You’re In The Gone, Gone Picture and Beyond

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By Gary Meyer

May 26, 2022 (updated May 29)

Most of us see in 3D. We can look around, above, and below. We take it for granted and it is generally not a thrill ride.

But offer us a pair of 3D glasses, a VR rig or some kind of created immersive environment to take us to places we have not been, other worlds or to be in the middle of action scenes and many of us are willing to pay a premium for the enhanced experience—at least once. And then the novelty wears off and we go back to traditional ways of viewing.

Vicki Bennett looks at us

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Gravity Spells Returns- “Embrace the Vortex”

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By Brian Darr

May 19, 2022

In 2014 John Davis produced a double-album entitled Gravity Spells: Bay Area New Music and Expanded Cinema Art, which presented sound recordings made by himself as well as Maggi Payne, Tashi Wada, Ashley Beloun and Ben Bracken, paired with accompanying DVDs featuring work by local moving image artists Lawrence Jordan, Craig Baldwin, Paul Clipson and Kerry Laitala. The release was accompanied by four weekend performances at the Kala Art institute in Berkeley, and the discs quickly sold out.

Now nearly eight years later there’s a sequel release, Gravity Spells II involving an entirely new slate of Bay Area sound artists and filmmakers. This time around the performances celebrating the release will all be held  May 19-22  at venerable Mission District venue The Lab. Only the artists know quite what to expect, but they’re sure to present a unique live cinema experiences.

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Watch CITY LIGHTS Shine: A Gallery of Art

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Curated by Gary Meyer

Charles Chaplin might be the most recognizable person in the world. His iconic Little Tramp image can be found everywhere. I am guessing that more books have been written about him than any movie star.

One of the many beauties of his work is that they communicate with people who speak any language.

And on Saturday, February 19, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival presents Chaplin’s 1931 masterpiece, CITY LIGHTS accompanied by the Oakland Symphony under the direction of Timothy Brock, at Oakland’s Paramount Theatre. This is a must see experience for all ages.

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THE CREATIVE HIGH

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By C.J. Hirschfield

In 2020, more people in San Francisco died of overdoses than of covid-19—an almost impossible statistic to comprehend.

So a film featuring people living in that city who are in recovery from addiction is timely and hopeful; what is unique is that all nine of them have had their lives dramatically transformed by the “alternative high” they achieve through art-making.

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BEING A CENTURY OLD DOESN’T STOP BETTY REID SOSKIN AND ANNA HALPRIN FROM ROCKIN’ OUR WORLD

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BY C.J. Hirschfield

Writer Pearl S. Buck said that “To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth.”

Two of the remarkable Bay Area women featured in the 10th annual Legacy Film Festival on Aging have seemingly done just that, and they’ve used their collective 200 (!) years of rich experience to arrive at a place where they now choose to enlighten and inspire.

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Shorts are BIG this year… All the 2021 Oscar™ Nominated Shorts Reviewed

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Just as reading a great short story can have an impact in a relatively few pages, short films also can entertain, inform and challenge us with limited running times. Most of our favorite filmmakers started their careers making short subjects. Which of this year’s Oscar™ nominated creators will be the makers of the next breakout independent film on their way to a studio blockbuster? You can watch and place your bets. And remember that this year the public has seen all nominated movies the same way most Academy members have been watching them for years—at home. 

 

The 2021 Academy Awards are on Sunday, April 25. The nominated short films have been collected into three programs, Animation, Live Action and Documentary, and are now playing in select theaters and on Virtual Cinema. Trailers and more information can found here. 

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Designing a Life

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By C.J. Hirschfield

A couple of decades ago, I took a half-day off work to visit the first-ever tour of an historic 1909 Arts & Crafts house that featured its original furniture–many pieces by the man considered the father of the American Arts & Crafts movement, Gustav Stickley. Touring the glorious house in the required surgical booties, I was in heaven.

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A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION

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By Andrea Chase

In conversation after a watch party for A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION, co-subject and co-director (with Ben Proudfoot) Kris Bowers said that part of the reason he wanted to make the film because the Emmy™-winning composer thought his grandfather, Horace Bowers, Sr., was a hero. A hero who should be celebrated. He also wanted to have an in-depth conversation with him while the 91-year-old was still with us. The result is a tender and intimate portrait of strength, joy, and how family shapes us.

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SF INDIEFEST Shorts by Oakland directors—as diverse as The Town

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By C.J. Hirschfield

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently released their short list for the Oscar in the Best Documentary (Short Subject) category.  These films include everything from The Speed Cubers, which follows the relationship between two of the fastest Rubik’s Cube-solvers, to Call Center Blues, which focuses on four individuals working at a Tijuana call center after having been deported by the U.S.

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The Camera Is Escher’s Eye

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“I think it’s in my basement…Let me go upstairs and check.”

― M.C. Escher

By Steve Segal

Maurits Cornelis Escher commonly known as M.C. Escher was an artist who has inspired millions with his unique vision. This is made abundantly clear in the film M.C. Escher: Journey to Infinity, a hugely entertaining and informative documentary.

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