Brian Darr
@hellonfriscobay.bsky.social
Cinephile, music lover & library worker originally from San Francisco now living in Maine. These are personal opinions that may not reflect the views of my employer.
Pinned
Brian Darr
@hellonfriscobay.bsky.social
· Oct 12
After Dark: CMYK | Exploratorium Museum Event
Strut down a runway in your brightest outfit, learn about the secrets of primary colors, play with optical illusions, plus more surprises await you at After Dark—come show off your true colors!
www.exploratorium.edu
My spouse Kerry Laitala has a low-budget 3D movie called Terra Incognita screening as part of the @exploratorium.bsky.social’s Chromatic Cinema event this Thursday www.exploratorium.edu/visit/calend...
Just as important and indicative to the current crisis in image distribution as the Netflix HBO merger:
December 5, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Just as important and indicative to the current crisis in image distribution as the Netflix HBO merger:
I never did, and neither did my filmmaker wife, until last year when we changed our mobile phone service to a company that (to our surprise) included it as part of the package whether we wanted it or not.
curious: do people not subscribe to Netflix?
December 5, 2025 at 7:26 PM
I never did, and neither did my filmmaker wife, until last year when we changed our mobile phone service to a company that (to our surprise) included it as part of the package whether we wanted it or not.
Reposted by Brian Darr
this will 100% happen, and if we’ve got any duty as critics and journalists, it’s to shine a light on these spaces that make freedom a reality
i just gotta hope there's a swell of movement in underground and fringe spaces that can spring out and grab a corner of culture. these are the conditions that create true DIY spaces, spaces that always exist, but that maybe can hold a swell of cache for ppl as they realize it's all bullshit
December 5, 2025 at 5:11 PM
this will 100% happen, and if we’ve got any duty as critics and journalists, it’s to shine a light on these spaces that make freedom a reality
What’s also making this decision easier is the director of this Netflix release is one of just 2 or 3 directors on my list who I don’t think has weighed in on Gaza, however obliquely. And he’s by far the highest-profile in that category. Never made that part of a list calculus before but I might now
Was planning to submit a Netflix-distributed title (that I saw in a cinema and really loved) on a top ten list due today, but the news is souring me on it, and there are a couple other movies I also loved this year without that baggage that I’m tempted to consider for its slot.
December 5, 2025 at 4:06 PM
What’s also making this decision easier is the director of this Netflix release is one of just 2 or 3 directors on my list who I don’t think has weighed in on Gaza, however obliquely. And he’s by far the highest-profile in that category. Never made that part of a list calculus before but I might now
Was planning to submit a Netflix-distributed title (that I saw in a cinema and really loved) on a top ten list due today, but the news is souring me on it, and there are a couple other movies I also loved this year without that baggage that I’m tempted to consider for its slot.
December 5, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Was planning to submit a Netflix-distributed title (that I saw in a cinema and really loved) on a top ten list due today, but the news is souring me on it, and there are a couple other movies I also loved this year without that baggage that I’m tempted to consider for its slot.
Reposted by Brian Darr
Oh good, I was wondering how it could get worse
I just heard from someone at Netflix. TCM is apparently going with the other linear networks to Discovery Global.
Here is the official comment on what WBD assets will be acquired by Netflix:
"We are acquiring the film and television studios, HBO and HBO Max."
Here is the official comment on what WBD assets will be acquired by Netflix:
"We are acquiring the film and television studios, HBO and HBO Max."
December 5, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Oh good, I was wondering how it could get worse
Made a list of every film I saw at the Shattuck, California, and other Landmark-run cinemas around the Bay Area (but not inside San Francisco; those venues have their own lists): boxd.it/Q8NOu/detail
Landmark of the Beast (and eninsula-Pay)
After completing my goal of seeing a movie in every commercial cinema operating in San Francisco during the late nineties, during the early oughts (especially from late 2000 until 2003, while I owned ...
boxd.it
December 4, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Made a list of every film I saw at the Shattuck, California, and other Landmark-run cinemas around the Bay Area (but not inside San Francisco; those venues have their own lists): boxd.it/Q8NOu/detail
Reposted by Brian Darr
Join us tonight for a free open screening! If you have something you'd like to show in the program, email [email protected].
Open Screening
ATA’s free community film/video show welcomes short format work or (15 min or less) from all genres. An open forum for independent filmmakers to show their work, we hold screenings the first Thursd…
www.atasite.org
December 4, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Join us tonight for a free open screening! If you have something you'd like to show in the program, email [email protected].
Held at the St. Francis, which was the last of the Market Street movie palaces to stop showing mainstream movies; I caught a double bill of Men in Black and The Fifth Element there in 1997 in which most of the audience was treating the place like a cheap flophouse.
World Premiere of “The Bigamist” in San Francisco, Nov 24, 1953
“IDA LUPINO • FRANK LOVEJOY • EDMUND GWENN • Producer COLLIER YOUNG • Matt Dennis • Composer Leith Stevens
Talk to your favorite stars in our theatre lobby!”
Who were the lucky ones who got to talk to Ida Lupino in the theater lobby?
“IDA LUPINO • FRANK LOVEJOY • EDMUND GWENN • Producer COLLIER YOUNG • Matt Dennis • Composer Leith Stevens
Talk to your favorite stars in our theatre lobby!”
Who were the lucky ones who got to talk to Ida Lupino in the theater lobby?
December 4, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Held at the St. Francis, which was the last of the Market Street movie palaces to stop showing mainstream movies; I caught a double bill of Men in Black and The Fifth Element there in 1997 in which most of the audience was treating the place like a cheap flophouse.
One of these is making my top ten. Three are definitely not. The others I have not seen, and only two in that category are likely to attract my attention without some kind of tectonic shifting.
Even by National Board of Review standards, that’s a notably terrible list.
December 3, 2025 at 8:00 PM
One of these is making my top ten. Three are definitely not. The others I have not seen, and only two in that category are likely to attract my attention without some kind of tectonic shifting.
Just realized my favorite account for year end list alerts is on Bluesky! Give ‘em a follow?
New York Times: Manohla Dargis: Best Movies of 2025
New York Times: Manohla Dargis: Best Movies of 2025
Manohla Dargis: Best Movies of 2025, as published by The New York Times
www.yearendlists.com
December 3, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Just realized my favorite account for year end list alerts is on Bluesky! Give ‘em a follow?
Wrote four spoiler-free paragraphs on this one so might as well share here boxd.it/bUxdJr
A review of Wake Up Dead Man (2025)
Mysteries have long been one of my less favorite genres. As someone said on a recent This American Life episode (their best new one in years?), “once you have the answer, the sparkle disappears.” Whic...
boxd.it
December 2, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Wrote four spoiler-free paragraphs on this one so might as well share here boxd.it/bUxdJr
Reposted by Brian Darr
📣🎬 Calling all filmmakers & artists! Celebrate Public Domain Day in January 2026 by making a 2–3 min short film using public domain works from 1930 & earlier.
📆 Deadline: January 7, 2026
💰 First prize: $1,500
ℹ️ Details 👉 blog.archive.org/2025/12/01/2...
#contest #filmmaking #publicdomain
📆 Deadline: January 7, 2026
💰 First prize: $1,500
ℹ️ Details 👉 blog.archive.org/2025/12/01/2...
#contest #filmmaking #publicdomain
December 1, 2025 at 10:45 PM
📣🎬 Calling all filmmakers & artists! Celebrate Public Domain Day in January 2026 by making a 2–3 min short film using public domain works from 1930 & earlier.
📆 Deadline: January 7, 2026
💰 First prize: $1,500
ℹ️ Details 👉 blog.archive.org/2025/12/01/2...
#contest #filmmaking #publicdomain
📆 Deadline: January 7, 2026
💰 First prize: $1,500
ℹ️ Details 👉 blog.archive.org/2025/12/01/2...
#contest #filmmaking #publicdomain
Noteworthy first views of November 2025 (new films excluded, order viewed):
Avalanche (Mikio Naruse, 1937)
India Cabaret (Mira Nair, 1985)
Fog Pumas (Gunvor Nelson & Dorothy Wiley, 1967)
Meditation (Jordan Belson, 1971)
Time Piece (Jim Henson, 1965)
Avalanche (Mikio Naruse, 1937)
India Cabaret (Mira Nair, 1985)
Fog Pumas (Gunvor Nelson & Dorothy Wiley, 1967)
Meditation (Jordan Belson, 1971)
Time Piece (Jim Henson, 1965)
December 1, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Noteworthy first views of November 2025 (new films excluded, order viewed):
Avalanche (Mikio Naruse, 1937)
India Cabaret (Mira Nair, 1985)
Fog Pumas (Gunvor Nelson & Dorothy Wiley, 1967)
Meditation (Jordan Belson, 1971)
Time Piece (Jim Henson, 1965)
Avalanche (Mikio Naruse, 1937)
India Cabaret (Mira Nair, 1985)
Fog Pumas (Gunvor Nelson & Dorothy Wiley, 1967)
Meditation (Jordan Belson, 1971)
Time Piece (Jim Henson, 1965)
Reposted by Brian Darr
Open Screening is coming up this Thursday! If you have something you'd like to show in the program, email us at [email protected].
November 30, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Open Screening is coming up this Thursday! If you have something you'd like to show in the program, email us at [email protected].
Reposted by Brian Darr
The pretty simple fact of the matter is that Weinstein was the only true “casualty” of MeToo in Hollywood, and that is solely because he was a bully to men too and everyone pounced on the excuse to oust him. If he’d nicer to directors and male stars he’d still be free and working.
I'm flummoxed by the underground movement to rehab cancelled figures. There's a rumor that a studio head is planning to begin bringing cancelled people back. It's bananas. The industry has contracted, leaving writers, directors and actors scrambling for work and we're making space for sex criminals?
November 29, 2025 at 10:55 PM
The pretty simple fact of the matter is that Weinstein was the only true “casualty” of MeToo in Hollywood, and that is solely because he was a bully to men too and everyone pounced on the excuse to oust him. If he’d nicer to directors and male stars he’d still be free and working.
Wish I could be there!
Tonight at Other Cinema, it's a No-Thanks Giving double bill, with Give It Back and Spaces of Exception!
Other Cinema: NO-THANKS GIVING
NEW RED ORDER: GIVE IT BACK! + SPACES OF EXCEPTION Following their last feature here, our Native (Ojibway) cohorts have been busy with many projects–including a bombshell for ITVS–and t…
www.atasite.org
November 29, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Wish I could be there!
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in the wild:
California Kingsnake
Great Hornbill
Common Basilisk (a.k.a. Jesus lizard)
Magnificent Frigatebird
North American Porcupine
(These were the first interesting ones that came to mind, in order of least to most recent sighting.)
California Kingsnake
Great Hornbill
Common Basilisk (a.k.a. Jesus lizard)
Magnificent Frigatebird
North American Porcupine
(These were the first interesting ones that came to mind, in order of least to most recent sighting.)
Seagull
Pigeon
Garter snake
Antelope
Water buffalo
Pigeon
Garter snake
Antelope
Water buffalo
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Humboldt penguin
Andean condor
Vicuña
Guanaco
James's flamingo
Humboldt penguin
Andean condor
Vicuña
Guanaco
James's flamingo
November 29, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in the wild:
California Kingsnake
Great Hornbill
Common Basilisk (a.k.a. Jesus lizard)
Magnificent Frigatebird
North American Porcupine
(These were the first interesting ones that came to mind, in order of least to most recent sighting.)
California Kingsnake
Great Hornbill
Common Basilisk (a.k.a. Jesus lizard)
Magnificent Frigatebird
North American Porcupine
(These were the first interesting ones that came to mind, in order of least to most recent sighting.)
I’ve been invited to contribute a “Best of 2025” list.
Anyone out there have the skinny on which 2025 festival releases are planed for commercial runs in 2026 and which are still considered “undistributed”?
Anyone out there have the skinny on which 2025 festival releases are planed for commercial runs in 2026 and which are still considered “undistributed”?
November 28, 2025 at 9:52 PM
I’ve been invited to contribute a “Best of 2025” list.
Anyone out there have the skinny on which 2025 festival releases are planed for commercial runs in 2026 and which are still considered “undistributed”?
Anyone out there have the skinny on which 2025 festival releases are planed for commercial runs in 2026 and which are still considered “undistributed”?
De La Soul is just 27 votes behind- feel like there’s been more than that many anti-skit comments. Wonder if these voters would be slowed down any by the “Oh My Golly” & “I’m Amazed” banter in a hypothetical match-up between SURFER ROSA and, say, IT TAKES A NATION OF MILLIONS TO HOLD US BACK?
The Best Album of 1989 Round 7 Match #128 - THE FINAL MATCH TO DETERMINE THE BEST ALBUM OF 1989
#1 Pixies, DOOLITTLE
vs.
#3 De La Soul, 3 FEET HIGH AND RISING
forms.gle/WZbDEMmYBZda...
#1 Pixies, DOOLITTLE
vs.
#3 De La Soul, 3 FEET HIGH AND RISING
forms.gle/WZbDEMmYBZda...
The Best Album of 1989 Round 7 Match #128 - The Final Match: Pixies vs. De La Soul
This is the Best Album of 1989 match for Wednesday, November 25th, 10am CST. It will be open for 24 hours, and the winner will be declared The Best Album of 1989. The losing album will be named The Se...
forms.gle
November 27, 2025 at 3:27 PM
De La Soul is just 27 votes behind- feel like there’s been more than that many anti-skit comments. Wonder if these voters would be slowed down any by the “Oh My Golly” & “I’m Amazed” banter in a hypothetical match-up between SURFER ROSA and, say, IT TAKES A NATION OF MILLIONS TO HOLD US BACK?
Tonight’s viewing reminded me of this ancient tweet.
To the Wonder (Mel Brooks 12) Hilariously accurate Malick parody, but you can tell Brooks has more affection for Whale, Hitchcock & Lucas.
November 25, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Tonight’s viewing reminded me of this ancient tweet.
Went on a trip last night. Not quite as momentous as John Glenn’s.
A review of Re-entry (1964)
My usual answer when asked what first sparked my interest in experimental film is Bruce Conner's The White Rose, which I saw projected in a De Young Museum gallery during an exhibition of Beat art sho...
boxd.it
November 25, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Went on a trip last night. Not quite as momentous as John Glenn’s.
This seals my disinterest in even looking at that list.
THE GREAT DICTATOR being the sole Chaplin movie on a “greatest comedies” list is malpractice
November 25, 2025 at 4:52 PM
This seals my disinterest in even looking at that list.
Reposted by Brian Darr
This week, we return to the Mikio Naruse series at @bampfa.bsky.social with Bernardo Rondeau on the Setsuko Hara-starring Sudden Rain: www.screenslate.com/articles/sud...
Sudden Rain
Throughout the year, institutions around the world have been celebrating the 120th birthday of the writer and director Mikio Naruse. These extensive and essential retrospectives have afforded audience...
www.screenslate.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:41 PM
This week, we return to the Mikio Naruse series at @bampfa.bsky.social with Bernardo Rondeau on the Setsuko Hara-starring Sudden Rain: www.screenslate.com/articles/sud...