A Dunkirk (2017), AMC Metreon IMAX You've probably already read wonderful things about the big, new war film, and you probably already know something about the famous evacuation. So I'll just focus on story construction. The film cuts back and forth between three stories. One is about a soldier trying desperately to get off the beach. … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Dunkirk, Night Nurse, The End of the Ottoman Empire, & All the President’s Men
Category: First-person Report
An Inconvenient Screening of an Important Sequel
I saw An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power Monday night at a San Francisco Jewish Film Festival screening at the Castro. It's a powerful and important film. But for the average ticket holder, much of the event was a mess. The big attraction: Al Gore live on stage. And yes, he was wonderful. But the … Continue reading An Inconvenient Screening of an Important Sequel
Before and after the Holocaust: Saturday at the SF Jewish Film Fest
I caught two movies Saturday at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. The first was set just before official anti-Semitism turned into genocide. The second one was set right after the war. Voyage of the Damned This big-budget overstuffed turkey from 1976 tells an important and largely true story, and one that's exceptionally important today. … Continue reading Before and after the Holocaust: Saturday at the SF Jewish Film Fest
Keep the Change & The Jewish Film Festival Opening Night
The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival opened Thursday night with Rachel Israel's Keep the Change, a romantic comedy set in the world of serious mental disabilities. That may sound disturbing, but it's lovely and moving. The event started almost on time with a selection of past trailers. All of them were funny, including this year's … Continue reading Keep the Change & The Jewish Film Festival Opening Night
A+ List: Stop Making Sense at the Elmwood
Great films can affect you in different ways. Some make you laugh, cry, or think. But the Talking Heads concert movie, Stop Making Sense, makes you want to jump out of your seat and dance. I saw this 1984 film two or three times long ago at the UC Theatre, and people were dancing in … Continue reading A+ List: Stop Making Sense at the Elmwood
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Baby Driver, L’Atalante, & Marriage Italian Style
Three move movies I've seen recently - at home and in theaters. A Baby Driver (2017), Shattuck Cinemas This very entertaining crime thriller provides some of the best choreographed action I've seen in years. More importantly, it's built around an engaging and original character. Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a very young and extremely talented getaway driver. … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Baby Driver, L’Atalante, & Marriage Italian Style
A+ List: Seven Samurai on the big screen
Sunday night, I saw one of cinema's greatest masterpieces, The Seven Samurai, at the Pacific Film Archive. It was the first time I'd seen it on the big screen in maybe 35 years. Which isn't to say that I hadn't seen it plenty of times at home. I've owned this epic on Laserdisc, DVD, a … Continue reading A+ List: Seven Samurai on the big screen
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: In a Lonely Place, Wonder Woman, & Tiny Furniture
Here are three movies I've recently seen. I'll also tell you where I saw them. A In a Lonely Place (1950), FilmStruck Nicholas Ray critiqued masculinity in many of his films, but rarely as strongly as he does here. Early on, the movie feels like an exposé of Hollywood. Then it becomes a murder mystery. It … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: In a Lonely Place, Wonder Woman, & Tiny Furniture
The Parade’s Gone By: Sunday, the last day at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival
I love the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, but it can be tiring. You spend all day, three days in a row, watching movies. Sometimes the breaks between films are less than half an hour. But the movies, the music, the discussions, and the people you can talk to make it very special. This year's … Continue reading The Parade’s Gone By: Sunday, the last day at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival
A Million and One Nights: Saturday at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival
It's Tuesday, so it's time to tell you about Saturday at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. I'm won't discuss every film screened that day; just the ones I want to talk about. A lot of the films, not just on Saturday but throughout the whole festival, were new restorations. It seemed as if every … Continue reading A Million and One Nights: Saturday at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival
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