Mission Mission

Noel from the Secret Alley has a very important announcement:

Done with church on Sunday May 23^rd? Well, F.T. Productions of The Secret Alley is looking to make you a beer and Jello shot richer (while supplies last). If you want to come on by the Alley, record a zombie groan correlating with a specific zombie prerecorded on video, shouldn’t take more than 2-10 minutes, that beer and jello are as good as yers.

To get in, simply arrive at 180 Capp Street from 2pm-11pm, type #004 on the keypad and groan into the speaker. Journey to the second floor (The Secret Alley) and someone will be there to assist you with further instructions.

On your marks, get set, go!

Photo by Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos (ClintJCL).

Previously:

Jello Wrestling at Bender’s

Zombie Tamale Lady

Zombie Movie

I first heard of the controversial David Choe through his totally addictive Thumbs Up series on vbs.tv. In addition to being the type of guy who will inject testosterone into his biceps before running across the Mexican border, he also happens to be an amazing artist who, yes, at times, dabbles in graffiti (not that we’re into that sort of thing).

The documentary of his fucked-up life, Dirty Hands, sold out pretty quickly at the Asian Film Festival some time ago, but lucky for us the Roxie is screening it all week starting yesterday until Friday. Check out the trailer and details below.

Street artist, petty thief, porn illustrator, born-again Christian, corporate shill—these are a few of the complex sides of artist David Choe as portrayed in DIRTY HANDS. DIRTY HANDS is 93 minutes and is not MPAA rated.

Director Harry Kim first began filming Choe’s exploits eight years ago, turning footage of freeway and bus-stop graffiti bombings into the short film WHALES AND ORGIES. DIRTY HANDS follows Choe’s remarkable fortunes since then—from ghost writing lesbian fiction to displaying his art in ice cream parlors to selling out multi-million dollar gallery shows. DIRTY HANDS benefits from a staggering amount of video that seemingly details every major and minor moment of his life. Besides chronicling Choe’s ever-changing coifs, this obsessive Kim shapes a mesmerizing “warts and all” sketch of the artist’s endless contradictions, failures and triumphs, ranging from this darkest moments in a Japanese jail to his lucrative cachet in hipsterati circles, to his troubled relationship with a long-term girlfriend. Choe has painted with aerosol, blood, urine and soy sauce. DIRTY HANDS captures Choe as one of contemporary art’s most darkly enigmatic figures.

For more info: www.dirtyhandsmovie.com Directed by Harry Kim. Running Time: 93 mins. Showtimes: Nighty at 6:10, 8:00 & 9:50. Additional Saturday & Sunday matinees at (2:00) & 4:00,

“Actors act; actors sniff jackets” – J. Franco

James Franco is probably the most important dreamy stoned slacker character actor of our time. Did you know he’s from Palo Alto? Well  now’s your chance to finally bring that Freaks and Geeks erotic fan fiction in your Documents folder to life:

826 Valencia is thrilled to offer you a chance to Make a Movie with James Franco! For only $25, you can enter to win a chance to collaborate with actor/writer/director James Franco on a short film starring you. Are we kidding? No! We aren’t kidding! This is a drop-jaw amazing opportunity. And yes, you can buy more than one ticket.

The drawing will be held on Monday, May 24, 2010. All proceeds support our free student programming at 826 Valencia. The film will be shot in San Francisco, date and time TBD. Some restrictions apply.

More info on this ludicrous offer at 826 Valencia.

(Photo: I love James Forever; Tip: Kat, who totally could have just logged in and posted this herself)

Related:

Sean Penn Amazed at James Franco’s Monstrous Penis

Here’s the rather obscure Vertigo snippet that Roger Ebert alluded to yesterday. So there you have it, in 1958 the Mission was considered “Skid Row”. Either that, or Hitchcock was a total wuss. In any case, we’re renaming the blog to “Skid Row Skid Row”.

Mock Duck posted a higher quality .mov of it in the original thread.

Previously:

Ebert Thinks the Mission is SF’s ‘Skid Row’

Oh Ebert, you mostly get it right, but sometimes you get it so, so wrong.

40 going on 28 has the scoop.

Update: BK says, “He’s making a reference to the film ‘Vertigo,’ in which there’s the line, ‘The Mission? That’s Skid Row, isn’t it?’” That doesn’t change the fact that Endup is on 6th and Harrison, though.

Bay Area Bites on Friday published a rundown of popcorn quality at a number of Bay Area movie theaters. They had some nice stuff to say about the Roxie:

They make fresh popcorn every night, popping it in peanut oil instead of the more commonly used canola oil. They also offer real butter as a topping and charge $4.50 for a large tub, the least expensive tub of popcorn in the survey.

AND Jennifer Hudson has something to do with it (unless this 3-year-old photo is out of date). Read on.

(Thanks, Brittney!)

Photo by allaboutgeorge.

UPDATE: Indeed, the Roxie says, “If you haven’t been in to see who is gracing the small, medium and large portions lately, you need to rectify that.”

Or so he says, to our own Sunny Angulo, casually, in this red-carpet interview on VidSF. But he needs to find the right story first, he says. Who’s got a story for the man?

Filmmaker Joshua Grannell (sometimes known as Peaches Christ) sat down with me to talk a little about one of his favorite Mission haunts, The Victoria Theatre.

Joshua’s feature film, a dark comedy shot in our very neighborhood, All About Evil, premieres as part of the 53rd San Francisco International Film Festival on May 1st at the Castro Theater. It will be a wild, live extravaganza that sounds basically like the mother of all Midnight Masses. Get tickets here and get them fast! This thing is hot!

Watch a clip of the movie here.

Part one of two.

UPDATE: Jason says that advance tickets have been gone for a minute. I may have old info. In any case, look for other live shows at The Victoria in the near future, and in the meantime you can go to the pre-party on April 30th at The Stud Bar.

[Photo by nileshd]

It’s that time of the year again when the masses of SF guerrilla cinema seekers pile on the layers and huddle around their thermos of Blue Bottle and Jameson, jockeying for the best blanket spot from which to watch free classic flicks.

Hoping to capture the magic of last year’s (or was it two years ago?) season opener featuring classic underdog Daniel Larusso overcoming the meanness of those bad boys from Cobra Kai, Dolores Park Movie Night is starting off the season with another timeless 80′s hit about a kid you want to root for.  I’ll give you a hint:

[Delorean concept art from Slashfilm]

It’s only natural that we witness Marty McFly showing both Biff and the Space Time Continuum who’s boss. Throw in a healthy dose of “Great Scott!” and you’ve got yourself a fantastic plan for a cheap date.

Also, these nights are put on DIY style by people who care about good movies.  Be a dear and kick them down a few bucks so they can keep this awesome tradition alive.  So far, we’ve seen Annie Hall, Pretty in Pink, and the Breakfast Club, all of which were excellent.  Any hope for a Repo Man screening this year?

UPDATE!!! Commenter MrEricSir clued us in to the fact that Film Night in the Park (pictured above) is a corporately sponsored event while DOLORES PARK MOVIE NIGHT is the DIY fest I meant to refer to.  Wow, I’m all mixed up now!

As part of the Noise Pop Film Festival, on Saturday, February 27, ATA will screen the History Channel’s Woodstock: Then & Now, directed by Barbara Kopple. The film looks at the history of Woodstock and its lasting impact on music and popular culture.

And WE are giving away a free pair of tickets.

To enter, leave a comment below telling us about your favorite song on the new Norah Jones album. Winner will be decided randomly or perhaps based on merit. Contest ends one week from right now.