If people were asked to name the most difficult mountain to climb on Earth, Everest would probably come up nine times out of 10. But if mountain climbers were asked the same question, they’d all respond with one answer: K2. Nicknamed the “Savage Mountain,” K2 sits on the border of Read More…
“The Dandelions” As arthouse hits “Jules et Jim” and “Amelie” have shown in the past, French films have always had a talent for imbuing life with a whimsical charm, with a certain joie de vivre. Continuing in this tradition, “The Dandelions” freewheels through the vibrantly colorful yet psychologically troubled childhood Read More…
Last Wednesday night, the Pacific Film Archive screened the annual “Bay Area Student Film Festival,” a showcase dedicated to exploring the talent and creative perspectives of student filmmakers in the area. The festival accepted submissions of any short films less than 20 minutes — experimental or narrative — from students Read More…
When making a scary film, there are only so many directions you can take. Characters, formulas and monsters are recycled again and again through the narrow, dimly lit echo-chamber that has become the horror genre. So it’s refreshing when one surfaces that differs and lets the audience in on a Read More…
To give these more daring, avant-garde exercises of animation exposure to a larger audience, the Pacific Film Archive screened “Lost and Found: Recent Experimental Animation” Wednesday night as the second installment in its “Alternative Visions” series.
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Much Ado About Nothing When one thinks of Shakespeare, the mind doesn’t naturally bend toward the sci-fi/supernatural wunderkind Joss Whedon. Known primarily for his forays into television (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Firefly”) and recent comic book box-office success with “The Avengers,” it seemed a slight surprise when it was announced Read More…
Ray Kurzweil has always had an eye for solving problems, whether it was with his reading machine for the blind or his Kurzweil K250 synthesizer. Now he is dedicated to solving humankind’s greatest problem — the advent of death. This was the topic of his lecture Saturday night in Wheeler Read More…
The popular comedic campus troupe, Theater for Charity, stormed room 2060 in Valley Life Sciences Building last Saturday night as they performed their latest one-act showcase, “Pitch Please!”, to a packed house. Boasting completely original student-crafted content, the showcase consisted of six separate one-acts, all linked by the theme of Read More…
‘42’ at United Artists in Berkeley This one is for my fellow fans of America’s favorite pastime. The surprisingly modern take on the famous rise to glory of the MLB’s first African American player, Jackie Robinson, looks like it will score a home run with both baseball fanatics and movie-lovers. Read More…
In honor of this famous collaboration between Hitchcock and the Bay Area, the Pacific Film Archive conducted a special screening of the psychological pulse-pounder with a rarely seen, IB tech print that would have been one of the originals seen in multiplexes across the nation when it first premiered. Read More…