SF DOCFEST—“BLACKSTAR: AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A CLOSE FRIEND,” “THE WOMEN AND THE PASSENGER,” “TERMS AND CONDITIONS MAY APPLY”
by Peter Wong‚
Jun. 13‚ 2013
This year’s San Francisco Documentary Film Festival (hereafter “DocFest”) sets aside June 16 for a marathon retrospective of the entire oeuvre of gay filmmaker Tom Joslin. This marathon of politically charged personal films consists of only three movies, as the filmmaker died of AIDS at a relatively young age.
The most familiar of the three films being screened is Joslin’s Sundance award-winning AIDS documentary “Silverlake Life: The View From Here.” But the relatively unknown first film in the retrospective, “Blackstar: Autobiography Of A Close Friend” (hereafter “Blackstar”), shows the promise of Joslin’s talent. [more]->
S.F. DOCFEST—“GUT RENOVATION,” “F**K FOR FOREST,” “THE MAYOR”
by Peter Wong‚
Jun. 06‚ 2013
“Gut Renovation,” veteran avant garde documentarian Su Friedrich’s newest film, will definitely stir anger in the hearts of former Mission and SOMA residents priced out of the neighborhoods they lived in. Despite its East Coast setting, the truths and dark humor captured by Friedrich’s film unfortunately apply to the West Coast as well.
In 1989, the filmmaker moved into the Williamsburg area of New York City. Williamsburg was a six block by fifteen block area of light industrial factories, small businesses, and former commercial buildings converted by sweat equity to artists’ lofts. In 2005, Mayor Bloomberg’s administration rezoned the area to encourage redevelopment. Eviction waves hit Williamsburg over the next few years, forcing out existing artists and neighborhood businesses. Friedrich’s personal film chronicles the greed-fueled destruction of the neighborhood she loved. [more]->
The Radical Non-Politics of ‘The East’
by Keith Woodhouse‚
Jun. 05‚ 2013
The East, just out this weekend, is a movie ostensibly about radical anarcho-environmentalists that has little to say about radicalism, anarchism, or environmentalism. It’s not a bad movie; as a suspenseful drama it’s entertaining. But that’s part of the problem. The entertainment comes first, and second, and third, and the politics last. This is one of those “I want to entertain my audience, but also make them think” movies in which politics ends up providing little more than a cardboard backdrop to what is finally a conventional thriller.
Fair warning: this will include every imaginable spoiler.
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The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
by Peter Wong‚
Jun. 04‚ 2013
Heroes matter. Their achievements show people that society’s commonly accepted limitations can be pushed farther back than expected. The character of the best heroes demonstrates an awareness and humility regarding other peoples’ emotional investment in their successes. Especially in times of great turmoil, the hero’s presence is particularly crucial. Hank Greenberg, the titular subject of Aviva Kempner’s lively and entertaining documentary “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg,” wore the hero’s mantle well in his years as a professional baseball player. When the crack of Greenberg’s bat led to yet another run batted in (RBI), Jewish-Americans in particular couldn’t help feeling that yet another crack had also been made in America’s wall of socially acceptable anti-Semitism. Long commercially unavailable, Kempner’s endearing documentary returns in a new 2-disc DVD set. The new set contains the original film. But it also features Kempner’s commentary on the film, twenty-seven extra or deleted scenes, and a handy statistical listing of Greenberg’s professional playing career. The entire film package will thrill and inspire a new generation of both baseball fans and even non-baseball fans.
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The Martin and Blades Duo Comes to the Boom Boom Room
by E. "Doc" Smith‚
May. 31‚ 2013
"Drummer Billy Martin of Medeski, Martin and Wood and up and coming organist Wil Blades come together for a new duo project. After two highly successful shows in San Francisco and New Orleans, Martin and Blades are taking the show on the road. The duo's music is at once danceable and highly improvisational." Tonight, they roll into the Boom Boom Room for their last show before heading to Los Angeles on Saturday.
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Trilok Gurtu's "Spellbound"
by E. "Doc" Smith‚
May. 24‚ 2013
Describing this latest release, Trilok Gurtu's website provides the best insight, stating, "Two short snippets recorded live by Trilok Gurtu and Don Cherry, bookend the album “Spellbound”: a 33-second improvisation in a duo with Cherry on trumpet and Trilok Gurtu, who can be heard on the drum set especially converted and modified for his needs, forms the start of the new CD by the Indian percussionist, while a brief “Thank you, thank you very much” from Cherry for the applause of the audience closes the album"
Even though the other pieces on “Spellbound” contain no other recordings with this jazz legend, who died in Malaga in Spain in 1995, every single sound on the CD is an expression of Trilok Gurtu's great admiration for the man and musician Don Cherry. After all, it was the American trumpeter who, in the first half of the 1970s, encouraged the young percussionist, freshly arrived in Europe, i.e. Italy, from his homeland of India, to pursue his vision of an intuitive music which is open to the world and embraces the world, and to realize this vision."
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The Orange Peels Come to Cafe Du Nord
by E. "Doc" Smith‚
May. 17‚ 2013
This Friday night, The Orange Peels return to Cafe Du Nord for 2 shows, (10:00 pm is sold out), to celebrate the release of their latest album, "Sun Moon". Led by the Sunnyvale pop-smith Allen Clapp, and his partner-in-crime, bassist Jill Pries, this new album also features longtime member John Moremen on guitar, and drummer Gabriel Coen, "Sun Moon" is the band's first collaborative effort. Clapp and his cohorts have kept true to their wonderful sound on this new material, plus they've also added a few songs only heard at their live performances, like the rollicking "Aether Tide", a crowd favorite. The Peels website provides a bit of insight into the making of Sun Moon, stating that, "Sometimes plans can be overrated. Sure they can help focus a group toward a common goal, but overdo it and you can end up with an album that sounds and feels more like a corporate quarterly report than art…"
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SFIFF 56 WRAPUP—“EIGHT DEADLY SHOTS,” “THE SEARCH FOR EMAK BAKIA,” “SING ME THE SONGS THAT SAY I LOVE YOU: A CONCERT FOR KATE MCGARRIGLE”
by Peter Wong‚
May. 15‚ 2013
A real-life fatal shooting inspired Mikko Niskanen’s Finnish cinema classic “Eight Deadly Shots.” Its daunting five-and-a-quarter hours’ length made this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival (hereafter SFIFF) the ideal place to screen it.
The titular shots are fired by desperate impoverished family farmer Pasi (Niskanen). He’s slowly being crushed by a trifecta of continual high unemployment, terrible crop prices, and mounting indebtedness to both the government and private creditors. Illegal moonshining provides some financial relief. But Pasi’s family history of alcoholism threatens to destroy what little he has. [more]->
Gata Kamsky Wins the 2013 US Chess Championship
by E. "Doc" Smith‚
May. 14‚ 2013
With the mercurial defending champion, grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura off in Europe, (and managing to defeat the current world champion, Vishwanathan Anand), grandmaster Gata Kamsky won his 4th US Chess Championship title in a 3 game playoff against Alejandro Ramirez of Costa Rica. The previous 9 rounds saw Kamsy lead the field, only to be slowed by successive draws, and allowing Ramirez to catch him. Tied going into am playoff, the first two games were hotly contested draws, however the third game proved to be decisive. The rules of the championship state that if the players are tied 1-1 going into a third game, they must play what is called, an "Armageddon match", where players bid for time and color.
Hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club, the US Chess Championship was moderated on the web by 3 of the best in US chess, Jennifer Shahade, grandmasters Yasser Seirawan and Maurice Ashley. Chess viewing is a far cry from the the old PBS days of Fischer vs. Spassky, and commentators Shelby Lyman and Jimmy Sherwin. Most major chess events are seen, and analyzed in real-time on the web, by former champions, as well as the combatants.
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"OoN - The BassOoN - Bass Duo" Comes to the Cadillac
by E. "Doc" Smith‚
May. 03‚ 2013
"Bass and bassoon are not your usual musical duo partners. But when Paul Hanson and Ariane Cap met and talked about how they have both been using their instruments beyond their traditional roles, they felt an immediate kinship on so many levels. They agreed that what matters most is the music and not the 'tool'. They could relate how one could just fall in love with a sound. They understood the challenge and joy of hearing something inside and bending the instrument beyond its intended techniques to create new sounds.
June 19, 2013
