I've managed to preview three (well, two and a half) features that will screen at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Here's what I thought of them: A Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine If a film makes me cry, it gets an A. This documentary about the horrific, homophobic murder of a young gay … Continue reading Mill Valley Film Festival Preview
Month: September 2013
What’s Screening: September 27 – October 3
The Latino Film Festival closes today. The Oakland Underground Film Festival continues through Sunday. The Iranian Film Festival plays through the weekend. And the biggest one of the season, the Mill Valley Film Festival, opens Thursday. B+ Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 version), corner of Oxford and Center streets, download Berkeley, Friday, 8:00. Free. … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 27 – October 3
Who Should Have Directed Gatsby?
I've never seen any film version of The Great Gatsby. I've read the book, and loved it. But none of the movie adaptations earned much respect; certainly not enough for me to seek them out. Which is odd, because the book seems easy to adapt. It's short. It's almost entirely dialog and action. A screenwriter … Continue reading Who Should Have Directed Gatsby?
What’s Screening: September 20 – 26
The Irish Film Festival runs until Saturday, but the Latino Film Festival continues through the week. And the Oakland Underground Film Festival--which I only found out about Friday morning--opens Wednesday. B+ The Gospel According to St. Matthew, Pacific Film Archive, Sunday, 5:00. Almost certainly the most low-key, matter-of-fact, and inexpensive life-of-Jesus movie ever made; and it … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 20 – 26
What’s Screening: September 13 – 19
Quite a bit of festival activity, especially over the weekend. The San Francisco Dance Film Festival continues through Sunday, and the one-day Atheist Film Festival takes over the Roxie on Saturday. The Latino Film Festival continues through most of the month. And the Irish Film Festival starts its three-day run on Thursday. You'll find some … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 13 – 19
This year’s Mill Valley Film Festival Announced Today
In the Bay Area, we have film festivals for Jews, Arabs, Irish, atheists, Asians, South Asians, Asian Americans, blacks, gays, and gay blacks. We have festivals for people who love silent movies, film noir, comedy, and horror. And we have film festivals for people who just love movies. The Mill Valley Film Festival is one … Continue reading This year’s Mill Valley Film Festival Announced Today
Coming on Yom Kippur: The Atheist Film Festival
The Bay Area's fifth annual Atheist Film Festival plays one day--Saturday, September 14--at the Roxie. That's Yom Kippur. I'll assume it's a coincidence. I also assume that it won't hurt the box office much. I have nothing against atheism. The belief that there is no God is a perfectly reasonable one, and nothing to be … Continue reading Coming on Yom Kippur: The Atheist Film Festival
My Thoughts on Blue Jasmine
Cate Blanchett can do anything. In Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, which my wife and I saw Saturday night, she gives a great performance in an otherwise shallow and unbelievable drama. You probably already know the story. Jasmine (Blanchett) enjoys a life of indulgence and privilege as the spoiled wife of an extremely rich, New York-based … Continue reading My Thoughts on Blue Jasmine
What’s Screening: September 6 – 12
The Latino Film Festival starts Thursday. B+ Afternoon Delight, Kabuki, Albany Twin, opens Friday. The plot sounds like broad, comic farce: A young Jewish mother and housewife invites a stripper and sometimes prostitute to move into her home and become her young son’s nanny. When Afternoon Delight tries to be funny, it generally succeeds. But writer/director … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 6 – 12
Serious Farce: My review of Afternoon Delight
B+ Officially a comedy Written and directed by Jill Soloway The plot sounds like broad, comic farce--a feminist take on Down and Out in Beverly Hills. A bored, Jewish young mother and housewife (Kathryn Hahn) worries about the lack of sex in her marriage. Then, for reasons that are never really explained, she invites a … Continue reading Serious Farce: My review of Afternoon Delight
Bayflicks 