W. C. Fields, Cab Calloway, Joe Dante, Bogart & Hepburn, tough British cops, and the Russian Revolution light up Bay Area movie screens this week. And oddly, not a single film festival. New films opening A- Nowhere to Hide, Roxie, opens Friday The experience of sitting through this documentary can best be described as harrowing, … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 30 – July 6
Month: June 2017
Nowhere to Hide: Powerful, important, & horribly depressing
A- Documentary Directed by Zaradasht Ahmed The experience of sitting through this documentary can best be described as harrowing, gruesome, scary, and deeply depressing. At yet, I have to recommend it. You'll be a better person for seeing Nowhere to Hide. In 2011, as American troops left Iraq, the filmmakers gave a small video camera … Continue reading Nowhere to Hide: Powerful, important, & horribly depressing
Jewish Film Festival Preview, Part 1
Here's my first, 2017 collection of San Francisco Jewish Film Festival mini-reviews. As usual, I'm starting with the must-sees and ending with the easy-to-misses. A 1945 August 1945. Two Orthodox Jews get off the train in a small Hungarian town. Who are they and what do they want? But this movie isn't about them. It's about the … Continue reading Jewish Film Festival Preview, Part 1
What’s Screening: June 23 – 29
Samurai, dancers, Mary Pickford, and alienated teenagers light up Bay Area movie screens this week. Also two film festivals. Festivals Frameline continues through Sunday The Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival opens today and runs through Sunday New films opening A Maudie, Embarcadero, opens Friday Here's a love story, set on the beautiful Nova Scotia coast, about … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 23 – 29
This year’s Jewish Film Fest deals with refugees, music, romance, and yes, genocide
This year's San Francisco Jewish Film Festival focuses considerably on the traditional command of tikkun olam (healing the world). Several of the films have little or nothing to do with Judaism, but they are very much about justice, charity, freedom, and cleaning the planet - all parts of tikkun olam. But not all. The festival … Continue reading This year’s Jewish Film Fest deals with refugees, music, romance, and yes, genocide
Maudie: Beautiful biopic of a painter
A biopic Written by Sherry White Directed by Aisling Walsh I went into this beautiful story without knowing that it was based on the life of a real person. I came out wanting to know more about Maude Lewis, a painter of moderate renown from Nova Scotia. Her paintings are colorful, simple, and cheerful. She … Continue reading Maudie: Beautiful biopic of a painter
What’s Screening: June 16 – 22
Danny Kaye, Batman, Toshiro Mifune, and a silent Dracula hit Bay Area movie screens this week. Also, three new films and two on-going film festivals. Festivals The San Francisco Black Festival continues through Sunday Frameline continues through this week and beyond New films opening B The Women's Balcony, Clay, opens Friday A section of a … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 16 – 22
Orthodox wars in The Women’s Balcony
B Comedy/drama Written by Shlomit Nehama Directed by Emil Ben-Shimon A section of a synagogue collapses, and a war breaks out amongst Orthodox Jews over just how Orthodox they will be. Not surprisingly, it becomes a war of the sexes in this light comedy. I don't know how well non-Jews will understand The Women's Balcony. … Continue reading Orthodox wars in The Women’s Balcony
The Transfiguration
B- Kind of a horror movie Written and directed by Michael O'Shea Believe it or not, Michael O'Shea found a new twist to the vampire genre: Avoiding the supernatural. Everything in The Transfiguration could, at least in theory, happen. The movie's vampire has no special powers or weaknesses. He can't turn into a bat. Neither … Continue reading The Transfiguration
A+ List: Rio Bravo
Director Howard Hawks proved his talent in many genres, including westerns. He made four of them, and the first two, Red River and Rio Bravo, are masterpieces. Both belong on my A+ List of all-time greats. And yet, they're so different that it's hard to imagine they were made by the same director. Red River … Continue reading A+ List: Rio Bravo
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