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Check out the latest exclusive engagements and premieres, including the best in new indies, foreign films, documentaries and restored classics, by downloading a PDF of Landmark’s San Francisco Film Calendar, with all-new programming from May 10 through July 11! |
Now Playing at the Embarcadero Center Cinema
Director Richard Rowley In Person Friday, June 21 at 5:00 & 7:10pm!
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Part political thriller and part detective story, the documentary Dirty Wars follows investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill, author of the international bestseller Blackwater, on a gripping journey into the heart of America's covert wars, from Afghanistan to Yemen, Somalia and beyond. What begins as a report into a U.S. night raid gone terribly wrong in a remote corner of Afghanistan quickly turns into a global investigation of the secretive and powerful Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). As Scahill digs deeper into the activities of JSOC, he is pulled into a world of covert operations unknown to the public. In military jargon, JSOC teams "find, fix, and finish" their targets, who are selected through a secret process. No target is off limits for the "kill list," including U.S. citizens. Drawn into the stories and lives of the people he meets along the way, Scahill is forced to confront the painful consequences of a war spinning out of control, as well as his own role as a journalist. Dirty Wars takes viewers to remote corners of the globe to see first-hand wars fought in their name, leaving haunting questions about freedom and democracy, war and justice. Original score by the Kronos Quartet. Official Web Site
Co-writer and journalist Jeremy Scahill explores areas of intense conflict Michael O. Sullivan's Washington Post review... |
Now Playing at the Embarcadero Center Cinema
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In the next few decades, humankind will need to double, or even triple energy production as billions of people in the developing world lift themselves out of poverty and begin to live modern lives. Unless the source of this new energy is clean and non-CO2 emitting, the risk of triggering a devastating global climate catastrophe is all but certain. Plunging headfirst into this challenge comes filmmaker Robert Stone's controversial and provocative new film. Pandora's Promise dares to tackle the emerging divide within the environmental movement over the desirability of nuclear power as the solution for the world's energy crisis. Stone profiles thinkers, experts and authors—Stewart Brand, Richard Rhodes, Gwyneth Cravens, Mark Lynas and Michael Shellenberger—to explore how these individuals have come to see advanced nuclear power as humankind's greatest hope. By revealing their personal transformations, Stone re-examines and challenges commonly held assumptions about radiation, waste and weapons, taking viewers on a riveting and mind-altering journey. No matter how you feel about nuclear power, this film promises to change the conversation for years to come! Official Web Site Mick LaSalle's San Francisco Chronicle review... |
Now Playing at the Opera Plaza Cinema
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"The title of Philippe Béziat's lovely film about the staging of Verdi's masterwork at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in France could be said to have a double meaning. On the one hand, it refers to Met Opera favorite Natalie Dessay as she hones her articulations, gestures and movements, on her way to incarnating Violetta, Verdi's tragic courtesan. On the other, it captures the world that opera is: the way in which so many elements—musical, dramatic, vocal, choreographic, scenographic—come together to create a single aesthetic experience. Much more than backstage look at the contemporary staging of a classic, the film captures the highly detailed work of both director Jean-François Sivadier and musical director Louis Langrée, lingering over notes and lyrics, trying to get the expression of their meaning to be as precise as possible, and the efforts by the singers to integrate their own performances into the production's overall vision."—New York Film Festival Official Web Site Alan Scherstuhl's Village Voice review... |
Now Playing at the Embarcadero Center Cinema
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The suspenseful and provocative espionage thriller The East stars co-writer Brit Marling (Sound of My Voice, Another Earth) as former FBI agent Sarah Moss, who's starting a new career at an elite private intelligence firm that ruthlessly protects the interests of its A-list corporate clientele. Handpicked for a plum assignment by the company's head honcho, Sharon (Patricia Clarkson), Sarah goes deep undercover to infiltrate The East, an elusive anarchist collective seeking revenge against major corporations guilty of covering up criminal activity. Determined, highly-trained and resourceful, Sarah soon ingratiates herself with the group, overcoming their initial suspicions and joining them on their next action or "jam." But living closely with the intensely committed members of The East, Sarah finds herself torn between her two worlds as she starts to connect with anarchist Benji (Alexander Skarsgård) and the rest of the collective, and awakens to the moral contradictions of her personal life. Also starring Ellen Page and Julia Ormond. Directed and co-written by Zal Batmanglij (Sound of My Voice, Another Earth). Official Web Site
Filmmaker Zal Batmanglij on the power of the tribe Mick LaSalle's San Francisco Chronicle review... |
Now Playing at the Clay Theatre
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The enthralling drama Fill the Void tells the story of an Orthodox Hasidic family from Tel Aviv. Eighteen-year-old Shira (Hadas Yaron) is the youngest daughter of the family, about to be married off to a promising young man of the same age and background. It is a dream come true, and Shira feels prepared and excited. But on Purim, her 28-year-old sister, Esther (Renana Raz), dies while giving birth to her first child, and the pain and grief that overwhelm the family postpone Shira's promised match. When an offer is proposed to match the late Esther's husband, Yochay (Yiftach Klein) to a widow from Belgium, Yochay feels it's too early, although he realizes that sooner or later he must seriously consider getting married again. When the girls' mother finds out that Yochay may leave the country with her only grandchild, she proposes a match between Shira and the widower, and Shira will have to choose between her heart's wish and her family duty. Written and directed by Rama Burshtein (her feature film debut), Fill the Void is Israel's official 2012 submission for Best Foreign Language Film. Official Web Site Walter Addiego's San Francisco Chronicle review... |
Now Playing at the Embarcadero Center Cinema
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Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) first met in their twenties in Before Sunrise, reunited in their thirties in Before Sunset, and now, in director/co-writer Richard Linklater's Before Midnight, they face the past, present and future. Jesse's a successful novelist, and they're in Greece at a writer's retreat, staying in the bucolic country villa of an older expat writer, Patrick (Walter Lassally). As a treat, their Greek friends have gifted Jesse and Celine with a night at a luxurious seaside hotel while they babysit their young twin daughters Ella and Nina (Jennifer and Charlotte Prior). Feeling the undercurrent of friction between them, Celine wants to beg off, but their friends insist. They set off on foot through the spectacular countryside, enjoying each other's company, talking, teasing, debating, flirting. But for Jesse and Celine, realities intrude: the weight of children, work, ambitions, disappointments and the strains of an evolving, deepening relationship. Their idyllic night tests them in unexpected ways, and before the clock strikes midnight, their story again unfolds. Official Web Site Mick LaSalle's San Francisco Chronicle review... |
Now Playing at the Embarcadero Center Cinema
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Frances Ha, a modern comic fable from Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale), explores New York, friendship, class, ambition, failure and redemption. Frances (co-writer Greta Gerwig), the exuberant 27-year-old heroine, is always on the move without ever seeming to get anywhere. The truth is she knows exactly where she wants to go, she's just unwilling to make the kind of compromises that might get her there. A fount of optimism, Frances is singularly compelling because she never lets anything—including reality—slow her down. Frances lives in New York, but she doesn't really have an apartment. Frances is an apprentice for a dance company, but she's not really a dancer. Frances has a best friend named Sophie (Mickey Sumner), but they aren't really speaking anymore. Frances throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles. Frances wants so much more than she has, but lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness. Director/co-writer Baumbach shot this exhilarating comedy in black and white, using the music of Georges Delerue, composer for Truffaut's French New Wave classics. Official Web Site Mary Pols' Time Magazine review... |
Now Playing at the Opera Plaza Cinema
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In the tense and resonant drama Mud, two boys—Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and his friend Neckbone (Jacob Lofland)—find a fugitive named Mud (Matthew McConaughey) hiding out on an island in the Mississippi River. Mud describes fantastic scenarios—he killed a man in Texas and vengeful bounty hunters are coming to get him. He says he is planning to meet and escape with the love of his life, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon), who is waiting for him in town. Skeptical but intrigued, Ellis and Neckbone agree to help him. It isn't long until Mud's visions come true and their small town is besieged by a beautiful girl with a line of bounty hunters in tow. Also starring Sam Shepard and Michael Shannon, Mud is written and directed by Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter). Official Web Site Mick LaSalle's San Francisco Chronicle review... |
Now Playing at the Opera Plaza Cinema
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A contemporary reimagining of Henry James' novel, What Maisie Knew is a heartbreaking but redemptive story of family, self-sacrifice and the indelibility of one child's love. Maisie (Onata Aprile) navigates the turmoil of her parents' bitter custody battle with a six-year-old's innocence, charm and generosity of spirit. Aging rock star Susanna (Julianne Moore) and contemporary art dealer Beale (Steve Coogan) are too self-involved even to notice their neglect and inadequacy as parents; their fight for Maisie is just another battle in an epic war of personalities. As they raise the stakes by taking on inappropriate new partners, the ex-nanny Margo (Joanna Vanderham) and the much younger bartender Lincoln (Alexander Skarsgård), the shuffling of Maisie from household to household becomes more and more callous, the consequences more and more troubling. Always watchful, however, Maisie begins to understand that the path through this morass of adult childishness and selfish blindness will have to be of her own making. From the directors of The Deep End and Bee Season and producers of The Kids Are All Right. Official Web Site
Directors Scott McGehee & David Siegel on how a 6-year-old carries a film Mick LaSalle's San Francisco Chronicle review... |
Now Playing at the Opera Plaza Cinema
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The stunningly photographed, sweeping adventure film Kon-Tiki portrays the true voyage of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who crossed the Pacific ocean in a balsa wood raft in 1947. Together with five men, Heyerdahl (Pål Sverre Hagen) set sail to prove that South Americans already back in pre-Columbian times could have crossed the sea and settled on Polynesian islands. After gathering financing for the trip with loans and donations, he and his crew set off on an epic 101-day long journey across 8,000 kilometers, facing peril at every turn, all while the world watches. Kon-Tiki is directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (Max Manus: Man of War). In English. Official Web Site Walter Addiego's San Francisco Chronicle review... |
Now Playing at the Opera Plaza Cinema
Must End Thursday, June 20!
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A conspiracy thriller set around an act of betrayal within a tight knit family, Shadow Dancer stars Andrea Riseborough (Oblivion, W.E.) as Colette, a single mother and Republican living in Belfast with her mother and hardline IRA brothers. When she is arrested for her part in an aborted IRA bomb plot in London, an MI5 officer (Clive Owen) offers her a choice: lose everything and go to prison or return to Belfast to spy on her own family. With her son's life in her hands, Collette chooses to place her trust in the MI5 and return home. When her brothers' secret operation is ambushed, suspicions of an informant are raised and Collette finds both herself and her family in grave danger. With informants working on both sides, Collette's psychological and personal turmoil builds. Also starring Gillian Anderson and written by Tom Bradby (based on his novel), Shadow Dancer is directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker James Marsh (Man on Wire). Official Web Site Walter Addiego's San Francisco Chronicle review... |
Starts Friday, June 21
at the Embarcadero Center Cinema
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| The cargo ship MV Rozen is heading for harbor when it is hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Among the men on board are the ship's genial cook Mikkel (Pilou Asbæk) and the engineer Jan (Roland Møller), who along with the rest of the seamen are taken hostage in a cynical game of life and death. With the demand for a ransom of millions of dollars, a psychological battle unfolds between Peter (Søren Malling)—the steely CEO of the shipping company who, against advice, decides to negotiate personally—and the pirates. As negotiations drag on for weeks and months, conditions deteriorate on the ship and the crew fears they've been abandoned, while the desperate situation takes its toll also on Peter. Using actual locations and people who have been in similar situations, this intelligent, tightly crafted thriller ratchets up the tension without compromising its commitment to authenticity and a complex understanding of the humanity of the hostages, negotiators and pirates alike. Written and directed by Tobias Lindholm (co-writer of The Hunt, director/co-writer of R). Official Web Site |
Starts Friday, June 21 at the Opera Plaza Cinema
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Premiering to rave reviews at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, The Kings of Summer is a unique coming-of-age comedy about three teenage friends—Joe (Nick Robinson), Patrick (Gabriel Basso) and the eccentric and unpredictable Biaggio (Moises Arias)—who, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land. Free from their parents' rules, their idyllic summer quickly becomes a test of friendship as each boy learns to appreciate the fact that family—whether it is the one you're born into or the one you create—is something you can't run away from. The Kings of Summer, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts' feature film debut, also stars Alison Brie (TV's "Mad Men"), Mary Lynn Rajskub ("24"), Nick Offerman ("Parks and Recreation") and Megan Mullally (Smashed, "Will & Grace"). Official Web Site
Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts' film as a journey of honesty and humor |
Sat, June 22 at Midnight at the Clay Theatre!
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| Steven Spielberg's thriller is generally considered one of the scariest movies ever made. The tourist season of a New England resort island is devoured by a great white shark, causing panic in the water. An ensuing "fishing trip" to catch the monstrous man-eater is filmed with power and suspense and plenty of scares that has had audiences jumping out of their seats for decades. Based on the book by Peter Benchley. Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss star. |
Midnight Movies at the Clay Theatre!
Download PDF
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Sat, Jun 22: Jaws, "We're gonna need a bigger boat!" Fri, Jun 28: The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, with Laura Albert (aka JT Leroy) & others in person! Sat, Jun 29: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with live shadow cast The Bawdy Caste! Sat, Jul 6: Mr. Hush, hosted by Miss Misery! Sat, Jul 13: The Room, "You are tearing me apart, Lisa!" Jul 19 & 20: V/H/S/2, San Francisco theatrical premiere! Fri, Jul 26: Samurai Cop, you have the right to remain silent... dead silent! Sat, Jul 27: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with live shadow cast The Bawdy Caste! Sat, Aug 3: A Nightmare to Remember: Volume One, hosted by Miss Misery! Sat, Aug 10: The Room, can you ever really trust anyone? Aug 16 & 17: Willow, starring Val Kilmer and Warwick Davis. Aug 23 & 24: Fight Club, starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. |
One Show Only! Tuesday, June 25 at 7:00pm
at the Opera Plaza Cinema
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| The award-winning documentary Free China: The Courage to Believe tells the story of a mother and former Communist Party member, Jennifer Zeng, who along with more than 70 Million Chinese were practicing a belief that combined Buddhism and Daoism until the Chinese government outlawed it. The Internet police intercepted an email and Jennifer was imprisoned for her faith. As she endured physical and mental torture, she had to decide: does she stand her ground and languish in jail, or does she recant her belief so she can tell her story to the world and be reunited with her family? A world away, Dr. Charles Lee, a Chinese-American businessman, wanted to do his part to stop the persecution by attempting to broadcast uncensored information on state controlled television. He was arrested in China and sentenced to three years of re-education in a prison camp where he endured forced labor. With more than one hundred thousand protests occurring each year inside China, unrest among Chinese people is building with the breaking of each political scandal. As China's prisoners of conscience are subjected to forced labor and even organ harvesting, this timely documentary exposes profound issues such as genocide and unfair trade practices with the West. The film also highlights how new Internet technologies are helping bring freedom to more than 1.3 billion people living in China and other repressive regimes throughout the world. Official Web Site |
Starts Friday, June 28 at the Clay Theatre
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| Unfinished Song is a funny and inspiring comedic drama about curmudgeonly pensioner Arthur (Terence Stamp), who is reluctantly inspired by his beloved wife Marion (Vanessa Redgrave) to join a highly unconventional local seniors choir. At odds with his son James (Christopher Eccleston), it is left to the youthful and charming choir director Elizabeth (Gemma Arterton) to try and persuade Arthur that he can learn to embrace life. Arthur must confront the undercurrents of his own grumbling persona as he embarks on a hilarious, life-affirming journey of musical self-discovery. Directed by Paul Andrew Williams. Official Web Site |
Starts Friday, June 28 at the Opera Plaza Cinema
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| Byzantium is director Neil Jordan's (Interview with the Vampire, The Crying Game) sexy and stylish fantasy thriller about mother and daughter vampires dealing with the pitfalls of eternal life. Two mysterious women seek refuge in a run-down coastal resort. Clara (Gemma Arterton) meets lonely Noel (Daniel Mays), who provides shelter in his deserted guesthouse, Byzantium. Schoolgirl Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan, Hanna, Atonement) befriends Frank (Caleb Landry Jones) and tells him their lethal secret: They were born 200 years ago and survive on human blood. As knowledge of their secret spreads, their past catches up on them with deathly consequence. Also starring Sam Riley and Jonny Lee Miller. Official Web Site |
Starts Friday, June 28 at the Opera Plaza Cinema
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| The disco era, long dismissed as a time of hedonistic excess, has been gravely misunderstood. Revisionist historians now argue the era was in fact an important time of protest: liberating gays, blacks and women. The documentary The Secret Disco Revolution juxtaposes disco revisionists against revealing new interviews with the era's biggest stars: Village People, Gloria Gaynor, Kool and the Gang—a goldmine of rarely seen stock footage, and enough disco hits to shake your booty straight back to 1978. But the film's form is as revolutionary as its content: The Secret Disco Revolution is a quietly hilarious doc-satire that also features a Nabokovian narrator and "reenactments" that are speculative to the point of complete fantasy; and a unique tone of sustained irony that both presents a fresh look at a well-known era, and compels audiences to question it, without ever allowing them off the dancefloor. Interview subjects also include Harry Wayne "K.C." Casey (KC and the Sunshine Band) and Anita Pointer (Pointer Sisters). Official Web Site |
Fri, Jun 28 at Midnight at the Clay Theatre!
Author Laura Albert (aka JT LeRoy) & Producer Chris Hanley In Person, with Director/Star Asia Argento (via Skype)!
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| Jeremiah (Dylan and Cole Sprouse) is an 11-year-old boy trying to cope as he is bounced between foster homes, his fundamentalist Christian grandparents and a vagabond existence on the road with his mother Sarah (writer/director Asia Argento), a truck stop prostitute with a growing drug habit. Forced to deal with a succession of surrogate deadbeat dads and a world of junkies and criminals, Jeremiah struggles to survive and grow. Adapted from the best-selling novel by cult author J.T. LeRoy. Co-starring Winona Ryder, Peter Fonda and Marilyn Manson. |
Sat, Jun 29 at Midnight at the Clay Theatre!
With The Bawdy Caste LIVE!
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| The longest-running midnight movie of all time stars Tim Curry as the kinky yet endearing “transsexual from Transylvania” Dr. Frank N. Furter, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick as his hapless guests Brad and Janet, Meat Loaf as motorcycle-riding rough trade and author Richard O’Brien as the hunchbacked butler Riff Raff. It’s harmless musical fun—a delightful spoof of Hollywood horror movies and Old Dark House melodramas. The Rocky Horror Picture was the first—and is still the best—interactive movie experience! Official Web Site |
One Week Only! Starts Friday, July 5
at the Opera Plaza Cinema
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| Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay is a mesmerizing journey into the world of modern magic and the small circle of eccentric geniuses who mastered it. At its center is the multitalented Ricky Jay, a best-selling author and historian, an acclaimed actor (House of Games), a leading collector of antiquarian books and artifacts, but above all a conjurer capable of creating a profound sense of wonder and disbelief. Deceptive Practice traces the story of Ricky's achievement, from his precocious apprenticeship in Brooklyn, beginning at age 4, with his grandfather Max Katz, as well as Al Flosso, Slydini, and Cardini (all among the best magicians of the 20th century), to his extraordinary one-man shows on Broadway. Friends and collaborators appear, such as David Mamet and Steve Martin (who joins Jay in a hilarious turn on a vintage '70s "Dinah Shore" TV show). Throughout, Jay demonstrates live on camera his mastery of sleight of hand. Viewers will gain not only a deep appreciation for the arduous and arcane demands of the magician's craft, but also for the colorful use of language and storytelling central to the art. Official Web Site |
Sat, July 13 at Midnight at the Clay Theatre!
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| The Room is an electrifying American black comedy about love, passion, betrayal and lies, starring writer/director Tommy Wiseau as a successful banker with a great respect for—and dedication to—the people in his life, especially his future wife Lisa (Juliette Danielle). As the film depicts friendships and relationships in the lives of its five major characters, it raises life's real and most-asked question: "Can you really trust anyone?" A midnight cult sensation, this quirky black comedy has been running for over 10 years in Los Angeles and has now taken the rest of the country by storm. You'll want to be there for the devastation it will leave in its wake! Official Web Site |
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