Balboa honors modern master
There’s a scene in “The Master,” one of the decade’s best films, in which alcoholic World War II vet played by Joaquin Phoenix is alone in a movie theater, having abandoned “The Cause,” the cult run by a charismatic leader (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who has fled to England.
Suddenly, a theater usher, complete with bellhop’s cap, brings a phone with an absurdly long cord to Phoenix: It is Hoffman. He has not escaped the Master’s influence.
This is such a delirious, jaw-dropping scene that shows the essence of Paul Thomas Anderson’s grandiose vision. I mean, how would Hoffman ever know from 6,000 miles away in 1950something where Phoenix was? What theater, what movie and what showtime he was going to? And how many theaters were equipped with 150-foot-long phone cords? Did Phoenix just dream this scene?
The Balboa Theater’s Thursday classics series this month focuses on a modern master, and since there are five Thursday’s this month, we get five of Anderson’s seven films: “Hard Eight” (1996), 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 3; “Boogie Nights” (1997), Aug. 10; “Magnolia” (1999), Aug. 17; “There Will Be Blood” (2007), Aug. 24; and “The Master” (2012), Aug. 31.
His films are at once in the classical style and cutting edge, appropriate for characters often out of step with their current worlds, caught between their desires and what is expected of them. His best characters are those who call their own shots — the porn director played by Burt Reynolds in “Boogie Nights” would be taken to wonderful, ugly extremes as the oilman (Daniel Day Lewis) in “There Will Be Blood” and the cult leader in “The Master.”
Day Lewis famously announced his retirement from acting this summer. He has decided to go out on one last project, Anderson’s “Phantom Thread,” set in the world of fashion in 1950s London, due to open Christmas Day.
$11. Balboa Theater, 3630 Balboa St., S.F. (415) 221-8184. www.cinemasf.com/balboa “Boomerang”: So great to see one of Eddie Murphy’s funniest and best movies playing at a rep house. Not only is this 1992 movie hardly ever on television, it is rarely discussed when talking about great ’90s comedies. And it was a pretty big box office success, too, so it’s been hiding in plain sight. Directed by Reginald Hudlin, it stars Murphy as an advertising executive who happens to be a ladies man, chauvinist pig and egotist, who is brought down several pegs by his new boss, Robin Givens, who has many of those same qualities. And check out this supporting cast: Halle Berry, David Alan Grier, Martin Lawrence, Grace Jones, Eartha Kitt, Geoffrey Holder, Chris Rock and Melvin van Peebles. Wow. Co-presented by Reel Black Films and featuring a short preshow. 9:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4. $12. The New Parkway Theater, 474 24th St., Oakland. (510) 658-7900. www.thenewparkway.com “Roots of Rock ’n’ Roll”: Rare 16mm films from the collection of Barry Siegel trace the beginnings of rock ’n’ roll from the 1940s (rhythm and blues) through the mid-1960s. Featured are lesser-known artists, such as Louis Jordan, the Treniers, Johnny Burnette and the Flamingos, as well as renowned acts such as Bill Haley and his Comets, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, James Brown, the Dave Clark Five, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4. $11. Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St., S.F. (415) 8631087. www.roxie.com “Spirited Away”: It’s a small classic in the United States now, but the American release of Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece “Spirited Away” was bungled from the very beginning by Disney, which apparently didn’t know what it had. Miyazaki is beloved in Japan, and this story of a 10-year-old girl upset by her family’s move to the suburbs who finds a secret tunnel to an imaginary world was the first film to open in the U.S. having already made $200 million at the box office. Disney bought the film — and subsequently other Studio Ghibli films — as a favor to Pixar head John Lasseter, a longtime Miyazaki fan. But it did little promotion, opening the film in 2002 in about 100 theaters instead of the usual 3,000.
That sparked an outcry among fans and an open letter to Disney in Newsday from critic John Anderson. The studio put all its marketing might behind its own “Lilo & Stitch,” and then was shocked when that film was beaten by “Spirited Away” for the best animated film Oscar.
It was a teachable moment for Disney, which finally realized the value of its Studio Ghibli films, now a steady moneymaker for the Mouse. All of this, of course, is inside baseball. Landmark’s Clay is bringing back the Japaneselanguage version as its midnight movie, so just enjoy the film. Miyazaki always has something to say about modern times, in this case taking note of a materialistic, greedy society and the disconnect between parents and children. 11:55 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Aug. 4-5. $10. Landmark’s Clay Theatre. 2261 Fillmore St., S.F. (415) 561-9921. www. landmarktheatres.com G. Allen Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ajohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BRfilmsAllen