelain skin, alert features, sleek jet-black flapper bob — and naturalistic acting haven’t dated at all.

    As a result, it seems there’s more interest in her with each passing year. The latest evidence is critic and historian Peter Cowie’s new book “Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever,“ published in time to commemorate the centenary of her birth. He’ll be signing copies and presenting a special commemorative film program at the Balboa this Sunday. The evening promises a rarely screened feature, a short and trailers showcasing Brooks, as well as “special guests, door prizes and more.” (Cowie will also appear the prior night at the Smith Rafael Film Center to screen a new 35mm print of her best-known vehicle “Pandora’s Box.”)

    Why the fuss? Why, indeed, is there such a thing as The Louise Brooks Society (which is co-presenting this event with The Booksmith)? The explanation is all on-screen, in any role where she wasn’t entirely wasted.

    Kansas-born Brooks started out as a dancer, first in touring troupes and then in Broadway revues. This led to Hollywood in 1925, where bit parts led steadily to larger ones, finally female leads in two good 1928 Paramount releases: Howard Hawks’ rollicking “A Girl in Every Port” and William Wellman’s more delicate “Beggars of Life.”

    She hadn’t set the world on fire yet, but was certainly expected to graduate from starlet to star. Paramount was not pleased, however, when she chose — just as “talking pictures” were becoming the rage — to end her contract and accept a silent-film offer in Germany. This was G.W. Pabst’s “Pandora’s Box,” drawn from Franz Wedekind’s play “Lulu,” and with beguiling lack of affectation she played that titular seducer/destroyer of both men and women, herself finally destroyed by Jack the Ripper. Perhaps even better (if less shocking) than that famous classic was a second Pabst movie, “Diary of a Lost Girl,” in which her victimized innocent is indelibly touching. She also starred as an exploited beauty-contest winner in a French film, 1930’s “Prix de Beaute.” These are all wonderful movies in which she was superb. But for a long time they were little seen outside their home countries — particularly in the U.S., where silent cinema was already stone-cold-dead.

    Returning to Hollywood, Brooks was now — at age 24 — a has-been. She unwisely turned a couple good offers and accepted a handful of humiliatingly poor ones, including bit parts. Those few who remembered her considered her “difficult” and past expiration date. Her last movie role was a nondescript heroine in a nondescript 1938 “Z” western, “Overland Stage Raiders” — one of a zillion such that John Wayne starred in before becoming an “A”-list star.

    Found living in seclusion in the mid-‘50s, Brooks was surprised and delighted that latterday film buffs not only remembered but worshipped her. She returned the favor by writing very intelligently about her own movies and the art form in general (mostly famously in the essay collection “Lulu in Hollywood,” which is still in print). She admitted sabotaging her own career as readily as she enjoyed her new iconic status in retirement, dying at a no doubt satisfied age 80 in 1985 — secure in the knowledge that her legend would continue to grow.

    [“Pandora’s Box” plays Sat., Nov. 11, at 7 pm, Smith Rafael Film Center, 1118 4th St., San Rafael. $6.25-9.50. (415) 454-1222. “Celebrating Louise Brooks: An Evening of Rare Films,” issues Sun., Nov. 12, at 7:30 pm, Balboa Theatre, 2630 Balboa, SF. $6-8.50. (415) 221-8184.]

  • Reviews

    A War Movie Lost to Time

    Dennis Harvey
    Oct 4, 2006

    Though it won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1975, Overlord is one of those movies that mostly slipped through the cracks.

  • Reviews

    Pacific Film Archive's "A Theater Near You"

    Max Goldberg
    Aug 31, 2006

    This 2006 series of recent releases and restorations that played theaters for only a day or, at most, a week is exceptionally varied.

  • Reviews

    Pacific Film Archive's "A Theater Near You"

    Max Goldberg
    Aug 31, 2006

    This 2006 series of recent releases and restorations that played theaters for only a day or, at most, a week is exceptionally varied.

  • Festivals

    Netflix Rolling Roadshow: Return to Alcatraz

    Jennifer Young
    Aug 30, 2006

    Austin's Alamo Drafthouse Cinema touring program brings classics to the locations they made famous, with a mobile outdoor projection unit and inflatable screen.


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