Dance opera Written by Aramantono and Garin Nugroho Directed by Garin Nugroho Astonishing sensual, works like a dream. Things don't connect the way they do in the real world (or in a conventional film), but that doesn't bother you in the slightest. You're in its world, and you see no reason to want out. In … Continue reading Opera Jawa
Month: September 2008
Forbidden Lie$
Documentary Written and directed by Anna Broinowski I have mixed feelings about documentaries that recreate scenes with actors, but Anna Broinowski's doc about author/con-artist Norma Khouri justified them beautifully. None of the events recreated in the film actually happened, and Broinowski reminds us of that by showing us the freshly murdered girl, covered in stage … Continue reading Forbidden Lie$
Youssou N’Dour: Return to Gorée
Music documentary Written by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud and Emmanuel Gétaz Directed by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud It's sad when a great idea and an important subject lose their way. I don't know whether to blame filmmaker Pierre-Yves Borgeaud or the film's subject, singer/song-writer Youssou N'Dour, but Return to Gorée isn't the film it should have been. Part of … Continue reading Youssou N’Dour: Return to Gorée
The Big Country on the Big Screen
I finally saw The Big Country on the big screen last night--at the Rafael. I was wrong to give this sprawling, 1958, pacifistic western a B. This is A material. This was the second of the Rafael’s three-part, weekend-long Academy Color Restorations series. Part 3, Jean Renoir's The River, starts tonight at 7:00. The restoration … Continue reading The Big Country on the Big Screen
What’s Screening: September 12-18
Double Bill: Treasure of the Sierra Madre & There Will Be Blood, Castro, Sunday. Two excellent films from very different times about much the same thing. In Treasure of the Sierra Madre:, three down-on-their-luck Yankees (Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt, and the director's father, Walter Huston) prospect for gold in Mexico. They find and stake out … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 12-18
Mill Valley Film Festival Announced
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, … Continue reading Mill Valley Film Festival Announced
Silent Martial Arts Movie on the Way
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 … Continue reading Silent Martial Arts Movie on the Way
West Side Story in 70mm
Note: I wrote and posted this article years before Steven Spielberg's remake. I caught the last screening of West Side Story at the Castro last night. This was the brand new 70mm print with DTS (almost as good as the original magnetic analog) sound. I'd seen the classic, Oscar-winning musical before, of course, but not … Continue reading West Side Story in 70mm
What’s Screening: September 5-11
The Godfather Parts I & II, Castro, Friday through next friday. Francis Coppola, taking the job simply because he needed the money, turned Mario Puzo's potboiler into the Great American Crime Epic. Marlon Brando may have top billing, but Al Pacino owns the film (and became a star) as Michael Corleone, the respectable son inevitably … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 5-11
Elegy
Sexual drama Written by Nicholas Meyer, from a novel by Philip Roth Directed by Isabel Coixet Beautiful young women attract older men. Some are even attracted to them. In a typical Hollywood entertainment, a 30-year gap between the romantic leads is just par for the course. But Elegy's filmmakers use it to explore a proud … Continue reading Elegy
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