The Puzzle Within the Castro Theater's February 2015 Theater Calendar

The title of this post is a misnomer because there isn't a puzzle this month.  The Castro Theater is open everyday in February although it is holding a private event on February 9.

Among the calendar highlights are:

February 10 & 11 - Interstellar in 70 mm.  I have read & heard mixed reviews about Interstellar but if my schedule allows, I'll probably see it and if I'm going to see it, I'd just as soon see in in 70 mm.

February 12 & 13 - a four film Michael Keaton series with Night Shift being the highlight for me.

February 14 - I have never seen one of Marc Huestis Presents events.  I don't know if I will get to this screening of Romeo & Juliet on Valentine's Day but I want to see one of his shows one of these days.  I cannot remember the last time I saw a West Side Story screening advertised which was not a sing-along.  The Castro is screening West Side Story as a matinee on February 14.  No word yet as to whether it is a sing-along.  I want to see it without the crowd "singing" in unison.

February 16 & 17 - the Castro just screened Blade Runner The Final Cut in December.  I assume the version screening in February is one of the other half dozen or so versions of the film.

February 25 - I don't believe I have seen The Exorcist in a movie theater.  As I have gotten older and rewatched the film on multiple occasions, it's not as scary as the first time I saw it.  However, I have come to appreciate William Friedkin's directorial flourishes and the interaction between the two priests, Linda Blair and Mercedes McCambridge's voice.

Given that SF Indiefest and the Mostly British Film Festival are being held in February, I don't know how many films I'll be able to attend at the Castro.

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Castro Theater Calendar - February 2015

Welcome to Hannibal Chew

Welcome to my blog. My name is Dan and I have many interests but I started this blog because I love movies. This blog will be a forum for me to share my thoughts about specific movies and the movie going experience.

What inspired me to write a blog? I've long had latent, artistic tendencies that I allow to manifest in various ways. Two people have influenced me to start this blog. The first is my friend Jinx whom I have known for over 20 years. She has her own blog and she has told me for years that I should write a blog. The question I would pose to her was "What would I write about?" The answer to that question was provided by a man named Jason Wiener. I don't know how to pronounce his last name - weener, V-ner, viner, whiner, etc. I attend several film festivals in the Bay Area and Jason is a fixture at most of them. He isn't easy to miss. He has big shaggy hair, a ZZ Top like beard, and seemingly only one black overcoat. Furthermore, he always sits in the center seat of the front row in the theater. While chatting with him at this year's Indiefest, he mentioned he started a blog in January and that he was posting his musings about Indiefest. Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I decided to shamelessly steal his idea. Actually, Jason and I only share a love of movies. I find that Jason's favorite films are frequently the ones I despise. Jason is much more charitable in his assessments of films. In addition, Jason focuses more on the tangential elements of the movie-going experience.

Link to Jason's Blog

I'm not going to link to Jinx's blog. It's set up so friends and family can watch her son grow (nearly 4 years old). I don't know if she would feel comfortable with photos of her son being made public. I've tried to google her blog but it never shows in the search results so I don't think she would want the URL posted.

Why did I choose Hannibal Chew? Some people may think it is a reference to the Silence of the Lambs character originally portrayed by Anthony Hopkins and reprised by Gaspard Ulliel in this year's Hannibal Rising. That assumption would be incorrect. As movie buffs and sci-fi geeks know, Hannibal Chew was a character in my all-time favorite film - Blade Runner. He made Roy Batty's eyes and was played by James Hong. Hong, a great Chinese American (ABC for those of you familiar with the term) character actor has appeared in many well known films and TV shows. In Blade Runner, he was the cyber scientist in the insulated suit that Roy & Leon first approach "to get more life." You may also recognize him as Tia Carrere's father in Wayne's World 2, Snotty, Booger's master in Revenge of the Nerds 2, or numerous other supporting roles. I'm not really that big of a James Hong fan but I didn't want to have the URL be something like www.dansmovieblog.blogspot.com. I tried bladerunner.blogspot, roybatty, rickdeckard, etc. It came down to jfsebastian or hannibalchew. Although both names have a certain lyricism about them, I chose Hannibal Chew.