The Castro Theatre outdoes itself with a post-election collection of double bills and special tributes that may keep you on-hand well into the Christmas shopping season.
Psycho (1960) Alfred Hitchcock's truly original creep-fest was a smash hit in its day, helped define the emerging horror genre, was shot in B&W because Hitch thought the bloody motel shower scene would be way over-the-top garish in not-so-subtle Technicolor, made its sexy young mad killer a box-office sensation, and caused Anthony Perkins to be forever thought of as Norman Bates. It's a thriller that retains its original bite. In its day, the picture reportedly made many filmgoers shower-phobic. Featuring Hitch's best supporting ensemble: Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, Martin Balsam, John Gavin and John McIntire.
Dressed to Kill (1980) Early in his career Brian De Palma was taunted by some critics for his Hitchcock obsession, but as this sublime thriller demonstrates, he understood how to up the ante on some of the master's best tricks. The slick plot has a serial killer on the prowl after two different victims: a sexually frustrated housewife and a wily prostitute. Keith Gordon, himself a future director (The Chocolate War), is enchanting as the first victim's son, who joins forces with the hooker to trap the killer. (both 11/6)
Walt Disney's Fantasia (1940) Right before America's entry into WWII, young Walt teamed up with Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski to illustrate eight classic compositions. The film makes deft use of then still-youthful Mickey Mouse as "the Sorcerer's Apprentice"; employs dancing hippos and alligators for "The Dance of the Hours"; "Rite of Spring" shows dinosaurs roaming our young planet; and "Night on Bald Mountain" is still quite scary. The program runs 215 minutes with a newly produced short. (11/8)
Kings of the Road (1976) Taking his title from the Roger Miller country-music hit, director Wim Wenders explores the psychic problems of post-war Germans (Wenders was born in Dusseldorf on Aug. 14, 1945) who feel both drawn to and smothered by American culture. As one character bitterly puts it, "The Yanks have colonized our subconscious."
The American Friend (1977) Wenders continues considering American domination of post-war Germany by introducing gangster and noir themes. Dennis Hopper appears as the sly American Tom Ripley, drawn from the work of noir master Patricia Highsmith. Matt Damon played Ripley in British director Anthony Minghella's disturbing remake. (both 11/9)
The Last One Unfolding the AIDS Memorial Quilt, a fundraiser. (11/10)
The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015) Director/co-writer Marielle Heller's film is based on Phoebe Gloekner's 2002 graphic novel whose chirpy 15-year-old heroine proclaims her battle plan for surviving the season in 1976 San Francisco, a city just past the "Summer of Love" but still chock-full of hypersexed teenage boys. As Minnie goes tripping down the block in visual tandem with her animated twin, Diary gives tacit permission to an online generation of girls eager to trade chat rooms for the adventures and perils of the streets.
The film's "Mrs. Robinson" moment is still capable of rocking the boat in an AIDS-era America. Mom (Kristen Wiig) is having her own affair with 30-something Monroe (a very cute Alexander Skarsgard). Feeling her oats, she gives Minnie permission to go after those silly bellbottom-wearing boys at her high school. "I don't want to brag, but I was quite a piece when I was your age. What's wrong with you? I thought you'd be more into boys. You have that kind of power, you know. You just don't know it yet."
Dazed and Confused (1993) It's the last day of school in 1976 Austin, Texas, chock-full of adolescent hormones. Texan Richard Linklater gets the feel, slang and energy of a group of Texas kids who won't stop until they've exhausted every option. The attractive ensemble includes future indie-film stalwarts Rory Cochrane, Milla Jovovich, Marissa Ribisi, Adam Goldberg, Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, and Parker Posey. (both 11/11)
Warren Miller's Chasing Shadows A collection of shorts promoting skiing and snowboarding. (11/12)
The San Francisco Transgender Film Festival Features a screening of Major!, the life story of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a 73-year-old Bay Area transgender icon. (11/13)
Apocalypse Now (1979) Francis Ford Coppola based this savage epic about America's Vietnam quagmire on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Martin Sheen plays a beleaguered junior officer assigned the task of reining in an American commander who's gone native (Marlon Brando), or "terminating him with extreme prejudice." Coppola put himself in hock emotionally and financially to complete his career opus. A series of loosely linked set-pieces, the film is at its best when it marshals music and carnage with operatic gusto. Robert Duvall has never been better than as the American helicopter officer whose airships wipe out Vietnamese villages to a spectacular recorded crescendo. "I love the smell of napalm in the morning!"
The Thin Red Line (1998) Terrence Malick's spectacular version of a pivotal moment in the battle for the Pacific gets a 170-min. restoration. (both 11/14)
Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai Du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) Late director Chantal Ackerman's 201-min. study of a middle-aged widow whose domestic chores come to seem heroic.
The Seven Samurai (1954) Japanese master Akira Kurosawa's epic look at 16th-century warriors sworn to protect their small villages from bandits.
The Seventh Seal (1957) This Ingmar Bergman classic put post-WWII Swedish cinema on the art-house map and made an overnight star of his taciturn lead, Max von Sydow, as a knight returning from the Crusades who plays chess with Death. (all three, 11/15)
The State of Things (1982) Wenders honors American horror master Roger Corman with this tale of the fallout when a film crew arrives in Portugal to remake Corman's sci-fi B-movie The Day the World Ended. Also Wenders' take on the American crime writer Dashiell Hammett.
Paris, Texas (1984) It begins as a buddy film with the reunion of two brothers, Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) and Walt (Dean Stockwell). Believing his brother dead, Walt is shocked to get a call from South Texas indicating that Travis is alive but not exactly well. The two have some awkward, fumbling moments. Travis appears to be amnesiac, and Walt reminds him that he has a young son, Hunter (Hunter Carson), and once had a wife, Jane (Nastassja Kinski). Wenders and co-writer Sam Shepard admitted in interviews that they didn't know how to end this existential modern Western. (both 11/16)
Junun (2015) Paul Thomas Anderson celebrates his artistic partnership with composer Jonny Greenwood. (11/18)
Commando (1985) Before he was our governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger was an explosive action hero. In this 90-minute treasure, Arnold blows up an entire island (preceded by classic Arnold film trailers).
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) Sylvester Stallone returns with this James Cameron-penned action bloodfest. (both 11/20)
Addams Family Values Peaches Christ host two spectacular stage shows (3 & 8 p.m.) to showcase the screening of Barry Sonnenfeld's campy romp featuring the droll talents of Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Joan Cusack, Christina Ricci, Carol Kane, Peter McNichol, Christine Baranski, Nathan Lane, Peter Graves and David Hyde Pierce. (11/21)
Goodfellas (1990) Martin Scorsese's top crime saga gets a 25th anniversary restoration. The story of how the charming lifetime crook Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) waltzes in and out of harm's way with lethal mobsters and the law never gets old. Based on a spectacular robbery at NYC's JFK Airport. Scorsese was Oscar-nominated for commanding a spectacular cast including Oscar-winning Joe Pesci, Robert De Niro, Lorraine Bracco and Paul Sorvino.
Carlito's Way (1993) Al Pacino excels as the recently released Carlito, who goes legit after five years in the pen. Carlito's lawyer Dave Kleinfeld is another spot-on turn from Sean Penn. Director Brian De Palma is this rich crime circus' ringmaster. (both 11/22)
Wings of Desire (1987) Wenders' dreamlike fairy tale involves angels who swoop down over West Berlin observing humans and wondering what it would be like to lose their wings and turn into mortals. Inspired by the poems of Rilke, and featuring the extraordinary German actor Bruno Ganz and a must-see cameo by Peter Falk as himself. The film has a unique color scheme where the angels appear in B&W while humans burst out in color.
Faraway, So Close! (1993) Wenders returns to the theme of angels through a glass darkly. Six years later, the angel Cassiel (Otto Sander) loses his wings, but not for love. Cassiel finds himself working for a Berlin gangster in the black market. Ganz and Falk reprise their roles from Wings, and are joined by an international cast including Willem Dafoe, pop star Lou Reed, and maverick Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev. (both 11/23)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) Woody Allen won a Best Screenplay Oscar for this comic observation of an extended New York clan with three special roles: Hannah (Mia Farrow), Dianne Wiest (Oscar winner) as Hannah's dysfunctional sister, and Michael Caine (Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). A close look will reveal Woody's present wife, Soon-Yi Previn, as a kid in the Thanksgiving Day segment.
Broadway Danny Rose (1991) Woody's turn as the world's least successful talent agent is complemented by some Thanksgiving Day Parade floats, and the usual strong support from Farrow as a tough-talking ex-mob girlfriend. Veteran Gotham comics reminisce about Danny Rose and his awful career (preceded by the short The Thanksgiving Prayer). (both 11/25)
Sing-along Sound of Music (1965) The Castro brings back its most popular audience-participation program. (11/27-28, 12/3-4, 6)
Until the End of the World: Director's Cut (1991) Wenders' meditation on humans coping with images features his usual international cast: William Hurt, Max von Sydow, Jeanne Moreau. With music by Talking Heads, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Patti Smith and U2. (11/20; 295 minutes with intermission)