Here are four films that will screen next month at IndieFest, ranging from excellent to pretty bad. But mostly they're good. Curiously, the best ones were musically oriented. A Stuck This amazing film, like no other I've seen, gets to the heart - or more correctly, six hearts - of living in the big city. … Continue reading IndieFest Previews
The Final Year captures Obama administration
A- Political documentary Directed by Greg Barker What's it like to work for the commander of the deadliest military in the world, even if your job is keeping the peace? Greg Barker's documentary, The Final Year, follows Barak Obama's foreign policy team over the year 2016. The film introduces you to two important but relatively … Continue reading The Final Year captures Obama administration
More February Film Festivals
Last week, I told you about three film festivals running in February. Here are three more. Modern Cinema SFMOMA, February 1 - 18 (only Fridays and weekends) Both SFMOMA and SFFILM, the two organizations behind this event, call this a film series. But when a series allows you to see eight feature films in three days, … Continue reading More February Film Festivals
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The 3 + 4 = 7 Musketeers
It seems sacrilegious to write about swashbucklers on Martin Luther King's birthday. I suppose I should put up a column about non-violent resistance or the African-American experience. On the other hand, Alexandre Dumas - the author of the original novel - is almost certainly the most commercially-successful European novelist of African descent. That should count … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The 3 + 4 = 7 Musketeers
Tarkovsky’s Sacrifice at the Pacific Film Archive
Friday night, my wife and I attended the Pacific Film Archive's first screening of 2018 - a new 4K restoration of Andrei Tarkovsky's final film, The Sacrifice. The film opens with the main character (Erland Josephson) teaching a young boy how to plant and care for a new tree. This is clearly an optimistic sign … Continue reading Tarkovsky’s Sacrifice at the Pacific Film Archive
What’s Screening: January 12 – 18
Hitchcock thrills, Bogart on wheels, slapstick pratfalls, reefer madness, and some very classy French people light up Bay Area screens this week. But no film festivals. New films opening A- Intent to Destroy, Roxie, opens Friday The Armenian genocide of 1915-16 is to Turkey what climate change is to America; a clearly documented truth that … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 12 – 18
February Film Festivals of 2018
Last week, I told you about two local film festivals that will open in January: For Your Consideration and Noir City. Here are three opening in February: IndieFest Mostly at the Roxie, February 1 - 15 The SF Independent Film Festival (SF IndieFest) centers on the most independent of independent films. The movies screened here tend … Continue reading February Film Festivals of 2018
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Call Me By Your Name, The Last Jedi, & A Matter of Life and Death
It's been almost four weeks since my last Movies I've Recently Seen article. What with the holidays, house guests, and revisiting films I've already written about, it took a long time for me to get around to watching three new-to-me films. Finally, here they are: A Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), Grand Lake Theatre This … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Call Me By Your Name, The Last Jedi, & A Matter of Life and Death
What’s Screening: January 5 – 11
Robert Altman, Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks, Gus Van Sant, Michael Powell, and a very fine selection of shorts grace Bay Area movie screens this week. Festivals For Your Consideration opens today and runs through Thursday. You can learn more about it in my First Film Festivals of 2018. New films opening B+ 2017 Sundance Film Festival Short … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 5 – 11
Chaplin Diary, Part 3: Middle Essanay
My last diary entry covered Charlie Chaplin's first five short films at Essanay; the beginning of his second year as a filmmaker. But with his sixth Essanay comedy, The Tramp, Chaplin made a major step towards maturity. Before this seminal two-reeler, Charlie was a funny little man with ill-fitting clothes and a brush mustache. In … Continue reading Chaplin Diary, Part 3: Middle Essanay
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