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I attended the screening of 3 Bad Men at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum last night. I’d been wanting to see this John Ford silent western since I’d read Joseph McBride’s Ford biography, where he described it as “the silent film pointing most clearly to the strengths of his mature masterpieces.”
Visually, it was [...]

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Now here’s something odd: Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel was one of the first German talkies. As was common in the days before dubbing and subtitles, the movie was shot twice–once in German, and once in English. The German version is widely considered a classic. (Personally, I find it interesting, and Marlene Dietrich wonderful–it [...]

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Worried that October doesn’t have enough film festivals? Here’s another.
The 11th United Nations Association Film Festival runs October 19-26 in various Bay Area location. It will screen 41 films from assorted countries. This year’s theme is Blue Planet, Green Planet.
I have not seen any of the films listed, and between other festivals, Jewish holidays, a [...]

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I picked up the October-December Rafael schedule Sunday. The schedule doesn’t list everything the triplex will show, mostly just the special events, but they’ve got some good stuff.
Very little of this in on their web site yet, so I can’t provide many links; and some that I do provide are to my own reviews or [...]

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I’ve been able to preview two films screening at the upcoming Arab Film Festival. One of them is also playing at Mill Valley.
Captain Abu Raed, Mill Valley: Sequoia, Friday, October 10, 7:30 (rush only); Rafael, Sunday, October 12, 4:45. Arab Film Festival: Clay (San Francisco), Friday, October 17, 4:00; Camera 12 (San Jose), Saturday, [...]

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Tracking all the Bay Area’s film festivals is a full-time job. And if anyone’s willing to pay me, I’m ready and qualified.
In addition to to the big Mill Valley Film Festival, all the festivals I told you about on the 23rd, and the additional two I mentioned on the 25th, there are two other [...]

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I told you there were a lot of festivals coming up. I missed two:
Dead Channels, October 3-9: In its second year, Dead Channels celebrates independent and international fantasy films, with an emphasis on horror. It’s clearly going for the same audience as Hole in the Head. Mostly at the Roxie, it moves to the Parkway [...]

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I’ve now seen five films getting their local premiere at this year’s Mill Valley Film Festival. (Oddly enough, two of them come reasonably close to qualifying as silent films.) Here’s what I think of those five, plus one classic to be screened that I was already familiar with. I’ve listed the films from best to [...]

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What’s the difference between Sarah Palin and George W. Bush?
Lipstick.
I know. That has nothing to do with the subject at hand, or even with cinema, but it occurred to me this afternoon and I had to share it.
The 31st annual Mill Valley Film Festival runs October 2 through 12 in San Rafael, Corte Madera, [...]

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Another interesting upcoming event:
On Friday, September 19, the 4Star will screen a silent martial arts film made in Shanghai in 1929. Red Heroine tells the story of a young woman rescued from an evil army by a Daoist hermit named White Monkey. Thanks to White Monkey’s training, she can soon fight villains, fly, disappear in [...]

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