The Sonoma Film Festival and the Women's Film Festival both run through Sunday. The Oakland and Tiburon International Film Festivals both continue through this week. A- Play It Again Sam, Cerrito, Thursday. Five years before Annie Hall, Woody Allen proved that he could write, if not yet direct, a real story about real people, and … Continue reading What’s Screening: April 8 – 14

With San Francisco's big film festival only three weeks away, the--um--provinces are racing to get their festivals in first. The Sonoma Film Festival opens Wednesday. Then the Oakland and Tiburon International Film Festivals both open on Thursday. Back in the City, the San Francisco International Women's Film Festival also opens Wednesday. D Potiche, Clay, Shattuck, … Continue reading What’s Screening: April 1 – 7

The Dance FIlm Festival continues through Monday. B+ The White Meadows, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Sunday, 4:00. I was saddened, but not surprised, to learn that the Iranian government has sentenced writer/director Mohammad Rasoulof to six years in prison. There's some definite political satire in this film, although not of the constant belly … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 25 – 31

The Asian American Film Festival continues through Sunday, and the Dance FIlm Festival opens Thursday. Battleship Potemkin, Castro, Friday through Sunday. It's been too long since I've seen Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 agitprop masterpiece for me to assign it a grade. I remember being at times impressed with its technique and at other times annoyed by … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 18 – 24

Cinequest comes to a close on Sunday, as does the East Bay Jewish Film Festival. The Asian American Film Festival continues through this week. The Cinequest entries are at the end of this newsletter. A Double bill: The Seventh Seal & Beauty and the Beast (1946 version). Castro, Thursday. Two classics of mid-twentieth century European … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 11 – 17

Cinequest continues through the week, the Green Film Festival runs through the weekend. The East Bay Jewish Film Festival opens Saturday. The Asian American Film Festival opens Friday. As usual, I'm placing festival films at the end of the newsletter. Balboa Birthday Bash, Balboa, Sunday, 7:00. To celebrate the theater's 81st birthday, the theater will … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 4 – 10

Cinequest opens Tuesday night, if only as a reminder that not all festivals open on a Thursday. But then, the Green Film Festival opens on Thursday. And here's something strange: There's not a show in this newsletter I can give a grade to. No A's, no F's, and nothing in between. There are two movies … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 25 – March 3

No festivals this week. A Double bill: Chinatown & L.A. Confidential, Castro, Thursday. Roman Polanski may be a rapist, but you can’t watch Chinatown and deny his talent as a filmmaker. (Not that that in any way excuses his actions as a human being.) Writer Robert Towne fictionalized an actual scandal involving Southern California water … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 18 – 24

IndieFest continues through the week. And the Silent Film Festival Winter Event plays Sunday. Silent Film Festival Winter Event, Castro, Saturday, all day. Regular readers shouldn't be surprised that I consider this the big event of the week. The day begins at 1:00 with a trio of Chaplin Shorts from his Mutual period, accompanied by … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 11 – 17

The Mostly British Film Festival runs through this week, as does IndieFest, which continues beyond it. As usual, I've put festival films at the end of this newsletter. A The Housemaid, Lumiere, Shattuck, opens Friday. This picture’s US distributor, IFC Films, is calling it an "erotic thriller." Erotic? Definitely. But it's not like any thriller … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 4 – 10