We've got four festivals running this week. SF Sketchfest finishes up Sunday. IndieFest continues through this week and beyond. The Hot Stove Movie & Music Festival opens today (Friday) and runs through the weekend. The Mostly British Film Festival opens Thursday. SF Sketchfest screenings are at the bottom of this newsletter. A- Elevator to the … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 6 – 12
The Shattuck Cinema is in Danger
Landmark's 10-screen Shattuck Cinema is an oasis for Berkeley and Oakland film lovers. Probably the largest multiplex in the East Bay devoted primarily to foreign and independent cinema, it usually offers several films worth seeing. As I write this, It's showing Two Days, One Night, Birdman, Selma, The Theory of Everything, and Wild, and that's … Continue reading The Shattuck Cinema is in Danger
What’s Screening: January 30 – February 5
We've got film festivals: Berlin & Beyond continues at the Castro through Sunday, then has one-day events in Palo Alto and Berkeley, closing on Monday. SF Sketchfest, which is not really a film festival but has some film events, continues through this week and beyond. IndieFest opens Friday. I've placed SF Sketchfest screenings at the … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 30 – February 5
Fort Apache at the Alameda
Tuesday night, I visited the Alameda Theater for the first time, for a screening of John Ford's Fort Apache. This was also my first time seeing this classic on the big screen. The Alameda is a huge, beautiful, art deco theater originally built in 1932. It was, of course, originally built as a single-screen theater. … Continue reading Fort Apache at the Alameda
Timbuktu: Tyranny works slowly
A political drama Written by Abderrahmane Sissako and Kessen Tall Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako At first glance, life in the fabled city and the surrounding prairie seem to have changed little over the centuries. But there are changes far more unsettling than the ubiquity of cellphones. An armed group of Muslim fundamentalists have taken over … Continue reading Timbuktu: Tyranny works slowly
Marriage and Murder Marathon: Watching five features Saturday at Noir City
I spent Saturday at the Castro for the penultimate day, and the longest day, of this year's Noir City festival. Over the course of nearly 12 hours, the festival screened five feature films about crime, attempted crime, sex, attempted sex, and marriages both nurturing and homicidal. The festival's theme this year is "Til death do … Continue reading Marriage and Murder Marathon: Watching five features Saturday at Noir City
Godard and Wilder: Friday Night at the Pacific Film Archive
What do Jean-Luc Godard and Billy Wilder have in common--aside from the obvious? The Pacific Film Archive is currently running series on both of them: Jean-Luc Godard: Expect Everything from Cinema and Ready for His Close-Up: The Films of Billy Wilder. Friday night, the PFA screened one film from each series. This was not a … Continue reading Godard and Wilder: Friday Night at the Pacific Film Archive
Intense Empathy: My review of Two Days, One Night
A- Drama Written and directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne Roger Ebert once described cinema as "a machine that generates empathy." Few films show off that important capability better than the Dardenne brother's latest achievement, Two Days, One Night. I can't imagine anyone watching this film without worrying about, rooting for, and identifying with the … Continue reading Intense Empathy: My review of Two Days, One Night
What’s Screening: January 23 – 29
We've got film festivals: Noir City continues and wraps up on Sunday. SF Sketchfest continues through this week and beyond. Berlin & Beyond opens Thursday And we've got movies: A- Two Days, One Night, opens Friday at the Shattuck and other theaters. The boss gives his employees a choice: Either Sandra (Marion Cotillard) keeps her … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 23 – 29
There’s a new silent movie venue in town
"The 21st century is no place to watch early 20th-century movies." That's the claim of the Excelsior Moveable Movie Palace, which will have its first public screening in Berkeley this coming Sunday night. The idea is to recreate the experience of watching these films when they were new. "When you see the world through the … Continue reading There’s a new silent movie venue in town
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