Cinema Speakeasy

May 22, 2011 • 9:46 am 0

Music Video Mega-Mix: LA, June 18th

Cinema Speakeasy presents its first ever
Music Video Mega-Mix
Plus: Our two-year anniversary party!

Is the music video as we know it dead? Hell no it’s not. In fact, we here at Cinema Speakeasy believe that it’s enjoying a major renaissance.

Thanks to cheap technology and easy-access distribution outlets (let’s give credit where it’s due: YouTube), every budding director can go forth and engage in that beautiful collaboration that spawned the careers of people like Spike Jonze and Hype Williams.

We called out to our community for their best stuff – and boy did they come through. Out of the scores of amazing submissions, we chose the videos that we thought best evidenced the symphonic symbiosis that can happen when filmmakers and musicians see eye-to-eye. From norteño to hip-hop, electronic to shoegazer, we got eclectic like JD’s got Salinger.

On Saturday June 18^th, come on down to Voyeur for our first ever Music Video Mega-Mix. You’ll get video premieres from some bands you know and some you’ve never heard of, and – as always – a rollicking boozy good time.

This is Cinema Speakeasy’s second anniversary. Wear a party hat and help us start our terrible twos with style.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Saturday June 18th, 2011
Doors open at 7:00, program starts at 8:00. Don’t be late.

Voyeur (7969 Santa Monica Blvd. West Hollywood)
Street parking: Carpool!

What’s a party without a raffle? We’ve got some good stuff: An H & M discount card, Voyeur drink tickets for the evening, a rockstar worthy men’s jacket from Rey Aquino Designs, and more…

Suggested donation: $5 at the door
Help us keep bringing you events and programming
This event is 21+ We check IDs, so don’t even try it whippersnapper.
RSVP: heythere@cinemaspeakeasy.com

PROGRAM

‘Don’t Believe It’ by Patrick Joseph, Directed by Brooke Hanson
‘Break’ by Malakai, Directed by Mark Spencer & William Spencer
‘Gimme More’ by Christopher Dallman, Directed by Derek Woods
‘Amalgam’ by Halos, Directed by Josh Soskin
‘Por Ti’ by Hermanos Herrera, Directed by Stephen Dypiangco
‘Island’ by Akron/Family, Directed by Dan Gahr
‘Gangsta n Police’ by dr. Israel, Directed by David Sauvage
‘Open the Door’ by Henry Wolfe, Directed by Yelena Zhelezov
‘TEDActive 2011 Music Video,’ By Jill Sobule, Wendy Melvoin, Annie Clark, Miguel Atwood Ferguson, Lisa Coleman, Aaron Sterling, Directed by Hiro Murai
‘The Forest’ by Mirah, Directed by Lauryn Siegel
‘Take On Me’ Literal Video, Created by Dustin McLean
‘In The Sun’ by She and Him, Directed by Peyton Reed

We hope to see you there!

Follow @cinemaspeakeasy

Filed under: Screening, akron/family, anniversary, Christopher Dallman, dr. Israel, Dustin McLean, Halos, Henry Wolfe, hermanos herrera, Malakai, music video mega-mix, Peyton Reed, she and him, TED Active

May 10, 2011 • 8:10 am 0

Wholphin Shorts: SF, June 2nd

What do you get when you cross a whale and a dolphin? An amazing quarterly DVD magazine called Wholphin.

Founded in 2005 by McSweeney’s Dave Eggers and Brent Hoff, the curatorial geniuses at Wholphin scour the globe (and beyond) for “extraordinary short films, docs, instructional videos, foreign sitcoms, and other cinema hybrids that deserve to be seen on very expensive televisions.”

Or deserve to be seen at OUR NEXT SCREENING, Thursday June 2!

Our friends over at Wholphin are hand-selecting a variety of flicks especially for CSSF, and we can’t wait to kick back with a beer and share them with you!

And raffle prizes? Of course! How ’bout tickets to Yerba Buena Center for the Arts or a gorgeous prize pack from Beautiful/Decay? Yeah, thought you might be into that.

And free stuff? Signpost.com, the neighborhood deal discovery site, is giving away 10 tickets to the screening! In the spirit of whales+dolphins, being clever, and getting free stuff, go to http://www.facebook.com/Signpostcom, like it, and leave the best fusion you can think of (whale + dolphin is taken). Our 10 favorites win a free ticket. You’ve got until May 31st to show us how smart you are!

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Thursday June 18th, 2011
Doors at 7:30, Movie at 8pm
Q&A to follow the screening
GAFFTA (NEW LOCATION! 998 Market St. in the Warfield Building)
Tickets: $5 at the door

Filed under: Screening, cinema speakeasy san francisco, short film, Wholphin

May 5, 2011 • 1:44 pm 0

Los Angeles premiere ‘The Writer’: LA, May 25th

Cinema Speakeasy is excited to present a sneak peek of artist and director Anthony Ferraro’s feature film, ‘The Writer‘. This is a film made expressly for all of us creative folk, artists who must balance creativity, desire, reality, and, well, mental sanity…

So come help us raise a glass to the thin line that separates us from the wrong side of the right path — and to the director, cast and crew who brought you this story on screen — in the LA premiere of this odd-ball, authentic and clever new film!

As always, BYOB: The theme tonight is brown-bagging.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

The Writer
TRT 62 min.
Directed by Anthony Ferraro
Starring Eric Michael Kochmer and Stephanie Sanditz
Music by John Arroyo
Based on Knut Hamsun’s novel ‘Hunger‘

thewritermovie.com

Synopsis: The Writer wanders the streets in a search for belonging and a chance to get his work published. All the while he is fast losing his grip on reality. A chance encounter with a woman while he wanders the streets homeless gives him hope for a better outcome in his life. It will take all his concentration and effort not to blow it. Ultimately the story sheds light on the difficult balance between following ones passion in all things and the harsh realities of day to day living that most of us take for granted.

Wednesday May 25th, 2011
Doors open at 8, film starts at 8:30PM
Echo Park Film Center (1200 N Alvarado St. @ Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA. 90026)
Tickets: $5 at the door

Director Anthony Ferraro, composer John Arroyo and actors Eric Michael Kochmer, Stephanie Sanditz and Daniel Ferranti will be on hand for a post-screening Q&A.

Filed under: Screening, Anthony Ferraro, Daniel Ferranti, Eric Michael Kochmer, Stephanie Sanditz, The Writer

May 3, 2011 • 9:31 am 0

‘D Tour’: SF, Thurs May 5

CS:SF is back to first Thursdays on May 5^th, bringing you D Tour, a feature documentary directed by Jim Granato about rock n’ roll and bodily fluids.

Huh? Check out the trailer here. Or, if you’re too lazy for all that clickin’: D Tour follows the journey of Pat Spurgeon, a talented indie rock musician in the band Rogue Wave whose life becomes consumed with the care of his failing kidney. Spurgeon was born with just one kidney, which began deteriorating when he was in junior high school. He received a kidney transplant, but just as Rogue Wave starts to take off, that kidney begins to fail. Spurgeon embarks on tour anyways, an exhausting prospect even for healthy musicians, but almost impossible for someone coping with dialysis, dietary restrictions, and the search for a living donor match.

D Tour addresses issues within the U.S. healthcare system, including the lack of affordable insurance, the importance of organ donation, and is filled with unexpected twists on the joys and sorrows of life.

CS:SF is pleased to report that both the filmmaker AND the film’s subject will be in the house for what promises to be a riveting Q&A.

We’re busy lining up some awesome prizes for you, as well as a partnership with the California Donor Network. We figure, with all the shout outs we do to our livers at each screening, it’s the least we can do.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

D Tour
TRT 83 min
Directed by Jim Granato
http://dtourmovie.com

Synopsis: Pat Spurgeon is a talented professional musician whose dreams of being in a successful, working, rock n roll band have come true. But just as his band, Rogue Wave, starts to take off, his kidney starts to fail. D Tour chronicles Pat’s search for a living organ donor and the challenges associated with finding a viable match. Pat’s choice to keep touring and working toward the band’s goals is put to the test; the absolute need to perform dialysis daily and to focus on his health become top priority while on the road. D Tour also addresses issues with the U.S. health care system, the lack of affordable insurance, the importance of organ donation, and much more. Featuring live performances from Ben Gibbard, Nada Surf, John Vanderslice, The Moore Brothers, and Rogue Wave.

Thursday, May 5th
Doors at 7:30, Movie at 8pm
Q&A to follow the screening
GAFFTA (NEW LOCATION! 998 Market St. in the Warfield Building)
Tickets: $5 at the door

Filed under: Screening, cinema speakeasy san francisco, D Tour, Pat Sturgeon

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