DEAR FRIENDS,

The Balboa Birthday Bash was a smashing success with a great turnout of enthusiastic partygoers. Three classic cars were parked out front to set the mood.

Stunning vintage clothing added to the atmosphere of a night at the movies, circa 1926.

As the audience entered the theater glass lantern slides from the silent era played on the screen and pianist Dave Miotke set the musical tone. A selection of rare short films had people laughing wildly and then Linda Kosut got us into a musical mood, singing classics of the era and encouraging the audience to join in. (Linda will be offering the first of a series of concerts on March 22 at the Rrazz Room; details here). After some filmed vaudeville acts from around the world, James Hamilton appeared on stage and astonished one and all with evening appropriate magic about the phantom of the Balboa and other spirit effects.

Lots of great prizes were awarded to those who could answer 1926 movie trivia.

Following the intermission, Linda led the audience in singing “Happy Birthday Balboa” and then we got right into THE CAT AND THE CANARY. It is a wildly entertaining movie with chills and laughs, brought even more to life by the creative piano playing of Dave Miotke who won a much deserved standing ovation.

After the films the audience enjoyed birthday cake created by Diane Boate who made a haunted house with a scared cat inside as the foundation of the yummy treat.

Everybody got a collectible book about movie posters as our present to our loyal fans.

Plan to be with us next year on Feb. 27, 2011.

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ONLY AT THE BALBOA- Win Great Prizes

Once again we are pleased to bring our audiences the chance to win prizes only available at the Balboa Theatre.

A very special prize will be given away at the end of our engagements of THE LAST STATION and CRAZY HEART . On Academy Awards weekend the cast and director of each film will sign a poster to be given away to a lucky Balboa patron. For your chance to win just fill out an entry form in the Balboa lobby. A random drawing will occur in mid March.

We’ll also be giving away passes to enjoy classic movies at Oakland Paramount movie palace. Check out their schedule below.

For the Oscar® Party we have lots of prizes for everyone. See Oscar® article.

Sincerely,
Gary

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This Sunday, March 7: ACADEMY AWARDS PARTY

Our first Golden Globes® was great fun and the big one is coming. We will be having our annual Oscar® celebration with the popular Reed Kirk Rahlmann returning as your Master of Ceremonies. And through the miracle of DVR, you won't miss any of the Academy Awards while we have a little fun during the commercials.

Oscars® Behind the Scenes

Oscar® writing team and producers. Watch
Search the Academy Awards Database

Come dressed as your favorite nominated film (bad puns and outrageous spoofs encouraged) or performer. We'll have a costume contest and lots of surprises.

Get ready for Oscar trivia and you might win both classic and current nominated films on DVD courtesy of Kino International, Universal, Sony and Fox Searchlight! There will be passes to the closing night of the Silent Film Festival and the showing of Buster Keaton’s THE GENERAL at the Paramount in Oakland on March 21. Plus scripts, posters and lots of movie schwag.

As a bonus from the Balboa to our valued guests every person attending our Oscar Party will receive a fantastic movie poster book worth at least $20 courtesy of eMoviePoster.com.

Lots of Other Prizes!

Advance tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/99979

A message from our Oscar® host:

Dear Friends of the Balboa Theater,

Once again, it’s time for the Balboa Theater Oscar® Bash on Sunday March 7th, the most entertaining Oscar® party in San Francisco.

Why sit at home when you can watch it in the best neighborhood theater in San Francisco? It's better than hosting a party yourself--no having to supply snacks, no one poking through your medicine cabinet, no friends breaking your furniture during fistfights over Best Short Subject nominations. This is my experience of home Oscar® parties—yours may vary.

During the commercials, I give away lots of movie related swag, test knowledge of Oscars®, let people show off by reciting favorite lines, and encourage the audience to express opinions about nominations and winners. Opinions such as why James Cameron is getting a best director nomination when all he did was screw around with computers for 4 years?

Why is Sandra Bullock getting nominated along side the likes of Meryl Streep and Gabourey Sidibe? I'm betting it's because she had an accent and furrowed her perky brow a lot.

So bring your opinions and all those people who would be cluttering up your sofa and ruining your coffee table when forgetting to put a coaster under their drinks. And if you bring alcohol, bring enough to share with someone sitting next to you. Or me.

Your Host,
Reed Kirk Rahlmann

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About This Week's Movies

CRAZY HEART (R)

Nominated for 3 Academy Awards!

• Jeff Bridges – Actor in a Leading Role
• Maggie Gyllenhaal – Actress in a Supporting Role
• Music (Original Song)

Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhall, Robert Duvall

Official site         View Trailer

Four-time Academy Award® nominee Jeff Bridges stars as the richly comic, semi-tragic romantic anti-hero Bad Blake in the debut feature film "Crazy Heart" from writer-director Scott Cooper. Bad Blake is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who's had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can't help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean (Golden Globe® nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal), a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician. As he struggles down the road of redemption, Bad learns the hard way just how tough life can be on one man's crazy heart.

Rated R for language and brief sexuality. – 112 minutes.

"This show belongs to Bridges, who starts off as a magnificent train wreck and then takes a journey with the character."
- Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

"Some actors are blessed. Jeff Bridges is one of them."
- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"It's a mark of how fine a performance Bridges gives that it succeeds beautifully even though the besotted, bedeviled country singer has been an overly familiar popular culture staple for forever."
- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

"Gyllenhaal and Bridges are marvelous together, playing their characters' cautious affection for each other as an alluring winding path that's actually laden with minefields."
- Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

"Crazy Heart, written and directed by Scott Cooper, is a small movie perfectly scaled to the big performance at its center."
- A.O. Scott, New York Times

Read interview with Jeff Bridges

Watch interview with Jeff Bridges

Watch interview with director Scott Cooper

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AN EDUCATION

NOMINATED FOR THREE ACADEMY AWARDS!

• Carey Mulligan – Actress in a Leading Role
• Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
• Best Picture

Official Website        View Trailer

Author Nick Hornby turns from novels to screenplays with this talent-driven drama. Carey Mulligan (BLEAK HOUSE) stars as Jenny, a young woman full of promise and intent to study at Oxford. But meeting an older man (Peter Sarsgaard) leads Jenny to believe that she can learn things outside the classroom, casting doubt on her future plans. Directed by ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS’ Lone Scherfig, AN EDUCATION also stars Alfred Molina, Rosamunde Pike, Dominic Cooper, Olivia Williams, and Emma Thompson.

PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexual content, and for smoking. – 95 minutes.

"Hornby's humane and humorous screenplay is true to the film's title: In short order, young Jenny finds out important truths about identity, glamour and how adults really think and live."
- Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

"No movie I've seen in a very long time has touched me so deeply, or bestowed so much pleasure."
- Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

"[Mulligan] makes the role luminous when it could have been sad or awkward. She has such lightness and grace, you're pretty sure this is the birth of a star."
- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"Playing a character who is herself a rare bloom in a field of mediocrity, Mulligan has a star quality they can't teach in acting school."
- Scott Foundas, Village Voice

Carey Mulligan Interview, Daily Telegraph

Nick Hornby Interview, Daily Telegraph

Interview: An Education's Lone Scherfig and Nick Hornby

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THE LAST STATION

NOMINATED FOR TWO ACADEMY AWARDS!

• Helen Mirren – Actress in a Leading Role
• Christopher Plummer – Actor in a Supporting Role

Official Website        View Trailer

THE LAST STATION focuses on two contrasting love stories along with the problems faced in and around the relationships. One is the extraordinary relationship between Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer), the famous Russian novelist, and his wife of 48 years, the Countess Sofya (Helen Mirren); and the other is the burgeoning love between Valentin (James McAvoy), Tolstoy's idealistic young private secretary, and Masha (Kerry Condon), a teacher equally committed to the writer's values.

Sofya is engaged in a ferocious battle for her husband's soul against Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), Tolstoy's trusted disciple, and Tolstoy's daughter Sasha (Anne-Marie Duff). Using every bit of cunning and every trick of seduction, Sofya fights for what she believes is hers; while Chertkov is able to persuade Tolstoy of the damage she will do to his glorious legacy.

THE LAST STATION was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and 5 Spirit Awards and is expected to be nominated by the Academy Awards.

Rated R for a scene of sexuality/nudity. 112 Minutes.

"The complicated marriage between Leo Tolstoy and his wife Sofya has been turned into a showcase for tasty acting by Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren."
- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

"In this movie director Michael Hoffman achieves a new expressiveness, fluidity, and power... it’s vibrantly alive....It’s the most emotionally naked work of Mirren’s movie career; she gives poetic form to the madness and the violence of commonplace jealousy."
- David Denby, The New Yorker

"The film would not be so successful without the strong chemistry between Mirren and Plummer that makes apparent the intensity of the connection in the Tolstoy marriage. They make a masterful acting combination. Both are award-caliber."
- Ed Scheid, Boxoffice Magazine

Watch interviews on YouTube: Helen Mirren and James McAvoy

Read interview with Helen Mirren here.

About the Director:
Michael Hoffman grew up in Idaho and studied at Boise State University. Awarded a scholarship by the renowned Rhodes Foundation, Michael went to study at Oxford University in 1979, where he discovered a young Hugh Grant and shot his debut film, Privileged. After graduating from Oxford University, Michael along with Rick Stevenson and others founded Oxford Film Company. Other films Michael has directed include: Promised Land, Soapdish, Restoration, One Fine Day, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Game 6, and Out of The Blue: A Film About Life and Football.

About author Jay Parini:
Jay Parini, a poet and novelist, teaches at Middlebury College in Vermont. His novels include The Apprentice Lover, Benjamin's Crossing, and The Last Station (soon to be a motion picture). His fifth volume of poetry was The Art of Subtraction: New and Selected Poems (2005). He has written biographies of John Steinbeck, Robert Frost, and William Faulkner, in addition to The Art of Teaching (2005) and Why Poetry Matters (2008). His reviews and essays appear frequently in major periodicals, including The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Guardian.

Interviews with Jay Parini author of The Last Station here and here.

"One of those rare works of fiction that manages to demonstrate both scrupulous historical research and true originality of voice and perception.... What lifts this book high above most historical novels is Jay Parini's remarkable ability to enter the minds of his characters."
- Miranda Seymour, New York Times Book Review

Read more about Tolstoy’s books on The London Guardian Books Blog.

More in the Guardian on Jay Parini:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jayparini

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/31/tolstoy-the-last-station-film-mccrum

Purchase the book:

http://www.randomhouse.com/acmart/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307386151

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Station-Movie-Tie-Tolstoys/dp/product-description/0307739643

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Coming Tuesday, March 16 @ 7:00pm (SOLD OUT!) and 9:15pm: REMEMBERING PLAYLAND AT THE BEACH

The Balboa Theatre in San Francisco is proud to host the World Premiere of Tom Wyrsch’s newest film, REMEMBERING PLAYLAND AT THE BEACH. The screening will be a dozen blocks from the site of the beloved amusement park. The film screens on Tuesday, March 16 @ 7:00pm and 9:15pm.

The full length documentary tells the history of San Francisco's famous 10-acre seaside amusement park, Playland at the Beach. Located next to Ocean Beach, it was torn down in 1972 to make way for a condominium development. Gone now for more than 3 decades, it remains one of the city's lost treasures. Go back in time to see Laffing Sal, the Fun House, the Carousel, the Big Dipper, the Diving Bell, Dark Mystery, Limbo, Fun-tier Town, and much, much more, all through the eyes of the people who were there. The first and only documentary ever made about Playland, it features 12 interviews, 20 minutes of archival footage, 187 photographs and original music. The film was written and directed by Tom (‘Creature Features”) Wyrsch who will answer questions after each screening.

To get the show off to a fun start, Dan X. Solo will discuss carnival game scams and present a mentalism act before the screening.

Advance tickets: here.

Read an interview with George K. Whitney about his family’s operation of Playland.

Other articles and home movies on the Western Neighborhoods Site:
http://www.outsidelands.org/playland.php

Other articles and home movies on the Western Neighborhoods Site:
www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org

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Coming Thursday, March 25 @ 7:00pm: CREATURE FEATURES PRESENTS: HORROR EXPRESS

RELIVE THE EXPERIENCE OF WATCHING A "CREATURE FEATURES" SHOW FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF TV!

WITH HOST JOHN STANLEY, WHO PRODUCED THE SHOW AT CHANNEL 2, KTVU IN OAKLAND, FOR SIX YEARS

JOHN STANLEY INTRODUCED ON STAGE BY DENNIS WILLIS, KGO-RADIO

FILM REVIEWER AND AUTHOR OF THE NEW MOVIE BOOK "FLICK NATION"

HORROR EXPRESS (Spanish-British 1972) Starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Telly Savalas . . . A train speeding through the trans-Siberian wilderness is terrorized by a supernatural entity with blazing red eyeballs (someone from the IRS?) who mesmerizes his victims and turns them into corpses with bleeding eyeball sockets . . . It's enough to bring tears to your eyes.

Savor John Stanley’s classic four-part interview with actor/voice impressionist FRANK GORSHIN . . . Frank discusses his career and imitates several famous actors. See dramatic footage from TV's BATMAN, STAR TREK and "BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL."

See Bob Wilkins interview John Stanley on Market Street in downtown San Francisco . . . a rare treat not shown since it was first aired in 1977

For the first time in 30 years, John Stanley’s minimovie classic THE DEMON STRIKES BACK, a roller-coaster ride into a fantasy dimension from which you may or may not return.

Plus KTVU Station Promotions and Original Television Commercials . . . the kind they don’t make anymore.

More at Stanley Books

View Trailer

Advance tickets on sale soon.

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AT THE VOGUE

THE HURT LOCKER (R, 2 h 11 min) Screens daily starting Friday at 3:30 and 8:20.

9 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS INCLUDING BEST PICTURE!

BAFTA AWARDS WINNER: BEST PICTURE!

“Here's the Iraq War movie for those who don't like Iraq War movies.” Peter Traveres, ROLLING STONE

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A SINGLE MAN (R, 1 h 39 min) Screens daily starting Friday at 1:20 and 6:15.

“We're always looking for those performances that truly define an actor, where we can sit back and simply watch the talent soar. For Colin Firth, A Single Man is that film.” Betsy Sharkey, LOS ANGELES TIMES

DETAILS AT http://www.peerlessentertainment.com/VT%20Web%20Home.htm

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Coming Thursday, April 1: A GUMBY TRIBUTE AT THE BALBOA

Featuring Tim Hittle’s Emmy award winning feature Gumby Dharma, plus shorts, and some of the artists in-person talking about working with Art Clokey (Gumby’s creator) who died in January. Gumby Dharma explores why a man would spend his 85 years on earth playing with lumps of colored clay. His world famous characters, Gumby and Pokey, and Davy and Goliath, echo the spiritual path of their creator. Art's journey takes us from the orphanage to inspiring adopted father, from the Seminary to the Hollywood movie business, and from traditional Episcopalian church values to Buddhism and Indian guru Sai Baba. It is a fascinating life and career in it's own right but also in how it gently influenced his characters and story lines for over 40 years. Clokey’s work is one of the few animation characters that have survived the test of time to become a true American Icon. Interviews with contemporary leaders in animation, including Director Henry Selick (Coraline, Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach) and special effects legend Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts, Adventures of Sinbad), place Clokey’s work in perspective with the history of animation and explore stop motion’s future in a computer graphics world. And don’t forget April 1 in the annual St. Stupid’s Day Parade at noon.

Details at www.gumbydharma.com.

Tickets on sale soon.

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FREE POPCORN WITH YOUR "I’D RATHER BE AT THE BALBOA" DISCOUNT CARD!

Now, as an added treat for our most regular movie-goers, each discount card gets you one free complimentary size popcorn per card. You choose the visit that you would like to redeem it--just bring your card to the concession stand to receive your free popcorn on us. Thank you.

More Info

BUSTER KEATON’S COMIC MASTERPIECE AT THE PARAMOUNT
SAVE 20% FOR THE SUNDAY MATINEE

This month, the Oakland East Bay Symphony will present a unique event at the beautiful art deco Paramount Theatre in Oakland: a screening of Buster Keaton’s silent film classic The General, with live organ accompaniment on the Paramount’s “Mighty Wurlitzer” pipe organ. Acclaimed concert organist Christoph Bull’s original score to The General blends seamlessly with the train chases and breath-taking stunt work on-screen, adding color and excitement to Keaton’s comic masterpiece. Bull will also join the orchestra and Maestro Michael Morgan for the Organ Symphony by Saint-Saëns.

“The General is an imaginative masterpiece…One of the greatest of all silent comedies (and Keaton's own favorite).” – Filmsite

Friday, March 19, 8pm and Sunday, March 21, 2pm
Paramount Theatre, Oakland

Tickets start at just $20. Save 20% on Sunday matinee when ordering online with promo code BUSTER.

Click here for tickets

Image from The General courtesy Douris UK Ltd.

Paramount Schedule

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NEW ART IN THE LOBBY

Jim Rosenau was raised in a house with 5,000 books. He has been making and selling thematic bookshelves from vintage books since 2002. The idea occurred to him years earlier after reading an essay, “Books As Furniture,” by Nicholson Baker.

Given his background as the son and grandson of publishers, he assumed the reaction, should he make such a thing, would be furious. The work, once underway, proved him wrong.

His book furniture has since earned him a wide following with work sold in almost 50 states and countries. Primarily shown at closely juried shows, he is also represented by dealers from Vermont to Los Angeles. The work has been widely published in print and on the Internet.

Previously, he has been a carpenter, comedy writer, editor, software developer, planning commissioner and designed and built parade floats. His writing has been published in Fine Homebuilding, The New Yorker, ReadyMade, Salon.com and heard on public radio. He lives and works in Berkeley, California.

His functional art furnishings are made from vintage hard back books veneered over frames of salvaged lumber. The shelves are fully functional furniture and can support typical loads. He accepts commissions when time and material permit.

For more information visit Rosenau's site.

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KIM SON VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT DISCOUNT

With Balboa ticket stub 10% off food at Kim Son. Our staff and customers think this Vietnamese restaurant in one of the best places to eat in the neighborhood. Want to eat there before the show? Buy your ticket at the box office first and then show it at dinner. Make sure you keep it to get into the theater. This is an ongoing discount so you can also use it on your next visit to the neighborhood. Kim Son is just a few doors away from the Balboa at 3614 Balboa St.

Read what others say.

BALBOA THEATRE INFO

3630 Balboa Street (37th Ave)
San Francisco 94121
(415) 221-8184
www.BalboaMovies.com

Bike Rack in front of the Balboa
Muni Bus #31 Balboa or #18 46th Ave stop at Balboa &37th., Also #5 Fulton and all 38 Geary Street buses stop two (long) blocks from Balboa.
Relatively easy Parking

San Francisco's Favorite Neighborhood Theatre
Voted by the Bay Guardian, SF Weekly, SF Gate's A List and San Francisco Magazine

General Admission: $9.00
Seniors (60+) and Children (11-) $6.50
Bargain Matinees: All Seats $6.50 for shows in ( )

SCHOOL NIGHT - Mondays are School Days and Nights. With proof of being a student, faculty or staff member, your admission is only $6.50 on Mondays.

On Your Birthday, You Are Our Guest.

The Balboa is Wheelchair and Handicapped Accessible.

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YOUR FAVORITE SNACK BAR

Great Snack Bar selection at reasonable prices. Your favorite candies including Dove, Toberlerone, and Ghirardelli chocolates.

We serve Caffe Trieste Coffees, fine Tazo teas, chai, hot chocolate, hot dogs, Aidells' poultry Sausages, Veggie Dogs, Dreyer's Dibs, and Delicious Cookies.

And of course fresh popcorn made with sunflower oil and real butter.

No More Naked Popcorn.

Have you tried our complimentary popcorn seasonings?

We have a wide assortment from Kernel Seasonings.

Try White Cheddar, Caramel, Parmesan, Garlic and more...

We also have Nutritional Yeast that has proven to be one of our most popular toppings. And now hot sauce!

NEIGHBORHOOD RESTAURANTS

One of the strengths of the Balboa is our neighborhood. Other than the bank, all the businesses are family owned and operated. The restaurants are especially wonderful. On the outer Balboa strip there are 24 eating establishments by my count. You can eat Chinese, Japanese, Egyptian, Italian, American, Mexican, Seafood and Vietnamese cuisines. The foods are fresh, distinctive and all reasonably priced. The media food critics have only discovered a few of them but the locals know a good thing. We encourage you to enjoy a meal at one of these fine eateries while visiting the Balboa. All are within easy walking distance. And please send us reviews and recommendations we can share with our other guests. Send reviews to balboafans (at) yahoo.com . (Change (at) to @. We are trying to avoid spam.)

We love it when you send us a review of a neighborhood restaurant you've enjoyed. We encourage you all to write about your culinary adventures in the Outer Richmond.

Check out the Menu Book in our lobby and our COMPLETE NEW RESTAURANT LIST.

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