Red Vic - May Calendar

I picked up the April/May calendar for the Red Vic Movie House. I noticed they are having a Tuesday special. You can see movies on Tuesday night at the matinee price ($7). That's a $2 saving over the regular evening price. That means you can see movies for $5 on Monday nights at the Roxie, $5 on Tuesday nights at the Castro or $7 on Tuesday nights at the Red Vic.

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I've already previewed the April schedule at the Red Vic but a few films on the May and early June calendar look promising.

The only director out of the Philippines I am familiar with is Brillante Mendoza (Slingshot at the 2008 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival). On May 22 & 23, the Red Vic is screening Mendoza's Serbis (2008).

From the film's official website - The Pineda family operates a run-down movie house in a city in the province, which shows dated sexy double-feature films. The family has taken up actual residence in the old building as well. The matriarch Nanay Flor, her daughter Nayda, son-in-law Lando and adopted daughter Jewel take turns manning the ticket booth and the canteen. Her nephews Alan and Ronald are the billboard painter and projectionist respectively.

Nanay Flor had filed a bigamy case against her estranged husband and is attending the court hearing today when, after a number of years, the decision will be finally handed down. It is within this context that the story unfolds. As the rest of the members go about their daily activities, we get a glimpse of how they suffer and deal with each other's sins and vices -- relational, economic or sexual.

Alan, who is financially unprepared for marital responsibility, feels oppressed by his pregnant girlfriend's demand of marriage. Nayda, who entered marriage out of tradition, is torn between marital fidelity and her ambiguous attraction towards her cousin Ronald. Nanay Flor, who loses the case, feels betrayed not only by the court judge but also by her son who testified in favor of his favor.

Preoccupied with their personal demons, the family in unmindful that inside the movie theater, another kind of business is going on between the "serbis" boys (male prostitutes) and the gay patrons.

From May 29 to June 2, they are screening A Wink and a Smile (2008).

An intoxicating mix of private thoughts and public behavior, the feature length documentary A Wink and a Smile exposes more than the human body by putting gender, power, sexuality and social identity under the glittery spotlight, as it follows the lives of ten "ordinary" women who do something extraordinary - learn the art burlesque dancing and striptease.

Students of Seattle's Academy of Burlesque have just six weeks to peel and reveal their hidden talents with little more than a tassel and a twirl. Seasoned burlesque divas strut on stage in their own entertaining, satirical and beautiful performances to illustrate the candid and often hilarious lectures by the Academy's headmistress, Miss Indigo Blue.

As director Deirdre Timmons draws back the velvet curtain providing a rare glimpse into the intimate experience, audiences watch with glee as Miss Indigo's budding divas learn to shimmy, shake, bump and grind their way into our hearts. Through their adventures, we see how a homemaker, a reporter, a doctor, an opera singer, a taxidermist and a college student, join the American cultural revival of burlesque, as it moves from fringe fascination to mainstream obsession, engaging a world where performance art and showgirl spectacle, music, theater and sensuality crash into over-the-top glamour - a world where many want to go, but very few dare.

The will be live performances and Q&A following the 7 PM performances from May 29 to 31. I guess my interest in burlesque has been piqued since watching the short film No Strings Attached at this year's Indiefest - A Wink and a Smile Official Website

On June 5-6, Psych-Out (1968) is screening. Filmed in the Haight Ashbury, the movie stars Susan Strasberg, Dean Stockwell, Jack Nicholson and Bruce Dern.

Jennie (Strasberg) travels to San Francisco to locate her hippie brother Steve (Dern). She meets Stoney (Nicholson) in a coffeehouse and he helps her look for Steve, who Stoney has seen in his various attempts to start a rock & roll band. Stoney and his pals transform the square girl into a swinging hippie chick, complete with a mod miniskirt. Along with their buddy Dave (Stockwell), they search for Steve amidst the psychedelic splendor of the Haight-Ashbury hippie haunts. Dave is killed by a car when he wanders around in an STP-induced stupor. LSD, marijuana, and the good and the bad sides of hippie life are illustrated with non-judgmental accuracy.

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While pedaling the stationary bike at the gym this evening, I was watching TV. The TVs are built into the bike. As I was flipping channels, I came across The Brothers Warner on KQED.