WHAT: Moonrise Kingdom was my favorite new release of 2012. It was the first of Anderson's films since Rushmore that I fell in love with upon a single viewing, although I rewatched it twice in theatres and liked it better and better each time. I think it's because, like Rushmore or Anderson's formative influence the Bill Melendez-made Peanuts specials, the film is almost entirely about children. Adult actors like Bruce Willis, Edward Norton Jr., and Tilda Swinton are on hand to provide some star wattage but they subvert their own personae, and are peripheral to the story. At times they might as well be speaking in the indistinct monotones of Melendez's faceless adult characters, for all the importance their words have to the children in the story.
The Cinetrix wrote a lovely illustrated piece on the film when it came out, but that I only recently came across. I highly recommend clicking on the link.
WHERE/WHEN: Screens at 8:00 tonight on a temporary outdoor screen constructed in Washington Square Park in San Francisco's North Beach.
WHY: Look outside. Maybe you're outside already and looking at this on a portable device. If not, you probably should be. It's a gorgeous day. Last night was a gorgeous evening, and tonight's likely to be just as ideal for an outdoor event. Frisco Bay residents know that September is really our Summer, and it seems almost wasteful to spend to many of the warmest nights this month indoors watching movies. So why not stay outdoors and watch one? The San Francisco Neighborhood Theatre Foundation has for many years now put on outdoor screenings in San Francisco parks. Sometimes the weather doesn't co-operate for the June screenings, but September is pretty golden, and should be especially so tonight.
More outdoor screenings are planned in other Frisco Bay cities, including Berkeley, where the Pacific Film Archive is using the future site of its planned relocated space to show a couple locally-filmed 1970s classics in a few weeks, as well as Redwood City, Oakland, and San Rafael.
Meanwhile, the SFNTF's other major enterprises, the Balboa and the Vogue, are newsworthy this week. The Balboa just successfully achieved its kickstarter goal to raise funds to install state-of-the-art digital projection equipment. I hope the venue is able to retain at least one of its 35mm projectors, and from what I've heard the staff there is hoping to do so too. As for the Vogue, it's going to play host to the San Francisco Film Society's Hong Kong Cinema series on the first weekend in October. I'll discuss that line-up in a near-future post.
HOW: Digital projection.
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