Mission Mission

“The Comedy” is premiering in San Francisco at the Mission’s very own Roxie theater this Friday, November 23rd, and you’re in for a treat: Tim Heidecker will be hosting a Q&A after the screenings on both Friday and Saturday. It is playing at the Roxie until the end of the month.

You probably know Tim Heidecker as one-half of the comedy duo Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Well, if you’re expecting that kind of thing with his new movie, “The Comedy“, be prepared for a lot of brutal darkness.

The film is about Swanson, an aging, Williamsburg-living, PBR-swigging hipster-type on the cusp of inheriting his wealthy father’s estate. In his boredom, disconnection with the real world, and subliminal grief, he and his buddies engage in some truly awful behavior at the expense of a world presenting him with endless options. Hmm entitled, trust-funded, society leeches hiding behind a cloud of irony? We wouldn’t know anything about that around these parts, now would we?

I recently got an opportunity to chat with writer/director Rick Alverson and actor Tim Heidecker about the film’s mixed reception, how scripted dialogue is so passé, experiencing the end of comedy (9/11-unrelated), and about PBR as a cost-cutting production technique.

Read on:

Mission Mission: I understand some other SF publications declined the interview after seeing the film and that it had the most walk-outs at Sundance. Were you expecting such a polarized reaction?

Rick Alverson: I suppose we knew it was possible. It’s sort of designed in some way and we kind of embraced it. It’s a little confusing from the get-go and maybe provocative because of some of that confusion. But you know, it’s definitely uh… hell, I don’t know.

Tim Heidecker: Yeah, first of all I think the notion of “the most walk outs in Sundance” is a bit of an exaggeration. I don’t know if anyone was standing out the door with a clicker. We had tremendous screenings at Sundance and SXSW and the reaction for the film certainly isn’t unanimously positive, but amongst a certain demographic it’s very positive. It’s a film that appeals to a generation that can dial in to not only the humor that’s in the film, but the underlying subliminal quality that the film has. And frankly, there’s an older establishment out there that’s incapable of embracing some of the themes in the film. But I’ve had plenty of conversations with people that I respect and come to watching films from an open-minded place and nobody that I know has a problem with it and considers it a successful film. So if you’re somehow angered by this film or offended or anything… you’re probably gonna be a person that I don’t want to know.

MM: Yeah, I think it’s very similar to the Tim and Eric show in that there’s a sort of person that will get this and someone who would probably walk out after getting the eyeful on the opening scene. It certainly wasn’t what I expected. I think I was expecting something more Tim and Eric-y but instead I got something that was funny but also incredibly dark.

RA: Yeah.

TH: Yeah, it’s dark.

(more…)

The portobello sandwich on Namu‘s lunch menu is totally legit. It will make you forget entirely all the times you were mad that a bland portobello sandwich was the only vegetarian option at whatever dumb restaurant you were at.

Omnivores, you will love it too.

P.S. Thinking of turning this blog into a blog exclusively devoted to how much I love everything about Namu. Y/N?

Camping! In the Mission! And watching a movie and eating awesome food by RPS! Here’s the deal:

food + movie + pop-up campsite

When: Saturday, November 17 / 4pm-9pm
Where: Mission Dispatch / 1975 Bryant St, San Francisco, CA / Between 18th and Mariposa
- Dinner from 4-7pm, Movie begins at 6:30pm
- Free admission, food + snacks + beer for sale
- Rain or shine!

In the case of rain, we’ll bring the party inside THE NWBLK, a warehouse located on the same space.We’re combining our love for food, movies, and the outdoors on Saturday, November 17th for The Camp-In, a pop-up dinner and movie night we’re throwing with our Mission neighbors Alite Designs and Mission Dispatch.

For dinner, we’ll be selling fried and savory dishes from 4-7pm, and will open up our concession stand from 6:30-9pm for Wet Hot American Summer.

Alite Designs will bring their famous tents and chairs to the yard, but you should also BYO camping gear to get cozy during the movie (we are outdoors, after all)!

Bust out your camping chairs, headlamps, tents, and little red stools if you got them!

Check out the full menu here, and then RSVP and invite your friends!

Here are some pictures of what to expect:

Burrito Justice highlights some work by historian Eric Fischer:

Eric Fischer has let loose with the historo-scanner once again.

1970: A line to see the brand new shiny 24th St BART station (looking south at the SW escalator — the side towards Valencia and 25th).

What a scene! Imagine a brand-new cavern opening up around the corner. Read on for lots more imagery and history.

Are you looking for the great taste of the Bay Area’s best beers bottled right at the source, but without the hassle of driving all over town to brewpubs and breweries? (Yes.) Well don’t fret, because Bi-Rite is stocking growlers from two of our favorite local brewers, Magnolia and Linden St.

For those who are wondering, a growler is basically a big bottle with a little stopper on top, so you can pour in beer from the tap and keep it fresh for a few days until you get around to drinking it. They’re really handy when you make it out to far-flung breweries in Northern California, especially when they’re serving beers on tap that aren’t available in bottles.

At Bi-Rite, they’ve got Magnolia’s signature Blue Bell Bitter, as well as the light but hearty Kalifornia Kolsch. I opted for the Linden St. Burning Oak Black Lager, which was warm and chocolatey without being heavy, like a slightly sweeter and richer Death & Taxes. There’s a nominal deposit of $1.50, recoverable when you return the bottle. I’m hoping they’ll just roll that over for my next purchase.

Drink of the week is brought to you by Poachedjobs.com.

Check it out, a successful business on Valencia Street that isn’t a brand-new high-end restaurant!

Here’s some more info on the big party:

Independent designer/retailer Dema is celebrating her 15th anniversary in the Mission District.

Saturday Nov 17th 6-10.

We’ll have champagne, cupcakes from Mission Mini’s and entertainment by local crooners Carletta Sue Kay, Justin Frahm and Mark Eitzel.

The entire store will be 20% off Saturday and Sunday as a thank you to our faithful fans!

Daniel Clowes is into it, so it must be good. More info on Hang Glider & Mud Mask here.

Brock from SFist takes a look back:

If you lived in the Mission along Bryant and 18th prior to 2005, as we did for many years before evacuating to SOMA, you might recall that magical scent emanating from the Hostess Cake / Wonder Bread factory at 1525 Bryant. Yeasty, jammy, and sweet. The youth-kissed scent was such a staple of the area that SF Weekly awarded the factory “Best Place to Be Fondly Reminded of Your S.F. Childhood” in 2003.

As of today, it’s possible Hostess might completely cease to exist as a brand. Read on.

(Incidentally, last week I had a vegan “Twinkie” from Source, which is basically right around the corner from this place, and it was killer, so no worries really.)

[Photo by ptufts]

You know BART is serious about you not taking the 24th St escalator when they pull out the giant orange cone.

That being said, all sorts of crap other than, well, crap falls into the escalators.

The beginning of a whole new era! DJ Purple ended his years-long tenure at Jack’s a couple weeks back. (Great pics here.) And now he’s debuting a new weekly, every Thursday at Slate, which is a bigger space with a bigger soundsystem and a bigger dance floor. I think this is gonna be big.

If you haven’t been to a DJ Purple event in a while, read all about the DANCE KARAOKE concept in our exclusive interview from a few months back.

RSVP and invite your friends! (And go to Purple’s website to peruse the songbook.)