Lousy timing on my part. Just as I finally go commercial and add advertising to Bayflicks.net, I stop writing. Yes, as I need visitors viewing my pages I stop giving them a reason to come here. But I never was much of a businessman. Nor am I always brilliant about what films I should see … Continue reading Getting Back in Touch

I know. I promise I'll get back into seeing films and writing about them. Soon. Really. In the meantime, here are the few things coming up that I know enough to have an opinion about:La vie en rose, Rafael, opens Friday. Early in this Edith Piaf biopic, a hunched, aged-before-her-time Piaf walks up to a … Continue reading This Week’s Recommendations

Pickings are slim this week. Once again, little things like life got in the way of my movie going. The African Queen, Stanford, Friday through Sunday. Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Africa, and Technicolor all make for splendid entertainment in John Huston's romantic comedy action adventure. According to Huston's autobiography, he didn't intend the film to … Continue reading Films for the Week of June 8, 2007

The Lives of Others, 4Star, Cerrito, Parkway, opening Friday. Yes, Ive finally saw this one. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck creates a very intimate, human story about the horrors of Communism and all forms of totalitarianism. An up-and-coming officer in the East German secret police (Ulrich Mühe) receives a plum assignment: Gather dirt on a respected … Continue reading Films for the Week of June 1, 2007

I haven't talked about the Shohei Imamura series that ran recently at the Castro and is now playing at the Pacific Film Archive. I had a reason: I had never seen one of Imamura's films. I fixed that problem last night, going to the Archive to see Vengeance Is Mine. Now I'm impressed. Imamura takes … Continue reading Japanese Killers and Endangered Theaters

There's a new icon on my schedules, , for warning. It's not to warn you about bad movies. I've already got and for that. tells you that there's something wrong with the presentation--for instance, it's on DVD, not film. Hover your mouse cursor over this icon to find out what I'm warning you about.

How was the RiffTrax event at the Rafael? Hilarious. They presented and commented on a wretched 1987 Sylvester Stallone vehicle called, appropriately enough, Over the Top. Imagine Stallone as a truck driver/professional arm wrestler bonding with the 12-year-old rich and spoiled son he only just met. Okay, that’s pretty ugly. Now imagine it with Mike … Continue reading RiffTrax Report

We just had a couple of big anniversaries. Friday marked 30 years since the original Star Wars (now renamed Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) premiered and altered the film industry. And Saturday was John Wayne's 100th birthday. I'll skip Star Wars and talk about the Duke. Bay Area cinephiles don't give John Wayne much respect. How bad is this? Let … Continue reading The Duke at 100

Operation Homecoming, Red Vic, Sunday through Tuesday. Coached by professional writers, American soldiers and veterans of the Iraq war tell their stories. That's the idea behind the National Endowment for the Arts' Operation Homecoming, and the inspiration for this haunting documentary. Much of the film consists of the usual talking heads--the veterans who are telling … Continue reading Films for the Week of May 25, 2007

Any independent filmmaker who wants to make a mark in the Bay Area should make a gay-themed animated horror film about the African-American experience. Why? Because such a film would have a good chance at showing up one of the area’s June festivals. For instance, SF IndieFest’s Another Hole in the Head Festival (as in … Continue reading In a Festive Mood