March - April 2006 Program Calendar
Monday, February 27, 2006
BALBOA BIRTHDAY BASH
*Pre-Show at 7pm with lantern slides and live music;
*Films start at 7:30.
Celebrate the Balboa Theatre - 80th Birthday!
*Rudolph Valentino in THE EAGLE
http://www.silentsaregolden.com/featurefolder6/Eaglepage.html
An adventure comedy and romance co-starring Vilma Banky. Directed by Clarence Brown; Sets were designed William Cameron Menzies, and costumes, created by Adrian.
*Nik Phelps (www.niksprocket.org/ ) performs his Original Musical Score with Larry Dunlap (http://www.jazzwest.com/fourdirections/ ) on piano.
*Plus selected short subjects
*Vaudeville Show featuring the musical varieties of Suzanne Kitten on the Keys Ramsey (http://www.suzanneramsey.net/ ),
Magician Extraordinaire James Hamilton (http://www.amazingmagicshow.com/Hamilton.htm )
and surprise guest acts.
*Special guests and surprises including:
**Emily Leider, author of Dark Lover Rudolph
Valentino
http://www.holtzbrinckpublishers.com/academic/book/BookDisplay.asp?BookKey=1457029
**Jack Tillmany, author of "Theatres of San
Francisco."
Interview: http://www.outsidelands.org/tillmany.php
About the book and review: http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=arcadia&Product_Code=0738530204&Product_Count=&Category_Code=
**Lorri Ungaretti, author of "San Francisco's
Sunset District" and "San Francisco's Richmond
District."
Bio:http://www.sfhistoryencyclopedia.com/profiles/ungarettiLorri.html
About and Review of Richmond District book: http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=arcadia&Product_Code=0738530530&Product_Count=&Category_Code=
About Sunset book: http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=arcadia&Product_Code=0738528625&Product_Count=&Category_Code=
Autographed books will be for sale to benefit Western Neighborhoods Project: http://www.outsidelands.org/index.php
Come dressed in period clothing for a special 1926 night at the
movies.
All seats $10.00 includes post film party with birthday cake and librations.
Advance tickets available at the Balboa
And www.BrownPaperTickets.com or 1-800-838-3006
Sorry, discount cards and passes cannot be honored.
*************
Tuesday, Feb. 28 — Wednesday, March 1
DOC DAYS — All this year's Oscar ® nominated Documentary
features and shorts presented by the Documentary
Film Institute at SFSU, in association with Film Arts Foundation.
TUESDAY
FEBRUARY 28
(Noon)—THE DEATH OF KEVIN CARTER (27 min)
(12:30)—STREET FIGHT (83 min)
(2:15)—THE MUSHROOM CLUB (35 min)
(2:50)—ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM (109 min)
4:50—MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (85 min)
6:30—THE DEATH OF KEVIN CARTER (27 min)
7:00 —STREET FIGHT (83
min)
8:40 —THE MUSHROOM CLUB (35 min)
9:10 —ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE
ROOM (109 min)
WEDNESDAY
MARCH 1
(Noon)—MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (85 min)
(1:40)—THE GOLDEN AGE OF NORMAN CORWIN (40 min)
(2:20) —MURDERBALL (88 min)
4:00 —GOD SLEEPS IN RWANDA (30 min)
4:30 —DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE (107 min)
6:30 —THE GOLDEN AGE OF NORMAN CORWIN (40 min)
7:10 —MURDERBALL (88 min)
8:50 —GOD SLEEPS IN RWANDA (30 min)
9:20 —DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE (107 min)
Intermission
after each feature.
Filmmakers
at selected screenings.
Regular
admission includes all films each day.
SFSU
Documentary Film Institute: http://www.collegeofcreativearts.org/DFI/docdays.html
Film Arts
Foundation: http://www.filmarts.org/home.php
More
information on the nominees: http://www.oscar.com/nominees/bestdocumentaryfeaturecategory.html
http://www.oscar.com/nominees/bestdocumentaryshortsubjectcategory.html
*******************
Thursday,
March 2
SPROCKET
ENSEMBLE FAREWELL SHOWS
TOONES and
TUNES 7:00
Nik Phelps
& Nancy Denney-Phelps present animated films using music & sound in
unusual & diverse ways from Joie de Vivre (1934) to Bathtime in
Clerkenwell (2005).
Live accompaniment by Nik to "Fetch". Nancy & noted
animation historian/writer Karl Cohen offer added insights. All ages. Regular Balboa prices.
IDEAS IN
ANIMATION - 9:00
Animation
is not just for kids. Nik & Sprocket Ensemble stalwarts Ellen Gronnigan on
Violin, Andrew Higgins on Bass & Larry Dunlap on Piano for their last
performance before a move to Europe. Live original scores to their all time
favorite contemporary animators from Russia's Ivan Maximov to America's Bill
Plympton. Nik & Nancy will give special insights into the films and
their creators. All seats: $10.00
Separate
admission required for each program.
Sprocket
Ensemble: www.niksprocket.org/
*******************
Friday-Sat-Sun,
March 3-4-5 — Three days only.
Back By
Popular Demand
BABY FACE — Uncensored! Stay after the credits for a surprise. 80 min.
Plus SCHOOL
FOR ROMANCE 20 min
(1:40), 5:05, 8:30 (Sunday 1:40 show only)
and NIGHT NURSE 72 min ( 12:10), 3:35, 7:00
(Sunday 12:10 show only)
Beautiful
35mm prints.
"If you want to turn someone
onto pre-censorship movies at their most fun, sleazy and outrageous, just take
them to "Baby Face." The differences between the original and the
release versions of are small,
& yet combined they spell the difference between a good 3-star movie and a delightful
4-star movie. NIGHT NURSE combines a phenomenally perverse story with director
William Wellman's fast-paced technique and hard-boiled, impish humor. (He keeps
finding contexts in which to show the women undressing - it's very funny.)
Clark Gable plays an evil woman-beating chauffeur. This is pre-Code at its
twisted, amusing and live-and-let-live best." Mick LaSalle, SF Chronicle
Censor's notes: http://balboamovies.com/program/stanwyck_pre_code.html
Articles and background:
http://balboamovies.com/program/stanwyck_pre_code.html
****************
Sunday, March 5
BALBOA OSCAR ® PARTY
Doors Open 3:30pm
Red Carpet Arrivals on the big
screen- 4:00pm
The Oscar® Show — 5:00
Your Host-
Mr. Lucky (http://www.mrlucky.org/ )
introducing Special Guests: Singer Connie
Champagne (http://www.conniechampagne.com/
) , Ralph Carney (http://www.akroncracker.com/ ) on horns
& Michael McIntosh (http://www.blueroomboys.com/brbbios.html
) on the keyboard.
Dress up as your favorite nominated
movie or star. Win Prizes at the costume contest!
All seats $10.00 — Advance tickets
at the Balboa
and www.BrownPaperTickets.com or 1-800-838-3006
For complete list of nominees: www.oscar.com and http://www.oscars.org/
*******************
Monday, March 6 —
Thursday, March 9
Oscar® Short Documentary Films
The rarely seen
short documentary category hits the big screen. All 4 nominated shorts…one
guaranteed Academy Award winner!
The
Mushroom Club
-Steve Okazaki examines the terrible personal toll that followed the bombing of
Hiroshima 60 years ago; 10 people whose lives were marked by the explosion are
profiled. 35min.
A
Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin -Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson
explore the lasting impact of radio broadcasting legend Norman Corwin's work
focusing on his landmark "On a Note of Triumph," which aired on the
evening of VE Day. 40min. (2:55), 5:45, 8:35
The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club -Dan Krauss- After shooting an award-winning
photograph that captured the full horror of starvation in the Sudan, South
African photojournalist Kevin Carter found himself tormented by doubts about
the ethical implication of his work. 27 min
God
Sleeps in Rwanda -
Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman
- The genocide that devastated Rwanda in 1994 also left in its wake a
population that was suddenly 70% female. Five courageous women struggle to
rebuild their lives in a society still reeling from its bloody recent
history. 30min. (1:40),
4:30, 7:20
Intermission between each pairing. - One admission price for all 4 films.
More information on the
nominees: http://www.oscar.com/nominees/bestdocumentaryshortsubjectcategory.html
***************************
Friday, March 10-
Thursday, March 16
Two San Francisco
Premieres
Each film requires a
separate admission.
WHEN THE SEA
RISES
Winner
2005 Césars- Best Actress and Best First Film
A
quirky ode to transient romance and a performer's life on the road, Yolande
Moreau and Gilles Porte's film about a nomadic performer named Irène who falls
into a tender relationship with a parade float operator.
"Smartly weaves Moreau's lyrically slapstick solo
show Dirty Business into this
shaggy dog romance, making a heartfelt contrast between the thrilling
spontaneity of theater and the fizzy unpredictability of life."
-- Jan Stuart, NEWSDAY
In French with English subtitles
90 min (1:00), 5:00, 9:00
Website, photos, press notes: http://www.newyorkerfilms.com/nyf/t_elements/sea/sea1_t.htm
**************
ELECTRIC SHADOWS
"With her debut, Xiao Jiang has created the Chinese equivalent of "Cinema
Paradiso"… a lovely, elegant paean to the joy and liberty that films offer
as a symbol. The title itself is the literal meaning of movies in Chinese. Spanning the Cultural Revolution era to
modern day, this is a mother-daughter tale anyone can love. A beautiful young
woman grows up with dreams of becoming an actress and singer. But those hopes
are dashed when she is left pregnant and abandoned. Forced to become a single
parent, and deal with the town's gossip and scorn, she nevertheless retains her
evergreen love of the movies even if the feature presentations are Mao
propaganda dramas." Andrew Sun, Hollywood Reporter Mandarin with English subtitles 90 min ( 3:00), 7:00
Website,
photos and press notes: http://www.firstrunfeatures.com/cs_electricshadows.html
******************
Friday,
March 17- Thursday, March 23
Bernardo
Bertolucci's THE CONFORMIST
New
35mm print - Restored
to its original length and rich color under the supervision of its legendary
cameraman Vittorio Storaro.
The Conformist is a great film, drunkenly
beautiful and deeply disturbing." David Thomson, LA Weekly
"In a story full of
treachery, cowardice and sexual decadence, with an outcome that doesn't end
happily for anyone, the movie remains uplifting for its breathtaking style.
Your breath is taken away by its baroque compositions, like the shot in which
Storaro's camera -- powered by Georges Delerue's rhapsodic score -- glides
ghostlike toward its characters at ground level, stirring up a flurry of autumn
leaves. Images like that -- projected on a big screen -- show you what the
medium is capable of. They also demonstrate why going out to the theater
remains the best way to see a movie. And frankly, it's the best way to
appreciate Dominique Sanda's mouth, which may be the greatest set of lips in
movie history." Deeson Howe, Washington Post
1970
- In Italian and French with English subtitles 115 minutes
(12:00), 2:20, 4:40, 7:00, 9:15
Reviews: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/conformist/
Photos are available for
press.
*******************
Friday, March 24-
Thursday, March 30
BLUE VELVET
Stunning Archival 35mm CinemaScope print
"When you come out of
the theater after seeing David Lynch's Blue Velvet you certainly know that you've seen
something. You wouldn't mistake frames from Blue Velvet for frames from any other movie.
Lynch doesn't censor his sexual fantasies, and the film's hypercharged erotic
atmosphere makes it something of a trance-out, but his humor keeps breaking
through, too. This is American darkness - darkness in color, darkness with a
happy ending. Lynch might turn out to be the first populist surrealist - a
Frank Capra of dream logic."—Pauline Kael, The New Yorker 1986
120 min
(12:15), 2:30,
4:45, 7:00, 9:15
Blue Velvet fan site with original press kit: http://www.lynchnet.com/bv/
Detailed article: http://www.filmsite.org/blue.html
Script: http://corky.net/scripts/BlueVelvet.html
********************
Gifford
meets Lynch
David Lynch
website:www.davidlynch.com/
Barry Gifford
website: www.barrygifford.com/
Friday, March 31
PERDITA DURANGO uncut-uncensored
Author Barry
Gifford and Amy Glazer in Person!
Rare Print never before
seen in San Francisco
Rosie
Perez stars as Perdita Durango, a woman on the run who, along with her evil
lover Romeo Dolorosa (Javier Bardem), goes across the Mexican/U.S. border in a
flash of human sacrifice, black magic, hitmen, and lots of other things normal
people go out of their way to avoid. Based Gifford's novel. 126 min
Plus BALL LIGHTNING -Amy Glazer's
adaptation of Gifford's play 27
min.
(1:40), 4:30, 7:30
Barry
Gifford and Amy Glazier at 7:30 show
Saturday, April 1
— Sunday, April 2
MULHOLLAND DRIVE
A
bright-eyed young actress Naomi Watts) travels to Hollywood, only to be
ensnared in a dark conspiracy involving a woman who was nearly murdered, and
now has amnesia because of a car crash.
Lynch's horrorshow look at Hollywood, has a malevolent movie industry,
debauched actresses, and lots and lots of steamy lesbian sex. 2001 145 min (4:25), 9:25
Plus
LOST HIGHWAY 135 min
In typical Lynch fashion this enigmatic thriller feels like
the viewer has unknowingly walked into another person's dream. The screenplay
adheres to many film noir conventions, but Lynch and
co-writer Barry Gifford's psychological angle gives them a freedom to do
anything that they so desire (a concept they giddily embrace). With Patricia
Arquette & Bill Pullman.
1997 135 min (2:00), 7:00
Monday, April
3-Tuesday, April 4
WILD AT HEART
Barry Gifford's tale of the troubled romance of Sailor
(Nicolas Cage) and Lula (Laura Dern), two lovers who struggle to remain
together even when fate seems intent on keeping them apart. 1990 127 min (12:40), 4:40, 8:40
And
ERASERHEAD - David Lynch's Digital Restoration
ERASERHEAD contains all of the trademark attributes of a
Lynch film--haunting visuals, an ethereal score, unsettling sound design, and,
most notably, a black sense of humor--creating a world onscreen that is
exhilarating, terrifying, and unique. 1977 90 min (3:00), 7:00
***************
Opens Wednesday, April 5-
Open-Ended Engagement
I AM A SEX
ADDICT
"Wildly original, disarmingly personal,
and very, very smart" Scott Macaulay, Filmmaker Magazine
A bold, hilarious autobiographical
re-envisioning of years struggling with sex addiction, I Am A Sex Addict navigates genres as well as taboos. Director Caveh Zahedi faces
the camera on the day of his third wedding to unflinchingly retrace his
obsession with prostitutes, which started in his mid-twenties during his first
marriage. Zahedi rehashes the often unflattering yet humorous episodes of his
addiction, the effects on his relationships, and his eventual recognition of
his problem and recovery. Using bits of actual footage and photos, animation,
clever editing and surprisingly candid dramatizations, Zahedi lets us meet the
characters through his perspective as well as through documentary footage,
weaving the stories of the actors, the characters and the real people into an
absorbing whole. 90 min
Winner of the Gotham Award for "Best Film Not Playing at a
Theater Near You"
(12:00), 1:50. 3:40, 5:30, 7:20, 9:15
Website:
http://www.cavehzahedi.com/films_sex.html
*******************
REEL SAN
FRANCISCO - Sunday. April 16- Thursday,
April 27
Our sequel to
last year's successful series of movies set in and/or made in The City by the
Bay. In addition to the perennial favorite SAN FRANCISCO, we have programmed 11
films all new to the series using many studio archive prints.
Sunday.-Tuesday April 16-17-18
SAN FRANCISCO
Gambling
halls, nightclubs, ambitious showgirls, Nob Hill socialites, and a doozy of an
earthquake—all the elements of early 20th century San Francisco are
limned in this Anita Loos-scripted romance. Clark
Gable, Jeanette MacDonald and Spencer Tracy are a few of the plucky
denizens whose spirits can't be crushed by a mere 8.6 temblor. And of course
there's that fabulous song! Directed by W.S. Van Dyke. 1936 (115 min)
(12:15), 4:45, 7:00 (Tues. at 12:15 only)
And
AFTER
THE THIN MAN
Nick (William Powell) and Nora (Myrna
Loy) return home to Nob Hill to find a murder among their very own
family. One murder leads to another, and the quick-quipping sleuths and their
faithful dog, Asta, are soon buried under a
wealth of conflicting clues. A young Jimmy Stewart
joins the fun. One of 6 films directed by W.S. Van Dyke in 1936! 113 min.
(2:30),
9:15 (Tues. at 2:30 only)
(Double bill only plays
matinee on Tuesday)
Tuesday night only - 1906 Earthquake 10th Anniversary - 7:00
SAN FRANCISCO follows films from Library of
Congress showing San Francisco before and after the Quake, "The City
Quakes: The San Francisco Earthquakes of 1906 & 1989" in 3-D presented by Bob Bloomberg,
plus rare surprises and a live performance piece.
"The City Quakes: The San Francisco Earthquakes
of 1906 & 1989" (18 min.)
The great earthquake and fire of 1906 was the
first natural disaster of its kind to be covered as a major media event.
Photographers from around the world converged on the devastated city, some of
them shooting in the popular new medium of stereo photography.
This show features their fascinating 3-D images, as well as never
before seen stereo photos of both the 1906 and 1989 Loma Prieta quake.
(Original score by Robert Bloomberg.)
******
Wednesday, April 19-
Thursday, April 20
LADIES THEY TALK
ABOUT
An early girls-in-prison
yarn, this surprising Pre-Code drama has everything. Gun moll Barbara Stanwyck is thrown into San Quentin (which
looks more like a summer resort than a house of detention), where she becomes a
hard-bitten prison-block leader, spearheading a jailbreak. 1933 ( 69 min) 10 (2:40), 5:40, 8:40
And
FOG OVER FRISCO
Cited by film historian
William K. Everson as one of the fastest-moving crime melodramas of the 1930s
(if not the fastest) Fog Over
Frisco still manages to leave viewers breathless. Top-billed Bette Davis
plays giddy heiress Arlene Bradford, whose perverse fascination with gangsters
gets her mixed up in a stolen-securities scheme and murder. 1934 (68 min) (1:10),
4:10, 7:
******
Friday, April 21-
Saturday., April 22
Hitchcock's THE BIRDS
"Take in
the bird-bath and feeder! Beware the first robin of spring! A threat of
unspeakable horror is latent in our feathered friends! At least, that is what
Alfred Hitchcock is implying "The Birds." Making a terrifying menace
out of what is assumed to be one of nature's most innocent creatures and one of
man's most melodious friends, Mr. Hitchcock has constructed a horror film that
should raise the hackles on the most courageous and put goose-pimples on the
toughest hide." Bosley Crowther, New York Times 1963 (120 min) (1:55), 7:00
And
BIRDMAN OF
ALCATRAZ
Burt Lancaster is Robert Stroud, a withdrawn
prison inmate who cures a sick bird that flies into his cell. While serving a
life sentence, much of it at the notoriously brutal Alcatraz he becomes a famous ornithologist,
aborts a riot, starts a romance, and gets his story out through a determined
reporter (Edmond
O'Brien). Based on a true story. Directed by John
Frankenheimer. 1962 (143 min)
(4:15), 9:20
******
Sunday, April 23- Monday,
April 24
PAL JOEY
Rita
Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, and Kim Novak star in this Rodgers
& Hart
musical adaptation of John O'Hara's story about a wealthy former stripper who agrees to finance a cocky
saloon singer's San Francisco nightclub if the singer will abandon the woman he
loves. Great songs include "I Could Write a Book," "Bewitched,
Bothered and Bewildered" and "The Lady is a Tramp."
1957 (111 min) (12:50), 4:50,
8:50
And
BARBARY COAST
Entertaining drama about a
gold-digger (Miriam Hopkins) who arrives in San
Francisco with dreams of wealth, eventually hooking up with the ruthless
gangster (Edward G. Robinson) who controls the
town before she falls in love with an idealistic farmer (Joel McCrea). Directed in fast-paced style by Howard Hawks from an exciting and witty script by Ben
Hecht and Charles MacArthur.
1935 (90 min) (3:00), 7:00
*****
Tuesday, April 25 — Noir
Double Bill
DOA
"I
want to report a murder…mine." So begins D.O.A.
This famous film-noir murder mystery features an inventive twist: the victim as
"detective," desperately trying to solve his own murder. An
accountant (Edmond O'Brien) on vacation in San
Francisco gets a dose of lethal, slow-acting poison. He then begins a desperate
search for the individual responsible for his impending demise. 1950 (93 min) (2:00), 5:25, 8:50
THE BIGAMIST
A salesman
marries a wealthy woman from a blue-blooded L.A. family and a street-smart
waitress in a San Francisco Chinese restaurant. Driven to this agonizing
extreme more by his big heart than lust, the bigamist strains to keep his
double life a secret from the women he truly loves. Edmond
O'Brien, Joan Fontaine and Ida Lupino (who also directed). 1953 (80 min) (12:25), 3:50, 7:15
********
Wednesday, April 26-
Thursday, April 27
WHAT'S UP DOC?
A madcap tale about an
absent-minded professor (Ryan O'Neal) and a flaky college girl (Barbra Streisand) in this film from Peter Bogdanovich
, WHAT'S UP DOC? is a hilarious salute to the screwball comedies of the 1930s.
Highlights include riotous chase scenes throughout San Francisco in pursuit of
all of the following: stolen top-secret government documents, missing jewels,
and lost igneous rocks. Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars and Austin Pendleton add to
the hilarity. 1972 (94 min) (1:40), 5:20, 8:55
And
TAKE THE MONEY AND
RUN
Woody
Allen casts himself as
a desperate criminal one step ahead of the law in this comedy full of slapstick
silliness. Allen's directorial debut is a riotous mockumentary about a crook
who tries to pull off heists and robberies in The City by the Bay but never to
any avail because of his incredible incompetence -- such as using a fake gun
made of soap--and getting caught in the rain. 1969
(85 min) (12:00), 3:35, 7:15
**************
Opening
Friday, April 28
SISTERS-IN-LAW
Selected
for Cannes 2005, festival favourite Kim Longinotto's latest work (co-directed
with Florence Ayisi) is a totally fascinating - often hilarious - look at the
work of one small courthouse in south-west Cameroon. The two women at the heart
of the documentary wouldn't be out of place in an Alexander McCall Smith
bestseller. As the State Counsel and Court President, they dispense wisdom,
wisecracks and justice in fair measure. The victims of crime - an abused child,
a woman daring to accuse a man of rape, and another trying to end a brutal
marriage in a society where divorce is taboo - are handled with fierce
compassion. You'll feel like cheering when justice is served. 104 minutes
http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c645.shtml
**************
BALBOA THEATRE
3630 Balboa Street at 37th Avenue.
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 221-8184
http://www.BalboaMovies.com
General Admission: $8.50
Seniors and Children
$6.00
Bargain Matinees: Show times listed in parentheses ( ) are $6.00 for all seats
FREE ADMISSION on your
birthday!
Discount Cards: 5
admissions for $30.00 now on sale
SCHOOL NIGHT —Every
Monday is School Night. $6.00 for
Students, Faculty and school Staff (with School ID) .
Getting to the Balboa-
Bike Rack in front of
the Balboa
Muni Bus #31 or #38
Ocean Beach
Also#18, #5 Fulton and all Geary Street buses
stop two
(long) blocks from
Balboa.
Relatively easy Parking
The Balboa is Wheelchair
and Handicapped Accessible
Great snack bar
featuring Caffe Trieste coffees and the best popcorn in town.
