Errata is a web journal written by Robert Davis who has neither spent a night in a ghost town nor pulled a turnip from the earth. He doesn't even know if turnips grow in the ground. Perhaps on trees, like candy corn. Therefore, Errata is a non-commercial project.

Observation #1: It may be appropriate, when leaving a movie theater, to say "mysterious."

Observation #2: It may be appropriate, when leaving a movie theater, to say "mysterious" at the top of your lungs. Bring your eyebrows together before you say it. Effective!

Observation #3: Same for books. Even at libraries.

There is a prize for people who correctly guess the thing about Metropolis, Nevada.

Except where the text specifically states otherwise, Errata's vagaries are indicated vaguely and its authors are indistinct in the traditional way of the Internet, except where the authors lay claim to their work. In some cases Robert Davis lays claim to work that is not his own but has been abandoned like so many ghost towns. Except where held presently, fistfuls of dirt are suspended via dispersal, or dispersed via suspension (in the air), and thus their dissolution is their transcendence, or their transcendence is their dissolution. And yet our eyes tear, and our vision is impaired, demonstrating for the umpteenth time that one entity's gain is another's fit of sneezes. Except where indicated, storms shall outlive the clay upon which they rain, unless storms are improperly delimited by their clouds, which dissolve, rather than by their inevitable return. Thus the clay loses, unless the clay is said to own the storm, to use it to make itself heavy, to make itself cling to white garments, refuse dispersal, cake upon the facades of abandoned buildings, and sit like Man [sic] upon the earth where it is pelted by a storm that it owns. In which case the clay still loses, if you ask us.

Some of the above is legally binding and should be considered a mental contract between Errata and those upon whom it acts. The bit about the prize should be considered an overstatement insofar as prizes differ from dirt and prize dispersal differs from dirt dispersal. Please recall that ownership is a weight and, therefore, hope that you do not win the prize.

One day Errata or its representatives will call upon you for a favor. It is expected that you will hop-to without delay.

You may contact Robert Davis by email unless it's about the rock that was thrown in anger. The rock is more properly called a clod. Why do you continue to raise the topic?

24 April 2004

Pacific Film Archive, May/June

I've lived in San Francisco for 8 years now, but I've only recently started paying close attention to the schedule of the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. I'm sure I missed a pile of great stuff in the first 7 years, but keeping my eyes open has certainly paid off in the last year with several outstanding series.

The PFA has just released the schedule for May and June, and once again it has some great selections. Here are a few:

Los Angeles Plays Itself — Thom Andersen's documentary about Los Angeles in the movies has been getting a lot of attention. It won the best documentary award at the Vancouver Film Festival, and I've been looking forward to seeing it. But the PFA is going all out. They're not only showing the movie twice (and loaning the print to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for a showing in June), but they're also using it as an excuse to highlight L.A. in the movies by showing Point Blank, Zabriskie Point, Double Indemnity, Chinatown, Targets, and a bunch of other movies that use L.A. as a canvas. They're also showing several other documentaries by Thom Andersen.

Ozu's Mothers — The PFA was one of the hosts of the great, extensive Ozu retrospective last year, and they're bringing back four of the movies as a prelude to Mother's Day: Woman of Tokyo, A Mother Should Be Loved, The Only Son, and A Hen in the Wind.

Jean Rouch — In remembrance of Jean Rouch who passed away earlier this year, the schedule includes Rouche's Chronicle of a Summer.

Playtime — A restored 70mm print of Jacques Tati's Playtime will be showing at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco later this summer, but the PFA has a sneak peak: they'll be showing a new 35mm print of playtime that was made from the restored 70mm print.

These are a few of the highlights, but they've packed a lot into these two months, so check the schedule for more gems.

Posted by davis | Link

Reader Comments

April 24, 2004, 08:19 PM

Doug

Wow, that's a great line-up, indeed! Jean Rouch, Anderson's doc, and "Playtime." I would say skip any 35mm print and wait for the 70mm--I'd put the experience of seeing this film in 70mm with an enthusiastic crowd in L.A. as one of the moviegoing highlights of my life.

April 25, 2004, 04:19 PM

Doug

This from criterionco.com:

A retrospective of the films of Ingmar Bergman and a newly restored 70mm print of Jacques Tati?s masterpiece Playtime will be on display in theaters across the country this spring and summer. The Bergman retrospective begins at New York?s Film Forum in May and will continue on to the AFI Silver, The National Gallery of Art, and The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D.C. later this summer. A collection of new Bergman prints from the retrospective will also be touring throughout the the year, screening at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, CA in July, the Castro Theater in San Francisco in August and September, and along to The Northwest Film Center in Portland, OR and the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA later in the fall. In addition, a newly restored 70mm print of Playtime will be shown at the Seattle International Film Festival on June 8th, the Castro Theater from July 16-22, and at the Music Box in Chicago in late summer/fall. A newly restored 35mm print of Playtime can also be seen at the Naro Cinema in Norfolk, VA on April 26th, the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley on May 8th, and the Sacramento French Film Festival in Sacramento, CA on July 17-18. Watch for more screenings of new Bergman and Tati prints in the coming months!

April 25, 2004, 11:29 PM

davis

Bergman, too? I sense a busy summer. Thanks for that info, Doug!

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