This year's San Francisco International Film Festival ended with a blast of rock and roll. B+ Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey I've never been a fan of Journey, but this music documentary made me a fan of the band's new lead singer, Arnel Pineda. He's charismatic, energetic, down-to-earth, and funny. He also has a great … Continue reading SFIFF Closing Night: Don’t Stop Believin’
Category: Documentaries
May Day at the SFIFF: A Sobering Documentary and a Boring Swashbuckler
I got a surprise when I stepped out of the Montgomery BART station on my way to the San Francisco International Film Festival. I ran into a Occupy-themed May Day protest blocking Market St. That provided two dilemmas. First, should I go to the festival, or take part in the protest? Second, when I decided … Continue reading May Day at the SFIFF: A Sobering Documentary and a Boring Swashbuckler
SFIFF Report: Vegetarian Restaurants, Hippy Communes, and The Source
I closed out the second San Francisco International Film Festival weekend with another documentary. This one wasn't about our horrifying future, but our wild past. B+ The Source You'd expect a documentary about an early 70s LA-based cult and hippy commune, centered around a charismatic leader, to be an exposé--names like Charles Manson and Jim … Continue reading SFIFF Report: Vegetarian Restaurants, Hippy Communes, and The Source
SFIFF: Sobering but Entertaining Water Crisis Documentary: Last Call at the Oasis
My first movie today at the San Francisco International Film Festival wasn't exactly fun, but it's arguably the most important film I've seen at this year's festival. B+ Last Call at the Oasis Water covers most of this planet's surface, yet the human race is rapidly running out of safe drinking water. Unless you're deep … Continue reading SFIFF: Sobering but Entertaining Water Crisis Documentary: Last Call at the Oasis
SFIFF Report: Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
Within minutes of getting out of Unforgiven, I was back in the same auditorium for this documentary. B+ Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present I've never seen the point of performance art (as opposed to the performing arts, which I love), but Matthew Akers' documentary on this particular performing artist won me over. It follows … Continue reading SFIFF Report: Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
SFIFF Report: Jacque Tati & Barbara Kopple
It's been an unusual day at the festival. Here's what I've seen: Master Class: Malcolm Turvey: Tati, Chaplin and the Democratization of Comedy I started the day with professor Malcolm Turvey, lecturing on Jacque Tati and how his comedy related to what he described as the "classical comedy" of Chaplin, Keaton, and other silent clowns. … Continue reading SFIFF Report: Jacque Tati & Barbara Kopple
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope
B Pop-culture documentary Directed by Morgan Spurlock Morgan Spurlock's latest documentary will disappoint his fans, which is odd because it's all about fandom. In this documentary, Spurlock doesn't experiment with diet or sell himself to corporations. He doesn't even put on a Batman costume. In fact, Spurlock never appears on camera and you never hear … Continue reading Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope
Review: My Reincarnation
A Tibetan Buddhist master and his westernized son clash over the young man's place in the old man's cultural and religious world. It's a story as old, or older, than The Jazz Singer. But in My Reincarnation, a documentary by Jennifer Fox, it's made new again. B+ Documentary Directed by Jennifer Fox Chögyal Namkhai Norbu … Continue reading Review: My Reincarnation
Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview
B- Documentary · Written and Presented by Robert X. Cringely · Directed by Paul Sen Even an Apple cynic like myself must admit that Steve Jobs drastically changed the world we live in, and mostly for the better. I'm writing this on a Windows computer, I have a Creative Zen music player, and my smartphone … Continue reading Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview
The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975
B+ Documentary Directed by Göran Hugo Olsson The nature of the civil rights movement changed dramatically in the mid-to-late 1960’s, abandoning non-violence and attacking the heart of the American government. This American/Swedish documentary tracks the Black Power movement from Stokely Carmichael’s 1967 heyday until heroin ravaged Harlem in 1975. The picture starts out by explaining … Continue reading The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975
Bayflicks 