Somehow, despite all these film festivals, the Chaplin Diary, and Blu-rays, I've still found time to just go to the movies (or watch them at home). Here are five, listed from best to worst. A- The Death of Stalin (2017), Shattuck Few historical deaths can create as much merriment. Once their General Secretary is dead, the … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Death of Stalin, I, Tonya, A Night at the Opera, The Little Foxes, & Thoughts That Once We Had
Category: Recently Seen
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Black Panther, Phantom Thread, Marty, & Way Down South
Four more films, in order from best to worst. Two are about white people. The other two are mostly about black people. A Black Panther (2018), Grand Lake Theatre Yes, it's revolutionary. In the age of Trump, Hollywood gambled on making a huge-budget superhero movie with an almost entirely black cast, set largely in a fictional … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Black Panther, Phantom Thread, Marty, & Way Down South
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Mudbound, The Post, & High Sierra
2017 was a great year for motion pictures, even if it was a lousy year for everything else. In the last week, I've seen two excellent films from last year (one of which was barely shown in the Bay Area) and revisited one from another great movie year (that was even worse in the real … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Mudbound, The Post, & High Sierra
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The 3 + 4 = 7 Musketeers
It seems sacrilegious to write about swashbucklers on Martin Luther King's birthday. I suppose I should put up a column about non-violent resistance or the African-American experience. On the other hand, Alexandre Dumas - the author of the original novel - is almost certainly the most commercially-successful European novelist of African descent. That should count … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The 3 + 4 = 7 Musketeers
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Call Me By Your Name, The Last Jedi, & A Matter of Life and Death
It's been almost four weeks since my last Movies I've Recently Seen article. What with the holidays, house guests, and revisiting films I've already written about, it took a long time for me to get around to watching three new-to-me films. Finally, here they are: A Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), Grand Lake Theatre This … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Call Me By Your Name, The Last Jedi, & A Matter of Life and Death
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Coco, Three Billboards…, Leningrad Cowboys…, & Faces Places
Amazingly, I really liked all four films. A Coco (2017), Coast Cinema, Fort Bragg This beautiful journey into Mexican traditions of the afterlife (via big-budget Hollywood, of course) manages to be serious, emotional, and fun. Young Miguel (voiced by Anthony Gonzalez) belongs to a family of shoemakers who hate music. But music runs deep in the … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Coco, Three Billboards…, Leningrad Cowboys…, & Faces Places
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Murder on the Orient Express, The Learning Tree, Finding Oscar, The Leopard Man, & Loving Vincent
Just another selection of random movies I've finally got around to seeing. A- Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Grand Lake Theatre Much better than the stagey 1974 version, and a whole lot more fun - even if it does take considerable liberties with period details and basic plausibility. Director and star Kenneth Branagh turns Hercule … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Murder on the Orient Express, The Learning Tree, Finding Oscar, The Leopard Man, & Loving Vincent
