I spent Monday watching Film Noir at the Roxie and the Castro. The Roxie screenings were a press event for their Gallic noir festival, The French Had a Name For It, which runs in early November. The Castro screenings was the first double bill in the series I Wake Up Dreaming. This wasn't a press … Continue reading My Day of Four Noirs
Category: Upcoming & Local
Graham Greene: The PFA finally celebrates a screenwriter…sort of
The Pacific Film Archive often runs series celebrating a director, an actor, or even a novelist. But a screenwriter? Never. And the same goes for the Stanford, the Roxie, the Rafael, and the Castro (which has run series celebrating composers and cinematographers). That's ridiculous. The screenwriter shapes a film's story, often conceives it, and puts … Continue reading Graham Greene: The PFA finally celebrates a screenwriter…sort of
Coming up in October
Here are just a few things coming up next month that have nothing to do with the Mill Valley Film Festival. Modern Cinema October 12 - 29, 2017; no screenings Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesdays SFMOMA SFFilm is calling this annual selection of classic and new films a series, but by my definition, it's a festival. … Continue reading Coming up in October
Brando, Baldwin, Keaton, & The Marx Brothers Coming to Pacific Film Archive
August is nearing its end, so it's about time to tell you about the film series going on at the Pacific Film Archive in September and beyond. Marlon Brando: The Fugitive Kind September 1–October 28 Marlon Brando burst onto screens at the beginning of the 1950s, changed the art of acting, then self-destructed. In between, … Continue reading Brando, Baldwin, Keaton, & The Marx Brothers Coming to Pacific Film Archive
Women, Obsession, and other things: Upcoming at the PFA, Castro, and New Mission
A few juicy items coming up in August: Almodóvar at the PFA The Pacific Film Archive has already started the series Women's Troubles: The Films of Pedro Almodóvar, and you've already missed Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (unless you didn't). But there's plenty of other great movies in this series of pictures … Continue reading Women, Obsession, and other things: Upcoming at the PFA, Castro, and New Mission
Warner Brothers at the Stanford
The four original Warner Brothers fought their way into the Hollywood mainstream in the 1920s. They achieved major studio status when they bet on sound and turned the business topsy turvy. In the 1930s and '40s, they made a reputation for tough, gutsy, left-leaning crime movies. They also made musicals, swashbucklers, and the occasional western. … Continue reading Warner Brothers at the Stanford
Jewish Film Festival Preview, Part 2
Here's four more movies that will screen at this year's San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. As usual, I've listed them from best to worst - although there are no real turkeys in this batch. You can also check out my first collection. A Fanny's Journey In occupied France, a school mistress attempts to smuggle a … Continue reading Jewish Film Festival Preview, Part 2
Jewish Film Festival Preview, Part 1
Here's my first, 2017 collection of San Francisco Jewish Film Festival mini-reviews. As usual, I'm starting with the must-sees and ending with the easy-to-misses. A 1945 August 1945. Two Orthodox Jews get off the train in a small Hungarian town. Who are they and what do they want? But this movie isn't about them. It's about the … Continue reading Jewish Film Festival Preview, Part 1
This year’s Jewish Film Fest deals with refugees, music, romance, and yes, genocide
This year's San Francisco Jewish Film Festival focuses considerably on the traditional command of tikkun olam (healing the world). Several of the films have little or nothing to do with Judaism, but they are very much about justice, charity, freedom, and cleaning the planet - all parts of tikkun olam. But not all. The festival … Continue reading This year’s Jewish Film Fest deals with refugees, music, romance, and yes, genocide
The cure for another superhero summer: What’s coming up at the Pacific Film Archive
Going to the movies in the summer usually means brainless superhero movies. But thanks to the Pacific Film Archive, you can have far better options. Yes, I know that we're all supposed to call it BAMPFA now, but I prefer the traditional name, or PFA for short. Whatever you call it, UC Berkeley's art house … Continue reading The cure for another superhero summer: What’s coming up at the Pacific Film Archive
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