We've got four festivals running this week. SF Sketchfest finishes up Sunday. IndieFest continues through this week and beyond. The Hot Stove Movie & Music Festival opens today (Friday) and runs through the weekend. The Mostly British Film Festival opens Thursday. SF Sketchfest screenings are at the bottom of this newsletter. A- Elevator to the … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 6 – 12

We've got film festivals: Berlin & Beyond continues at the Castro through Sunday, then has one-day events in Palo Alto and Berkeley, closing on Monday. SF Sketchfest, which is not really a film festival but has some film events, continues through this week and beyond. IndieFest opens Friday. I've placed SF Sketchfest screenings at the … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 30 – February 5

We've got film festivals: Noir City continues and wraps up on Sunday. SF Sketchfest continues through this week and beyond. Berlin & Beyond opens Thursday And we've got movies: A- Two Days, One Night, opens Friday at the Shattuck and other theaters. The boss gives his employees a choice: Either Sandra (Marion Cotillard) keeps her … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 23 – 29

The holiday season film festival drought is officially over. Noir City opens tonight the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Winterfest offers a six-film, one-day marathon Saturday SF Sketchfest (not really a film festival) starts Thursday. C Appropriate Behavior, , Roxie, opens Friday. There’s nothing really wrong with Desiree Akhavan’s tale about a twenty-something, bisexual, Iranian … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 16 – 22

Still no film festivals, but that will change next week. B+ Agnes Varda: From Here To There, Roxie, Friday through Sunday. The concept is simple: Legendary filmmaker Agnès Varda travels the world, visiting old friends and making new ones. But this is more than just a five-part, 225-minute home movie. The friends she visits are … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 9 – 15

No festivals this week. In fact, there's almost nothing coming out this week that I can tell you about. Just these two: B Tillie's Punctured Romance, Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, Saturday, 7:30. This reasonably funny comedy from 1914 packs considerable historic interest. To my knowledge, it's the first American feature-length comedy. It was Marie … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 2 – 8

No festivals this week, but I do have a disclaimer: I wrote this newsletter a week early in order to give myself some vacation time. I may miss some screenings, or include some that have since been postponed. A Metropolis,Thursday, 7:30. The first important science fiction feature film still strikes a considerable visual punch, and … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 26 – January 1

The only festival this week is  A Coppola Family Affair, a weekend-long celebration of films by Francis and his family. I'm placing the Coppola movies at the bottom of this newsletter. C+ Pioneer, Opera Plaza, starts Friday. Early in this Norwegian thriller, a professional deep-sea diver—who is also a loving husband and father–tells his brother … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 19 – 25

Only one festival, Another Hole in the Head, runs this week. It closes Monday. A- Birdman, Balboa, opens Friday. Michael Keaton plays a has-been movie star, who may or may not have superpowers, hoping to gain artistic respectability by writing, directing, and performing in a Broadway play. Edward Norton plays an actor who already has … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 12 – 18

If the lack of film festivals this time of year scares you, we've got a festival that will scare you even more. Another Hole in the Head opens tonight (Friday) and runs through this week and beyond. A Wild, Kabuki, California, Guild, opens Friday. Judging from this adaptation of her memoirs, Cheryl Strayed led a … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 5 – 11