A Documentary Directed by Ai Weiwei If you keep up with international news to any serious degree, very few of the facts in this haunting documentary will surprise you (although some just might). But director Ai Weiwei isn't really trying to make you know more. He wants to make you feel more. But I'll start … Continue reading Human Flow: The big and small of the refuge crisis
Month: October 2017
Wonderstruck: Two tales of finding oneself at a museum
A- Family-friendly quest Written by Brian Selznick, based on his novel Directed by Todd Haynes I'm tempted to call Todd Haynes's latest film Night at the Museum: The Good Version. Like the 2006 Hollywood kiddie flick, Wonderstruck celebrates New York's Museum of Natural History - which just happens to be one of my all-time favorite museums. … Continue reading Wonderstruck: Two tales of finding oneself at a museum
Goodbye Christopher Robin: How a great children’s book hurt the child that inspired it
B+ biopic Written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Simon Vaughan Directed by Simon Curtis Almost everyone who can read, or has been read to, loves A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories. But according to this film, which covers some 20-plus years of Milne's life, the stories of Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and others made one child very … Continue reading Goodbye Christopher Robin: How a great children’s book hurt the child that inspired it
Sunday at the Mill Valley Film Festival
If you're wondering why I stopped covering the Mill Valley Film Festival before opening night, the reason was medical. I caught the mother of all colds, and didn't want to ruin everyone else's moviegoing with my coughing and hacking. I was finally healthy enough to attend on Sunday, the very last day of the festival. … Continue reading Sunday at the Mill Valley Film Festival
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Battle of the Sexes, Professor Marston and the Wonder Woman, & Le Million
Another three movies I've seen for the first time recently. Two of them, still in theaters, are based on actual events. The other is an early talkie that makes no attempt at anything like realism. A- Battle of the Sexes (2017), Cerrito In 1973, former men's tennis champ Bobby Riggs set up a match with women's … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Battle of the Sexes, Professor Marston and the Wonder Woman, & Le Million
What’s Screening: October 13 – 19
How appropriate! We've got a Friday the 13th in October. But hey, who needs scary movies when Trump is in the White House. Anyway, this week we've got five film festivals, a great new film, and an awesome Frankenstein triple bill - all in Bay Area movie theaters. Festivals The Mill Valley Film Festival closes … Continue reading What’s Screening: October 13 – 19
The Florida Project brings you not quite to Disney World
A- Slice of life Written by Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch Directed by Sean Baker Cheap motels and tourist traps abound on the edge of Florida's Disney World. Some, such as The Magic Castle, have become unofficial residency motels, filled with desperate people - mostly single mothers. Tourists are few and far between. Sean Baker's … Continue reading The Florida Project brings you not quite to Disney World
What’s Screening: October 6 – 12
It's October, and horror movies are popping up all over the Bay Area…along with Mill Valley, Jim Jarmusch, and the last of Chaplin. Festivals The Mill Valley Film Festival continues through this week and beyond. Check out my reports for recommendations. Modern Cinema continues Rare and Worth Catching B Serenade for Haiti, Pacific Film Archive, … Continue reading What’s Screening: October 6 – 12
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Force, The Player, & A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Here are three other movies I've seen. A The Force (2017), California Theater (Berkeley) No, this not a Star Wars movie, but a cinema verite documentary about the Oakland Police Department, shot over a period of two years. There's no narration, and if anything was staged for the movie cameras - even an interview - I … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Force, The Player, & A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
My Day of Four Noirs
I spent Monday watching Film Noir at the Roxie and the Castro. The Roxie screenings were a press event for their Gallic noir festival, The French Had a Name For It, which runs in early November. The Castro screenings was the first double bill in the series I Wake Up Dreaming. This wasn't a press … Continue reading My Day of Four Noirs
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