How do you like the new look? I'm bringing Bayflicks.net into the 21st century, using WordPress blog software to better organize the editorial parts of the site and let you easily comment on what I write. The schedules are plain old html, and it will be a while before I fix that, but within a … Continue reading Welcome to the New Bayflicks.net

Festivals, festivals, festivals, festivals, and festivals. I take a few weeks off, and film festivals spread like the flu in February. Okay, a quick rundown on what’s here and what’s coming. Let’s start with Cinequest, which, as you read this, has already opened. As an organization, Minnie Driver will receive a Maverick Spirit Award at … Continue reading Festival Update

The General, California Theatre, San Jose, Friday, 7:00. Buster Keaton pushed film comedy like no one else when he made this one. He meticulously recreated the Civil War setting. He mixed slapstick comedy with battlefield death. He hired thousands of extras and filmed what may be the single most expensive shot of the silent era … Continue reading Movies for the Week of March 2, 2007

I'm back! Well, sort of. My life has been taken over by a play I'm directing, the resurgence of an old back problem, and a professional assignment that I couldn't refuse. The assignment is over, giving me a chance to breath again. Unfortunately, the back problem limits the amount of time I can spend sitting … Continue reading I’m Back!

I really hope to have a life back, soon. Honest. In the meantime, here's this week's recommendations and warnings--for the lucky ones out there with time to go to movies. Venus, Balboa, opens Friday. Yet another film about an old person befriending a young one, but it's so much better than Mrs. Palfrey At the … Continue reading Movies for the Week of February 16, 2007

Still swamped. Here's this week's minireviews: Stalking Santa, California Theater, Berkeley, Monday, 7:00; Roxie, Tuesday, 7:00. With so many millions believing in him, mustn't there be some truth to the legend? What about that papyrus from ancient Egypt? Or that curious, suppressed footage from the North Pole expedition? And why is the government hiding those … Continue reading Movies for the Week of February 9, 2007

There's limited room in my life for Bayflicks at the moment, so I'm doing the bare minimum. I'll keep the weekly schedules going and the microreviews, but I won't start the newsletter with an essay. I hope to be back to full mode in a few weeks. Design for Living, Pacific Film Archive, Sunday, 3:45. … Continue reading Movies for the Week of February 2, 2007

Must I write about the Oscars? Must I gnash my metaphoric teeth over lousy films nominated and good ones ignored? Must I ask just what the Academy was thinking? Reality check: The Motion Picture Academy doesn’t have a single mind to think with. It contains hundreds of minds, of various levels of brightness, that choose … Continue reading Oscars and Indies

Noir City, Castro, Friday through Sunday, February 4. I’m not highlighting any one particular movie here--I haven’t seen any of them. I’m just reminding you of 10 rare, black and white, 35mm double bills showing off the bleakest of Hollywood filmmaking. Show People, Pacific Film Archive, Wednesday, 3:00. We remember Marion Davies, if we remember … Continue reading Recommendations for the Week of 1/26/07

Technology will one day eliminate the image quality gap between home theater and real 35mm. But it will never eliminate the audience gap, because it can never replace the thrill of watching a movie while surrounded by hundreds of your fellow homo sapiens. Or so I was reminded last Saturday when I caught Rear Window … Continue reading Big Screens–German and American