If you're wondering why I stopped covering the Mill Valley Film Festival before opening night, the reason was medical. I caught the mother of all colds, and didn't want to ruin everyone else's moviegoing with my coughing and hacking. I was finally healthy enough to attend on Sunday, the very last day of the festival. … Continue reading Sunday at the Mill Valley Film Festival
Category: First-person Report
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Battle of the Sexes, Professor Marston and the Wonder Woman, & Le Million
Another three movies I've seen for the first time recently. Two of them, still in theaters, are based on actual events. The other is an early talkie that makes no attempt at anything like realism. A- Battle of the Sexes (2017), Cerrito In 1973, former men's tennis champ Bobby Riggs set up a match with women's … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Battle of the Sexes, Professor Marston and the Wonder Woman, & Le Million
My Day of Four Noirs
I spent Monday watching Film Noir at the Roxie and the Castro. The Roxie screenings were a press event for their Gallic noir festival, The French Had a Name For It, which runs in early November. The Castro screenings was the first double bill in the series I Wake Up Dreaming. This wasn't a press … Continue reading My Day of Four Noirs
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: City Girl, Rumble, & The Private Life of Don Juan
Three more films I've seen for the first time. I only really liked one of them. B+ City Girl (1930), FilmStruck Sunrise wasn't F.W. Murnau's last word on rural vs. city life. In this very late silent, a young man from a Minnesota farm goes to the big city on business and falls in love with … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: City Girl, Rumble, & The Private Life of Don Juan
Italian comedy & American tragedy: Friday night at the Pacific Film Archive
My wife and I attended two very different films last night (Friday night) at the Pacific Film Archive. One was a 1963, Italian satire on consumerism that is only now being released in the States. The other was an American classic. Both movies recently enjoyed fine digital restorations. Both were screened from DCPs. We sat … Continue reading Italian comedy & American tragedy: Friday night at the Pacific Film Archive
Jerry Lewis and Me
My love of cinema started with Jerry Lewis. Visit to a Small Planet is the earliest film I remember loving. I don't love it anymore. I tried twice to watch it in recent years, but couldn't get passed the first few minutes. After reading his obituary Sunday, and forced myself to watch Planet all the … Continue reading Jerry Lewis and Me
A Night at the PFA: Booth tour and Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors
Wednesday night, my wife and I attended a Pacific Film Archive screening of Sergei Paradjanov's Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors. But before the movie, I got a special treat: A tour of the projection booth by projectionist Gibbs Chapman. The crowded booth contains five different projectors - three film, two digital - as well as … Continue reading A Night at the PFA: Booth tour and Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors
Unhappy marriages: Thursday night at the Jewish Film Festival
Thursday night, I caught two movies at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. One was very good. One was very bad. No filmmakers attended their films at the Albany Twin that night. That's normal after the Festival moves from San Francisco to the East Bay. A- Personal Affairs This surprisingly sad comedy looks at a quietly dysfunctional … Continue reading Unhappy marriages: Thursday night at the Jewish Film Festival
Survivor documentaries: Sunday at the Jewish Film Fest
Attending the SanFrancisco Jewish Film Festival in the East Bay is an entirely different social experience than going to any other festival...at least it is for me. When I go to most festivals, I socialize with other cinephiles - people I've come to know and befriend because we all love cinema. But at the Jewish … Continue reading Survivor documentaries: Sunday at the Jewish Film Fest
I’m Okay at the Jewish Film Fest in Albany
As the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival moves to the East Bay, it becomes much more convenient for me. The Albany Twin theater is less than a mile from my home. Friday afternoon, my wife and I attended our first Jewish Film Festival event in walking distance, a screening of the German documentary, I'm Okay. … Continue reading I’m Okay at the Jewish Film Fest in Albany
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