No festivals open this week, but three of them continue. The Brainwash Drive-In/Bike-In/Walk-In Movie festival runs through Saturday. The Japan Film Festival of San Francisco ends Sunday. And the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival plays through this week and well beyond it. I've listed Jewish Film Festival screenings at the bottom of this newsletter. A+ … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 25 – 31
Month: July 2014
The Castro now has 4K projection
Top technology has been an important part of the Castro's appeal for a long time. The theater was, I believe, the first rep house to get Dolby stereo, digital sound, and DCP-compatible digital projection. I believe it's the only local rep house that can project 70mm film, and one of only two that can handle … Continue reading The Castro now has 4K projection
James Garner and Some Forgotten Western Laughs
James Garner's recent death left me thinking about some of my favorite films starring the low-key star. And one title, rarely mentioned today, leaped up immediately: Support Your Local Sheriff. That title pretty much guarantees that the movie would be forgotten. A topical joke in 1969 (a popular conservative bumper sticker of the day read … Continue reading James Garner and Some Forgotten Western Laughs
What’s Screening: July 18 – 24
Plenty of film festivals in the air--and two of them are in Oakland. The Matatu Film Festival continues through Saturday. The Brainwash Drive-In/Bike-In/Walk-In Movie festival plays Friday and Saturday and again next weekend. The Japan Film Festival of San Francisco opens Saturday and plays through this weekend and beyond. And the San Francisco Jewish Film … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 18 – 24
Rediscovering The Big Lebowski
I saw The Big Lebowski at the Pacific Film Archive Wednesday night--my first time seeing the cult favorite with an audience. Now I get it. I may be the last person to realize this, but on the big screen, with a room full of people, Lebowski is an exceptional comedy. The laughs are nearly constant. … Continue reading Rediscovering The Big Lebowski
Book vs. Film: Red River
When someone turns a mediocre book into a great film, people forget that it ever was a book. Such is the case with Borden Chase's decent but unexceptional novel, Blazing Guns on the Chisholm Trail, and the cinematic masterpiece that Howard Hawks made out of it, Red River. As I mentioned in my Red River … Continue reading Book vs. Film: Red River
The American Dream turns into a nightmare, and a great American film needs to be seen
A young man comes to New York, dreaming of success and wealth. But reality refuses to live up to his dreams--perhaps because he dreams too much-- in King Vidor's 1928 masterpiece, The Crowd. Told with daring photography, real locations, surreal sets, and subtle pantomime, The Crowd brings you through dizzying joy and wrenching tragedy as … Continue reading The American Dream turns into a nightmare, and a great American film needs to be seen
What’s Screening: July 11 – 17
The Matatu Film Festival opens Wednesday, ending the Bay Area's mid-summer film festival draught. A- Ealing Studios/Alec Guinness double bill: The Ladykillers & The Lavender Hill Mob, Castro, Sunday. In the early 1950s, Britain's Ealing Studios made several droll but wonderful comedies starring Alec Guinness, often about crime. In The Ladykillers, probably the darkest Ealing … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 11 – 17
Jewish Film Festival Preview
I've previewed five films that will screen at this year's San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Here's what I thought of them, in order from best to worst. Curiously, the two best are also the least Jewish. I guess they were so good they had to be added anyway. A Swim Little Fish Swim Don't let … Continue reading Jewish Film Festival Preview
Boyhood: As Real as Fiction Gets
A Long-form drama Written and directed by Richard Linklater I'm a sucker for long films that take place over the course of several years. But I've never seen one as real as Richard Linklater's Boyhood. This isn't a story of an extraordinary person, or of a normal person going through an extraordinary experience. But it … Continue reading Boyhood: As Real as Fiction Gets
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