One festival closes, and a few days later, another opens. Noir City continues through Sunday at the Castro, and IndieFest opens Thursday for a 16-day run at the Roxie. And the Roxie is closed for renovations. I Was Born, But . . ., Pacific Film Archive, Wednesday, 3:00. Ozu's late (1932) silent comedy/drama sees the … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 30 – February 5

Now that Berlin & Beyond is over, Noir City moves into the Castro, starting Friday and running through February 1. The theme this year is “Newspaper Noir,” with hard-boiled reporters rather than detectives. Among the titles you might recognize are Billy Wilder’s Ace In the Hole, and a Burt Lancaster double-bill of The Killers and … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 23-29

A couple of things I missed. First of all, the Rafael is also screening the inauguration. Second: The Secrets, Kabuki, opened Friday. The Secrets looks at young women trying to change the extremely parochial world of ultra-Orthodox Judaism from within. That’s not an easy–or perhaps even a possible–goal. The young women in question are the … Continue reading What Else is Screening: January 16-22

Berlin & Beyond continues at the Castro, as does For Your Consideration at the Rafael. Obama's Inauguration, Parkway, Cerrito, Lark, Balboa. Tuesday, early morning. Okay, it's not a movie, but it is the event of the week, and at least four theaters are opening their doors to let us enjoy it together. Check the theaters … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 16-22

Festivals are coming back. Berlin & Beyond runs Thursday through the 21st at the Bay Area’s favorite festival venue, the Castro. In addition to the Blue Angel screening I mentioned earlier and a Wim Wenders tribute, it includes 29 new (at least for America) features. And although it's not really a festival, the Rafael, starts … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 9-15

Happy New Year! Let the Right One In, Parkway, opens Friday. Better than Horror of Dracula, Interview with a Vampire, and The Lost Boys, and maybe better than Nosferatu, this is one of the great vampire movies. What better place for a vampire than a Swedish winter? The nights are very long, snow covers everything, … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 2-8

Sorry I'm late with this. I can't even blame Christmas for the oversight, since I don't celebrate Christmas. But here's the newsletter, a few hours late. Not much of note this week, anyway. Best to take the time to catch a new film. I recommend Bolt (especially in 3D) and very highly recommend Milk. I'll … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 26-January 1

Double bill: The African Queen & Sabrina, Stanford, all week. That A is for The African Queen. Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Africa, and Technicolor all make for splendid entertainment in John Huston's romantic comedy action adventure. According to Huston's autobiography, he didn't intend the film to be funny, but during production he realized that Bogart … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 12-18

Metropolis, Stanford University's Memorial Auditorium, Saturday, 8:00 (pre-performance discussion at 7:00). The first important science fiction feature film still strikes a considerable visual punch. The images--workers in a hellish underground factory, the wealthy at play, a robot brought to life in the form of a beautiful woman--are a permanent part of our collective memory. Even … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 5-11

Wow! No festivals. But we still have some movies worth watching. A Century Ago: The Films of 1908, Rafael, Thursday, 7:00. One hundred years ago, movies were just about to discover they were an art form. And Thursday night, the Rafael will screen about two hours of shorts from the year D.W. Griffith first started … Continue reading What’s Screening: November 28-December 4