Very bad Chinese investments, Eisenstein and Brecht, two beauties and their beasts, an accidental messiah, and a comet on its way to obliterate the Earth. And all these delights will appear on Bay Area movie screens this week. And that doesn't mention one really big film festival. Festivals The big one - or at least … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 30 – April 5
Month: March 2018
San Francisco Film Festival Preview, Part 3: Funny Nazis, a damaged rodeo rider, Hal Ashby, James Dean, and a pot-selling old man
Here's my last batch of San Francisco International Film Festival mini-reviews before the festival actually gets underway. As usual, they're in order from must-see to must-avoid. A+ To Be or Not To Be (original, 1942 version) The Nazis conquered Poland with frightening speed. But they prove no match for Carol Lombard and Jack Benny in Ernst … Continue reading San Francisco Film Festival Preview, Part 3: Funny Nazis, a damaged rodeo rider, Hal Ashby, James Dean, and a pot-selling old man
Massive fraud and no one gets punished in The China Hustle
B+ Documentary Directed by Jed Rothstein As the stock market began to tank in 2008, a group of would-be heroes appeared on the horizon: some very exciting, new Chinese companies that looked like excellent investments. Well, why not? The theoretically Communist country is the largest market in the world, and one seemingly drunk on capitalism. … Continue reading Massive fraud and no one gets punished in The China Hustle
Animation Week at the Parkway
San Francisco International isn't the only film festival launching next week. The New Parkway is running Animation Week from Friday, April 6 through the following Thursday, April 12. The selection includes the traditional kiddie fare, as well as movies that would probably send your young child into therapy. Movies I've seen and reviewed In order … Continue reading Animation Week at the Parkway
All That Heaven Allows at the PFA
I'm not one of those cinephiles who gets excited at every screening of a 35mm print. But when it's a vintage Technicolor 35mm print…well, that's exciting. And it was the print, more than the movie, that drew me to see the 1955 drama, All That Heaven Allows, Sunday afternoon at the Pacific Film Archive. The movie … Continue reading All That Heaven Allows at the PFA
San Francisco Film Festival Preview, Part 2: Racism, homophobia, war, and children with incarcerated parents
Here's four more film you might want to see at the San Francisco International Film Festival: A The Miseducation of Cameron Post In the 1990s, two high-school girls get caught having sex. One of them (Chloe Grace Moretz), is sent to an ultra-Christian camp intended to cure teenagers of SSA (Same-Sex Attraction). Initially, she views … Continue reading San Francisco Film Festival Preview, Part 2: Racism, homophobia, war, and children with incarcerated parents
What’s Screening: March 23 – 29
Parental love, autistic love, Bruce Lee, Ernst Lubitsch, Jesus as shown by Cecil B. DeMille, Hawking as shown by Errol Morris, French crooks, Italian crooks, a marooned Martian, and three film festivals - all on Bay Area movie screens this week. Festivals The Albany Filmfest continues through Sunday The Sonoma International Film Festival also continues … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 23 – 29
San Francisco Film Festival Preview, Part 1
The San Francisco International Film Festival opens two weeks from tonight. Tickets are on sale. Here are four films you might want to see…or want to skip. As usual, they're in order from best to worst. A I Am Not a Witch In an unnamed African country (shot in Zambia), villagers accuse a young girl … Continue reading San Francisco Film Festival Preview, Part 1
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Death of Stalin, I, Tonya, A Night at the Opera, The Little Foxes, & Thoughts That Once We Had
Somehow, despite all these film festivals, the Chaplin Diary, and Blu-rays, I've still found time to just go to the movies (or watch them at home). Here are five, listed from best to worst. A- The Death of Stalin (2017), Shattuck Few historical deaths can create as much merriment. Once their General Secretary is dead, the … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Death of Stalin, I, Tonya, A Night at the Opera, The Little Foxes, & Thoughts That Once We Had
Louis Malle Noir: My Blu-ray review of Elevator to the Gallows
You don't expect film noir from Louis Malle. But his first narrative feature, Elevator to the Gallows, is as dark, suspenseful, and entertaining as the best crime dramas that ever came out of Hollywood. Criterion released this excellent thriller in February. Made in France in 1957 (it was released in '58), the complex yet tightly-told … Continue reading Louis Malle Noir: My Blu-ray review of Elevator to the Gallows
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