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The film responsible for the tango craze and gaucho pants. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse  (1921) I am embarrassed to admit that until tonight, I had never seen a Rudolf Valentino picture in its entirely; only sepia-toned clips in histories of film documentaries and su read more

Earlier this evening, I received confirmation that Backlots will be at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival as an official member of the press. This will be my third year at the festival, and it stands as one of my favorite festivals to cover. Held at San Francisco’s beautiful Castro Theat read more

Christopher Pollock's annotated filmography of the San Francisco Bay Area While visiting Northern California, evangelist Billy Graham once commented, "The Bay Area is so beautiful, I hesitate to preach about heaven while I'm here." Not only lovely, the region is also uniquely photogenic, and many read more

Christopher Pollock's annotated filmography of the San Francisco Bay Area While visiting Northern California, evangelist Billy Graham once commented, "The Bay Area is so beautiful, I hesitate to preach about heaven while I'm here." Not only lovely, the region is also uniquely photogenic, and many read more

Christopher Pollock's annotated filmography of the San Francisco Bay Area While visiting Northern California, evangelist Billy Graham once commented, "The Bay Area is so beautiful, I hesitate to preach about heaven while I'm here." Not only lovely, the region is also uniquely photogenic, and many read more

San Francisco's annual Noir City film noir festival is in progress now at the city's iconic movie palace, the Castro Theatre. This year the festival theme is international and features noir from Argentina, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Spain and - of course - Hollywood. Though th read more

San Francisco's annual Noir City film noir festival is in progress now at the city's iconic movie palace, the Castro Theatre. This year the festival theme is international and features noir from Argentina, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Spain and - of course - Hollywood. Though th read more

San Francisco's annual Noir City film noir festival is in progress now at the city's iconic movie palace, the Castro Theatre. This year the festival theme is international and features noir from Argentina, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Spain and - of course - Hollywood. Though th read more

Just over two years ago I attended – and was astounded by - “Casablanca with the San Francisco Symphony” at Davies Hall. Conductor Michael Francis led the orchestra in accompanying the beyond-iconic classic with Max Steiner’s unforgettable score. What an experience it was (cl read more

Just over two years ago I attended – and was astounded by - “Casablanca with the San Francisco Symphony” at Davies Hall. Conductor Michael Francis led the orchestra in accompanying the beyond-iconic classic with Max Steiner’s unforgettable score. What an experience it was (cl read more

Just over two years ago I attended – and was astounded by - “Casablanca with the San Francisco Symphony” at Davies Hall. Conductor Michael Francis led the orchestra in accompanying the beyond-iconic classic with Max Steiner’s unforgettable score. What an experience it was (cl read more

One critique guest blogger Adam had in his great review of Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine was that the film did not have a good sense of place. Considering that Blue Jasmine is inspired by a play and written by a man both famous for great use of location (New Orleans in the case of A Streetcar Named Des read more

One critique guest blogger Adam had in his great review of Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine was that the film did not have a good sense of place. Considering that Blue Jasmine is inspired by a play and written by a man both famous for great use of location (New Orleans in the case of A Streetcar Named Des read more

San Francisco Directed by W. S. Van Dyke Written by Anita Loos from the story by Robert E. Hopkins 1936/USA Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Repeat viewing   The music is the best thing about this glossy but cliche-ridden dramatic musical/disaster flick. Honorable but unbelieving Blackie Norton (Clark Ga read more

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival came to a close last night, in a veritable smorgesbord of a day in which audiences were treated to a wide variety of films representing everything from tragic drama to side-splitting comedy. The day began with a series of shorts from some artists considered t read more

Yesterday’s programming was perhaps the most phenomena lof the entire festival thus far, and consisted of some of the best offerings I have ever seen here. With an Academy Award-winning animator and a full Balinese gamelan ensemble highlighting the day, this was oe of the most unique and mem read more

The first full day of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival was full indeed, consisting of four feature-length silent movies and a fascinating behind-the-scenes presentation on the restoration of The Half Breed, premiering this afternoon. Beginning at 11:00 in the morning and continuing on straig read more

San Francisco’s Castro Theatre was packed last night, full of excited patrons who came to the theatre for the opening feature of the internationally renowned San Francisco Silent Film Festival. The festival is known for encouraging quality restorations of silent films, and last night’s read more

That’s right folks, tonight Backlots will be returning to the San Francisco Silent Film Festival as an official member of the press! This year, like every year, the festival will feature some of the most fascinating films, restorations and speakers from the world of silent film over the cour read more

  Dear readers, I apologize profusely for my absence over the past 2 weeks. As many of you know, I am also a cellist, and have been occupied with preparing 2 very big pieces to be played at a master class next week. Hence, I’m afraid I will have to be absent some more next week–I read more