Noir City continues through the weekend. Both IndieFest and the Mostly British Film Festival open Friday. A Strangers on a Train, Pacific Film Archive, Friday, 7:00. One of Hitchcock’s scariest films, and therefore one of his best. A rich, spoiled psychotic killer (the worst kind) convinces himself that a moderately-famous athlete has agreed to exchange … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 28 – February 3

Noir City opens Friday night and runs through the week. A The Thief of Bagdad (1940 version), Pacific Film Archive, Wednesday, 3:10. One of the greatest fantasy adventures ever made, and made decades before Star Wars clones glutted the market. The special effects lack today’s realism, but they still pack an emotional punch (my daughter, … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 21 – 27

For Your Consideration continues through the week. German Gems opens tonight at the Castro and runs through the weekend. And B+ Budrus, Lumiere, Shattuck, opens Friday. This documentary is all about message, and I’m sure I would have hated it if I had disagreed with its point of view. But I liked the movie, which … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 14 – 20

The calendar has sure picked up from last week. The Castro presents six Hitchcock double bills this week. Most of them are relatively obscure, and with good reason. Except the first double bill, they're not his best work. I've concentrated those listings at the bottom of this newsletter. And the Pacific Film Archive opens from … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 7 – 13

Sorry, folks, but the only things playing this week that I've got enough knowledge to talk about are the last pieces of the Mifune x Kurosawa : A Beautiful Man series at the VIZ Cinema. Things should pick up when the holidays are over. A+ Seven Samurai, VIZ Cinema, Sunday, 1:30. f you think all … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 31 – January 6

Once again, slim pickings plus the last rattle of Kurosawa Centennial Fever. A+ It's a Wonderful Life, Stanford, Friday, 9:00. There’s a rarely-acknowledged dark side to Frank Capra’s feel-good fable. George Bailey (James Stewart) saves his town and earns the love of his neighbors, but only at the expense of his own dreams and desires. … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 24 – 30

As Akira Kurosawa's centennial year comes to a close, someone in the Bay Area had to get in one more Kurosawa series. That someone is the VIZ Cinema, and if it wasn't for them, there would only be two items in this week's newsletter. And one of those two would still be Kurosawa! Hey, he's … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 17 – 23

  A The King's Speech, Embarcadero, opens Friday. King George VI (the Duke of York through much of the film, and Bertie to his family) doesn’t want to live in the limelight. But fate forces that job onto the shy, reluctant man with a very bad stammer. Terrified, he turns to Australian immigrant Lionel Logue … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 10 – 16

Amazing as this sounds, there are no festivals running this week. But there are some good movies. Voices of Light/The Passion of Joan of Arc, Oakland Paramount, Thursday, 7:30. Although not as popular as the works of Keaton or Murnau, Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 period drama The Passion of Joan of Arc carries a high … Continue reading What’s Screening: November 26 – December 2