B Historical drama Written by Benoît Jacquot & Gilles Taurand, from the novel by Chantal Thomas Directed by Benoît Jacquot What was it like in Versailles in the final days of the French monarchy? Was the court panicked? In denial? Did anyone realize that they would soon lose their heads? Benoît Jacquot creates…or imagines…an answer … Continue reading Farewell, My Queen
Month: July 2012
Bonsái
A- Literary comic drama Written and directed by Cristián Jiménez Bonsái begins with a spoiler. Before anything else happens, a narrator tells us that Emilia will die before the end of the film, but that Julio will live, and that he will be alone. We're also told that he had been alone for a long … Continue reading Bonsái
This is not a Film & Always for Pleasure at the PFA
I attended two separate, and very different events at the Pacific Film Archive last night. This Is Not a Film You really want something this important, this courageous, and this amazing in its very existence to also be exceptionally great. Unfortunately, This is Not a Film doesn't live up artistically to the filmmakers' courage. Iranian … Continue reading This is not a Film & Always for Pleasure at the PFA
Thoughts on Take This Waltz
Love brings sacrifice, long-lasting guilt, and only temporary happiness in Sarah Polley's exceptional love triangle drama, Take This Waltz. Loving your spouse won't stop you from falling madly in love with someone else, and no matter what you do with those feelings, someone will get hurt. There are no simple answers.My wife and I saw … Continue reading Thoughts on Take This Waltz
What’s Screening: July 6 – 12
The San Francisco Silent Film Festival opens Thursday. Wings, Castro, Thursday, 7:00. Primarily remembered as winner of the first Best Picture Oscar (except that the award wasn’t called Best Picture back then), Wings was until a few months ago the only silent film so honored. I saw Wings many, many years ago, and remember being … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 6 – 12
A Case for Silverado as a Great Western
Before he became the auteur of mediocre drameties like Darling Companion, Lawrence Kasdan wrote or co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. For his third directorial effort, Kasdan created another action entertainment gem--although an unfairly overlooked one: the neo-classic western Silverado. Shot against beautiful New Mexico scenery, … Continue reading A Case for Silverado as a Great Western
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