Tuesday evening, my wife and I attended a special Tribute to Spike Lee at the Castro. First, David Thomson interviewed Lee on the Castro stage. Then, after an intermission, they screened Lee's latest film, BlacKkKlansman. As so often happens at these big events, a huge chunk of the house was reserved. If you're not some … Continue reading Spike Lee and BlacKkKlansman at the Castro
Category: Moral themes
An Inconvenient Sequel about fixing the problem
A documentary Directed by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shank The film starts with glaciers melting, while we hear commentators from Fox News and similar outlets trashing Al Gore as an alarmist and a liar. We hear the lies, while we see the truth. Al Gore's 2006 documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, was strong on bad news, … Continue reading An Inconvenient Sequel about fixing the problem
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
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
Whiplash and the All-Male World of Jazz
I saw Whiplash a couple of nights ago. I liked it. It was tense. I very much wanted the protagonist to succeed, even though he was kind of a dick. Veteran actor J.K. Simmons, playing the most evil music teacher since Hans Conried in The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T., finally got the juicy part … Continue reading Whiplash and the All-Male World of Jazz
Charlie Chan, Sherlock Holmes, and the Strange Case of the Stereotyped Detective
Racism clouds old Hollywood movies. Even films intended in their time to be progressive and tolerant can look shockingly bigoted today. Consider Charlie Chan at the Opera, which the Stanford will screen Thursday and Friday. And that's just the beginning. The theater will screen Charlie Chan mysteries every Thursday and Friday through October 10, each … Continue reading Charlie Chan, Sherlock Holmes, and the Strange Case of the Stereotyped Detective
On the Moral Dilemma of Gladiator Movies
"Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?" I finally saw The Hunger Games a couple of nights ago. Pretty good for a modern Hollywood blockbuster. It's a gladiator movie, of course. Sure it's all dressed up in science fiction hardware and leftwing economic attitudes. The story involves a television spectacle where 24 mostly unwilling teenagers … Continue reading On the Moral Dilemma of Gladiator Movies
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