B+ drama Written and directed by Olivier Assayas A great stage actress and sometimes movie star (Juliette Binoche) reluctantly accepts to star in a revival of the play that made her famous. But there's a catch. She's too old to play the young, ambitious lesbian that became the defining part of her early career. Now … Continue reading Age and stardom: My review of Clouds of Sils Maria
Month: April 2015
Bill Plympton’s absurd love story: Cheatin’ (my review)
A Adult animation Written and directed by Bill Plympton If Bill Plympton isn’t the strangest, most iconoclastic, bizarre, and brilliant animator of all time, we live in a very weird world. His instantly recognizable style takes caricature—the heart of all animation—to an extreme beyond anyone else working in features. Consider Jake—the irresistible hunk in Cheatin’. … Continue reading Bill Plympton’s absurd love story: Cheatin’ (my review)
SFIFF: Paul Schrader to be honored in this year’s Kanbar Award
The San Francisco International Film Festival just announced that writer and sometimes director Paul Schrader will receive this year's Kanbar Award for life achievement in storytelling (previously, it was life achievement in screenwriting). I guess he's a good choice. He's written at least two great films: Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. Both were directed by … Continue reading SFIFF: Paul Schrader to be honored in this year’s Kanbar Award
What’s Screening: April 10 – 16
Both the Tiburon International Film Festival and the Buddhist Film Festival play through this week. A Kill Me Three Times, Opera Plaza, Shattuck, opens Friday. Simon Pegg stars as a professional killer surrounded by amateurs in this very funny thriller from Australia. This is the sort of movie where a gruesome, bloody murder is interrupted … Continue reading What’s Screening: April 10 – 16
Hoop Dreams (my Blu-ray review)
I'd be hard put to name another documentary that feels so much like a narrative feature. Not that Steve James' Hoop Dreams looks like a fiction film; it most certainly does not. The hand-held cameras, extreme lenses, and low video resolution makes it look like the cinéma vérité documentary that it is. But James and … Continue reading Hoop Dreams (my Blu-ray review)
Who are they? My review of Lambert & Stamp
B+ Music documentary Directed by James D. Cooper I don't know if I enjoyed this movie so much because it was very well made, or simply because it's about The Who--a band that I have been a fan of for more than 40 years. I doubt if Lambert & Stamp would be of much interest … Continue reading Who are they? My review of Lambert & Stamp
Comic noir down under: Kill Me Three Times (my review)
A Comic thriller Written by James McFarland Directed by Kriv Stenders As Alfred Hitchcock well understood, a good thriller can carry a heavy load of dark humor. And since this particular thriller stars Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead), you come in expecting more laughs than thrills. But make no mistake, Kill Me … Continue reading Comic noir down under: Kill Me Three Times (my review)
Ex Machina asks what it means to be human (my review)
A- Science fiction Written and directed by Alex Garland I've learned to confront new big-screen science fiction with lowered expectations--especially when it deals with man-vs.-machine conflicts. So I went in to Ex Machina expecting to be disappointed. But the disappointments (for the most part) never came. Even the final act was intelligent and surprising--and I … Continue reading Ex Machina asks what it means to be human (my review)
What’s Screening: April 3 – 9
The Tiburon International Film Festival officially opens Thursday, although the first movie screening will be the following Friday. But here are a few movies actually playing this week: B+ Girlhood, Elmwood, opens Friday. Considering Marieme’s family situation, it’s no surprise she’s doing badly in school. Her mother works long hours and is rarely home. There’s no … Continue reading What’s Screening: April 3 – 9
Death and families: Bergman’s Cries and Whispers (Blu-ray review)
No horror movie can come close to the fear, dread, and dark hatreds of Ingmar Bergman's great chamber drama, Cries and Whispers. To watch it is to face the end of a slow and painful death by cancer. But that's not all. This film, centered around four women and set almost entirely in one house, … Continue reading Death and families: Bergman’s Cries and Whispers (Blu-ray review)
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