Another rainy day at the movies, with one new good film and one rare classic. The Long Excuse Two women die in a bus accident, and their husbands deal with loss in this Japanese drama laced with gentle humor. Sachio is a well-educated, successful writer. He carries guilt; he was screwing his mistress when his wife … Continue reading SFFilm Festival Friday: Long Excuse & Early Van Peebles
Category: First-person Report
SFIFF Opening Night & Landline
The San Francisco International Film Festival opened Wednesday night with the relationship comedy Landline. It was a good movie, and overall a good show. As is usual with big festival events at the Castro, most of the seats downstairs were blocked off as reserved. If you weren't some sort of VIP, you were pretty much … Continue reading SFIFF Opening Night & Landline
Lubitsch at the Stanford
Believe it or not, I went more than 15 years without visiting the Stanford. The problem is geographical; it's a long drive, often in horrible traffic. I don't remember when I last visited David Packard's personal movie palace, but it was before I started writing this blog in 2004. Saturday afternoon, my wife and I … Continue reading Lubitsch at the Stanford
Anne V. Coates, the Orient Express, & the Mostly British Film Festival
Tuesday night, I finally got around to attending the Mostly British Film Festival at the Vogue. How could I miss it? David Thomson would be interviewing the great, British film editor, Anne V. Coates. And after the talk, there would be a screening of Sidney Lumet's 1974 version of Murder on the Orient Express. Coates, … Continue reading Anne V. Coates, the Orient Express, & the Mostly British Film Festival
The final day of this year’s Noir City
There was a time when Noir City rarely showed movies made after the early 1960s. Not this year. The last two films screened at the festival are so new they were both shot digitally. And, of course, they were both screened off of DCPs, as well. Victoria This German thriller was shot in a single, … Continue reading The final day of this year’s Noir City
Another Saturday at Noir City
I haven't been able to visit Noir City during the week this year, but I did manage to see three of the four films that screened Saturday. Movies from 1970s America made up the matinee double bill. Films from the turn of the 21st century made up the final one. Here are the movies, in … Continue reading Another Saturday at Noir City
Sunday at Noir City
Americans invented Film Noir, but the French named it. So it seems appropriate that on the first Sunday of this year's festival, Noir City presented a double bill of French crime thrillers. The two films have something else besides nationality between them. Both deal with gangsters who have young children. This always complicates things. Rififi … Continue reading Sunday at Noir City
Saturday at Noir City
I caught three of the four movies screened at Noir City Saturday. To varying degrees, I liked all of them. I missed all but the last 15 minutes of Kansas City Confidential, and not only because I've already seen it. I was marching in the streets of Oakland before the lure of noir got to … Continue reading Saturday at Noir City
Top ten movie-going experiences of 2016
I don't list my top ten films of the year. Instead, I list my top 12 best moving-going experiences. The quality of the film itself is only one part of the equation. I also consider the projection, any discussion before or after the movie, and the enthusiasm of the audience. And that audience had to … Continue reading Top ten movie-going experiences of 2016
Hidden Figures wins Sloan Science Prize & a B+ from me
I attended a special preview screening of Hidden Figures Saturday afternoon at the Castro. It was more than just a screening. The drama, about African-American women who played major roles in the early days of NASA, won this year's Sloan Science in Cinema Prize, and the event celebrated that win. San Francisco Film Society Executive … Continue reading Hidden Figures wins Sloan Science Prize & a B+ from me
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