Here's my second batch of films that will screen at the upcoming SFFILM Festival (also known as the San Francisco International Film Festival). As with the last one, it includes one old movie, and three new ones. A- Close Enemies This is the sort of movie that reminds you that the French invented Film Noir. … Continue reading SFFILM Fest Preview, Part 2: French noir, New York hustlers, Miles Davis, and Hilary Rodham
Month: March 2019
Buster Bookends Silent Film Festival
Buster Keaton's first MGM feature and penultimate silent, The Cameraman, opens this year's San Francisco Silent Film Festival on May Day (May 1st). Four days of bleary eyes and stiff backs - and a lot of fun - later, the festival will close with Keaton's second feature, and in my opinion, his first feature masterpiece, … Continue reading Buster Bookends Silent Film Festival
What’s Screening: March 29 – April 4
A three-day celebration of Stanley Donen, a continual celebration of Alfred Hitchcock, some Harold Lloyd, but no film festivals this week. Great double bills A+ Singin' in the Rain & A- On the Town, Castro, Sunday Just a third of the Castro's three-day celebration of the recently-deceased director and choreographer Stanley Donen. Singin' in the … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 29 – April 4
Tre Maison Dasan: Three children of incarcerated parents
A- Documentary Directed by Denali Tiller When I saw this film before it screened at last year's SFFILM Festival, I assumed it would have a theatrical release, and therefore wrote the review below. But that release never materialized. Instead, PBS's Independent Lens picked it up and will broadcast it on April 1. And no, it … Continue reading Tre Maison Dasan: Three children of incarcerated parents
SFFILM Fest Preview, Part 1: Spaceships, a Savage family, Sex, & Satan
Here's my first batch of films screening at the upcoming SFFILM Festival (also known as the San Francisco International Film Festival). A Aniara This slow, frightful, depressing space movie from Sweden carries a heavy charge. A spaceliner taking refugees to Mars (Earth has become unlivable) has an accident that sends them out to the edges of … Continue reading SFFILM Fest Preview, Part 1: Spaceships, a Savage family, Sex, & Satan
Becky Sharp on Blu-ray & Technicolor
Unlike most of the Blu-rays I review, Becky Sharp isn't a beloved classic. Nor does it deserve to be one. But if you're interested in the technical side of film history, this Kino Lorber release is a must. This 1935 adaptation of Vanity Fair is the first full-length feature shot entirely in three-strip Technicolor. Technicolor … Continue reading Becky Sharp on Blu-ray & Technicolor
What’s Screening: March 22 – 28
Cold wars, hot wars, evil spies, unions, and cinema's greatest femme fatale appear on Bay Are screens this week. We also have two film festivals, and both in the East Bay. Festivals The Albany FilmFest closes Sunday. Read my preview. The GLAS Animation Festival also closes Sunday Promising events Norma Rae, New Parkway, Saturday, 3:10 … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 22 – 28
Laura Dern, Claire Denis, Claude Jarman, and John C. Reilly at the SFFILM Festival
The San Francisco International Film Festival, now also named SFFILM, opens Wednesday, April 10 with Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City. No, it's not a remake; it's a sequel to the PBS series of the 1980s, based on Maupin's serialized novels. And yes, it has Laura Linney, Olympia Dukakis, and other veterans of the show … Continue reading Laura Dern, Claire Denis, Claude Jarman, and John C. Reilly at the SFFILM Festival
The Big Bad Fox & the joys of simple animation
B Animated family fare Written by Benjamin Renner and Jean Regnaud Directed by Benjamin Renner and Patrick Imbert Note: I saw this family comedy last year before it screened at the SFFIM Festival. It never got a theatrical fun in the Bay Area. It appears it won't get one. But it will be available on … Continue reading The Big Bad Fox & the joys of simple animation
The Kid Brother Blu-ray review
If people know about Harold Lloyd at all, they think of Safety Last. Or maybe The Freshman. But for my money, his penultimate silent, The Kid Brother, is his masterpiece. It has several of the funniest, brilliantly designed, extended comedy sequences ever filmed. But it's more than just a very funny movie. It makes you … Continue reading The Kid Brother Blu-ray review
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