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BALBOA THEATRE NEWSLETTER | |||||||||
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General Admission: $9.00, Senior (60+) or Child (11-): $6.50 WHAT’S IN THE NEWS: Showtimes, Dear Friends, Eat Pray Love, Army of Crime, The Disappearance of Alice Creed, Remembering Playland at the Beach, Left in the Dark: Portraits of San Francisco Movie Theatres Now On Sale, Film Night in the Park: Rear Window, Photos in the Lobby: Remembering Playland, Theater Information. | |||||||||
SHOWTIMES - through Thursday, August 26, 2010 |
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THEATRE #1 |
THEATRE #2 |
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EAT PRAY LOVE (PG-13) |
PEEPLI LIVE (NR) - Final Days! (separate admission) |
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SHOWTIMES - Friday, August 27 - through Tuesday, August 31, 2010 |
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THEATRE #1 |
THEATRE #2 |
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EAT PRAY LOVE (PG-13) - FINAL WEEK |
DOUBLE FEATURE - ONE WEEK ONLY (separate admission) |
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COMING SOONOpens Wednesday, September 1: Opens Friday, September 17: |
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UPCOMING EVENTSSaturday, September 11 @ Noon: |
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A NEW DOUBLE FEATURE
It is sometimes hard to imagine what happens when a movie opens to rave reviews across the board but doesn’t find the audience it deserves. It is especially hard for foreign and independent films to find enough media attention during the blockbuster summer months.
In the past few weeks, two such films have opened to great critical response. But they have gotten lost. Hoping to help audiences discover this terrific pair of thrillers the Balboa is bringing them to you on a double feature... two movies for one low price. Come see one or both: ARMY OF CRIME and THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED. You can’t lose. Read about them below.
We don’t know which program will end on Tuesday for our next opening, THE AMERICAN starring George Clooney and directed by Anton Corbjin (Control).
Check our website Monday afternoon to find out.
MORE ON THE CLAY THEATRE
Last week I reported about the closing of the Clay Theatre, the rare cinema to celebrate 100 years of continuous operation. It is unclear if the San Francisco Film Society can make a deal as the landlord seems to have his own ideas for the place. But after hearing the Film Society's plans for making the Clay San Francisco’s only true film center, I believe they can make a true success with their concept of exciting film programming year round. It is a concept that an individual operator like us couldn’t make happen but with generous supporters and sponsors, the non-profit that presents the SF International Film Festival has a real shot to make it work, benefiting their organization and more importantly, the public.
I was asked to join the KQED FM Forum show on the subject. Here are my co-guests. You can click through to the Save the Clay page where you can learn how to take action and also listen to the radio show.
Speaking of local neighborhood theatres, the new collection of essays, LEFT IN THE DARK is available in pre-publication now. The official book launch is Oct. 10 with a series of events, including one at the Balboa. See below for more.
Also don’t miss Ernie Gehr's COTTON CANDY as part of Infinite City: Cinema City – A Few Dream Palaces of San Francisco. Advance Tickets are now on sale.
Sincerely,
Gary
#1 ON BAYLIST
Thanks for your many kind words about the Balboa winning #1 Indie Theater on BayList.
We love all the comments on the list too.
AND SAN FRANCISCO MAGAZINE
The readers of San Francisco Magazine also love us. We came in number 2 and can’t complain about the company.
ARMY OF CRIME is a revealing thriller about the very first days of the French Resistance to Nazi occupation, a time when many of the movement’s leaders and foot soldiers were often foreigners — Poles, Jews, Armenians, Spaniards, Italians — who feared French collaborators as much as the Germans. Armenian poet Missak Manouchian, portrayed in a stand-out performance by Simon Abkarian, and his French wife Mélinée, played by the luminous Virginie Ledoyen, lead a resolute assortment of volunteers against German occupiers and their French allies. Varying in their actual homelands, and in their personal and tragic reasons for joining the struggle, they are united by the understanding that the danger and ferocity of Nazi oppression will only increase unless squarely confronted. Their valiant plot to assassinate a general ultimately shows that resistance is indeed possible, but their activity attracts the attention of the German high command, which extracts from their act of defiance an unforgettable lesson for the French people.
"Impressive recreation of World War II French Resistance movement, marked by a deep humanity and piercing intelligence." "A passionate act of remembrance." "Virginie Ledoyen stars as Missak's impossibly lovely, stalwart wife, and a troupe of supporting players give life to the men and women who died not for the miserable France of that moment, but for the vision of what it could be." "The film is always fascinating and is a crucial, stirring addition to the cinema about wartime France." |
On a suburban street, two masked men seize a young woman. They bind and gag her and take her to an abandoned, soundproofed apartment. She is Alice Creed, daughter of a millionaire. Her kidnappers, the coldly efficient Vic and his younger accomplice Danny, have worked out a meticulous plan. But Alice is not going to play the perfect victim – she’s not giving in without a fight. In a tense power-play of greed, duplicity and survival we discover that sometimes disappearances can be deceptive.
"This taut crime drama is thrillingly old-fashioned in the best sense." "Alice Creed sucks you in immediately with a beautifully edited opening sequence." "A pulsating revelation on many levels at once." "Crisp handling, some clever twists and a welcome streak of dry humor hold attention throughout this indie Brit thriller." |
A woman who once made it her goal in life to marry and rear a family finds her priorities suddenly shifting in Ryan Murphy (GLEE) and Jennifer Salt's adaptation of author Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir. In the eyes of many, Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) was a woman who had it all -- a loving husband, a great career, and a weekend home -- but sometimes one realizes too little too late that they haven't gotten what they truly wanted from life. On the heels of a painful divorce, the woman who had previously looked forward to a contented life of domestic bliss sets out to seek her true destiny by traveling first to Italy, where she learns to appreciate nourishment; then to India, where she discovers the power of prayer; and finally to Bali, where she unexpectedly finds the meaning of true love. "If there is one constant in Eat Pray Love, the beautifully rendered adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir on a year of heartbreak and healing starring Julia Roberts — it is this: There will be tears." "The film offers an easygoing and generous blend of wish fulfillment, vicarious luxury, wry humor and spiritual uplift, with a star, Julia Roberts, who elicits both envy and empathy." "Elizabeth Gilbert's phenomenally popular memoir was funny, insightful, and well-written. Amazingly, so is the film." "It provides a gorgeous escape, exquisitely photographed and full of female wish fulfillment. Yet it also offers sufficient emotional heft and self-discovery to make you feel as if you've actually learned something." "Watching the relationship between Liz and Felipe evolve from a comforting friendship to a love that's both companionable and sexy is gratifying." "A sensuous and emotionally cathartic adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's spiritual journey to personal transformation and love." "Director Ryan Murphy, who has his own pop culture phenomenon in television's GLEE, and ace cinematographer Robert Richardson bring visual energy to the already gorgeous sights, not all of them epic landscapes. It seems a dollop of parmesan cheese looks even better when it falls on pasta like a mini snowstorm. (If you don't come to Eat Pray Love hungry you'll definitely leave hungry.)" Watch interview with star Javier Bardem. Read interview with star Julia Roberts. |
This 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 Wyrsch.
"Wyrsch’s film lovingly re-creates some of the spectacle of this 365-day-a-year carnival with old pictures and film footage plus lots of interviews, many of them with members of a group dedicated to maintaining a museum of Playland relics." "The film is a giddy nostalgia trip for those who remember the place and a pop history lesson for others." "The Playland documentary was better than one could have hoped for. Thank you to all that helped make those memories live forever." "Allows everyone to experience Playland for themselves, if only vicariously. 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 that were there." "Wyrsch has turned Playland at the Beach into a twilight zone all its own by unearthing historic film footage and photos that vividly re-create the unique look and feel of the seaside attraction." "Conjures the joys of summers past through a season’s pass worth of archival footage and photographs, abetted by a slew of choice interviews." "For those of us who loved Playland, this superb film brings to life again an unforgettable part of our lives. If you never experienced Playland, this wonder-filled look at a vanished part of San Francisco will give you a taste of what was and what must never be forgotten."
Take a look at the first sneak preview’s crowd. Read an interview with George K. Whitney about his family’s operation of Playland. Other articles and home movies on the Western Neighborhoods Site. Playland-Not-At-The-Beach is a wonderful museum of fun dedicated to the real thing. WE URGE YOU TO VISIT IT IN PERSON. It is the perfect site for a party unlike any you’ve ever attended. |
Left in the Dark: Portraits of San Francisco Movie Theatres celebrates twentieth-century movie theatres and moviegoing through lush full-color fine art photographs and personal essays with both scholarly and literary appeal. R.A. McBride’s vivid portraits of the Castro, New Mission, Balboa and many other theaters illuminate the role of the movie house as a great social nexus. McBride gained rare access to the interiors of closed theatres, picturing them empty and allowing the grandeur of the architecture to take center stage. Casting the theatres as characters within the city's cultural landscape, scholars and film exhibitors such as Rebecca Solnit, Eddie Muller, Chi-hui Yang, and Gary Meyer, among others, uncover a spectacular variety of forgotten or never-before revealed histories. As society retreats from public life into the anonymity of multiplexes and personal entertainment technologies, our moviegoing heritage becomes ever more significant and inspiring. San Francisco is fortunate to be one of the world’s most vital moviegoing cities and to have so many of its historic movie theatres. By drawing a continuum from past to present, Left in the Dark offers hope that even as these gorgeous historic theatres crumble, the spirit of Cinema thrives. Praise for Left in the Dark: "McBride’s well-crafted photographs provide a valuable record of a disappearing institution as well as an insightful look behind the scenes at the mechanisms and structures that create the visual experience we call cinema." The book is available to order now through www.leftinthedark.info. |
This Saturday, August 28, will be REAR WINDOW in Union Square (bounded by Powell, Post, Stockton and Geary Streets). A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder. All shows begin at 8 PM or Dusk. San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation |
All materials from the collection of Tom Wyrsch and Joe Mirante. |
3630 Balboa Street (between 37th and 38th Avenues)
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. That’s right. You get in free with proof of your birth date.
And at all other times you can get the "I’d Rather Be At the Balboa" Discount Card. What a deal! 5 tickets to the Balboa for $32.50. That is only $6.50 per show. Good every day and night. And two people can use the card at once. You can go on a date even when you are low on cash with your Balboa Card. A savings of up to $12.50! Makes a perfect gift as well. And every Discount Card comes with a FREE POPCORN!
The Balboa is Wheelchair and Handicapped Accessible.
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 RESTAURANT LIST.
Not Rated. Contains violence, including torture and vivid scenes of assassinations. 2 hours, 19 minutes.
Rated R for violent content, pervasive language and some sexuality/nudity. 1 hour, 40 minutes.
Rated PG-13 on appeal for brief strong language, some sexual references and male rear nudity. 2 hours 13 minutes.
60 minutes, plus an additional 25 minutes of brand new footage preceding the film!
"I laughed at the varied reactions each patron had to the different rides. Wyrsch treats each major attraction with fragile respect, as if their memories might break if we rushed through. As someone who wasn’t even alive when it was open, I found myself nostalgic for something I’d never know…I suspected most of the audience did know. As they featured each ride, collective gasps and chuckles of familiarity took over the theater."
Photographs by R.A. McBride
The Balboa is proud to be a sponsor of the San Francisco Neighborhood Theatre Foundation’s terrific outdoor movies series. The admission is free and everyone has lots of fun.
A large lobby display of Playland at the Beach photographs, posters, articles, and other memorabilia will be on exhibit during the engagement. Also on display will be original Playland items, Playland tickets, signs, and a few surprises. The perfect addition for seeing the movie and going back to Playland again!