I caught two movies Sunday at the San Francisco International Film Festival. B Cameraperson I caught this one at the Victoria Theatre. Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson has been shooting documentaries for decades. The films she's lensed include Citizenfour and Farenheit 911. Now she's gathered much of what she shot, including home movies, into a montage of … Continue reading Sunday at the San Francisco International Film Festival
Category: Drama
Drama
Janus, Criterion, Coen Brothers, and James Schamus: Saturday at the San Francisco International Film Festival
I started the day with Wesley Morris' State of Cinema address. But as I've already written about that presentation, I'll skip it here and go to the two other events I attended. Mel Novikoff Award: An Afternoon with Janus Films & the Criterion Collection Every year, the Festival gives the Mel Novikoff Award to "an … Continue reading Janus, Criterion, Coen Brothers, and James Schamus: Saturday at the San Francisco International Film Festival
Thursday at the San Francisco International Film Festival
I caught two movies on Thursday, both at the New Mission, but this time, not in the big Theater 1. C Southside with You Here we have yet another variation on Before Sunrise. Two attractive people who barely know each other walk through a city, talking, doing fun and meaningful things, and getting to know … Continue reading Thursday at the San Francisco International Film Festival
Wednesday at the San Francisco International Film Festival
I saw two movies Wednesday at the San Francisco International Film Festival. The first was pretty good, the second fantastic. Both were screened at the New Mission's huge and beautiful Theater 1. Both films are on the festival's Hold Review List, which means that at this point in time, I have to review the films … Continue reading Wednesday at the San Francisco International Film Festival
Sold
B+ Social issue drama Written by Jeffrey Dean Brown and Joseph Kwong Directed by Jeffrey Dean Brown Sold is a message movie. The filmmakers want you to know that something horrible is going on, and that we all need to do something about it. The film has the sort of single mindedness of message that … Continue reading Sold
A+ List: The Last Picture Show
Making the transition from teenager to adult is hard enough anywhere. But when college isn't an option and your home town is turning into a ghost town, your life just might feel like a dead end. Peter Bogdanovich's masterpiece, The Last Picture Show, just may be the bleakest coming-of-age movie ever made. The two young … Continue reading A+ List: The Last Picture Show
Bicycle Thieves as great as ever on Blu-ray
If the point of cinema is to create empathy, both for the characters on the screen and for real people, Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves is the greatest film ever made. It's about desperate poverty, and how the desperately poor feed on the desperately poor because they have no other options. I wrote about this … Continue reading Bicycle Thieves as great as ever on Blu-ray
Baby It’s You Blu-ray review
Three weeks ago, Olive Films sent out a press release linked to March as Women's History Month. The point was to highlight 24 "female-created or female-driven" films in the company's DVD and Blu-ray catalogue. Like Criterion and Kino, Olive licenses classic and obscure older films, often made by Hollywood studios, and releases them on disc. … Continue reading Baby It’s You Blu-ray review
Aferim!: Slavery Romania Style
B+ Period road movie Written by Radu Jude & Florin Lăzărescu Directed by Radu Jude Racially-based slavery wasn't limited to the Americas in the 1800s. As Radu Jude's Aferim! shows, it was common in parts of Eastern Europe while it ravaged souls in Virginia. And the despised, enslaved people were not the decedents of sub-Sahara … Continue reading Aferim!: Slavery Romania Style
Sundance Film Festival 2015 Award-Winning Shorts
A- Selection of shorts A dystopian future, war-torn screen tests, scuba diving under ice, and a sexually-frustrated single mom all turn up in this selection of six short subjects that won awards at the 2015 Sundance film festival. I loved five out of the six. World of Tomorrow, Short Film Jury Award a little girl, … Continue reading Sundance Film Festival 2015 Award-Winning Shorts
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