Mission Mission

I mean I’ll watch David Duchovny in anything, but remember how the X-Files used to be really creepy and really fun? This new short film by local filmmakers David Enos and Mishell Stimson reminds me of that:

[via David Enos on Tumblr]

Now please enjoy some other classic David Enos stuff…

Here’s local comedian and film buff W. Kamau Bell:

I love Rocky movies as much as I love Black cinema—and surprise!, Rocky is now officially a part of Black Cinema. Who could’ve imagined that Coogler would follow up his debut film, Fruitvale Station—the best film about racism in 2013; sorry, not sorry, 12 Years A Slave—with a Rocky sequel? It’s kind of like if Spike Lee had followed up his debut film, She’s Gotta Have It, by directing a James Bond film, but with Denzel Washington playing James Bond.

Both films play all weekend, with Creed continuing into next week as well.

Get tickets and more info here and here.

I just got out of a screening of the new movie. I won’t bother reviewing it or anything, but I’ll say this: I can’t think of a reason not to see it at the new Alamo, in the Mission, if you can. (How cool is that??? We can see big major movies at a big major theater right here in the neighborhood now!!! Can’t get over it.)

Anyways, it got me thinking about all the times Star Wars and the Mission have crossed paths. I’m sure I’m missing some stuff, but here’s what I was able to find just now…

There was the time we saw an Ewok at 24th Street BART:

There was the time we encountered an Ewok on Alcatraz:

There was the time Star Wars met Dia de los Muertos:

There was the time C-3PO and R2-D2 were advertising some food or something in the Mission way back in the 1970s:

There was the time we saw Darth Vader in a Mission sidewalk:

There was the time Darth Vader celebrated the Giants championship in ’10:

And finally, can’t ever unsee Girl Parts Vader:

You know how you’ve really been wanting to see something at the Roxie lately? Consider The Last Dragon, presented this Friday night by local comedian and podcaster W. Kamau Bell, with an appearance by Taimak, star of the the film.

Here’s what Bell has to say about it:

When I was 13 years old there was no movie that hit me in my cinematic g spot as hard as THE LAST DRAGON. As a lover of Bruce Lee, I wanted to be LIKE him. But once I saw THE LAST DRAGON, I wanted to straight up BE Taimak AKA Leroy Green AKA Bruce Leroy. This movie has it all: martial arts, Motown music, deep meaning, many jokes, and righteous Black maleness. The least I can do is to be a part of bringing Taimak to the Roxie Theater during the 30th anniversary of this legendary, genre busting film so I, and the many others, can say, “Thank you!”

More info (including info about the alcohol situation) and tickets (and VIP tickets) here.

[Photo and post title by Matt]

Saw this on the Alamo Drafthouse SF Instagram just now. What a wild blast from the past, right?

The Alamo opens on December 17th, as you probably know, and it is gonna be AWESOME, as you probably know. Start perusing the calendar here.

And in the meantime, don’t forget about the Roxie over on 16th Street. It’s still local, still historic, and still going strong ,and they’ve got a good looking calendar in the coming weeks as well.

Woohoo!

(Of course, it doesn’t open to the public until December 17th. Check out the calendar!)

[via Alamo Drafthouse SF on Instagram]

(Basically I was watching Captain Ron last night, and the other day commenters were telling me to just embrace the fact that I’m getting older and I just like staying in and watching TV, and also I noticed, seriously, that John Dwyer wrote Captain Ron, and also current Oh See and longtime San Franciscan Dan Rincon just ‘grammed this pic of Dwyer in a cowboy hat, and, so, this is a blog post about Captain Ron and Thee Oh Sees basically. Enjoy.)

What follows is a classic Oh Sees lineup at “the Step Into The Black Music Series presented by Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum and Fader.” (Italics mine.) You can see me in the crowd if you look real close:

Also please enjoy this list of Oh Sees-related posts from over the years and years…

I watched most of A View to A Kill on TV in a hotel room last night. It was one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, but it contains a pretty entertaining car chase through San Francisco, some cool stuff with the bridge next to AT&T Park — and a fight scene atop the Golden Gate Bridge:

AND one of the fighters (the supervillain trying to destroy Silicon Valley) is a young, blonde Christopher Walken:

It’s a pretty great cast actually:

Terrible movie though. (But maybe you should watch it.)

Now, not very related, but let’s rock:

I guess Padre Serra, a very important figure in the history of California, is going to officially become a saint tomorrow, and local filmmaker Jenni Olson finished her new film about him just in time. It screens at the Roxie this Thursday evening only, and it sounds pretty wild:

A cinematic essay in defense of remembering, The Royal Road offers up a primer on Junipero Serra’s Spanish colonization of California and the Mexican American War alongside intimate reflections on nostalgia, the pursuit of unavailable women, butch identity and Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo — all against a contemplative backdrop of 16mm urban California landscapes, and featuring a voiceover cameo by Tony Kushner.

Co-presented by the San Francisco Film Society and Frameline, and being shown just one day after Pope Francis actually canonizes Junipero Serra, this bold, innovative film from acclaimed San Francisco filmmaker Jenni Olson combines rigorous historical research with lyrically written personal monologue and relates these seemingly disparate stories from an intimate, colloquial perspective to tell a one-of-a-kind California tale. Filmmaker Jenni Olson will be here IN PERSON!! Written & directed by Jenni Olson. Produced by Julie Dorf & Jenni Olson. USA. 2015, 65 mins.

Tickets and more info here.