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Of course, I'm not posting much at all. I track my film viewing and 2016 is on pace to be slightly behind 2015. I didn't watch many film in the final 3 months of 2015 because of my father's death. I saw 336 films in 2015 and I'll have to have an extremely busy December to match that number in 2016. There is no way to put it except to say I'm watching fewer films than before although 300+ films in a year is quite a bit compared to "normal" people.
If the Castro is screening films I have already seen, there are only two rep house cinemas remaining for me to choose from: the Roxie & the PFA. For reasons I have not determined, I am less inclined to take BART to Berkeley since the PFA reopened. Before the closure I would have imagined the opposite since the new PFA location is much closer to the Berkeley BART station than the old location on Bancroft Avenue. If I'm not going to the PFA or the Castro, that leaves the Roxie which has the additional benefit of "free" admission via my membership. The explanations for my reduced film consumption are programming choices and an unexplained indifference towards PFA.
If I'm not spending my time at the movie theater, where am I spending my time? I used to read movie blogs and review sites. Now I read personal finance blogs and websites. My father had an extremely conservative investment portfolio at the time of his death (conservative even for a 91 year old) which I have converted to serve my purposes. I had my own investment portfolio before his death and I could have done more of the same but I decided to have a little fun with my father's portfolio. I've kept some of his better yielding investments but I've converted most of it to higher yielding investments. Higher yields come with increased risks. Finally, I've taken a small portion of his portfolio and converted it to extremely risky investments hoping to hit the idiomatic home run. I have found this exercise to be educational and entertaining.
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As for December at the Castro Theater, I have seen most of the films being screened. This seems to be happening quite often. I don't have my film log on me but the number of films viewed at the Castro is down from previous years. The Castro has been my leading film viewing venue for three consecutive years but the streak will not make it to four years.
December 14 - the annual Noir City kickoff event screens two films I have not seen - Cash on Demand (1961) and The Ice Harvest (2005). Noir City will be held from January 20 to 29 at the Castro Theater.
December 17 - The Mosquito Coast (1986); I saw this on television many years ago. In my late teens, I was mildly impressed with the film. I'm more anxious to see it as a 40something year old. The cast is quite impressive in retrospect - Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, River Phoenix & Martha Plimpton.
The Roxie has had some intriguing programming as of late and December promises more of the same. Among films being screened at the Roxie in December are: Drop Dead Gorgeous, Being John Malkovich, and Anna Biller's The Love Witch. All three films will be screened in 35 mm.
Being John Malkovich is part of a Midnites for Maniacs triple feature of Spike Jonze films. Midnites for Maniacs returns with a week later with a Jason Statham double bill - Crank and Crank High Voltage.
The Roxie closes out the year with a set of Pedro Almodovar films.
I'm also looking forward to Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors trilogy at the PFA. White (1993) screens December 11 & 17. Red (1994) screens December 14 & 18. Blue (1993) screens December 17.
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| Castro Theater Calendar - December 2016 |
