11 Top Greek Foods
THE DARK SIDE OF THE DREAM
by Ben Terrall
Billed as “subversive cinema … for subversive times,” the Roxie’s four-day series “The Dark Side of the Dream” (March 23-26) is a powerhouse collection of hard-hitting American movies made between 1933 and 1964. Former Roxie programmer Elliot Lavine, who returns to San Francisco from his new home in Portland for this run, put together the program with assistance from Don Malcolm, known most recently for his “The French Had a Name For It” Gallic noir retrospectives at the Roxie.
The twelve films on deck were picked for maximum relevance to today’s political climate. Lavine describes the offerings as “both timely and timeless, both eye-opening and mind-blowing.” It’s hard to argue with that assessment. They’re also beautifully shot movies that look great on the big screen.
INTERVIEW WITH DARK SIDE PROGRAMMER EXTRAORDINAIRE ELLIOT LAVINE
by Ben Terrall
Let’s start with the obvious question. This film line-up—which is very impressive, by the way—seems to be a response to the times we live in…by any chance has this been building up inside you for awhile now?
Thanks for noticing that. Yes, I think it’s safe to say this series is a direct response not only to the times we live in, but more specifically to the mortifying reality that Donald Trump is now the president of our country. The program began to take shape in the early morning hours of November 9, 2016, but it took a while to hone it into something truly forceful and meaningful. It also helped that my good friend Don Malcolm of Midcentury Productions had similar programming inclinations and he helped pave the way for this series to happen at the Roxie — which, if you know the Roxie’s history as well as my own history there, is the perfect venue for this program.
Bigfoot Bonanza Film Festival
Dear Readers,
Seventeen years ago, I was walking in the snow to go knock on the door of the monastery in Khumjung, to see their sacred Yeti scalp. I had spent five weeks in Nepal, collecting Yeti stories and interviewing eye witnesses.
In the years that followed, I would interview similar witnesses, but to those who saw a Bigfoot. Were some of these hoaxes or did these people actually see these giant creatures of the unknown? How did movies turn these beings of lore into monsters in the public’s eye during the 1950’s -70’s? Are they really a race of hiding primates? Dimension traveling beings? Ghosts of cavemen? A hidden tribe of the missing link? I encourage you to explore each possibility at the “Bigfoot Bonanza Film Festival” and conference, Saturday and Sunday, March 10th and 11th at the historic Vogue Theatre in San Francisco.
Let’s All Go To The Movies
Editor’s note: It is timely that veteran film distributor and film lover Gary Palmucci has written a review for us of Ben Davis’ new book Repertory Movies Theatres of New York City: Havens for Revivals, Indies and the Avant-Garde, 1960–1994 (McFarland 2017)
Dan Talbot with Alfred Hitchcock, January 13, 1965
The last week of December 2017 saw the passing of one of the giants in art film distribution and exhibition, Dan Talbot. In March, 1960 Dan and Toby Talbot took over the rundown –but with great decor– Yorktown Theater on New York’s Upper West Side and renamed it the New Yorker, reusing the “York” portion of the neon and starting a policy of repertory cinema mixing classics and more recent films in eclectic double features. The Talbots operated the New Yorker until 1973, often at a loss but with some surprise hits.
“The theater had a policy of no policy,” Toby Talbot wrote in The New Yorker Theater and Other Scenes From a Life at the Movies. “We thought of it as our living room, playing movies we wanted to see on the screen.”” I’ll play new films, old films, foreign films, American films—whatever I think merits being shown.” Dan said. “And if the audience agreed with me, great. If they didn’t, too bad.”
TCM Remembers The Movie Heroes Who Left Us in 2017
Each year Turner Classic Movies creates a touching tribute to many people in the film world who passed away. This year’s 4:31 minute reel continues their tradition of editing together an impressive series of images and clips to remind us, if briefly, who these people were. Some are famous and we recognize them instantly. Others are faces we have seen but never known the name, often character actors who bring audiences so much pleasure but are underappreciated. And many of the behind-the-camera talent are not recognizable until this puts a face to a name and a job.
The Animation Show of Shows
by Robert Bloomberg
In the classic Roadrunner cartoons, Wiley Coyote could always depend on the Acme Company to deliver exactly what he needed. Fortunately, when it comes to our own animation needs, we can depend on Ron Diamond’s Acme Filmworks to deliver the goods (anvils not included). Their 19th annual Animation Show of Shows is a delicious buffet of 16 animated treats — something for all tastes, with equal parts hilarity, inspiration, and cautionary tales. It is starting its national rollout to cinemas around the U.S. and Canada.
PFA Polish Animation 70 Years
by Frako Loden
For those who have heard about the excellence of Polish animation but haven’t seen much of it, the “Polish Animation 70 Years” series at Pacific Film Archive is a superb crash course in a remarkable body of work starting Sunday, December 3. Since the political thaw of 1956, Polish animation has been winning awards at film festivals all through the world.
Red & Black
Embarrassment of Riches
Hard Choices Need to be Made For Bay Area Cinephiles This Week
by Meredith Brody
Despite the fact that it has often been said that the San Francisco Bay Area is host to some 70 different film festivals, I rarely feel as though I can’t decide which screening to attend on any given night.
But, after spending last weekend wishing I could be in two places at once – SFFilm’s Doc Stories and The French Had a Name For It 4 – I anticipate the upcoming film traffic jam, with no less than 4 festivals and events calling my name, with extreme dread.
Forget Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Berlin, and Sundance. We’ll always have Mill Valley.
WIN FREE TICKETS TO FESTIVAL FILMS.
The highest profile film festivals around the world are huge with tens of thousands of people fighting to get in to see the movies. I’ve been to all of them and you can stand in line for hours in hopes of grabbing a seat. And then halfway through the movie you want to leave because it’s so terrible.
The beauty of festivals like the Mill Valley and San Francisco International Film Festivals is that the programming teams have been traveling to those other festivals to seek out the best from each of them and curate a terrific selection for you.
Eat My Shorts: BLADE RUNNER 2049- Three Prologues
The director Denis Villeneuve asked three friends to make shorts that act as prologues to his new film, Blade Runner 2049. Each takes place in the years between Blade Runner (which was set on 2019) and the new movie.
