Tarantino, King Kong, Mozart, and some early Halloween treats this week in Bay Area screenings. Also two new films and the opening of this year's Mill Valley Film Festival. Festivals The CM SF Latino Film Festival closes Saturday The fall's big show, the Mill Valley Film Festival, opens Thursday night with several films that will … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 30 – October 6
Month: September 2016
The Lovers and The Despot
B- Documentary Directed by Rob Cannan and Ross Adam I don't think you could find a stranger story in the history of cinema. Shin Sang-ok was one of South Korea's top filmmakers--a respected director married to movie star Choi Eun-hee. They disappeared in 1978, and five years later turned up making movies in North Korea. … Continue reading The Lovers and The Despot
Mill Valley Film Festival Preview, Part 2
Here are five more films (mostly documentaries) that will screen at this year's Mill Valley Film Festival. As usual, they're in order from best to worst. A Circus Kid Lorenzo Pisoni grew up as part of the Pickle Family Circus--the son of Pickle founder and director Larry Pisoni. It was not a happy childhood. In … Continue reading Mill Valley Film Festival Preview, Part 2
What’s Screening: September 23 -29
This Saturday is National Art House Theater Day, where we celebrate the kind of movie theaters I cover in Bayflicks. In the Bay Area, the Rafael, the Lark, the Balboa, the Vogue, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the New Mission are taking part. Other than that, we've got six five festivals this week (yikes!), … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 23 -29
High Noon Blu-ray Review
Small, compact, and brimming with suspense, High Noon feels nothing like the other A westerns of the post-war period--epic movies like Red River, My Darling Clementine, and The Searchers. With its 85-minute runtime and looks-like-every-other-western sets, it feels more like the forgettable B oaters Hollywood was cranking out weekly in those days. But unlike those … Continue reading High Noon Blu-ray Review
A+ List: Singin’ in the Rain
You will not learn anything by watching Singin' in the Rain. It will not make you a better person or help you understand the human condition. But for 103 exhilarating minutes, this movie will entertain you like no other. Singin' in the Rain contains several of the best dance routines in film history. And when … Continue reading A+ List: Singin’ in the Rain
Mill Valley Film Festival Preview, Part 1
Over the course of this last week, I caught six films that will enjoy their Bay Area premieres at the Mill Valley Film Festival. I list them here from best to worst. None of them are really bad, and most of them are very good. All six will have theatrical releases after the Festival, so … Continue reading Mill Valley Film Festival Preview, Part 1
What’s Screening: September 16 – 22
This week in Bay Area screenings, we've got epic cowboys, silicon cowboys, sinking continents, a Latino film festival, and two celebrations of Star Trek turning 50. Festivals The CM SF Latino Film Festival opens Friday and runs until October 1 New films opening B Silicon Cowboys, Roxie, opens Friday IBM ruled the personal computer market … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 16 – 22
Silicon Cowboys take on Big Blue
B documentary Directed by Jason Cohen In the early 1980s, IBM ruled the personal computer market. If your computer wasn't made by Big Blue, it was incompatible with all the ones that were. Then a group of young, former Texas Instrument employees created Compaq, and everything changed. By the end of the decade, the PC … Continue reading Silicon Cowboys take on Big Blue
New haunted series at SFMOMA
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) recently gave its Phyllis Wattis Theater an upgrade. And now they're combining forces with the San Francisco Film Society for a three-weekend series of Modern Cinema, with an emphasis on films both haunted and haunting. SFMOMA and SFFS aren't the only organizations involved. The festival will focus … Continue reading New haunted series at SFMOMA