Getting ready for the Mill Valley Film Festival? Here are four films that I've been able to preview: A The Central Park Five, Rafael, Saturday, October 6, 3:30; Monday, October 8, 3:15. In 1989, a white woman was brutally raped and left for dead in Central Park. New York's finest arrested five black and Puerto … Continue reading Mill Valley Film Festival Preview
The Grand Lake Theater
I promised in yesterday's post that I'd write about Oakland's Grand Lake Theater, the only place in the area screening The Master in its ideal format, 70mm. One of the few great remaining movie palaces in the Bay Area--at least one of the few still showing first-run movies--the Grand Lake combines classic architecture with top-notch … Continue reading The Grand Lake Theater
The Master, by a Master, in Masterly 70mm
My wife and I caught The Master last night, in 70mm, in the Grand Lake's main, full movie-palace auditorium. If you care at all about quality films, you must see The Master. and if you care at all about how you see them, you should see it in 70mm. And in the Bay Area, that … Continue reading The Master, by a Master, in Masterly 70mm
What’s Screening: September 21 – 27
The Third I South Asian Film Festival continues through Sunday (and will resurrect for one day next week). If you're looking for a strange, out-door movie-going experience, the Brainwash Movie Festival returns tonight and plays through Sunday. Berlin & Beyond, the Palo Alto Int'l Film Festival and Hong Kong Cinema all open Thursday night. B- … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 21 – 27
Somewhere Between
B- Documentary Directed by Linda Goldstein Knowlton Approximately 35,000 Chinese girls have been adopted by American families since 1985 (reference). Linda Goldstein Knowlton, herself the new mother of an adopted Chinese daughter, follows the lives of four now-teenage adoptees to discover how their split Chinese and American identities work out. Her uneven film is often … Continue reading Somewhere Between
Blu-ray Review: Children of Paradise
The one great black and white sound epic, Marcel Carné's and Jacques Prévert's love letter to France and to the theater, draws you in like a miracle. And why not? The movie's very existence is a miracle. How could they shoot a grand story on such a lavish scale during the last months of the … Continue reading Blu-ray Review: Children of Paradise
What’s Screening: September 14 – 20
The Brainwash Movie Festival opens Saturday night, then closes until next weekend. And the Third I South Asian Film Festival opens Wednesday. And although I'm not really counting it as a festival, the Studio Ghibli Collection moves to Berkeley's California Theatre. A Samsara, Camera 7 Pruneyard, Guild, opening Friday. Ron Fricke (Baraka) provides us with … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 14 – 20
This Year’s Mill Valley Film Festival Announced
As summer closes, the superhero blockbusters dry up. In their place comes a whole other genre--Oscar bait. That's okay, because these are usually the best films of the year. And if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, your first chance to catch the Oscar bait is usually the Mill Valley Film Festival. The … Continue reading This Year’s Mill Valley Film Festival Announced
More on Samsara, 70mm, and 4K Digital Projection
I got a chance this morning to talk briefly with Samsara director Ron Fricke and his primary collaborator, producer/co-author Mark Magidson. With little time set aside for me, we agreed to stick to the technical, format aspects Samsara's production and presentation. Some background: Samsara is the first film since 1996 to be shot in the … Continue reading More on Samsara, 70mm, and 4K Digital Projection
What’s Screening: September 7 – 13
The Iranian Film Festival runs through the weekend. But a whole lot of festivals are coming near the end of the month. A Samsara, Embarcadero, Shattuck, opens Friday. Ron Fricke (Baraka) provides us with a succession of stunningly beautiful, and occasionally shocking images, accompanied by a hypnotic musical score and almost no other sound. I … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 7 – 13
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