Earlier this month, I told you about a two-disc Blu-ray set containing Buster Keaton's best and worst independent features, The General and Three Ages. Now I'll tell you about the other Keaton package that Kino Lorber will release February 21. Once again, it's a two-disc set containing one of Keaton's best movies (Steamboat Bill, Jr.) … Continue reading More Keaton on Blu-ray: Steamboat Bill Jr. & College
What’s Screening: February 10 – 16
Bay Area movie theaters celebrate valentine's day week with Harold and Maude, Brokeback Mountain, Punch-Drunk Love, and The Bride of Frankenstein. Also, the Balboa is now selling beer. Festivals Indiefest closes Thursday. Check my articles about what's worth seeing. The Mostly British Film Festival opens Thursday. Noise Pop Film also opens Thursday. Promising events Sembene!, Sunday, … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 10 – 16
CAAMFest: Asian-American films take center stage in mid-March
On Thursday, the Center for Asian American Media announced the lineup for this year's CAAMFest. From March 9 through March 19, the festival will screen over 50 feature films - ten of them world premieres - plus shorts, live concerts, and parties. CAAMFest starts at the on March 9 at the Castro with The Tiger … Continue reading CAAMFest: Asian-American films take center stage in mid-March
Medium Cool and Hippy Modernism
I revisited Haskell Wexler's 1969 Medium Cool Tuesday night. The first time I saw it, I had to lie about my age to get into the X-rated film. I was 15, and I thought it was fantastic. Almost 50 years later, it looks more like an occasionally brilliant mess. Medium Cool will screen this weekend … Continue reading Medium Cool and Hippy Modernism
Keaton great and mediocre: My Blu-ray review of The General and The Three Ages
Between 1920 and 1928 - the only years where he had complete control of his own films - Buster Keaton created one of the greatest bodies of work in silent movies. All his comedies from that period have been available on Blu-ray for quite some time, but that doesn't mean they can't be reissued with … Continue reading Keaton great and mediocre: My Blu-ray review of The General and The Three Ages
What’s Screening: Feb 3 – 9
This week, Bay Area theaters will screen all sorts of things that Trump hates: Iranians, African Americans, comedians, nature lovers, and hippies. Also, the origin of the word gaslighting. Festivals Indiefest continues through this week and beyond. Check my reports for recommendations. Berlin & Beyond opens today and runs through Wednesday New films opening A … Continue reading What’s Screening: Feb 3 – 9
The Comedian
B- Drama Written by Art Linson, Jeffrey Ross, Richard LaGravenese, and Lewis Friedman; from a story by Art Linson Directed by Taylor Hackford When a film's title tells you that the main character (or characters) generate laughs for a living, you know you're in for a serious drama. But not too serious. Just as a … Continue reading The Comedian
James Baldwin, Samuel L. Jackson, & I Am Not Your Negro
A documentary Written by James Baldwin Directed by Raoul Peck In the final decade of his life, author James Baldwin wrote 30 pages of an unfinished book about his own experiences, his friendships with Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr., and the African American experience in general. Now Raoul Peck has turned … Continue reading James Baldwin, Samuel L. Jackson, & I Am Not Your Negro
The final day of this year’s Noir City
There was a time when Noir City rarely showed movies made after the early 1960s. Not this year. The last two films screened at the festival are so new they were both shot digitally. And, of course, they were both screened off of DCPs, as well. Victoria This German thriller was shot in a single, … Continue reading The final day of this year’s Noir City
Another Saturday at Noir City
I haven't been able to visit Noir City during the week this year, but I did manage to see three of the four films that screened Saturday. Movies from 1970s America made up the matinee double bill. Films from the turn of the 21st century made up the final one. Here are the movies, in … Continue reading Another Saturday at Noir City
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