As regular readers know, I'm passionate about silent movies. Without the crutch of spoken words, a motion picture becomes pure cinema--reality on an entirely different plane. The actors can be fully unique, complex individuals (not that they always are) while remaining archetypes. Take Louise Brooks. In silent films, she's magical, mysterious, and the very embodiment … Continue reading Why Silents Are Golden: This Year’s San Francisco Silent Film Festival
Category: Festivals
Last Call at the Oasis
B+ Documentary Directed by Jessica Yu How do you judge a political documentary? Artistic and technical merit? How well it argues its case? Is it entertaining? How important is the subject? Do you agree with what it says? Jessica Yu's examination of the water crisis looming over the human race does reasonably well on all … Continue reading Last Call at the Oasis
Summing Up This Year’s San Francisco International Film Festival
It's over. Two weeks of very heavy, mostly serious cinema in San Francisco--and none of it even near a BART station. Over those weeks, I saw 15 new feature films. If you include the three I saw at press screenings before the festival, and the two on screeners (DVDs sent to press), the total was … Continue reading Summing Up This Year’s San Francisco International Film Festival
SFIFF Closing Night: Don’t Stop Believin’
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’
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
Headhunters
A thriller Written by Lars Gudmestad and Jo Nesbø, from the novel by Ulf Ryberg Directed by Morten Tyldum Shit happens, sometimes literally, in this scary, effective, funny, gruesome, and utterly entertaining thriller from Norway. Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) leads the good life. He's a headhunter--in the modern, corporate meaning of the term. He helps … Continue reading Headhunters
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 Centerpiece: Your Sister’s Sister
Last night I attended the San Francisco International Film Festival's Centerpiece presentation, consisting of a movie, a Q&A, and a party. A- Your Sister’s Sister This film kept surprising me. The opening scene, involving a group of young adults memorializing a recently-deceased friend, felt like The Big Chill. But the movie was about only two … Continue reading SFIFF Centerpiece: Your Sister’s Sister
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
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