Victory for at least one of the city's neighborhood movie houses today, as the Outer Richmond's very own Balboa Theatre announces they've been spared from a future of empty seats and dim projectors (or worse, becoming a gym) by the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation. As RichmondSF reports, thanks to the SFNTF, the humble theater now has a 13 year lease on their space at Balboa Street and 38th Avenue. more ›

It's time again for another Love on Wheels event more ›

The seaward stretch of Balboa between 37th and 38th Avenues conjures a variety of images, from some of the thickest summer fog around to the Balboa Theater’s weathered sign. The block’s numerous Asian restaurants also merit consideration. Add hockey to the list, sort of. More on that in a bit. Unless you’re an Outer Richmond local and buy your nuts and washers at Crown Hardware on Balboa’s south side, odds are strong that you know this block best for the Balboa Theater, where the scent of butter-slathered popcorn wafts outside day and night. The circa-1926, moving picture house endures as the only one of its kind remaining in this part of town, and it seems to do well showing new releases. One reason for its success may be the fact that, as its sidewalk sandwich board announces, No private picnics (are) allowed in the auditorium. Ask anyone on this side of town what killed the Alexandria or the Coronet in recent years, and they’ll surely tell you: private picnics in the auditorium. more ›

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How much do we love early Woody Allen? We went half-way across the world to the Balboa Theater Thursday night for their The Reel San Francisco! festival screening of the Woodman's Take the Money and Run. That's how much. For those not up on their Woody oeuvre, Take the Money and Run, a mockumentary about notorious criminal master mind Virgil Starkwell (he, unfortunately, never made the FBI's Most Wanted List because, as his wife Louise (Janet Margolin- a cross between Neve Campbell and Julia Louise Dreyfuss- put's it "it's who you know") is his first movie he wrote (well, co-wrote with Mickey Rose), directed and starred in. It's so early it's missing the now trademark black background, white type title, and Dixieland jazz title sequence. It's so early it doesn't feature Mia Farrow or Diane Keaton. Yet it's as good as any of his early comedies which means it's about as funny a movie as a movie could possibly be. And then even funnier than that. more ›

There's something vaguely weird in reviewing a movie that came out in 1936 (Who is this young rising star Clark Gable? He's going to go far!), but we had a great time at the kickoff screening for the Balboa Theater's ever-popular Reel SF series, where the theater presents classic movies set in San Francisco. San Francisco is the famous disaster movie about the 1906 earthquake, and tells the story of a local hothead (Clark Gable) running for the Board of Supervisors. (Really! We're not making that up! Our favorite part of the movie, next to the earthquake, was the excellent election rally they held in what would have been District 3 if they'd had district elections back in 1906, where the candidate gives a boring speech about land use, announces, "free beer for everyone!", and then gets in a fight. We see a remake for District 6 with Chris Daly in the lead!) The hothead's in love with a showgirl (Jeannette MacDonald), who sings that famous "San Francisco/Open your Golden Gate" song they use now to kick off screenings at the Castro, over and over and over. Spencer Tracy is in the movie too, playing a priest. The Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) screenplay translates remarkably well into the modern day (what? Conflict between downtown corporate interests and the supervisor looking out for the little guy?) and everyone in the audience had a thoroughly good time. The Balboa is screening San Francisco tonight and tomorrow in tribute to the 100th anniversary of the Big Quake, and the Tuesday the 18th screening will be preceded by vintage fillms (some in 3-D) from 1906, live performances, and a "special surprise guest." Go check out San Francisco's Gone With The Wind yourself, and like us, spend the next day vainly trying to get "San Francisco, Open Your Golden Gate" out of your head. San Francisco, showing 12:45, 4:45, 7:00 p.m. tonight Special Tuesday earthquake centennial screening: 7:00 p.m. Balboa Theater 3630 Balboa (between 37th and 38th Avenues). more ›

We had such fun at last year's Reel San Francisco film series at the Balboa Theater, their series of movies set in and/or made right here in San Francisco (not Vancouver masquerading as such). The second annual series begins this Sunday and runs until Thursday, April 27. more ›

To introduce Gilda (1946) at the Balboa Theater on Thursday, NoirCity founder Eddie Muller offered a familiar interpretation of the film: its protagonist (Glenn Ford as Johnny Farrell), like its director (Charles Vidor), is confused about his sexuality. Now, we've always found this reading a little juvenile, and a little too easy--most film noir, after all, is about homoerotic relationships (see also: cowboy movies) and the beautiful, dangerous women who threaten them. In this setting, though, it was worse than lazy criticism: it produced that most annoying feature of the art-house moviegoing experience, the inside joke. You know this one: whenever something they've been told to watch for happens, moviegoers (clad, again, in fedoras--these must be the same people who wore tutus to the ballet when they were younger) laugh nervously, not because they're amused but because they get it. more ›

We realized that we were living our rock and roll fantasy when we started getting chances to write about zombie movies. (What can we say? We're a simple person, and we have simple needs.) Things got even better when we got to start talking or emailing with directors of said zombie movies -- like Matthew Leutwyler, Bay Area native and director of , a zombie film with musical interludes by more ›

We awoke to Jan Wahl excoriating and Leeishly wondered "is that all there is"? Some time spent on the internerd answers this question affirmatively. In fact, the coolest looking film event this weekend isn't a movie at all! more ›

We knew it was coming, but we're still weren't ready when the news came down. SFist's beloved Coronet Theater is closing its doors forever this Sunday, in preparation for demolition by the owner of the property, The Institute on Aging. more ›

Don't worry, this is not another one of our posts where we bemoan the razing of another local independent theater to make way for a much-needed Walgreens. This is a happy story! Gary Meyer, friend of SFist and owner of the Richmond's Balboa Theater, has announced a change in the programming at the theater. Once the best place in town to see a double feature of second-run movies on the cheap, the Balboa is now devoting one of their two screens to "premieres of international and US independent films, restored classics and selected revival festivals." This is a moment reminiscent of the first time someone dropped their chocolate in your peanut butter, as we like nothing better than having the option of high-falutin' classy cinema on one screen, and first-run-fun on the other. more ›

SFist regrets not following up on our coverage of the Castro Theater controversy sooner, but we really wanted to get the perspectives of the involved parties. more ›