August at the Castro Theatre is alive with special events, classic double features and some pretty far-out fare, with an emphasis on hyper-campy, future shock, lost-in-space sci-fi fun, especially suited for the Castro's 45-foot-high screen.
Ride the Pink Horse (1947) Robert Montgomery stars in and directs this notable revenge tale about a bitter ex-GI intent on getting payback for his buddy's death at the hands of a vicious thug. Russell Metty's B&W camerawork does justice to a great supporting ensemble: Wanda Hendrix, Thomas Gomez, Fred Clark, Art Smith and Andrea King.
So Dark the Night (1946) Cult director Joseph H. Lewis (Gun Crazy) gets beautifully cheap thrills out of this 71-minute noir set in the French countryside. With Steven Geray, Micheline Cheirel and Eugene Borden. (both 8/6)
The 3rd Japan Film Festival of San Francisco presents a rare screening of Electric Dragon 8000V from director Sogo Ishii. Program includes sound and anime show. (8/7)
Night of 1,000 Showgirls This Peaches Christ event, over-the-top adult fun, includes the perk of a free lap-dance for every large popcorn purchased. (8/8)
Blade Runner - The Final Cut (1982/2007) Ridley Scott's dystopian sci-fi classic stars a witty/stoic Harrison Ford as an android-catching 2019 cop, with a spiffy ensemble featuring Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah, William Sanderson and Edward James Olmos. The cherry on the sundae: the spacy music of Vangelis. (8/9)
Aliens (1986) Before Titanic, James "King of the World" Cameron was best-known for this space chiller/thriller. Sigourney Weaver is the hard-bitten survivor of a spacecraft infected with killer mutant creatures. With Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton.
Blue Steel (1989) Future "Best Picture Oscar" director Kathryn Bigelow directs rookie cop Jamie Lee Curtis in a lovers' battle to the death with creepy stockbroker Ron Silver. (both 8/12)
Chinatown at Midnight (1949) Seymour Friedman directs this Columbia Pictures-produced hyper-B noir. With Hurd Hatfield, Jean Willes and Tom Powers.
Dangerous Blondes (1943) The old adage that blondes have more fun is put to an entertaining twist in this rare noir/comedy. With Allyn Joslyn and Evelyn Keyes and victim/suspects Edmond Lowe and future Preston Sturges player William Demarest.
Mysterious Intruder (1946) The fifth in Columbia Pictures' Whistler series, this William Castle-helmed noir stars Richard Dix as a brutal private dick looking for a lost dame and a wad of cash. With future TV stars Barton MacLane, Nina Vale, Regis Toomey, Mike Mazurki and Charles Lane. (all three, 8/13)
Sing-Along Wizard of Oz (1939) Dorothy's adventures in Oz get an audience participation sing-along, the basis for a 150-min. family-friendly event. (8/14-16)
Love and Mercy (2014) Director Bill Pohlad's insight into pop prodigy and Beach Boys frontman Brian Wilson (played in the 60s segments by Paul Dano) shows how the boy genius is first envied and ultimately betrayed, drugged and pyschobabbled into impotence by warring father figures: quack shrink Dr. Eugene Landy (a devious Paul Giamatti) and a violent stage father, Murray (Bill Camp), who abuses Brian so severely that the young man becomes deaf in one ear.
Dano is astonishing as Wilson packing on the pounds while creating a pop nirvana with summer music like Pet Sounds. Dano ranges from jolly studio elf (one scene has him introducing live animal sounds into the mix) to paranoid meltdown to prescient sage as he reminds his brothers and band pals that they were never surfers. The 80s parallel story finds a depressed and beaten-down Wilson (John Cusack) rescued by a chance encounter with a perky Cadillac car saleswoman (Elizabeth Banks).
The Wolfpack (2015) An original family doc and direct if disturbing peek into the life-into-art project of six homeschooled brothers. It's a tribute to the plucky spirit of the six black-suited, longhaired boys, the culmination of a project they have been working on all their young lives, and an audition tape for everything they hope to be. As one of the Angulos Brothers remarks, "If I didn't have movies, I would be a pretty broken person." The only thing that could possibly top that would be the image of Quentin Tarantino shedding a tear. (both 8/19)
Guns, Girls and Gangsters (1959) This end-of-the-noir-era classic contains the essential ingredients for B-movie fun: a Vegas Strip robbery, a filled-out blonde and an ex-con hubby with blood in his eye. With Mamie Van Doren, Gerald Mohr and Lee Van Cleef.
Inside Detroit (1956) Tailfins were about to be unleashed on an unsuspecting public as this Motor City-set noir was shot. With 50s noir stars Dennis O'Keefe and Pat O'Brien. (both 8/20)
The Goonies (1985) The kids are definitely not alright in this Reagan-era spoof directed by Richard Donner and written by Chris Columbus. With Josh Brolin and Corey Feldman.
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985) His campy reign was short but totally lovable. Grownup kid goes zooming across America in search of his shiny red bike. Tim Burton's feature-directorial debut. (both 8/21)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Director Stanley Kubrick's classic, based on an Arthur C. Clarke novel, has a fabulous cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, and Douglas Rain as the voice of the very naughty Hal ("I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave").
Capricorn One (1978) Peter Hyams directs this creepy obsession on corrupting power with a cast that includes James Brolin, Hal Holbrook, Sam Waterston, Karen Black, Elliott Gould, and yes, O.J. Simpson! (both 8/22)
Zardoz (1974) "The Gun is good, the Penis is evil!" With that chilling mantra, we enter a dystopian world filled with unimagined horrors. With Sean Connery as the cop who thinks he's in blue-shield heaven. "I love to see them running, I love the moment of their death when I am one with Zardoz!" (with 2001: A Space Odyssey, 8/23)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Tom Hardy gives a sublime retro turn to this stunt-driven fun that feels as if it's been beamed back from the Ford/Carter era of failed good intentions. Director George Miller is good at mischievous casting, such as Charlize Theron as a wacked-out driver from hell. (8/26)
Killer's Kiss (1955) from Stanley Kubrick. A boxer (Jamie Smith), a mobster (Frank Silvera) and a damsel in peril (Irene Kane) cavort around real Gotham City locations to create 67 unforgettable screen minutes, including a wacky duel inside a mannequin factory. The boxing scenes rock, and the whole film exudes verisimilitude of time, place and mentality, including homoerotic and misanthropic feelings. Rarely seen on the big screen.
Witness to Murder (1954) A woman awakens in the middle of the night to a murder underway next door. Nobody believes her story except the strangler. Roy Rowland helms this obscure but riveting thriller. With Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Merrill, George Sanders, Jesse White and Juanita Moore.
Dementia (1953) George Antheil directs this silent meditation on a young woman's descent into madness. With Adrienne Barret, Bruno Ve Sota and Ben Roseman. (all three, 8/27)
The Crowd (1928) This last gasp of the silent era from King Vidor (The Big Parade) demonstrates what might have been if talking pictures had been delayed a few more years. (with organ accompaniment by Bruce Loeb, 8/30)