B Comedy Written and directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano I can’t really complain about France’s latest big commercial hit. As you’d expect, it’s a crowd pleaser. Based on a true story, it follows the thorny but eventually healing friendship between a wealthy paraplegic and the African immigrant hired as his caregiver. No surprise … Continue reading The Intouchables
Month: May 2012
Film Books I’d Love to Read (Now If Only Someone Would Write Them)
I read a lot of books about cinema history. But I'm picky. I'm seldom interested in movie star biographies, or anyone's autobiography. But I love a good overview of an era, the story of a major transition, or a scholarly biography of a producer, director, or screenwriter. Here are a few books that I would … Continue reading Film Books I’d Love to Read (Now If Only Someone Would Write Them)
What’s Screening: May 25 – 31
Only one festival this week: New Czech Films at the Roxie. It runs Tuesday through Thursday, and then picks up again in the middle of next week. Not much else, either. Roxie Fundraiser Dinner, The Verdi Club, Wednesday, 6:30. Help keep the Roxie running with this special event. It's extremely expensive, but all for a … Continue reading What’s Screening: May 25 – 31
What’s Screening: May 18 – 24
This week in Bay Area festivals:I Wake Up Dreaming continues through Thursday. And the Crossroads Festival opens Friday and runs through the weekend. C- Elles, Bridge, Shattuck, opens Friday. This NC-17 French/Polish co-production has a lot of sex, and a lot of nudity (both male and female), but is in no way erotic. That's odd, … Continue reading What’s Screening: May 18 – 24
Why Silents Are Golden: This Year’s San Francisco Silent Film Festival
As regular readers know, I'm passionate about silent movies. Without the crutch of spoken words, a motion picture becomes pure cinema--reality on an entirely different plane. The actors can be fully unique, complex individuals (not that they always are) while remaining archetypes. Take Louise Brooks. In silent films, she's magical, mysterious, and the very embodiment … Continue reading Why Silents Are Golden: This Year’s San Francisco Silent Film Festival
Elles
C- sex drama Wrtten by Malgorzata Szumowska and Tine Byrckel Directed by Malgorzata Szumowska Let's get the expectations raised by this French/Polish co-production's NC-17 rating out of the way first. Yes, there is a lot of sex, and a lot of nudity (both male and female). And no, I didn't find anything in Elles to … Continue reading Elles
Violence as Light Entertainment–The Moral Question
I love a good turn-off-the-brain action movie--one where the hero gets to dispatch multiple bad guys without remorse but with plenty of clever quips. But the older I get, the more I begin to wonder if there's something inherently wrong with these pictures. Do they teach us that we can solve our problems by killing … Continue reading Violence as Light Entertainment–The Moral Question
What’s Screening: May 11 – 17
In festival news, the Roxie's I Wake Up Dreaming noir festival opens tonight and runs into next week. Also opening tonight: After Dark Action Films at the Balboa; it runs through Tuesday. B+ Last Call at the Oasis, Embarcadero, Shattuck, opens Friday. Water covers most of Earth's surface, yet the human race is rapidly running … Continue reading What’s Screening: May 11 – 17
Darling Companion
D+ Character-driven comedy Written by Lawrence and Meg Kasdan Directed by Lawrence Kasdan I hate watching good actors, some of whom I've admired for decades, struggle through a bad script. That made Darling Companion a very difficult movie to sit through. Here we have a character-driven comedy almost entirely lacking in either fully developed characters … Continue reading Darling Companion
Last Call at the Oasis
B+ Documentary Directed by Jessica Yu How do you judge a political documentary? Artistic and technical merit? How well it argues its case? Is it entertaining? How important is the subject? Do you agree with what it says? Jessica Yu's examination of the water crisis looming over the human race does reasonably well on all … Continue reading Last Call at the Oasis
Bayflicks 