I've screened five films that will play at the upcoming Mill Valley Film Festival. Here's what I thought of them, from best to still pretty good. A Here Is Harold This very dark Norwegian comedy touches on issues of age, senility, parent/child relationships, big box stores and their effect on local businesses, and whether it's … Continue reading Mill Valley Film Festival Preview
Month: September 2015
What’s Screening: September 25 – October 1
A lot of film festivals this weekend, but all of them end before Monday. The Matatu Film Festival closes Saturday The San Francisco Latino Film Festival closes Sunday The Iranian Film Festival opens Saturday and closes Sunday The one-day Vittorio De Sica – a Film Series runs all day Saturday. And now this: A- The … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 25 – October 1
What’s Screening: September 18 – 24
The festivals are coming on strong this week: The San Francisco Irish Film Festival closes Saturday The Matatu Film Festival opens its four-day run on Wednesday The San Francisco Latino Film Festival opens tonight and runs through the week and a bit beyond And now this: A Diary of a Teenage Girl, New Parkway, opens … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 18 – 24
This year’s Mill Valley Film Festival announced
Tuesday evening, the California Film Institute officially announced the 38th Mill Valley Film Festival. This is one of the two really big film festivals in the Bay Area (the other being the San Francisco International Film Festival). Because of the late summer/early fall dates, Mill Valley tends to get a lot of the better Indiewood … Continue reading This year’s Mill Valley Film Festival announced
What’s Screening: September 11 – 17
No festival-free days this week. The California Independent Film Festival continues through Wednesday. And the day after that, the San Francisco Irish Film Festival opens. A Nashville, Castro, Thursday For an all-too-brief time in the 1970s, the Hollywood studios financed and released serious art, including Robert Altman's Nashville. It follows a whole lot of people--all … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 11 – 17
What’s Screening: September 4 – 10
The California Independent Film Festival, which I just found out about this week, opens on Thursday. Here's what else is going on. A Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, Embarcadero, California (Berkeley), opens Friday Director Alex Gibney starts this multifaceted documentary with a difficult question: Why did so many people who never met Steve … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 4 – 10
Four nights at the movies: The Crowd, Preston Sturges, a Teenage Girl, & 2 Noirs
I managed to see four feature films theatrically in the last four nights--plus another on television. Sunday: The Crowd My wife and I, along with another couple, went to the Castro to see one of the greatest silent films ever made, and arguably the most difficult American masterpiece to see, King Vidor's The Crowd. I've … Continue reading Four nights at the movies: The Crowd, Preston Sturges, a Teenage Girl, & 2 Noirs
The Sociopath in the Machine: My review of Alex Gibney’s Steve Jobs documentary
A Biographical documentary Directed by Alex Gibney There's no doubt about it. Steve Jobs changed the world. Even if you don't own a single Apple product, your computer, tablet, and smartphone were influenced by Job's work and inspiration. But Jobs the man was a first-class jerk. At the start of his career, he cheated his friend … Continue reading The Sociopath in the Machine: My review of Alex Gibney’s Steve Jobs documentary
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