http://coastsider.com/index.php Coastside news and community en Joe@armadillosoft.com Copyright 2013 2013-04-18T20:23:04-07:00 http://coastsider.com/site/news/a_documentary_about_the_rich_musical_folk_culture_of_cuba http://coastsider.com/site/news/a_documentary_about_the_rich_musical_folk_culture_of_cuba SANTIAGO IS SANTIAGO In the 50+ years since the Cuban revolution, Cuba’s isolation from the U.S. has allowed its culture to evolve independently. In 2011, the El Granda-based filmmaker Warren Haack travelled to Cuba on a lark. He quickly fell in love with the culture. He returned to film this in-depth look at the music, dance, religion and everyday lives of the people—in the streets, at home and in the clubs where life throbs to a distinct, captivating rhythm. Friday, April 19, 7:30 p.m. Community United Methodist Sanctuary 777 Miramontes St., Half Moon Bay (corner of Johnston Street) Suggested donation: $8 adults, $3 for those 18 years and under The film features the performances of over a dozen musical groups. Images of everyday life are woven into the music. The cars may be old-fashioned, but the music is revolutionary, featuring new genres created out of a fusion of musical styles that the originators had never envisioned. Warren Haack lives in El Granada, works for the Department of Cinema at San Francisco State University, and serves as a board member of the Coastside Film Society. He will attend the screening and regale us with stories about his trips to Cuba. As a special treat he will let us have a glimpse of new footage her captured last month during his most recent trip to Cuba. More info on the Web at: www.HMBFilm.org Movie trailer at: youtu.be/cQkG0O_QVGA 2013-04-18T20:23:04-07:00 http://coastsider.com/site/news/fridays_documentary_a_must_see_for_lovers_of_art_totalitarianism http://coastsider.com/site/news/fridays_documentary_a_must_see_for_lovers_of_art_totalitarianism The Desert of Forbidden Art(80 mins) Coastside Film Society Film Night Friday, March 15, 7:30 p.m. Community United Methodist Sanctuary 777 Miramontes St., Half Moon Bay Suggested donation: $8 adults, $3 for children and students Nukus is a remote capital deep inside Uzbekistan, a Central Asian country where water is scarce and 120-degree weather is common. It's an unlikely location for one of the world's greatest avant-garde art collections. It took filmmakers Amanda Pope and Tchavdar Georgiev six years to get access to the collection, to shoot all the film needed to illustrate this remarkable collection, and to capture all the interviews needed to tell the story of the remarkable man who was able to create this artistic oasis in the remote Uzbek outback. It all began when Uzbekistan was still part of the Soviet Union, and modern art and artists were being harshly persecuted by Stalin. Wannabe artist Igor Savitsky came to Uzbekistan as part of an archeological expedition, and found himself surrounded by talented Soviet artists hiding out in the Uzbek outback. Realizing he could never produce work as beautiful as what he was seeing, he redirected his passion to collecting the forbidden art he loved. In time his collection grew to over 40,000 pieces housed in the folk art museum he talked the state into founding. "The Desert of Forbidden Art provides a dramatic examination of the power of art against forces of repressive tyranny. It is a fascinating work that will ennoble art lovers, students of Russian history, and anyone who believes in the power of culture." Phil Hall, FilmThreat.com For more info: www.hmbfilm.org Preview of the film at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=FBRi97BoWAM 2013-03-13T20:18:21-07:00 http://coastsider.com/site/news/4th_annual_silent_film_fest_in_half_moon_bay http://coastsider.com/site/news/4th_annual_silent_film_fest_in_half_moon_bay Reviewer Landon Palmer calls Sunrise one of the greatest films of all time: “Here you have it all: . A romantic comedy worthy of a wise-cracking Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn.  A horror film whose use of shadows is worthy of any Universal monster movie. And an adventure/thriller worthy of Bogart. (The film) goes to so many places, accomplishes so much emotionally, earns all of it, and does so through a visionary style that manages to suck the audience in. The extended trot through the city is one of the most unapologetically whimsical sequences in cinema, and I love it.  (And lets not forget the hilarious ) drunken pig as a metaphor for the political treaties that led to WWI.” FilmSchoolRejects.com. “Modern audiences will still be blown away by the boldness of the film’s visual experimentation. The more you consider Sunrise the deeper it becomes.” Roger Ebert,  Chicago Sun-Times “The individual passages are so lyrically tactile, so swoony, they transform spectatorship into something else. They defined what was/is cinematic from that point on.” Michael Atkinson , Village Voice More info at: www.HMBFilm.org The Coastside Film Society will screen "Sunrise" - a silent film masterpiece with live grand piano accompaniment on Friday Feb 22nd. 1927 was the year the silent film achieved artistic perfection and then died. In that year, F.W. Murnau's tense psychological drama Sunrise was released. Critics were quick to acclaim that Sunrise was the finest film ever made. It won three academy awards including the coveted best and most artistic picture of the year. The public could care less. You see, 1927 was also the year in which the first talkies arrived. Talkies are what people clamored to see and Sunrise was a  box office flop. As a result few people alive today have heard of it. Thats a shame because this is a film that still sits on many critics top ten lists of the best movies of all times. 2013-02-21T01:07:28-08:00 http://coastsider.com/site/news/colorful_blockbuster_from_china_screens_on_friday http://coastsider.com/site/news/colorful_blockbuster_from_china_screens_on_friday The Coastside Film Society proudly presents Red Sorghum. “Beautiful, visually but with that extra edge of human darkness; lust, greed, violence, death, murderous invaders, all set within or close to the wavering seas of sorghum grasses, grown for making a blood-red wine … A story that starts simply but builds into a brazen attack on the senses, the superb use of colour mixing with excellent dramatic acting, slow-moving and evocative long takes and occasional bursts of action - and some comedy, good natural comedy that's actually a joy and which breaks down any boundaries concerned with race, or time.”     Tim Kinder, IMDB.com 2012-11-27T20:47:51-08:00 http://coastsider.com/site/news/video_of_the_2012_pumpkin_fest_parade_is_now_online http://coastsider.com/site/news/video_of_the_2012_pumpkin_fest_parade_is_now_online I have been filming the Pumpkin Fest for many years now. The local TV station has been airing those videos on freqent rotation. That station is gone, and the new station no longer airs the full videos. People have been asking me to post my coverage online. I broke up the video in to a series of short, easilty digestible clips, all of which I have posted on YouTube.  Enjoy, and please email the links to friends and family who might be interested. 2012-10-29T00:16:43-07:00 http://coastsider.com/site/news/friday_is_film_night_in_half_moon_bay_-_under_african_skies http://coastsider.com/site/news/friday_is_film_night_in_half_moon_bay_-_under_african_skies Under African Skies(108 mins) “A cultural lightning bolt that soars on its music and an unshakable belief in the transcendence of art.” — Peter Travers, Rolling Stone Magazine       Friday, Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m.                                                               Community United Methodist Sanctuary                                         777 Miramontes St., Half Moon Bay, (corner of Johnston Street)   A free event -- donations will be gladly accepted                        The Coastside Film Society proudly presents a documentary about Paul Simon’s return to South Africa for the 25th anniversary tour celebrating the birth of his Grammy-winning 1986 album of the year, Graceland. The album was both a hit and a controversial cultural phenomenon. It teamed Simon, a white American musical legend, with a wonderful group of South African musicians to create an exciting work of fusion. Some felt that the album exploited the work of his African colleagues; others argued it paid homage to the unique African song styles it borrowed from, and in doing so, opened up African music to a much wider world audience. More controversial yet was the fact that Simon had openly defied a U.N. cultural boycott by travelling and recording music in a South Africa that was still in the grips of apartheid oppression. The documentary celebrates the roots of the music, showing countless clips of Simon jamming with his African collaborators, including Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Okeyerama Asante and Ray Phiri — both in 1986 and during the 2011 tour. It also features recent interviews with Dali Tambo of Artists Against Apartheid, Paul McCartney, David Byrne and Peter Gabriel, who ruminate on the influence that Graceland had on their lives and their work. “Doubly satisfying: We get not only a trenchant political drama but a bang-up concert film as well.” — Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor More info at http://www.HMBFilm.org 2012-10-24T23:56:49-07:00 http://coastsider.com/site/news/the_pumpkin_fest_will_be_broadcast_live_on_pct_on_both_oct._13_and_14 http://coastsider.com/site/news/the_pumpkin_fest_will_be_broadcast_live_on_pct_on_both_oct._13_and_14 2012-10-12T01:04:20-07:00 http://coastsider.com/site/news/come_see_two_plays_by_a_local_author_for_free_this_weekend_in_pacifica http://coastsider.com/site/news/come_see_two_plays_by_a_local_author_for_free_this_weekend_in_pacifica 2012-09-13T21:02:28-07:00 http://coastsider.com/site/news/films_of_horror_and_humor_on_fri._aug_31 http://coastsider.com/site/news/films_of_horror_and_humor_on_fri._aug_31 The films that will be screened during this month’s Friday Film Night were brought to the Film Society by a young Bay Area singer and film maker named Johnny Villar. Johnny wanted Film Night to feature “The Night of the Hunter” - a classic from 1955 that was so ahead of its time that it never became as famous as it should be. What a great suggestion the film scholars at the Film Society agreed!. Two conditions were set. 1.) Johnny had to agree to act as the master of ceremonies for the night. 2.) The night would start off with a screening of one of Johnny’s own dark and funny silent short films. (short) The Bicycle (5 mins) In the peaceful tranquility of Foster City, CA, a dastardly thief steals a bicycle and a hilarious chase ensues. This silent short by Bay Area artist Johnny Villar won the 2011 College of San Mateo Film Festival. It features a unique suburban visual style and frightfully funny over-the-top performances. If you love the films of Chaplin & Keaton or enjoy films that combine humor with menace, don’t miss “The Bicycle”. (feature) The Night of the Hunter (93 mins) “One of the greatest of all American films. Compelling, frightening and beautiful, combining horror and humor… A film like no other before or since.” Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times Robert Mitchum plays Harry Powell, a charismatic and psychotic preacher who marries and murders widows for their money. Shelley Winters plays Willa, a bank robber’s widow destined to be the preacher’s next victim. What no one realizes is that only her kids know where their Dad hid the loot. Lillian Gish plays Rachel Cooper, an indomitable welfare worker who can quote scripture just as avidly as the preacher, but whose determination to save the children is just as steely as the preacher’s plans to bend them to his will. “The issues are elemental, the morality biblical, the trials Homeric. In terms of cinematic texture, it’s a hound from hell.” Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice Friday, Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m. Community United Methodist Sanctuary, 777 Miramontes St., Half Moon Bay (corner of Johnston Street) More info: www.HMBFilm.org   2012-08-30T10:40:58-07:00 http://coastsider.com/site/news/highway_92_is_closed_near_half_moon_bay_nursery http://coastsider.com/site/news/highway_92_is_closed_near_half_moon_bay_nursery UPDATE: Highway 92 was re-opened at 4:46pm. Highway 92 is closed near the Half Moon Bay Nursery, due to a collision at about 2:30pm. It is expected to be closed for several hours, reports the San Mateo County Sheriff. 2012-07-12T15:00:04-07:00