How lucky that the Supreme Court upheld marriage equality in the middle of this year's Frameline LGBT Film Festival, which runs through Sunday. The Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival starts tonight and also runs through Sunday. As usual, I've placed Festival events at the end of this newsletter. A Twenty Feet from Stardom, Shattuck, Rafael, … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 28 – July 4
Month: June 2013
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival officially announced its 33rd run this morning. Probably the largest of all the "identity film festivals" in the area, it will play five venues around the Bay Area from July 25 through August 12. This year's theme, "Life through a Jew(ish) lens," raises two questions: What does that mean … Continue reading San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaușescu
Kino Lorber is releasing this documentary on DVD next week. I watched and reviewed it prior to its screening at the 2011 San Francisco International Film Festival. I'm finally posting the review now. D- Documentary Written and directed by Andrei Ujica This is what an inept filmmaker can do. What should have been a fascinating … Continue reading The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceaușescu
What’s Screening: June 21 – 27
No festivals open this week. But DocFest continues through Sunday, while Frameline runs through the week and a bit beyond. I put my Frameline recommendations and warnings at the end of this newsletter. A A Hijacking, Elmwood, Embarcadero, Rafael, opens Friday. This isn’t your typical, fun, swashbuckling pirate movie. One truly harrowing thriller, A Hijacking … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 21 – 27
Hitchcock 9, Part 3: Sunday
B The Pleasure Garden For a new director's first film, The Pleasure Garden is surprisingly assured--creatively using all the cinema's tools to tell a good story. Based on a popular novel of the time, it follows two young women, both dancers, as their professional and love lives go in different and contrasting directions. One goes … Continue reading Hitchcock 9, Part 3: Sunday
Hitchcock 9, Part 2: Saturday
I spent most of yesterday at the Castro, watching the Hitchcock 9 festival of early, silent Alfred Hitchcock movies, all newly restored. Here's what I saw: B Champagne With it's ditzy heiress ingénue, romantic plot, broad humor, and class consciousness, this Hitchcock silent has all the ingredients of a screwball comedy except sparkling dialog. I … Continue reading Hitchcock 9, Part 2: Saturday
Hitchcock 9 Report, Part 1: Blackmail
Friday night Blackmail A beautiful young woman ditches her boyfriend (a Scotland Yard detective), flirts with another man, then kills him in self-defense. The next morning she's at the mercy of a blackmailer. Alfred Hitchcock's tenth feature and second thriller already shows touches of the master. Her night wanderings after the incident, her reaction to … Continue reading Hitchcock 9 Report, Part 1: Blackmail
What’s Screening: June 14 – 20
In festival news, DocFest continues through this week. The Hitchcock 9 runs from tonight through Sunday. And Frameline opens Thursday night. I've separated the festival screenings below. A Much Ado About Nothing, Albany, Aquarius, Century San Francisco Centre 9, opens Friday. Most of us don’t associate Joss Whedon with Shakespeare, yet he's done wonders with … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 14 – 20
Much Ado About Nothing
A Romantic comedy Adapted and directed by Joss Whedon From the play by William Shakespeare It seems like a stupid question: Who could better adapt one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies to the big screen: Kenneth Branagh or Joss Whedon? The first is our generation's Olivier. The second is known for movies and TV shows … Continue reading Much Ado About Nothing
Nail-biting Laughter: My Blu-ray review of Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last!
Even Alfred Hitchcock never mastered that delicate balance between comedy and suspense as perfectly as silent comedian Harold Lloyd. Learning his craft carefully and consciously, he discovered that scaring the audience put them in an emotional pressure cooker, intensifying their reaction to a good gag. When the two effects were mixed expertly, by someone who … Continue reading Nail-biting Laughter: My Blu-ray review of Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last!
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