I've now seen five movies that will screen at the upcoming Jewish Film Festival. Here they are, from the best to the worst. B+ Scarface (1932 version), Castro, Sunday, July 25, 10:00; Roda, Wednesday, August 4, 9:15. The best of the three films that started the 1930’s gangster genre, Scarface tracks the rise and demise … Continue reading Jewish Film Festival Preview
Month: June 2010
Hollywood Does Hollywood at the Castro
I just found out about this series Wednesday at the Castro. It’s not even on their web site as I write this. As the name implies, Hollywood Does Hollywood features American films about American filmmaking. Because I didn’t know about the series when I prepared the current newsletter, I’m inserting a newsletter-like listing that would … Continue reading Hollywood Does Hollywood at the Castro
What’s Screening: June 25 – July 1
Frameline continues through Sunday, and the Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival runs this weekend (Friday through Sunday). A- Howl, Castro, Sunday, 7:30. What did you expect–a conventional biopic? Would that do justice to the Allen Ginsberg epic poem with which the film shares its name? Like the poem, Howl is challenging, cutting-edge, and unconventional. By … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 25 – July 1
The Ultimate Festival Movie
Check out the Current Festivals section in the right panel of this page, and you’ll see a lot of activity this summer. Playing right now or opening soon, we’ve got festival for the LGBT community and another for Jews. There’s a festival of horror films, another of comedies, and two of silent films. So here’s … Continue reading The Ultimate Festival Movie
Jewish Film Festival Announced
Proud of its diversity, the Bay Area hosts a lot of what I call identity film festivals—geared around a particular way people identify themselves, whether it’s ethnic, religious, gender, or sexual identity. And the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, now celebrating it’s 30th year, started the trend. Being Jewish, this event has more meaning for … Continue reading Jewish Film Festival Announced
Kurosawa Diary, Part 17: Yojimbo
And so we come to Kurosawa at his most entertaining, and his most commercial. Oddly enough for this serious and often didactic auteur, also at his best. On one level, we have one of the most enjoyable action flicks ever made, with rousing swordplay, plenty of moments to cheer the hero, and many laughably inept … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 17: Yojimbo
What’s Screening: June 18 – 24
Frameline continues through this week. A+ Ikiru, Pacific Film Archive, Sunday, 7:15. One of Akira Kurosawa’s best, and arguably the greatest serious drama ever put up on the screen. Takashi Shimura gives the performance of his lifetime as an aging government bureaucrat dying of cancer. Emotionally cut off from his family–including the son and daughter-in-law … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 18 – 24
Another Hole in the Head
The Bay Area hosts so many film festivals this time of year that it’s scary. It’s not only scary, but it’s also weird. And bizarre. And fantastic. We need another bloody film festival like we need a hole in the head! So it’s appropriate that Indiefest’s Another Hole in the Head film festival is scary, … Continue reading Another Hole in the Head
Frameline Preview
I’ve managed to preview three films that Frameline, the Bay Area’s main LGBT film festival, will be screening in the coming weeks. Here’s what I thought of them, from the best to the worst. A- Howl, Castro, Sunday, June 27, 7:30 (closing night). What did you expect--a conventional biopic? Would that do justice to the … Continue reading Frameline Preview
What’s Screening: June 11 – 17
The United Film Festival runs through this week, and Frameline, the big LGBT festival, opens Thursday. And speaking of that: B The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, Castro, Thursday, 7:00. Basically a lesbian Merchant-Ivory picture set in early 19th-century England, this film dramatizes the actual diaries of the real Anne Lister. As close to … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 11 – 17
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