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?

14 May 2004

This Week in SF

Here's what's pencilled into the movie calendar for this week:

San Francisco Documentary Film Festival — Yes, another week means another film festival in San Francisco, this one from the same people who brought us the enjoyable IndieFest earlier this year. I've only glanced at the schedule, so I don't have any specific recommendations.

Coffee & Cigarettes — Jim Jarmusch's latest movie opens today across the country. It's really just a collection of eleven shorts, and while it's less ambitious than his recent movies (Dead Man and Ghost Dog), it's funny, and Jarmusch couldn't resist tinkering with thematic variations, so it has some things to think about, too. I had the opportunity to talk with Jarmusch when he was in town last month; I'll post the resulting interview and article after it appears in print.

This So-Called Disaster — A couple of years ago, the Magic Theatre, a theater in SF that stages new plays in an intimate setting, was the home to a world premiere play by Sam Shepard called The Late Henry Moss. The production starred Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, and others in a quiet production on a little known stage. It was a real treat for theater-goers and actors alike, apparently, and this movie documents how the production came about. It's showing at The Roxie which seems to have landed on its feet after a bankruptcy scare last year. They've just opened a new 50-seat screening room and printed a full schedule for the first time in months. The Magic, too, has continued their low-key productions from major playwrights; although I missed The Late Henry Moss, I caught the world premiere of Dr. Faustus, a new play written and directed by David Mamet, that played at the Magic earlier this year.

Lost Boys of Sudan — The Red Vic is showing this Independent Spirit Award-winning documentary on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I haven't seen it, but the description is great. A group of young men fleeing war-torn Sudan end up trying to establish new lives in the United States.

American Dream 2.0 — Following a bit of a theme, The Red Vic follows up Lost Boys of Sudan with this video documentary, showing Wednesday and Thursday, about the boom in San Francisco and how the subsequent bust affected a local artist, an entrepreneur, and a foreign worker with an H1-B visa. I haven't seen this one, either, but I often enjoy seeing movies about my own community.

Continuing — You still have a chance to see the original Godzilla, which plays through Thursday at The Castro, and the great Hou Hsiao-Hsien's Millennium Mambo which has been extended for a week but "must end May 20" according to the Opera Plaza web site.

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