Orson Welles' ruined masterpiece, Harold Lloyd at his worst, and good and bad movies by Richard Linklater. A- The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Newly purchased Blu-ray Orson Well's follow-up to Citizen Kane just might have been a masterpiece. RKO took the film away from Welles, cut out about a third, and added a horribly happy ending. But … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Magnificent Ambersons, Waking Life, The Newton Boys, Hot Water
Month: March 2019
What’s Screening: March 15 – 21
What's on Bay Area screens this week? Dangerous dinosaurs. Dangerous French women. Swiss women so dangerous they insist on getting the vote! And if that's not scary enough, we've got two Hitchcock double bills. Also two film festivals and Laurel and Hardy. Festivals The Albany FilmFest opens Saturday and through the week and beyond. Read … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 15 – 21
Two drinking holidays in the same week: St. Patrick’s Day & Purim
St. Patrick's Day lands on March 17 of the Gregorian calendar. Purim lands on Adar 15 of the Jewish calendar. They're only days apart this year. Traditionally, people tend to get plastered on these days. Throughout 2019, I'll be writing articles about holidays and the most appropriate movies to help get into the festive mode. … Continue reading Two drinking holidays in the same week: St. Patrick’s Day & Purim
Ash Is Purest White but love is for the worthy
A- Crime drama Written and directed by Zhangke Jia At first you think this is going to be a gangster movie. At one point you decide it's becoming a revenge flick. Slowly, you realize it's something very different; something much more subtle. For most of Ash Is Purest White's long runtime, there's no conventional plotline. … Continue reading Ash Is Purest White but love is for the worthy
What’s Screening: March 8 – 14
This week on Bay Area movie screens: Hitmen on vacation, vampires from outer space, Oscar-winning double bills, and films by Richard Linklater, Jacques Demy, Alain Resnais, and Alfred Hitchcock. Also two new films worth seeing and two film festivals. Festivals The East Bay Jewish Film Festival closes Sunday. Read my preview. Berlin & Beyond opens … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 8 – 14
Styx: How many can you save?
A Drama/Thriller Written by Wolfgang Fischer and Ika Künzel Directed by Wolfgang Fischer You can find a lot of movies about a vacation gone wrong, where the protagonist (or protagonists) must fight for their lives and the lives of those they love. But Wolfgang Fischer does something much more interesting in Styx. Aside from one … Continue reading Styx: How many can you save?
Albany FilmFest: The Hometown Festival Near Me
I generally have a significant commute to get to a film festival. My own corner of the East Bay rarely hosts such events. And yet I have never visited the Albany FilmFest, where all of the venues are an easy walk from my home. It's a calendar problem; for reasons unrelated to movies, I'm generally … Continue reading Albany FilmFest: The Hometown Festival Near Me
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Bohemian Rhapsody, Hangmen Also Die, & School Ties
Three more movies that I saw just because I wanted to see them. A- Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), New Parkway, Theater 1 The Freddie Mercury Story (as this film would have been called in the 1950s) plays out as a relatively conventional rock star biopic. The protagonist (played by Rami Malek) finds and joins an existing band, … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Bohemian Rhapsody, Hangmen Also Die, & School Ties
What’s Screening: March 1 – 7 (this time for real)
Not much going on in Bay Area movie theaters this week. But we do have two new films, a curious double bill, an early western, and three film festivals. Festivals The East Bay Jewish Film Festival continues through this week and beyond. Read my preview. The Dynamation Celebration honors animation wizard Ray Harryhausen. It starts … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 1 – 7 (this time for real)
