Category: Festivals

SFIFF Friday: Great trains, bad entertainment

~ Lincoln Spector

I caught two films at the Kabuki Friday. Here's what I saw: D+ Entertainment Being weird isn't always enough. A deeply depressed, horrifically inept stand-up comic (Gregg Turkington) travels through small towns in the desert, flopping over and over again. Between lousy material, a complete lack of taste, horrific delivery, and utter contempt for his audience, he's … Continue reading SFIFF Friday: Great trains, bad entertainment

Alex Gibney, Steve Jobs, and opening night for the San Francisco International Film Festival

~ Lincoln Spector

The San Francisco International Film Festival opened last night with a mercifully short introduction, an excellent film, and a short but interesting Q&A. But the night started off on the wrong foot. When we entered the Castro, we found that almost all of the seats were "Reserved." Only the front three and back five rows … Continue reading Alex Gibney, Steve Jobs, and opening night for the San Francisco International Film Festival

SFIFF: Paul Schrader to be honored in this year’s Kanbar Award

~ Lincoln Spector

The San Francisco International Film Festival just announced that writer and sometimes director Paul Schrader will receive this year's Kanbar Award for life achievement in storytelling (previously, it was life achievement in screenwriting). I guess he's a good choice. He's written at least two great films: Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. Both were directed by … Continue reading SFIFF: Paul Schrader to be honored in this year’s Kanbar Award

Richard Gere, Guillermo del Toro, and the rest of this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival

~ Lincoln Spector

This year's San Francisco International Film Festival officially launched at a San Francisco press conference Tuesday morning. It opens Thursday, April 23 with Alex Gibney’s tech documentary, Steve Jobs: the Man In the Machine. Two Thursdays later, on May 7, it will close with Experimenter, a history-based drama about psychologist Stanley Milgram, who did some … Continue reading Richard Gere, Guillermo del Toro, and the rest of this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival

Marriage and Murder Marathon: Watching five features Saturday at Noir City

~ Lincoln Spector ~ 2 Comments

I spent Saturday at the Castro for the penultimate day, and the longest day, of this year's Noir City festival. Over the course of nearly 12 hours, the festival screened five feature films about crime, attempted crime, sex, attempted sex, and marriages both nurturing and homicidal. The festival's theme this year is "Til death do … Continue reading Marriage and Murder Marathon: Watching five features Saturday at Noir City

IndieFest Preview

~ Lincoln Spector

I've managed to preview four films that will screen at next month's IndieFest. Here's what I thought of them, from "must see" to "must miss." A Chocolate Strawberry Vanilla   Imagine Milton from Office Space slowly turning into Travis Bickle. That's pretty much what you get in this very black comedy from Australia. The main … Continue reading IndieFest Preview