Hell on Frisco Bay (2005-2008 archive)

Yesterday marked two years to the date from when I first started this blog, with a little recap of films I'd recently seen on home video and at the Roxie.

A few days later I put up what after two years I still consider one of my very favorite posts here, a reflection on the Joy of Life, one of the films in that year's Frameline festival. It's a favorite not only because the film's director Jenni Olson actually read the piece and left a comment, something I didn't notice until months later, but because I felt like I really was able to say a lot about the film, even without formulating my thoughts into a "real" review (a craft I still have little patience for honing myself, knowing there are so many others clearly so talented at it and interested in it), or even complete sentences sometimes. I've often thought I should try using this approach on other films, and maybe I do to an extent. But it never seems to work as naturally as it did for me that one time. There's something about that film, I think...

But enough meta-blog babble. Frameline 31 opened at the Castro tonight and runs through June 24. Where I was completely without bearings, not knowing what films to see or whether to go at all a few days ago, I now feel like I have a handle on at least a good portion of what's playing on the program, thanks to Michael Guillen, Michael Hawley, and the Bay Guardian staff. Typically for me, it's the vintage bottle that's caught my attention the most out of all the wines on the rack. Lizzie Borden's Born in Flames, which I'd never heard of before, sounds like a real must-see.

Of the other must-sees visible on the Frisco filmgoing horizon, surely the most essential is the Jean Renoir in the Thirties series running every Sunday and Thursday in July and August at SFMOMA, starting with La Chienne on July 1, 5 and 8. It's by no means a complete series (the most notable omission of his thirties films I've seen is certainly Le Crime de Monsieur Lange, which I hope plays another nearby screen soon, as I've only seen a rather poor video copy) but there isn't a dud in the bunch, unless perhaps it's the one I haven't seen before, even on video: La Marseillaise (playing July 22, 26 & 29). I'm excited to get a chance to see it on the big screen (I sincerely doubt it's a dud), as well as another shot at the new print of the Rules of the Game August 23, 26, and 30. I'd also like to point to the July 12, 15, and 19 pairing of a Day in the Country with Boudu Saved From Drowning, two films every self-respecting cinephile ought to watch back-to-back at least once in her or his life. Coincidentally, I just wrote a few words on Boudu Saved From Drowning's ending as part of my final post at Cinemarati.

More delightful masterpieces of French cinema (as opposed to "ponderous, weighty masterpieces of French cinema", though these don't want for a certain kind of depth either) coming up: Madame de... on August 17th at the Pacific Film Archive (the rest of that theatre's upcoming schedule yet to be announced, other than an assurance of Barbara Stanwyck films throughout July), and Mon Oncle at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento as part of a French Film Festival July 20-29. I don't consider our state's capital to be part of my purview here (it may be "Hell", but it isn't exactly what I'd call "on Frisco Bay.") However, this festival annually screens a noteworthy title or two that we don't get to see all the way out at this end of the Sacramento River. Tati's 1958 Oscar-winner hasn't shown in 35mm in Frisco for years, making me wonder if a little road trip might be feasible. I'll wait for more titles to be announced to really start to consider it.

Though it's not like we're lacking in film festivals out here on the coast, as anyone who's ever glanced at this blog before should recognize. Sometimes there's two or three running at once, like this weekend when the Black Film Festival overlaps with Frameline (earlier tonight, the closing program of the aptly-named Another Hole in the Head made it three.) Next month, LaborFest, at the Roxie and elsewhere July 5-31, overlaps with the Silent Film Festival at the Castro and the Jewish Film Festival at the Castro and elsewhere. The latter has sent out schedules to the addresses on its snail mail list, and has promised to reveal details on its website on June 19th. Then in August a new festival appears in town: the Dead Channels Festival of Fantastic Film will play at the Castro and Roxie from the 9th to the 16th. Among the sneak peek announced titles are Trapped Ashes, a new omnibus film with segments directed by Ken Russell, Joe Dante and Monte Hellman among others, and David Cronenberg's crucial early work Crimes of the Future presented with a score performed live by members of the sleek and mysterious Frisco band I Am Spoonbender. That should be an interesting event, to say the least. Crimes of the Future is by no means a silent film, but its soundtrack already seems like the sort of thing the Spoonbender folks might have come up with themselves (perhaps it was an early influence on them, even though it was a pretty difficult film to track down until recently?) Several years ago I saw the Eames film Powers of Ten with the band providing a live alternative soundtrack, and they really did a good job making it their own without overwhelming the imagery whatsoever.

Last but not absolutely not least, I was recently informed by Max Goldberg, who writes excellent articles for the Guardian, that SF Camerawork will be presenting 16mm screenings of the Nathaniel Dorsky films that, unless you planned ahead, you were probably sold out of when screened at the Yerba Buena Center last winter. The films will be shown on August 2nd and 16th, and will be presented by Kino21, the best news to come along for Frisco avant-garde film enthusiasts in a while. Thanks for the tip, Max! Kino21 will also be presenting a neo-Benshi event at Artists Television Access on July 7th.