Only one small film festival this week, but it looks like a fun one: Ring-a-Ding-Ding: The Movies of Frank Sinatra. A On the Town, Vogue, Saturday, 7:30 Three sailors arrive in New York for a 24-hour leave. That's precious little time to see the sights, drink in the atmosphere, and fall in love. What makes … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 21 – 27
The A+ List: The General
I feel a little uncomfortable praising a Civil War comedy that asks us to root for the Confederates. After all, the South's rebellion was an act of treason committed in defense of slavery. After all, I've been very critical of Gone with the Wind and The Birth of a Nation. And yet, here I am, discussing the genius … Continue reading The A+ List: The General
What’s Screening: August 14 – 20
The Japan Film Festival continues through Sunday. A Apu Trilogy, Lark, various dates throughout the week (details below) Epic in scope, Satyajit Ray's three-film masterwork follows the life of poverty-born Apu from birth through young adulthood. None of the films has a plot in the conventional sense, but they all brim with drama, laughter, joy, … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 14 – 20
The A+ List: The Third Man and its new restoration
I missed the new restoration of the greatest film noir of them all, The Third Man, when it played in my local theaters. But last week I visited family in New York City, and I caught it at the Film Forum. What a great film! It easily belongs on my A+ list of films that … Continue reading The A+ List: The Third Man and its new restoration
What’s Screening: August 7 – 13
The SF Jewish Film Festival finishes up Sunday. And the Japan Film Festival opens today and runs into next week. Jewish Film Festival movies are listed at the bottom of this newsletter. A Manos Sucias, Roxie, Friday & Saturday A rare chance to see an exceptional film not generally available in this country. Two brothers, … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 7 – 13
The Actor’s Voice: My review of Listen to Me Marlon
A documentary Directed by directed by Stevan Riley I've seen a lot of documentaries about movie stars. But I've never before seen one quite like this Marlon Brando biography. By using Brando's own audio recordings in place of the usual voice-of-God narration, it takes us into his head. You won't get as many facts in … Continue reading The Actor’s Voice: My review of Listen to Me Marlon
Subject to Debate: My review of Best of Enemies
A- Documentary Directed by Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon Today's so-called culture wars burst into existence in 1968, with clashes over Vietnam, racism, and a new sexual freedom. By concentrating on a series of television debates between erudite, east-coast intellectuals, this breezy and entertaining documentary offers a plausible explanation of how our current world came … Continue reading Subject to Debate: My review of Best of Enemies
Manos Sucias: Not-to-be-missed thriller coming to the Roxie
A Political and social thriller Written by Alan Blanco & Josef Kubota Wladyka Directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka I loved Manos Sucias when I saw it at last year's San Francisco International Film Festival. But it had no American distributor, and I assumed that neither I nor anyone else in the Bay Area would ever see … Continue reading Manos Sucias: Not-to-be-missed thriller coming to the Roxie
What’s Screening: July 31 – August 6
This weekend marks the end of Pacific Film Archive screenings in its 15-year-old "temporary" theater. The PFA will reopen early next at their new location near downtown Berkeley. In festival news, the Brainwash Movie Festival reopens today and closes Saturday. As I write this, the programs have not yet been released. But the San Francisco … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 31 – August 6
Resnais and Stroheim at the Pacific Film Archive
Friday night, I attended two very different screenings at the Pacific Film Archive. The first, Alain Resnais' Hiroshima mon amour, is a widely-acknowledged masterpiece. The other, Erich von Stroheim's Queen Kelly, is the uncompleted final work of great but controversial filmmaker. It was my first experience seeing either film. Hiroshima mon amour Why did it … Continue reading Resnais and Stroheim at the Pacific Film Archive
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