The Mill Valley Film Festival is over, but both the Petaluma Int'l Film Festival and Not Necessarily Noir open tonight. I only just found out about the Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival, which opens Saturday. And French Cinema Now opens its brief run on Thursday. B The House I Live In, Kabuki, Shattuck, opens Friday. … Continue reading What’s Screening: October 19 – 25
Category: Weekly Newsletter
What’s Screening: October 12 – 18
The Mill Valley Film Festival continues through Sunday. Taiwan Film Days starts its three day run today, while the Arab Film Festival plays San Jose Saturday and Sunday. A Mary Poppins, Kabuki & various CineMark Theaters, Wednesday. The best live-action movie Walt Disney ever made, and one of the great all-time children’s pictures. Julie Andrews … Continue reading What’s Screening: October 12 – 18
What’s Screening: October 5 – 11
The Mill Valley Film Festival continues through the week. My Mill Valley recommendations and warnings are at the end of this newsletter. A Fort Apache, Pacific Film Archive, Sunday, 6:00. Even though it's told entirely from the white man's view, the first and best film in John Ford's cavalry trilogy leaves no doubt who the … Continue reading What’s Screening: October 5 – 11
What’s Screening: September 28 – October 4
This is a big week for festivals. The Palo Alto International Film Festival opened last night and closes Sunday. Berlin & Beyond also opened last night, but runs through the week. Both the Irish Film Festival and the Action/Sports Film Festival open today (Friday) and run through Sunday. The Italian Film Festival opens Saturday night … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 28 – October 4
What’s Screening: September 21 – 27
The Third I South Asian Film Festival continues through Sunday (and will resurrect for one day next week). If you're looking for a strange, out-door movie-going experience, the Brainwash Movie Festival returns tonight and plays through Sunday. Berlin & Beyond, the Palo Alto Int'l Film Festival and Hong Kong Cinema all open Thursday night. B- … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 21 – 27
What’s Screening: September 14 – 20
The Brainwash Movie Festival opens Saturday night, then closes until next weekend. And the Third I South Asian Film Festival opens Wednesday. And although I'm not really counting it as a festival, the Studio Ghibli Collection moves to Berkeley's California Theatre. A Samsara, Camera 7 Pruneyard, Guild, opening Friday. Ron Fricke (Baraka) provides us with … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 14 – 20
What’s Screening: September 7 – 13
The Iranian Film Festival runs through the weekend. But a whole lot of festivals are coming near the end of the month. A Samsara, Embarcadero, Shattuck, opens Friday. Ron Fricke (Baraka) provides us with a succession of stunningly beautiful, and occasionally shocking images, accompanied by a hypnotic musical score and almost no other sound. I … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 7 – 13
What’s Screening: August 31 – September 6
The United Film Festival runs throughout the week at the Roxie. Not much to discuss this week. A- Doctor Zhivago, Kabuki & various CineMark Theaters, Thursday. Not quite as good as Lawrence of Arabia, David Lean’s follow-up still packs a reasonably big wallop. But then, I'm a sucker for epics about ordinary people trying to … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 31 – September 6
What’s Screening: August 24 – 30
No festivals this week. B Alps, Roxie, opens Friday for one-week run. I’m not exactly sure what to make of Alps. It has just enough continuity to make you try and follow the story, but there’s no story to follow. Many of the characters (primarily the female ones) seem sympathetic, yet their motivations and actions … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 24 – 30
What’s Screening: August 17 – 23
No festivals this week. But we do have a whole lot of A+ classics. A+ Great Gangster Movie Double Bill: The Godfather & Goodfellas, Castro, Saturday. Two A+ films on one double-bill! Francis Coppola, taking the job simply because he needed the money, turned The Godfather into the Great American Crime Epic. Marlon Brando got … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 17 – 23
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