S.F. Story

Puppy and I went to see MILK at the Castro Theatre last night and ended up in a line that extended around the entire block, down Castro Street, along 18th Street and up Hartford Street! I had no idea that the Theatre seated so many people and I'd never seen a line that long for a movie before.

But it was well-worth the wait and the price of admission. MILK is a touching, moving film and it was an especially magical experience to watch the film in the Castro, where the events it depicts took place and where the movie was actually filmed. In fact, it was sort of surreal to leave the theater and step onto the actual street that figured so prominently in the film.

It was also kind of distracting for me, because I watched the film knowing that some of my friends were extras during filming (I think I spotted one) and I kept looking for anachronisms that hadn't been caught (I noticed The Body Shop awning in one scene - a storefront that certainly wasn't on Castro Street in the 1970s). But, as everyone's saying, Sean Penn's performance is beautiful and everyone who's ever lived in San Francisco should definitely see this movie.