C+ Futuristic comedy Written by Christopher Ford Directed by Jake Schreier Frank (Frank Langella) prides himself on his mastery of his chosen profession. He's a cat burglar. But he's an aging one, and dementia is setting in. It's destroyed his career and is pretty much destroying his life. He doesn't shop for food regularly. His … Continue reading Robot & Frank
The Dark Knight Rises…and Falls
In Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan rebooted and revitalized a tired franchise, turning Bruce Wayne and his alter ego into an interesting character. In The Dark Knight, he turned the wealthy superhero into a mythic figure and created one of the screen's great villains. In the third and final chapter of his trilogy, the filmmaker succeeds … Continue reading The Dark Knight Rises…and Falls
What’s Screening: August 17 – 23
No festivals this week. But we do have a whole lot of A+ classics. A+ Great Gangster Movie Double Bill: The Godfather & Goodfellas, Castro, Saturday. Two A+ films on one double-bill! Francis Coppola, taking the job simply because he needed the money, turned The Godfather into the Great American Crime Epic. Marlon Brando got … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 17 – 23
Blu-ray Review: Jaws
Universal Studios must have been an interesting place in the 1970s. As Alfred Hitchcock's career wound down, Steven Spielberg's started up. I don't know if they ever met, but there's no doubt that the young film school graduate had studied the master's work. In his second theatrical feature and first big hit (and also, I … Continue reading Blu-ray Review: Jaws
What’s Screening: August 10 – 16
No festivals this week. But there are some good movies. The Rolling Stones: Some Girls, Balboa, Tuesday and Thursday, 7:30. A Rolling Stone concert from 1978--well before they became respectable old men. Introduced with a recent interview with Sir Mick Jagger (see what I mean). A+ Double Bill: Sunrise & Freaks, Castro, Sunday. Haunting, romantic, … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 10 – 16
Sight and Sound’s Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time
As you probably know, the British Film Institute and its magazine, Sight and Sound, recently published its once-a-decade list of the The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time, based on a survey of 846 critics, programmers, academics and distributors. And for the first time in 50 years, Citizen Kane didn't lead the pack. It's … Continue reading Sight and Sound’s Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time
What’s Screening: August 3 – 9
Note: I originally listed The Manchurian Candidate as playing at the Cerrito Thursday night. That was an error. They're showing The Seven Year Itch, which I haven't seen in decades. They'll be screening The Manchurian Candidate in September. On Saturday, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival closes its Berkeley run at the Roda Theater, and opens its last 3-day segment at the … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 3 – 9
Wonderful Movie Theater Discovery in Hawaii
Monday night, while vacationing on Hawaii's big island, I happened upon a great old movie palace--still showing pictures, and still using 35mm changeover projection. I'm talking about Hilo's historic Palace Theater.Wandering through the streets of Hilo with my family on a rainy evening, I spotted the theater and detoured to check it out. The smell … Continue reading Wonderful Movie Theater Discovery in Hawaii
What’s Screening: July 27 – August 2
The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival is finished with the Castro, but it reopens Saturday at the JCCSF, the Roda, and the Cinearts at Palo Alto Square. The festival screenings are at the bottom of this newsletter. A The Maltese Falcon, Castro, Wednesday and Thursday. Dashiell Hammett’s novel had been filmed twice before, but screenwriter … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 27 – August 2
SF Film Society Cinema to Close
Bad news. The San Francisco Film Society Cinema will close at the end of August. I first heard about this, as a rumor, at the Silent Film Festival. But a Society spokesperson confirmed the rumor, and so I'm posting this announcement. I don't know what will happen to the theater, which is located in the … Continue reading SF Film Society Cinema to Close
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