I just discovered that I left a very important screening out of this week's newsletter--one of the best movies not getting released this week. Since the screening hasn't happened yet (it's Thursday night), here it is: Emotional Arithmetic, Castro, Thursday, 8:30. In the best performance of an excellent career, Susan Sarandon plays an American-born Holocaust … Continue reading Newsletter Correction: Emotional Arithmetic
Month: July 2008
Good News on Universal Fire
You may remember my post from last month, Precious Prints Lost to Fire. Universal Studios lost almost its entire collection of archival 35mm prints in the fire that also damaged parts of the amusement park. While new prints could be struck from the unharmed negatives (stored in Philidelphia), economic realities suggested at that time that … Continue reading Good News on Universal Fire
What’s Screening: July 25-31
he Jewish Film Festival is up and running. I've separated my festival-related recommendations and warnings from the others. Wonderful Town, Kabuki, opens Friday. Wonderful Town has nothing to do with the 1953 Broadway musical of the same name, although a few songs would liven up this very dull creature from Thailand. The story concerns a … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 25-31
Imax and the Return of 70mm
I saw The Dark Knight in Imax on Monday (read my review). Although once skeptical, I'm now a fan of the giant format as the best way to present the most spectacular of Hollywood entertainments. Regular Bayflicks readers know that I'm a fan of 70mm. In that format's second golden age (roughly 1977-1993), the movies … Continue reading Imax and the Return of 70mm
Wonderful Town
[F] Drama Written and Directed by Aditya Assarat Wonderful Town has nothing to do with the 1953 Broadway musical of the same name, although a few songs would liven it up. This Thai drama allegedly examines the long-term psychological aftereffects of a devastating natural disaster. According to the press release, the town of Takua Pa, … Continue reading Wonderful Town
The Dark Knight
Superhero Drama Written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan; based on a character created by Bob Crane Directed by Christopher Nolan What a great summer for Hollywood blockbusters! First Iron Man took the comic book superhero movie, if not to a new level, than at least within striking distance of the best that genre had … Continue reading The Dark Knight
The Red and the White
I just got home from the Pacific Film Archive, where I caught a screening of Miklós Jancsó’s decidedly strange war film,The Red and the White. This was part of the PFA's current series, The Long View: A Celebration of Widescreen. I'm not sure what to make of this Hungarian Russian Civil War drama--if drama is … Continue reading The Red and the White
What’s Screening–July 18-24
The Jewish Film Festival opens Thursday. Here's what else is happening: Red River, Pacific Film Archive, Tuesday, 7:30. John Wayne gives one of his best performances, showing us the villain in the hero and the hero in the villain as the Captain Bligh character in this western variation on Mutiny on the Bounty. The character … Continue reading What’s Screening–July 18-24
The Last Mistress
Erotic period romance Written by Catherine Breillat; based on a novel by Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly Directed by Catherine Breillat Judging from what little of her work I've seen, Catherine Breillat is an erratically brilliant creator of individual scenes, but a mediocre one of whole movies (I admit that I haven't seen the very well-reviewed Fat … Continue reading The Last Mistress
Curtains
Few movie theaters have curtains these days, and the ones that do don't know how to use them. Curtains give a theater a certain flare, as if someone was actually putting on a show. Once upon a time, every movie theater that wasn't a grindhouse or a drive-in once hid its screen behind one. Today's … Continue reading Curtains
