Arabian Nights movies seem to have gone out of fashion, and that's probably not much of a loss. Most of them were laughably bad. But a few good ones got made, along with one true masterpiece: Alexander Korda's The Thief of Bagdad. With its loosely-weaved story, poetic dialog, beautiful color design, groundbreaking special effects, and … Continue reading A+ List: The Thief of Bagdad (1940 version)
Month: September 2017
Mill Valley Festival reaches 40 next month with 204 films, & one of them will probably win Best Picture
The Bay Area hosts a ridiculous number of film festivals, but two of them stand above the others: San Francisco International in the spring and Mill Valley in the fall. These are the festivals where you can see the newest independent films before they get a regular theatrical release. More importantly, you can see many … Continue reading Mill Valley Festival reaches 40 next month with 204 films, & one of them will probably win Best Picture
What’s Screening: September 8 – 14
Gangsters, bad marriages, Marlon Brando, a Communist teacher, and the last days of a Japanese film festival hit Bay Area movie screens this week. Festivals The Japan Film Festival of San Francisco continues through Sunday New films opening A Dolores, Opera Plaza, Shattuck, Rafael, opens Friday While Cesar Chavez became famous while creating the United … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 8 – 14
The Teacher provides a lesson on Communism
B Drama Written by Petr Jarchovský Directed by Jan Hrebejk The new middle school teacher expects her students - and their parents - to make life easier for her. She wants them to clean her home, do her errands, even smuggle a cake into another country. In exchange, she'll slip them information that will help … Continue reading The Teacher provides a lesson on Communism
Dolores: Heroine for the farmworkers
A Documentary Directed by Peter Bratt I grew up boycotting grapes. My family supported Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers union. But I never knew about Dolores Huerta until I heard about this documentary. Now I feel I know her (of course, I don't). Huerta was a part of the union from the start. … Continue reading Dolores: Heroine for the farmworkers
Machismo faces the Holocaust: My Blu-ray review of Seven Beauties
Lina Wertmüller's 1975 masterpiece, Seven Beauties, is a Holocaust film (with no recognizably Jewish characters), an examination of Italian machismo, and a witheringly sad and disturbing drama. And at times, it becomes a very funny slapstick comedy. Giancarlo Giannini stars as Pasqualino, a charming but somewhat dense egomaniac. He lives in Naples with his mother … Continue reading Machismo faces the Holocaust: My Blu-ray review of Seven Beauties
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Stalker, Bad Education, Bardelys the Magnificent, & Carry on Cleo
Four more films that are new to me. As usual, I'm sorting them by quality. A Stalker (1979), Filmstruck This slow, strange, allegorical fantasy from the great Andrei Tarkovsky gets under your skin. A guide, called a stalker, takes two other men on a journey into a strange place called The Zone. We never find out … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Stalker, Bad Education, Bardelys the Magnificent, & Carry on Cleo
Italian comedy & American tragedy: Friday night at the Pacific Film Archive
My wife and I attended two very different films last night (Friday night) at the Pacific Film Archive. One was a 1963, Italian satire on consumerism that is only now being released in the States. The other was an American classic. Both movies recently enjoyed fine digital restorations. Both were screened from DCPs. We sat … Continue reading Italian comedy & American tragedy: Friday night at the Pacific Film Archive
What’s Screening: September 1 – 7
Marlon Brando, aliens, fascist bureaucrats, and teenage love light up Bay Area movie screens this week. Also, two film festivals. Festivals New Filipino Cinema 2017 continues through Sunday The Japan Film Festival of San Francisco opens today and runs through this week and beyond. Promising events Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alamo Drafthouse New … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 1 – 7
Bayflicks 