The State of the Industry at the Mill Valley Film Festival

This year's Mill Valley Film Festival closed Sunday. My last event happened Saturday, and it wasn't even a movie. It was a panel discussion on the State of the Industry. The question of the day was "Can anything beyond blockbusters succeed in theaters?" If you care about the theatrical experience, that's important. Sure, I watch … Continue reading The State of the Industry at the Mill Valley Film Festival

A wild South African adventure in Mill Valley (actually Larkspur): Flatland

Thursday evening, I saw one of the wildest, craziest, and bizarre road movie ever to grace the Mill Valley Film Festival. And it wasn't even in Mill Valley or San Rafael. I saw Flatland at the Century Larkspur, probably the easiest Marin County movie theater to get to from the East Bay. It's a regular … Continue reading A wild South African adventure in Mill Valley (actually Larkspur): Flatland

A space-age orphanage, cinematic sound, & trying to get pregnant: Saturday at the Mill Valley Film Festival

Here's what I saw on my first day at this year's Mill Valley Film Festival. Filmmaker Q&As followed all three films. Journeys Beyond the Cosmodrome The festival is presenting this program as a feature preceded by a short. But these are really two very short documentary features. So, I'll give each one a quick review. … Continue reading A space-age orphanage, cinematic sound, & trying to get pregnant: Saturday at the Mill Valley Film Festival

Great films you won’t see at the Mill Valley Film Festival

I play a very small part in programming the Mill Valley Film Festival. Every spring and early summer, I screen several obscure movies that will probably never see the inside of an American movie theater. Then I send in a report for each movie. Most of these films are bad beyond belief. Some of them … Continue reading Great films you won’t see at the Mill Valley Film Festival

Danny Trejo, Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Rosalind Chao, Isabelle Huppert, & Plastic. My last Mill Valley Film Festival previews of the year

Here are the last five films I'll be previewing for this year's Mill Valley Film Festival. Two documentaries, three narratives, and not a bad one in the bunch. As usual, they're in order of quality. A Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo This is one of the best documentaries about a movie star I've … Continue reading Danny Trejo, Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver, Rosalind Chao, Isabelle Huppert, & Plastic. My last Mill Valley Film Festival previews of the year

Films you may want to catch at the Mill Valley Film

The Filipino war on drugs, failed justice in rural Alabama, an aging filmmaker, and documentaries on one of the worst, and one of the best, men in recent American history. Here's my opinions on five films that will screen at this year's Mill Valley Film Festival. A Watch List The Philippines' outrageously inhuman war on … Continue reading Films you may want to catch at the Mill Valley Film