We did a random “Vintage Hollywood Valentines” Google search and came up with a treasure trove of images. And if click on any given image it enlarges with several new images to the right.
Can you name the stars?
But we have gone further. If it is true that the way to a lover’s heart is through the stomach, check out some vintage food cards. Why stop there. We cover growing up, comics and animation and the really bizarre “Vinegar Valentines.”
Have you ever wondered how movies are selected for film festivals? EDF wanted to know about the process of creating an exciting line-up and we learned a lot interviewing Ruthe Stein , founder and Co-Director of the Mostly British Film Festival 2020, playing at San Francisco’s Vogue Theatre February 13-20.
EDF: You must look at scores of movies. How do you find them?
By Julie Lindow
Focus, focus, focus on Moringa! I just drank a Kuli Kuli raspberry, acai, Lion’s Mane mushroom, and most importantly, Moringa dietary supplement shot—it is nourishing my mind right now as I write. It tastes like slightly sweet matcha tea with raspberry and lemon. Yum!
By C.J. Hirschfield
Clockwise from bottom left: ‘For Sama,’ ‘The Cave,’ ‘American Factory,’ ‘The Edge of Democracy,’ ‘Honeyland’
Many of you are no doubt rushing to catch up with your movie viewing in advance of Feb. 8’s annual Academy Awards. While “Best Picture” always draws the most attention and conjecture, this was a particularly great year for films in the documentary feature category, and they are well worth exploring. With Netflix, Amazon, HBO, PBS, and even the Obamas now in the documentary film production business, the number of quality offerings has grown dramatically, as have the ways to view them. Some show us worlds we’ve never imagined, while others offer us a deep dive into subjects that we may know only as headlines. There are also a number of excellent films that that didn’t make the final Academy cut. Here’s the list, along with my take on each. And unlike the directors considered for “Best Picture,” three out of five of the nominated documentaries were directed or co-directed by women.
By Monica Nolan
For seventeen years now I’ve devoted the last week of January to Noir City, and the festival never fails to thrill me. This year’s annual valentine to the dark side of the dream factory opens at the Castro on Friday, January 24, and all over the Bay Area cinephiles like me are beginning to dream in black and white, the vintage-minded among us brushing off fedoras and veiled hats, polishing wingtips and spectator pumpsin preparation for opening night. Soon we’ll be sinking into the Castro’s cushioned seats for ten days of heists and double-crosses, killers and con-artists, revenge, paranoia, and bleak despair.
Pure heaven.
By C.J. Hirschfield
In 1964, renowned and prolific choreographer Merce Cunningham and his troupe embarked on their first world tour. In Paris, angry audience members threw eggs and tomatoes at him. “I wished it was apples; I was hungry,” he recalls. But when they performed in England, the response was dramatically different: “Merce Cunningham Conquers Conservatism,” read the headlines. And although Cunningham famously refused to define his work as modern or avant garde (preferring to let his audience define him based on their experience), he, and his partnerships with celebrated artists of the day, was in the center of an influential group changing the way we characterize music, visual art—and dance.
The original Merce Cunningham Dance Company. ©Robert Rutledge. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
