Stagecoach, Stanford, Wednesday, 7:30. Nine very different people must cross dangerous territory in the titular vehicle–a journey that forces them to confront their prejudices as well as angry Apaches. A young, impossibly handsome John Wayne made the leap from B pictures to A-list star with his performance of an escaped convict, but it’s Thomas Mitchell’s … Continue reading What’s Screening: April 10 – 16

The Sonoma International Film Festival continues through Sunday. Michael Ondaatje & David Thomson: Dialogues on Film, Rafael, Friday through Sunday. The novelist (also a poet) and the film critic (also a novelist) get together to screen Last of the Mohicans, Point Blank, The Grifters, Who'll Stop the Rain, and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo … Continue reading What’s Screening: April 3 – 9

The Tiburon International Film Festival ends Friday, but be patient. The Sonoma International Film Festival opens Wednesday. Double Bill: The Crowd & Our Daily Bread, Stanford, Friday, 7:30. Silent film was great for melodrama and better for comedy, but we don’t think o f it as the best medium for serious social drama. Yet few … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 27 – April 2

The Asian American Film Festival finishes on Sunday, and the Tiburon International Film Festival continues through the week. Waltz with Bashir, Elmwood, opens Friday. Animated documentary sounds like an oxymoron, but I’m not sure what else to call Waltz With Bashir. The bulk of the film consists of actual interviews that writer/director Ari Folman had … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 20 – 26

The Tiburon International Film Festival opens Thursday night and runs through the 27th. Lust, Caution, Wheeler Auditorium, Berkeley, Tuesday, 7:00. Ang Lee in person! Ang Lee doesn't alter the conventions of the Hitchcockian thriller much in Lust, Caution, but he deepens those conventions, turning the thriller into a study of a young woman (newcomer Wei … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 13 – 19

Festivals come and festivals go. Cinequest continues through the weekend, closes Sunday. And the San Francisco Irish Film Festival closes today. Then the Asian American Film Festival starts Thursday. Medicine For Melancholy, Embarcadero, opens Friday for one-week engagement.  One could describe this low-budget indi as the African-American version (and the Bay Area version) of Before … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 6 – 12

Cinequest continues throughout the week. And the San Francisco Irish Film Festival opens Thursday for a two-day run at the Roxie. [B] The Birth of a Nation, California Theater, San Jose, Friday, 7:00. A film that's easy to love, easy to hate, and easy to love to hate. The historical influence of this 1915 Civil … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 27 – March 5

IndieFest continues through Sunday (I was wrong to say it went only to the 20th). Most of the screenings now are at the Shattuck. And Cinequest opens Wednesday and runs through March 8. And don't forget that Sunday, you can watch the Oscars on the big screen at the Balboa, Castro, Cerrito, Lark, Parkway, Rafael, … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 20-26

The Silent Film Festival Winter Event happens on Valentine’s Day this year, and has one great romantic masterpiece, F. W. Murnau’s Sunrise. It also includes Buster Keaton’s Our Hospitality, the horror comedy The Cat and the Canary, and the Russian comedy A Kiss from Mary Pickford. All films will have live accompaniment. And it all … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 13-19

IndieFest continues all this week and most of next, mostly at the Roxie. Academy Award Nominated Animated Short Films and Academy Award Nominated Live Action Short Films, Embarcadero, Rafael, Shattuck, opens Friday. The name says it all. Christmas in July, Stanford, Friday. "If you can't sleep at night, it's not the coffee, it's the bunk." … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 6-12