It's the merry month of Pride around these parts -- which means that along with gay-themed documentaries on KQED, parties galore all over town, and the pride parade which is always on the hottest day of the year as if by magic!, it's once again time for the Frameline LGBT film festival! We always love their sexy-themed bus ads too: I LIKE TO WATCH (movies). Anyhow, the programming at Frameline is always top-notch and this... [continue]

SFists Wendy and Alex won't mess with Texas! And get some tasty pretzels after. Everything’s bigger in Texas. Apparently even monsters. We had no idea what to expect heading to the Roxie the other night for the Another Hole In The Head horror film fest to see Wild Man of the Navidad. It comes courtesy of the producer of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre so we figured it might be good for a bit... [continue]

It's Part Two of the California Primary, where the state in its struggles to be "relevant" in the presidential primary by moving its election date up to the first possible date that you could set without having to go through a horrible shouting Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting on CSPAN (i.e., Super Tuesday), ended up artificially depressing turnout on the rest of our state primaries and, ironically, would have done better on the presidential primary... [continue]

Okay, okay, we always start our posts about Another Hole In The Head (the IndieFest horror, sci-fi, and fantasy film fest) like this, but the fact still remains -- the aliens are coming! Revenge killings abound! The zombies are hungry! So snap up your tickets for your favorite scary movies for the next two weeks (June 5-22), because the lines at the Roxie will be..... killer. (Ha!) It looks like it's going to be... [continue]

Were you snoring next to SFist Wendy at the movies the other night? Our fellow SFisters weren’t alone in the lyrical department this week. We signed on for the SFIFF's In the City of Sylvia, a film described as “simple” and “classical.” More importantly for us – since we love all things French (or almost) – the film was set in Strasbourg. It wasn’t until we already had our ticket and were ready to... [continue]

Over the weekend, we saw two documentaries about displacement of communities by rising water at the SFIFF: Up The Yangtze and Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans. Up The Yangtze focuses on the cruise ships that take Western tourists to see the sights of the Yantgze river valley before they're destroyed by the controversial Three Gorges Dam project, which will not only flood a historic and cultural landmark but also displace over... [continue]

SFist Wendy thinks actor Rodrigo Santoro is cute! If you see Not by Chance with several friends, like we did, it is very likely that everyone is going to walk away with a very different take on the film. Maybe that’s in part because some of us are more smitten with Rodrigo Santoro than others (you may remember him from 300, Love Actually, Carandiru, and even several episodes of Lost, among others). The film,... [continue]

Dude -- this movie (Forbidden Lie$, at the SFIFF) is messed!! Do you remember the book Honor Lost (called Forbidden Love in non-US editions) from about five years ago, which supposedly was a memoir of a virgin Jordanian woman whose Muslim best friend was killed by her family in an honor killing when she fell in love with a Christian man? Vaguely? Well, it turns out it was all a lie, a la A... [continue]

If you like spare and lyrical films where a woman finds her voice, Traveling With Pets at the SFIFF is the Russian movie for you! If you like those types of films even more when they have atmospheric music and almost no dialogue, you, like the voting panel of the Moscow International Film Festival, will want to give this movie the Grand Prize! Wellllll, we can't really say that we're the type of movie watcher... [continue]

SFist Mihi is careful not to violate the Hold Review policy of the SFIFF when writing up her review of soon-to-be-blockbuster opening night movie The Last Mistress! The opening night movie of the San Francisco International Film Festival was Director Catherine Breillat's The Last Mistress. Now, you may be wondering why we're writing about The Last Mistress now when opening night was over a week ago. Well, SFIFF has a hold policy on certain... [continue]

OMG, did you watch the last season of Project Runway? Remember Crybaby Ricky, who broke down into tears pretty much every single episode (except, unexpectedly, the episode where he was voted off)? Well, he's in town to promote the dress for which he won the Levi's Denim Challenge (on the "Even Designers Get The Blues" episode), and Drew Altizer has the pictures! We asked Drew if Ricky had cried at the event, and Drew,... [continue]

We are always indebted to Drew Altizer, who goes to the parties and takes such lovely pictures! This time, Drew's at the SF Film Society awards night yesterday at the SFIFF, where director Mike Leigh and actress Maria Bello were honored. And won't Editor Brock be so pleased! It's a beautiful picture of socialite doyenne Dede Wilsey and John Traina, above. After the jump, more pictures, including ones of Maria Bello, Warren Beatty, and... [continue]

SFist Mihi finds love in the Foggy City! Medicine for Melancholy (M4M) made its West Coast Premiere on Wednesday night at the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF). Filmmaker Barry Jenkins shot this moody little indie flick in three weeks, all while working at the Banana Republic on Grant Avenue. (It's people like him who make us feel bad about living in a messy apartment. We can barely manage to hold down a job... [continue]

SFist Wendy takes a trip to Portugal for the SF Int'l Film Fest! For a couple hours last night, we could have sworn that we were in Lisbon, seated in a little café enjoying fado music in the Bairro Alto. Fado, a sort of Portuguese blues, often tells a story about missing someone or something (“saudade” in Portuguese). Although fado is usually associated with Portugal, it shares Brazilian, African, and Arabic influences. Fados, a... [continue]

SFist Wendy kicks off SFist's SFIFF coverage for the next two weeks! Just a quick note on last night’s film since we’ve been asked to keep it a surprise for you all. . . . Last night we were lucky enough to catch Brick Lane at the SF Int'l Film Fest before it hits the theaters. It’s an adaptation of Monica Ali’s debut novel, Brick Lane, which came out in 2003 and was shortlisted... [continue]

We did not know Annie Leibovitz had a local connection! Drew Altizer, the society photographer with all the connections, passes along a picture he took of Ms. Liebovitz with her sisters after a talk that Annie gave at her alma mater, the SF Art Institute, who just named her 2008's McBean Distinguished Lecturer. You can still catch the McBean Distinguished Lecturer's photo exhibition at the Legion of Honor through next month. Thanks for the... [continue]

Because our name is Rita, we've always been interested in the woes of beleaguered meter maids everywhere -- so let's hope that the fears of the DPW DPT [sorry! Our brain freeze on the acronyms.] workers interviewed in today's Chron article about the effects of the parking enforcement penalty hikes don't come to pass: are people really going to be more likely to beat up parking enforcement people because of a $10 increase in the... [continue]

Every now and then, we get this sinking sense that we do not understand the mindset of people different from ourselves. And for once, we're not talking about the presidential primary! We're completely mystified today by the Chronicle Datebook's reporting that readers don't like their new comic strip Lio. What? Lio is hilarious! It's like Calvin and Hobbes, only hilariously dark! The drawing is first-rate, the storylines reliably amusing, and, you know, we're kind of... [continue]

In our new series of "hey! We have no idea what's going on around here!" posts -- we just walked by our favorite dive bar the Uptown on 17th and Capp, and it's completely wrapped up in black plastic sheeting. What happened? If we can motivate to go back outside in this debilitating heat, we'll take a picture of it and post it. Until then (as we wilt in the house with a tall... [continue]

Our newest member of Congress just got booed by pro-war Republicans! Jackie Speier, who was just elected this Tuesday to fill out the remainder of Tom Lantos's term in the House of Representatives, was sworn in today, and she promptly gave what's being described as a "fiery" speech calling for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Here's the San Francisco liberal money quote, which we're sure you'll be seeing both on Fox News and... [continue]