Next Thursday night, the Balboa Theater, together with radio station KFOG, are hosting a one-night-only screening of the documentary Bruce Springsteen: The Promise – The Making of “Darkness on the Edge of Town”.

The Promise, a documentary by Grammy and Emmy-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny, combines never-before-seen footage of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band shot between 1976 and 1978, including home rehearsals and studio sessions, with new interviews with Springsteen, E Street Band members, manager Jon Landau, former manager Mike Appel, and others closely involved in the making of the 1978 album, Darkness on the Edge of Town.

Proceeds from the event benefit Bread and Roses, a non-profit whose mission “is dedicated to uplifting the human spirit by providing free, live, quality entertainment to people who live in institutions or are otherwise isolated from society.”

The film is showing in special screenings across the country and the Boss himself has requested that all showings benefit local non-profit film theatres and organizations.

Thursday night’s event will also include giveaways, with audience members eligible to win “The Promise: The Making of Darkness On The Edge of Town” on BluRay DVD, available in stores on May 3rd (Amazon).

Tickets for the screening are $10 and can be purchased in advance online. The Balboa will have two screenings of the film that night, one at 7:30pm and a second one at 9pm.

Sarah B.

From 1pm until 10pm on Thursday, a feature film crew will be shooting a scene at 7th Avenue and Fulton.

The scene is for an upcoming film called “Big Sur” and it recounts the events surrounding Jack Kerouac’s three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, California. It’s based on Kerouac’s book by the same name, also his last published.

IMDB has a summary of the film, due out in 2012:

Sudden fame and a self-destructive lifestyle were taking a toll on Jack Kerouac’s mind and body following the unparalleled success of the groundbreaking novel, On The Road. Once the handsome literary maverick and hero of the Beat Generation, Kerouac now sees only a vestige of his former self, ravaged by alcohol and drugs, aged beyond his years and tormented by self-doubt.

Questioning his talent, his faith, and his mortality, Kerouac leaves New York for California, on a quest for redemption at an isolated, fog-banked cabin in the primitive landscape of the Big Sur woods. What ensues in those fateful 3 weeks of August, 1960, is both terrifying and revelatory. While Kerouac is able to find beauty and elation in his surroundings, the dichotomy of his psyche renders him unable to face his demons alone. He sets off on a visceral collision course of paranoia, sex, delirium tremens, misery and madness…

Big Sur is being directed by Michael Polish, best known for films like Northfork (2003), The Astronaut Farmer (1999) and Twin Falls Idaho (1999).

Location manager Gail Stempler told me that they’ll be shooting a scene where Kerouac gets off a 1950s bus. The film will use the old train depot that sits on Fulton at 7th Avenue in the scene. Watch the video below for an interesting history of the depot, courtesy of the Western Neighborhoods Project.

They’ll also be putting up fake stop signs for the shoot so if you’re driving around there, heads up!

Thanks to RichmondSFBlog reader k9sound for the tip.

Sarah B.

Next Monday, April 4, the Balboa Theater is screening a new documentary called “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead”.

It’s the story of Australian Joe Cross who was topping out at 310 pounds and battling a debilitating autoimmune disease. The film documents Joe’s journey to regain his health, which evolves into a mission to help a kindred spirit – an obese, American truck driver with the same disease – battle the same demons.

With doctors and conventional medicines unable to help long-term, Joe turns to the only option left, the body’s ability to heal itself. He trades in the junk food and hits the road with juicer and generator in tow, vowing only to drink fresh fruit and vegetable juice for the next 60 days. Across 3,000 miles Joe has one goal in mind: To get off his pills and achieve a balanced lifestyle.

While talking to more than 500 Americans about food, health and longevity, it’s at a truck stop in Arizona where Joe meets a truck driver who suffers from the same rare condition. Phil Staples is morbidly obese weighing in at 429 lbs; a cheeseburger away from a heart-attack. As Joe is recovering his health, Phil begins his own epic journey to get well.

Joe Cross himself will be at the Balboa for the screening, which begins at 7pm; tickets are $10 and can be purchased online in advance. Joe will stick around afterwards to discuss his film with audience members.

Sarah B.

Despite it’s opening on April 1 at the 4-Star Theater, the documentary film “The Elephant in the Living Room” is no joke.

The film documents the controversial American subculture of raising dangerous animals as common household pets:

Director Michael Webber follows the journey of two men at the heart of the issue. One, Tim Harrison, a decorated police officer, firefighter and paramedic whose mission is to protect exotic animals and the public, and the other, Terry Brumfield, a big-hearted man who struggles to keep his two pet African lions that he loves like his own family.

David Chen of Slashfilm.com gives it four stars and says it’s “one of the best documentaries I’ve seen all year” (read the full review).

We used to have our own lion living in the neighborhood. Church of Satan High Priest Anton LaVey lived out on California near 24th Avenue. He was well-known by neighbors for his pet lion which he kept in a cage in the house.

On the Outside Lands website, one former neighbor writes, “He would drive around in a station wagon with a lion…yes a real live lion…in the rear of the car.” That is until the neighborhood could no longer stand the animal’s bellowing roars. He was eventually shipped off to the zoo and then to a private animal farm.

The 4-Star Theater is located on the corner of Clement and 22nd Avenue. “The Elephant in the Living Room” opens on Friday, April 1.

Sarah B.

For a limited time (through Thursday 3/17 only), the Balboa Theater is screening the short films (live action or animated) that were nominated for Academy Awards this year.

Stop in to see all five films nominated for Best Short Film (Live Action). Total running time is 106 minutes and you’ll see:

The Confession
The Crush
God of Love (Winner)
Na Wewe
Wish 143

Showing daily at 1:20, 5:10 and 9:00.

You might remember Luke Matheny , the director of God of Love, who gave a very funny and heartwarming Oscar acceptance speech, thanking his Mom for providing Kraft services on the set.

You can also watch the series of films nominated for Best Short Film (Animated), which runs 85 minutes and includes:

Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let’s Pollute
The Lost Thing (Winner)
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)

Showing daily at 3:25 and 7:15.

Visit the Balboa Theater website for more information about these films.

If you’re into film, you should probably check them out. After all, they are more than just the obscure, high point categories on your annual Oscar poll, right?

Sarah B.

This Thursday only, the Balboa Theater (3630 Balboa Street) will host a screening of the rock ‘n roll documentary “The Harmony Game: The Making of Bridge Over Troubled Water”.

The film commemorates the 40th anniversary of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s final studio album that is “shrouded in rock n’ roll mythology with legendary tales of inspiration, innovation and separation.”

A rarely seen time-capsule of Simon & Garfunkel’s writing process and of the late-1960s, this spectacular 70+ minute documentary includes archival footage and brand new interviews with Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel discussing the creation and reception of Bridge Over Troubled Water, along with several of the duo’s collaborators from the period: Roy Halee (co-producer/engineer), Hal Blaine (drums), Joe Osborn (bass guitar), Jimmie Haskell (arranger), and Mort Lewis (manager).

The documentary is included in the new 40th anniversary CD-DVD reissue of the album from Sony Music, which comes out March 8. The documentary is being shown in select theaters, like the Balboa, for a limited time.

Thursday night’s screening begins at 7:30pm. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance or at the door the night of the show.

Bridge Over Troubled Water (1971)
1. Bridge Over Troubled Water
2. El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
3. Cecilia
4. Keep the Customer Satisfied
5. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
6. The Boxer
7. Baby Driver
8. The Only Living Boy in New York
9. Why Don’t You Write Me
10. Bye Bye Love
11. Song for the Asking

Sarah B.

Let the countdown begin to the 83rd annual Academy Awards, taking place this Sunday night.

The Balboa always gets in the spirit and this year is no different. Beginning Tuesday, the DOC Film Institute at SF State and the Balboa will present “Oscar Docs 2011″, an exclusive three-day screening of the 2011 Academy Award nominated short and feature documentaries.

Tickets are $7.50 per screening, or $20 for an all-day pass. Visit the Balboa website for the complete list of films and showtimes.

On Sunday night, the Balboa will host a live screening of the Academy Awards in HD on their big movie screen. Join in with other movielovers to gawk at the Red Carpet, see who takes home the big awards, and most importantly who has the best and worst acceptance speeches.

Doors open at 3:30 pm for the Red Carpet procession and the Oscar show starts at 5pm. Dress up or down as your favorite nominated movie or as a movie star to add to the celebrities on the Balboa’s red carpet.

There will be prizes for the most creative costumes, including movie passes, DVDs, posters, t-shirts, and much more.

The Balboa Theater is located at 3630 Balboa Street at 37th Avenue.

Sarah B.

Most of us feel accomplished when we run a few miles. Maybe you’ve even run the Bay to Breakers, or even more impressive, you’ve finished a marathon.

But how about about setting a goal of running from the steps of San Francisco’s City hall to the steps of New York’s City Hall… in 46 days? Two men – well-known ultra-marathoners Charlie Engle and Marshall Ulrich – tried to do just that in 2008.

“Running America” is the documentary film that captures their journey. The film became as much about their personal and physical challenges as it did about the Americans they encountered along the way, all of whom were caught up in the political and economic turmoil of the 2008 presidential election.

On Thursday, February 24th at 8:30pm, the 4-Star Theater (22nd & Clement) is holding a one-night-only screening of “Running America”. Tickets can be purchased online for $9 or on the night of the show at the box office.

Sarah B.