Regular readers may remember my enthusiastic response to The Dark Knight in Imax. I called it "the best way to present the most spectacular of Hollywood entertainments." After seeing Star Trek in digital Imax at AMC's Emery Bay multiplex last night, I have to amend that. Real, film-based Imax, in a real Imax theater, is … Continue reading The Digital and Deflated Imax Experience
Month: May 2009
What’s Screening: May 15 – 21
Yet another festival, I Wake Up Dreaming: the Haunted World of the B Film Noir, opens Friday at the Roxie and runs through the 28th. Wings, Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, Saturday. Primarily remembered as winner of the first Best Picture Oscar (except that the award wasn’t called Best Picture at the time), Wings was … Continue reading What’s Screening: May 15 – 21
More Thoughts on the Cerrito
I find myself wondering if the Castro's business model, or something like that, would work at the Cerrito. By that I mean revival series built around a theme (a director, a composer, or a genre), occasional first run, and renting the place out for film festivals. Few major festivals have an East Bay venue, and … Continue reading More Thoughts on the Cerrito
It’s Official: Speakeasy Backs Out of Cerrito Theater
The following statement just went out to the Speakeasy Theaters mailing list: As many of you know, Speakeasy Theaters has been experiencing extreme financial difficulty since opening the Cerrito Theater. We learned much from the closing of the Parkway. Of most importance, we learned that our patrons would have preferred more warning of its impending … Continue reading It’s Official: Speakeasy Backs Out of Cerrito Theater
Another Hole in the Head Festival
In my Worst Show On The Web talk last week, one of the hosts joked about a movie called Lesbian Vampire Killers, wondering whether the adjective Lesbian in the title referred to the vampires or the killers. I don't know the answer, but either way, that movie could quality for either of two festivals running … Continue reading Another Hole in the Head Festival
Adoration
A Drama Written and Directed by Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan makes small films about people grieving the dead and relearning how to relate to the living, yet such works as Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter never feel like simple chamber pieces. Perhaps its the open, majestic, yet cold Canadian landscape, or maybe the original ways … Continue reading Adoration
Kurosawa Diary, Part 6: Scandal
Less than three hours ago, Scandal was the only post-war Akira Kurosawa film I had never seen. I've just seen it, as part of my project of seeing all available Kurosawa films in chronological order, and the only thing it satisfied was my curiosity. Those who've been following this diary know that, in my opinion, … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 6: Scandal
Blu-Ray Makes the Grade
As long as there has been home video, there have been beloved movies--2001, Dersu Uzala, Lawrence of Arabia--that I had no interest is seeing on any living room format. Now, with Blu-ray discs, I'm taking that back. I bought a Blu-ray player a while back, and one of the first movies I rented was 2001: … Continue reading Blu-Ray Makes the Grade
SFIFF Report: Last Day
I caught two screenings on the last day of the San Francisco International Film Festival: Speaking in Tongues. Let me start with a confession. I'm monolingual. Horribly monolingual. I hate being an English-only individual, and after seeing Speaking in Tongues, I suspect that if I had been part of an immersion program in elementary school … Continue reading SFIFF Report: Last Day
Unmade Beds
When I saw Unmade Beds at the 2009 San Francisco International Film Festival, I was under the impression that it would eventually receive a theatrical release. I therefore wrote, and held, this review. The release never materialized, but the movie is available on Netflix, so I’m posting the review, anyway. A- Youth drama Written and … Continue reading Unmade Beds
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