Calendar

De Lovely  (2004, 125 minutes)

Starring  Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd, Jonathan Pryce, and Allan Corduner, De-Lovely is an original musical portrait of American composer Cole Porter, filled with his unforgettable songs. In the film, Porter is looking back on his life as if it was one of his spectacular stage shows, with the people and events of his life becoming the actors and action onstage. Through elaborate production numbers and popular hits like "Anything Goes," "It's De-Lovely," and "Night and Day," Porter's elegant, excessive past comes to light - including his deeply complicated relationship with his wife and muse, Linda Lee Porter.

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger games. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen volunteers in her younger sister's place and must rely upon her sharp instincts when she's pitted against highly trained Tributes who have prepared their entire lives. She must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Rated PG-13, 142 minutes.  2012.  Ages 13-18.  Snacks provided.

Tomboy by Celine Sciamma

Laure is 10 years old and a tomboy. On arrival in a new neighborhood, she lets Lisa and her crowd believe that she is a boy. Summer becomes a big playground and Laure pretends to be Mikael, a boy like the others, different enough to get the attention of Lisa, who falls in love with him. Laure takes advantage of her new identity as if the end of the summer would never reveal her unsettling secret. Audience Award, Best Feature, SF International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (2012, 84 min. French with English subtitles)

When filmy spores fall from space and take root in San Francisco, the city is beautifully transformed by spectacular and exotic flowers. But these lovely extraterrestrial blossoms have gruesome plans for their earthly admirers. These blossoms are going to slowly clone human bodies and then dispose of the originals.  From 1978.  117 minutes.

San Francisco Public Library's theme for the summer is our own great City!

Don't forget to check out our June 5th presentation,  "The Golden Gate Bridge on the Silver Screen".  Jim Van Buskirk, author of Celluloid San Francisco, (and former SFPL librarian) offers a clip-filled program of hilariously horrifying depictions of San Francisco’s beloved bridge.  6-7:30pm.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first full-length animated feature and one of the top ten all-time money makers. It is still considered by many critics one of the 40 greatest American films, animated or not.  Come watch Doc, Happy, Bashful, Sneezy, Sleepy, Grumpy, and Dopey sing "Whistle While You Work" and vanquish the evil queen on our big screen!

In glorious Technicolor: Disney, 83 minutes, 1937

Take an auditory and visual journey down San Francisco´s Market Street -- one that reveals the perspectives of everyday users alongside those of designers and planners. The film, shot in 2012, intends to create a dialogue about the future of Market Street and preserve, on film, an experience of the corridor before its transformation. Join us afterwards for a discussion with designers, planners, the filmmaker and everyday users about the future of San Francisco´s greatest street. Presented by Walk San Francisco.

Saved  (2004, 92 minutes)

Mandy Moore, Jena Malone, Macaulay Culkin star in film about a young girl at a conservative Southern Baptist high school who becomes pregnant while trying to “save” her gay boyfriend, and finds herself the victim of persecution as all of her friends ostracize her.

The SFPL Library for the Blind and Print Disabled invites you to join us for an audio-described film, followed by a discussion.  The  selection for June, Dogs and More Dogs, was produced by the award-winning science filmakers at NOVA for PBS. 

Film Description from the Nova Website:

Where do dogs in all their amazing diversity come from? Tradition says that thousands of years ago someone tamed a wolf pup, thus creating the first of our best friends.  But many scientists disagree. On "Dogs and More Dogs," NOVA goes to the dogs—and to leading researchers—to find out the truth.

Narrated by John Lithgow, the program ranges from a wolf research facility in rural Indiana to the Westminster Dog Show in New York's Madison Square Garden. NOVA makes a fascinating detour to the city dump in Tijuana, Mexico, where viewers get surprising insight into the origin and evolutionary strategy of our canine companions.

Why show Audio Described films?

A Blind or partially sighted person cannot enjoy a feature film without relying on someone to whisper the visual aspects of the movie in his or her ear.  Audio-described films allow visually impaired to enjoy movies independently because they include a second soundtrack that describes the sets, costumes and any visual cues that the director uses to establish place, create mood and foreshadow events.

Join us for a movie followed by a discussion about the film and the effectiveness of the audio-descriptions.

Sighted people are welcome.  If you find it distracting to listen to the descriptions while watching the movie, you might try closing your eyes. 

Please note that we must request noise be kept to a minimum during the film so people can hear the descriptions.

Unfortunately there currently is no option to include closed captioning for the Deaf and hard of hearing with audio description in most of these movies.

Pursuit of Happyness 2006 Film Set in San Francisco

Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is bright and talented but is struggling to make ends meet. When he and his five-year-old son are evicted from their apartment Gardner takes a chance with a prestigious stock brokerage firm. They endure many hardships but he follows his dream to make a better life for the two of them in this inspirational true story.

© Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.

Scarred Lands and Wounded Lives is a compelling documentary exploring the under-reported environmental impacts of war and preparations for war. The film confronts the ecological and human ramifications of everything from technological development and natural resource exhaustion to weapons testing and modern warfare itself.

Ecosystems around the world are in distress from forces of humanity’s own making: increasing population, unsustainable demands on natural resources, habitat and species loss, and climate change. One of the most destructive of human behaviors - war - is not commonly included as a contributor to the growing global environmental crisis.

Yet, in all its stages, from the production of weapons through combat, military operations pollute land, air, and water, destroy entire ecosystems, and drain limited natural resources.

Using archival material from the Civil War through more recent wars, along with expert testimony and eyewitness accounts, the film clearly presents the environmental and human cost of combat, and argues for public scrutiny of the ecological and human impact of war as essential to a more sustainable - and secure - world.

The filmmakers, Alice and Lincoln Day will host a post film panel discussion along with other Special Guests.

This is a Stegner Environmental Center, Global Exchange and Specialty Studios Presentation.

The Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center and the Calamus Fellowship present a program of films by San Francisco-based poet and avant-garde pioneer filmmaker James Broughton (1913-1999). The films cover Broughton's career and will include The Pleasure Garden (1953); The Bed (1968); and Testament (1974).

Join us for the second San Francisco Library Film Festival and watch The Lady from Shanghai (1947, 88 mins) at Excelsior Branch!

Michael O’Hara (Orson Welles), an Irish seaman falls for Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth), a seductive bombshell married to wealthy lawyer Aurthur Bannister (Everett Sloane), Elsa and Aurthur frame Michael for a murder Elsa committed. Orson Welles wrote, produced, directed, and starred in this film noir thriller with a bizarre twist. Welles’ final scene is a brilliantly photographed shoot-out in a hall of mirrors.

Screwy musicologist Howard Bannister (Ryan O’Neal) and oddball Judy Maxwell (Barbra Streisand) get caught up in a world of secrets, spies, and stolen jewels all because of their suitcase in this madcap adventure. This uproarious farce of unadulterated and sustained laughter is reminiscent of the screwball comedies of the ‘20s.

American Graffiti (1973, 110 minutes)

This film from director George Lucas was selected by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest 100 movies ever made. Four California teenagers who are unsure of their futures spend one last night cruising their small town before leaving for college. A nostalgic look at life in the early 60’s.

Through dance and movement this movie explores the issue of incarceration and the complexity of experiences faced by those who are behind bars. A discussion with the filmmaker Austin Forbord and cast members follows the film. Related exhibit: On the Line: Artwork from San Quentin Prison Arts Project, June 15-September 1, 2013, Main Library, Jewett Gallery.

Come to the library on the second Friday of the month to see feature films based on books.

This month's film is "Evil Under the Sun", based on the novel by Agatha Christie.   Peter Ustinov stars as detective Hercule Poirot. Also starring Maggie Smith, Roddy McDowell, Diana Rigg and James Mason. Directed by Guy Hamilton.

Rated PG; 102 minutes

Four remarkable Chinese mothers’ and their American daughters’ extraordinary lives are filled with love and tragedy, richness and magic. This epic film, based on the best-selling novel by Amy Tan, beautifully reveals startling events and conditions that have shaped the lives of several generations of Chinese women.  Rated R.  139 minutes.  1993

A romantic comedy about Teddy, a shy and married executive, who begins to have "emotional infidelity" after glimpsing a seductive stranger wearing a red dress. Teddy sets out to determine just how an ordinary man meets such an extraordinary woman.

Cast: Gene Wilder, Charles Grodin, Joseph Bologna, Judith Ivey, Michael Huddleston, Kelly Le Brock, Gilda Radner.

From 1984.  87 minutes.

A fascinating account based on the true events of the one and only successful escape from the maximum security prison at Alcatraz in 1962. Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood) and a couple of fellow prisoners break out of Alcatraz. They are never heard from again.

Join us for a screening of Milk for the SF Library Film Festival!

Milk chronicles the heart-breaking true story ofNew Yorker Harvey Milk moved to San Francisco and became the city's first openly gay public official. The following year both he and the city's mayor, George Moscone, were shot to death by the former city supervisor.

Tom Solomon and Violet Barnes seem destined to live happily ever after, but as one hysterical delay follows another, everyone starts to wonder: can they survive the engagement? Starring Jason Segal and Emily Blunt.

Foul Play (1978, 116 minutes)

“Beware of the Dwarf," is the strange warning to a San Francisco librarian played by Goldie Hawn. Suddenly she is propelled into a world of wild chases, bizarre attempts on her life, and deadly encounters with an assortment of underworld characters known as the Albino, Scarface, Stiltskin, and the Turk. Hawn is joined by Chevy Chase who plays a federal agent trying to unravel the clues.

Eddie Murphy's first film, in which he portrays a convict, temporarily released to help the hard, street-tough cop Nolte track down two cop killers. This comic pairing engages in action and comedy during their search for the two criminals, all in just 48 hours. This huge success will keep you laughing just as long.

Soul of Bread  & Go Grandriders

When Communist forces invade America, a group of teenagers form a guerrilla unit behind enemy lines.

Rated PG-13, 93 minutes.  2013.  Ages 13-18.  Snacks provided

This film from director George Lucas was selected by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest 100 movies ever made. Four California teenagers who are unsure of their futures spend summer nights cruisin’ and hangin’ out in this look at the last "innocent" year of the ‘50s and early ‘60s.  Rated PG.

Please join us for a film screening and post-film discussion with staff from the SF Food Bank.

50 million people in the U.S. – one in four children – don’t know where their next meal is coming from, despite our having the means to provide nutritious, affordable food for all Americans.

Following three people who are struggling with food insecurity, A Place at the Table shows us how hunger poses serious economic, social and cultural implications for our nation, and that it could be solved once and for all,  if the American public decides - as they have in the past - that making healthy food available and affordable is in the best interest of us all.

Watch on our big screen as the puppet Pinocchio, with wise council from Jiminy Cricket and help from Geppetto and the Blue Fairy, overcomes  companions who lead him astray and many other dangers to become a real boy!

An Academy Award-winning 1940 Disney classic in gorgeous Technicolor,  based on the great classic of Italian literature, Pinocchio, is often considered the second-best animated film of all time.  88 minutes.

Join us for a film screening of The Social Network (PG-13).  This film tells the story of the founders of the social-networking website, Facebook. Adapted from Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal. You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies!

This 1971 black comedy, directed by Hal Ashby starring Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort, ranks number 45 on the American Film Institute list of  America's 100 funniest movies.

Foul Play – PG
"Beware of the Dwarf," whispers the good-looking hitchhiker to the beautiful librarian (Goldie Hawn) as he dies midway through a screening of "This Gun is Mine." Suddenly Goldie is propelled into a world of wild chases, bizarre attempts on her life, and deadly encounters with an assortment of weird underworld characters known as the Albino, Scarface, Stiltskin, and the Turk. Academy Award winner Goldie Hawn teams with Chevy Chase in his first starring motion picture assignment — and with hilarious results. Chase plays the handsome San Francisco police detective who becomes personally and professionally involved with all the odd things happening to Goldie.

Escape from Alcatraz  (1979, 112 minutes)

A fascinating account based on the true events of the one and only successful escape from the maximum security prison at Alcatraz in 1962. Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood) and a couple of fellow prisoners break out of Alcatraz. They are never heard from again.

John Huston sketches a dark, cynical world with painfully deep perception. Detective Sam Spade’s (Humphrey Bogart) search for his partner’s killer leads him to a group of determined individuals who want the jeweled falcon of Malta: Brigid O'Shaughnessey (Mary Astor), the beautiful femme fatale, cowardly Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre), and pompously inflated Casper Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet).

A movie afternoon for both teens and adults at Ingleside Library.  We are going to show the film, 'Princess Diaries.'

From the writer of "The Seven Percent Solution" comes one of the most ingenious thrillers of our time! When famed 19th Century scholar, author and inventor H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) reveals his new invention, a time machine, little does he realize that he has opened an escape route for one of history's most evil criminal geniuses, Jack The Ripper. Forced to make a sudden and daring journey 86 years into the future, Wells finds himself in the middle of downtown San Francisco in 1979. He is thrust into an alien and apparently hostile environment where he must race against the clock to stop this diabolic menace from continuing his reign of terror.

Rated PG

Freebie and the Bean.  Freebie and Bean are two outrageous plainclothes policemen searching for evidence they need to convict a gangster. Fearing their suspect may get caught by the "Mob" the bungling duo set out to protect their investment by hitting the hit men sent to dispose of him.

With Alan Arkin and James Caan.  From 1974.  113 minutes.

Book of Eli directed by The Hughes Brothers

In the not-too-distant future, across the wasteland of what once was America, a lone warrior must fight to bring civilization the knowledge that could be the key to its redemption and save the future of humanity. Starring Mila Kunis, Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman (2010, 118 mins.)

Babies - A visually stunning and joyful new film that simultaneously chronicles the lives of four of the world’s newest human inhabitants - in Mongolia, Namibia, San Francisco and Tokyo, respectively -- from first breath to first steps, on a journey at once universal and amazingly original.  Rated PG.

Mephistofele (60 minutes)

By Arrigo Boito

The San Francisco Opera’s 2000 production with Samuel Ramey as Mefistofele, Gabriela Benacková as Margherita and Elena, Dennis O'Neill as Faust, and Judith Christin as Marta.  The conductor is Maurizio Arena.

Falstaff

By Giuseppe Verdi

The 2009 production from the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.  With Bryn Terfel as Sir John Falstaff, Roberto Frontali as Ford, Barbara Frittoli as Alice Ford, Desirée Rancatore was Nannetta and Kenneth Tarver as Fenton.  Bernard Haitink directs and Claudio Abbado conducts."Falstaff' by Giuseppe Verdi, Royal Opera House Covent Garden 2009 production with Bryn Terfel

The Insect Discovery Lab provides youth with an opportunity to handle and explore the fantastic lives of millipedes, walking sticks, whip scorpions and more while learning about the extraordinarily diverse world in which they live and their key role in the web of life.

 Green Saturdays@ Bernal takes place the second Saturday of every month. The program features hands-on activities and useful information for sustainable living.  This program is for all ages and we encourage family participation. Limit to first 25 participants

Flying Dutchman

By Richard Wagner 

This 1975 filmed version stars Donald McIntyre as Der Hollander, Catherina Ligendza as Senta, Bengt Rundgren as Daland, Hermann Winkler as Erik, Ruth Hesse as Mary, and Harald Ek as Stevermann, with Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting the Bavarian State Orchestra.

Madama Butterfly

By Giacomo Puccini

The 2011 production from the Metropolitan Opera.  With Patricia Racette as Cio-Cio-San, Maria Zifchak as Suzuki,  Marcello Giordani as Lieutenant B. F. Pinkerton, and Dwayne Croft as Sharpless. Patrick Summers is the conductor.

Show Boat

By Jerome Kern

We will show the full-length 1951 MGM feature film directed by George Sidney,  starring Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, and Howard Keel .

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Perrin and Cluzaud clearly aim to discourage pollution and encourage conservation, but their movie mostly serves as a treat for the eyes and ears As narrator Pierce Brosnan states, "The Ocean is alive," and the crew spent four years crossing the globe to capture its most intriguing sights, from the salt-encrusted marine iguanas of the Galápagos Islands to the silky fur seals of South Africa.

Green Saturdays@ Bernal takes place the second Saturday of every month. The program features hands-on activities and useful information for sustainable living.  This program is for all ages and we encourage family participation.

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Perrin and Cluzaud clearly aim to discourage pollution and encourage conservation, but their movie mostly serves as a treat for the eyes and ears As narrator Pierce Brosnan states, "The Ocean is alive," and the crew spent four years crossing the globe to capture its most intriguing sights, from the salt-encrusted marine iguanas of the Galápagos Islands to the silky fur seals of South Africa.

Green Saturdays@ Bernal takes place the second Saturday of every month. The program features hands-on activities and useful information for sustainable living.  This program is for all ages and we encourage family participation.

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Perrin and Cluzaud clearly aim to discourage pollution and encourage conservation, but their movie mostly serves as a treat for the eyes and ears As narrator Pierce Brosnan states, "The Ocean is alive," and the crew spent four years crossing the globe to capture its most intriguing sights, from the salt-encrusted marine iguanas of the Galápagos Islands to the silky fur seals of South Africa.

Green Saturdays@ Bernal takes place the second Saturday of every month. The program features hands-on activities and useful information for sustainable living.  This program is for all ages and we encourage family participation.

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