I started the day at the Kanbar Award presentation honoring screenwriter David Webb Peoples. After an introduction and a selection of clips from his films (which include Bladerunner, Unforgiven, Hero, and 12 Monkeys, Peoples was interviewed on stage by novelist James Dalessando, an old friend of his. A few notable Peoples comments: Peoples started out wanting [...]
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I didn’t hit two jackpots at the San Francisco International Film Festival yesterday, as I did on Wednesday. But I enjoyed what I saw. B The Intouchables I can’t really complain about France’s latest big commercial hit. As you’d expect, it’s a crowd pleaser. Based on a true story, it follows the thorny but eventually [...]
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I saw two excellent films yesterday at the San Francisco International Film Festival. They had a lot in common. They were both European. Each was told entirely from the protagonist’s point of view, with the lead actor in every scene, and the audience knowing nothing that he doesn’t know. And I do mean he; both [...]
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Last night I attended the San Francisco International Film Festival silent movie event at the Castro–four Buster Keaton shorts (two of them actually Fatty Arbuckle shorts with Keaton in supporting roles), accompanied by Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs along with guitarist Ava Mendoza. This is something of a tradition at the Festival–screening silent films with accompaniment [...]
Filed under: Comedy, Festivals, First-person Report, SFIFF, Silent Films | Tagged: Buster Keaton, silent films | 1 Comment »
It’s been an unusual day at the festival. Here’s what I’ve seen: Master Class: Malcolm Turvey: Tati, Chaplin and the Democratization of Comedy I started the day with professor Malcolm Turvey, lecturing on Jacque Tati and how his comedy related to what he described as the “classical comedy” of Chaplin, Keaton, and other silent clowns. [...]
Filed under: Documentaries, Festivals, First-person Report, SFIFF | Tagged: documentaries, french films | Leave a Comment »
Caught two movies after dinner last night: A- Oslo, August 31 Anders, a recovering drug addict living in a halfway house in the country, gets a day’s leave to return to Oslo for a job interview. The trip will also give him a chance to catch up with some friends. But he’s lost, has no [...]
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Today, things are crazy at the Kabuki. Japantown is hosting not only the San Francisco International Film Festival, but also the Cherry Blossom Festival. The crowds are insane. But I’ve managed to get through the crowds and catch a movie: B Alps I’m not exactly sure what to make of Alps. It has just enough [...]
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I hit the jackpot for my second and last movie on Friday. First, they were giving out free popcorn and free beer. But the beer was only allowed in the balcony (this was in the Kabuki’s big Theater 1). I don’t like watching movies from the balcony, so I skipped the beer. I also hit [...]
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Got off to a bad start with my first movie of the festival: Robot and Frank. They didn’t let people into the theater until 5 minutes before the movie was supposed to start. Then they rushed us in and started the film quickly. As far as the movie was concerned C+ Robot & Frank, This [...]
Filed under: Comedy, Festivals, First-person Report, SFIFF | Tagged: comedy, Science Fiction | 1 Comment »
