Category: Overtures and Undertows

‘Overtures and Undertows:’ Captivating Picks from Eclectic Lineup at the Frameline50 Film Festival

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Frameline, the annual San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, with a festival running from June 17-27. The milestone is a big deal for the largest and longest-running queer film festival in the world. Several San Francisco and East Bay venues, including the newly restored Castro Theatre, will host 140 films from 35 countries with LGBTQ+ themes by mostly queer filmmakers. Programming for the 11-day event also includes parties, networking events and industry panels.

‘Overtures and Undertows’: Director Bess Kargman’s ‘Diane Warren: Relentless’

By on • ( Leave a comment )

The documentary “Diane Warren: Relentless” by director Bess Kargman delves into songwriter Diane Warren’s complex persona, capturing her enigmatic nature, relentless work ethic, and personal dichotomies. The film showcases Warren’s unwavering self-belief, her chaotic creative process and her journey to becoming a commercially successful and influential songwriter.

‘Overtures and Undertows’: Murakami Exhibition Suggests the Real Monsters Are People

By on • ( Leave a comment )

Murakami has blurred the boundaries of high and low art. His newest exhibition at the Asian Art Museum (AAM) in San Francisco, called “Takashi Murakami: Unfamiliar People – Swelling of Monsterized Human Ego” (Sept. 15-Feb. 12, 2024), demonstrates that his 82-foot, super-detailed, story-telling painting, created especially for this – his first-ever Bay Area exhibition – is consumed alongside the instantly recognizable, multicolor smiling flower motif, which visitors rabidly purchase in many forms (including as a stuffy-style pillow) at the museum gift shop.

‘Overtures and Undertows’: When San Francisco Plays a Supporting Role in Films

By on • ( 2 Comments )

There are a lot of highly regarded movies filmed in San Francisco, including Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 noir masterpiece, “Vertigo” and the 1968 slow-burn, groundbreaking action thriller, “Bullitt,” starring Steve McQueen as a brooding but honest police lieutenant. Every cinephile has seen those classics. I’d rather explore a few other significant (and more recent) films, where San Francisco does more than provide a dramatic, textured backdrop. The City is actually a supporting character.