Looking for laughs this weekend? The Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum hosts its traditional Mid-Winter Comedy Film Festival Friday through Sunday. The weekend starts off with something that hardly seems traditional in Niles: talkies. Friday night's program consists of short sound comedies starring names normally associated with silents: Buster Keaton, Charlie Chase, Harry Langdon, and … Continue reading This Week At the Movies
Month: February 2008
Asian American Film Festival
Americans of Asian descent make films here, in Japan, China, France, and Australia. A large number of these films come to the Bay Area next month. The 26th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (AKA, the Film Festival with a Very Long Name) opens March 13 for an 11-day run in the City, Berkeley, … Continue reading Asian American Film Festival
Everything’s Cool
Documentary Directed by Daniel Gold and Judith Heifand The first question Everything's Cool brings to mind is "Why do we need another documentary about global warming?" The people distributing Everything's Cool must have aksed that themselves, and came up with an answer: "Because this documentary about global warming is funny." But calling Daniel Gold and … Continue reading Everything’s Cool
Oscars Away from Home
The Oscar ceremony--with or without screenwriters--is less than two weeks away. Most people have three options for Oscar night (Sunday, February 24 this year): You can stay at home and watch them on TV, attend a private Oscar party, or just ignore the whole thing. But the type of people who visit Bayflicks have another … Continue reading Oscars Away from Home
Top Ten Insurance Films
I just received the strangest press release. It was from the Insurance Information Institute, "a nonprofit, communications organization supported by the insurance industry." Not really my kind of organization. But the subject was movies. The release proudly announced the "top ten insurance films of all time." And no, these aren't educational shorts with titles like … Continue reading Top Ten Insurance Films
New Newsletter
I know. Bayflicks keeps changing on you. I've decided to make the newsletter much less formal. I'll simply tell you about stuff I think is worth telling you about. So here goes: IndieFest (AKA, The Tenth Annual San Francisco Independent Film Festival) opens Thursday night as I write this. It plays through the week at … Continue reading New Newsletter
Blade Runner: The Final Cut
I caught Blade Runner: The Final Cut yesterday at the Cerrito. According to Wikipedia, this is the seventh version of the movie. I hope the powers that be respect that Final in the title--if only for the sake of everyone's sanity. To be fair, three of those previous cuts shouldn't really count. Two were preview … Continue reading Blade Runner: The Final Cut
Cinequest
The online independent film distribution company Cinequest brings its 18th Film Festival to San Jose February 27 through March 9 with "over 150 films from around the world." In addition to the screenings, the festival includes four workshops for hopeful filmmakers: one on distribution, one on writing, and two on "Sight, Sound & the Dollar … Continue reading Cinequest
There Will be Blood
Historical epic Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson's small, character-driven films feel like epics, so there's no surprise that he'd eventually try the real thing. Or that he'd get it right. Based on a Upton Sinclair novel called Oil! (the name change makes no sense), There Will be Blood is big, … Continue reading There Will be Blood
A Very Short Weekly Newsletter
Noir City continues at the Castro over the weekend. I haven't seen any of the films, so I give any specific recommendations. And then IndieFest starts there on Thursday. The Seventh Seal, Pacific Film Archive, Sunday, 2:00. I fell deeply in love with Bergman's religious allegory when I first saw it at the age of … Continue reading A Very Short Weekly Newsletter
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