Tonight only, the Balboa Theater hosts Thrillville’s Lucha Beach Party, a mini film festival featuring classic, Mexican monster mash-ups.

Thrillville is a Bay Area based cult movie cabaret produced and programmed by local lounge lizard Will “the Thrill” Viharo since April 1997, co-hosted by his lovely assistant and patient wife, Monica “The Tiki Goddess” Cortes Viharo.

Tonight’s films are Santo and the Blue Demon vs. the Monsters (1969) and Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy (1964). The wacky titles alone make me want to check them out! Tonight’s event will also feature the surf sounds of Pollo del Mar.

La fiesta begins at 7:30; admission is just $12 for both films.

Sarah B.

Perhaps you’ve heard about the upcoming Ken Burns documentary series on our country’s National Parks? On a related note, the lobby of the Balboa Theater is currently featuring the photos of Quang-Tuan Luong, specifically his series of National Park pictures.

My Balboa Theater newsletter came this week and it was packed with great information about this local photographer. Born to Vietnamese parents in Paris, France, Luong was trained as a scientist but spent his free time as a mountain climber and wilderness guide.

Later he came to Berkeley for his work and after spending time in Yosemite, he fell in love with the National Parks and decided to photograph all of them with a 5×7 large format camera, a single-handed, self-financed, monumental project that had not been completed by anyone before.

To anchor his project, he settled in the San Francisco Bay Area and started criss-crossing this country to capture its diverse beauty. Luong’s in-depth coverage of the Parks often dictated long hikes into the backcountry, with a 75 lb backpack, and only his passion and dedication to keep him company.

By 2002, Luong had visited each of the 58 National Parks. He subsequently left his distinguished career as a scientist to work as a full-time photographer. Since then, his photographs have been published in many books, and have appeared in several publications around the world. His website, terragalleria.com, is one of the top photographer sites in the world.

Luong’s work plays a vital role in Ken Burns’ new documentary “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea”. In the course of researching locations for the documentary, Ken Burns saw the images on Luong’s website, and used them to help plan his production.

Impressed by the wealth and quality of the photos, Burns used some of Luong’s images to fill missing sequences in their cinematography. Intrigued by the story of Luong’s life and project, they featured him as one of the few living characters in the film.

To see Luong’s work up close, stop by the Balboa Theater lobby, or visit his website. The “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” series will air on PBS from Sunday, September 27 through Friday, October 2, 2009 in six parts. View the TV schedule.

Sarah B.

A well-known, local children’s author and his wife invite you to enjoy their favorite family movie on Sunday, September 13 at The Balboa Theater: Young Frankenstein.

Daniel Handler, a.k.a Lemony Snicket, and his wife, Lisa Brown, are co-hosting a benefit for the Richmond District libraries campaign, whose mission is to renovate the Richmond and Anza Branch Libraries. View event flyer

The public is invited to a free screening of this classic 1974 Mel Brooks comedy (trailer below). A special reception with Daniel Handler will also take place before the film at 11am. Admission to this reception is $25 for adults and children under 12 are FREE. The film, which is free, will begin at 12noon.

RSVP is required for this event, even if you just want to attend the free screening. To make a reservation or for further information, contact Sara Bassett at The Friends of the San Francisco Public Library: sara.bassett@friendssfpl.org | (415) 626-7512 x106. Please RSVP by Friday, September 4th.

Sarah B.

As part of their “Friday Nights” program and in keeping with their current King Tut exhibition, the de Young will screen the 1954 film “The Egyptian” tonight. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Mika Waltari.

Here’s the film’s synopsis from IMDB.com:

In eighteenth-dynasty Egypt, Sinuhe, a poor orphan, becomes a brilliant physician and with his friend Horemheb is appointed to the service of the new Pharoah. Sinuhe’s personal triumphs and tragedies are played against the larger canvas of the turbulent events of the 18th dynasty. As Sinuhe is drawn into court intrigues, and bizarre secrets are revealed to him, he learns the answers to the questions he has sought since his birth.

The movie will be shown in the de Young’s Koret Auditorium at 6:15pm. Admission is free.

Friday Nights at the de Young offers a variety of interdisciplinary arts programs, including live music, poetry, films, dance, tours, and lectures. The cafe is open with a special Friday Nights dinner menu, and a no-host cocktail bar is serving drinks.

Other events going on tonight, all free as well, include:

- Live music and dance by Samba Rio, featuring pagode and samba de roda. Pagode is a small-ensemble style of samba that was born in Rio de Janeiro. Samba is deeply rooted in Brazilian culture and its African influences.

- Hands-on art making fun for everyone, with “art diva” Kim Erickson. Pretend you’re in Rio for Carnival. Make your own colorful Carnival mask and dance the samba!

- Closing Reception for Artist-in-Residence John Kuzich, Imagination. Refreshments are served while they last. Kimball Education Gallery, Artist Studio, 6-8:30pm.

Sarah B.

This past weekend, the Balboa Theater held a promotion around their showing of the popular film Julie & Julia, which follows the famous chef Julia Child as she tries to get her now world-famous culinary career off the ground.

To honor what would have been her 97th birthday, The Balboa invited patrons to bake a cake in Julia Child’s honor and bring it to the theater in exchange for free admission to the movie. Cakes were then shared with other movie-goers.

SFWeekly has a nice wrapup of the event. About 30 bakers attended and all sorts of cakes were offered up in salute – sheet cakes, cupcakes, even bundts. Ironically, one patron pointed out, no one mentioned using a Julia Child recipe for their cake.

The movie is a lot of fun and not surprisingly, Meryl Streep is fantastic. Check out the trailer below to get a taste, then catch a showing at the Balboa.

Sarah B.

Do you have a penchant for campy science fiction films? Then don’t miss the Sci-FI Schlock-o-Rama at the 4-Star Theater on Thursday night.

The event is hosted by Thrillville, an event company dedicated to “a city of B Movie Dreams”. They were recently voted “Best B Movie Survivor” in the 2009 Bay Guardian Best of the Bay poll. Thrillville’s Mr. Thrill and his lovely assistant and bride, Monica, Tiki Goddess, will emcee the festival.

On screen that night will be two schlocky classics. First up is Missile to the Moon (1958) which follows two escaped convicts who are found hiding in a rocket, and after being discovered, are forced to fly it to the moon. Or course there are a couple of stowaways and plot twists that make this one sizzle.

The second film is The Devil’s Hand (1962), a story of a man who, by way of his fiance, some nightmares and a doll shop, is drawn into a sect that worships the diabolic Gamba. A great quote from the trailer: “Death is a plaything when you are caught…in the Devil’s Hand!” (read aloud in dramatic, movie trailer voice).

The schlock-o-rama starts at 7:30pm, admission is $12.

Sarah B.

This Friday, August 14, a special animated film opens at the Balboa Theater called PONYO. It’s from Japan and is directed by the world famous Hayao Mayazaki whose Oscar-winning films include Spirited Away, Prince Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro.

PONYO is very family friendly and ideal for all ages. Here’s a brief synopsis of the film:

From the Academy Award-winning director and world-renowned Japanese animation legend Hayao Mayazaki comes PONYO, a story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Little Mermaid”. Already a box-office success in Japan, the story of a young and overeager goldfish name PONYO and her quest to become human features an outstanding roster of voice talent including: Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Frankie Jonas, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, and Betty White.

Watch the trailer below and then check out the Balboa Theater website for showtimes. The Balboa Theater is located at 3630 Balboa at 38th Avenue.

7×7 Magazine also has a great interview with the film’s director, Hayao Mayazaki.

Plus a special bonus from Green Apple: Bring a receipt from Green Apple Books ($10 min purchase) to The Balboa, you will enjoy a bag of popcorn on the house with the purchase of admission. And if you bring your Ponyo ticket stub into Green Apple, you will save you 20% off any new or used commix/graphic novels.

Sarah B.

Looking for a way to escape the foggy, overcast weather for a few hours? Our local movie houses, the 4-Star Theatre and the Balboa Theater, are now both offering double features. The Balboa recently added them back into their lineup.

The 4-Star’s double feature for the next week pairs two comedies, the wildly popular “The Hangover” with “Away We Go”. The Hangover is about a group of guys who head to Vegas for a bachelor party and spend most of the movie piecing together what happened to them on the night before. It’s very funny and stars Bradley Cooper.

Away We Go, starring Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski, follows an unmarried couple who is expecting their first child travel as they travel around the U.S. to find a perfect place to start their family. Of course along the way, they have some misadventures.

See these two fun flicks for $9.00, or just $7 for a bargain matinee or if you’re over 65. The 4-Star Theatre is located at Clement & 23rd Avenue. Check 4-Star showtimes

The Balboa Theater, located at 38th Avenue and Balboa, is going all out with two sets of double features. The first pairs Captain Abu Raed with Moon. Abu Raed is the story of a lonely janitor at Amman’s International Airport, who one day finds a a discarded Captain’s hat in the trash at work. He is followed by a neighborhood boy who spots him wearing it as he walks home and the next morning he wakes up to find a group of neighborhood children at his door, believing him to be an airline pilot. And thus the friendship begins.

Moon is a sci-fi story about astronaut Sam Bell, who is living on the far side of the moon, completing a three-year contract with Lunar Industries to mine Earth’s primary source of energy, Helium-3. But before he can finish and return home to his Earth family in a few weeks, his health starts to deteriorate. Roger Ebert says “Moon is a superior example of that threatened genre, hard science-fiction, which is often about the interface between humans and alien intelligence of one kind of or other, including digital”.

The second double feature at the Balboa is Cheri with Food, Inc. Cheri stars Michelle Pfeiffer who in this seductive and sensational tale, stars as a ravishing Parisian courtesan who takes a naïve young man half her age—rising British star Rupert Friend—into her boudoir to teach him a thing or two about women.

In Food, Inc. filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that’s been hidden from the American consumer. Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield Farm’s Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms’ Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising–and often shocking truths–about what we eat, how it’s produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.

Admission prices at the Balboa are also $9.00, $6.50 for bargain matinees. And if it’s your birthday, you get in FREE! I love that. Check Balboa showtimes

And of course, both movie theaters are surrounded by a variety of restaurants. The Balboa Theater even has a handy local restaurant guide on their website. So why not escape this dreary weather for awhile and make a night or an afternoon out of it? Don’t forget the popcorn.

Sarah B.