I attended two separate, and very different events at the Pacific Film Archive last night. This Is Not a Film You really want something this important, this courageous, and this amazing in its very existence to also be exceptionally great. Unfortunately, This is Not a Film doesn't live up artistically to the filmmakers' courage. Iranian … Continue reading This is not a Film & Always for Pleasure at the PFA
Thoughts on Take This Waltz
Love brings sacrifice, long-lasting guilt, and only temporary happiness in Sarah Polley's exceptional love triangle drama, Take This Waltz. Loving your spouse won't stop you from falling madly in love with someone else, and no matter what you do with those feelings, someone will get hurt. There are no simple answers.My wife and I saw … Continue reading Thoughts on Take This Waltz
What’s Screening: July 6 – 12
The San Francisco Silent Film Festival opens Thursday. Wings, Castro, Thursday, 7:00. Primarily remembered as winner of the first Best Picture Oscar (except that the award wasn’t called Best Picture back then), Wings was until a few months ago the only silent film so honored. I saw Wings many, many years ago, and remember being … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 6 – 12
A Case for Silverado as a Great Western
Before he became the auteur of mediocre drameties like Darling Companion, Lawrence Kasdan wrote or co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. For his third directorial effort, Kasdan created another action entertainment gem--although an unfairly overlooked one: the neo-classic western Silverado. Shot against beautiful New Mexico scenery, … Continue reading A Case for Silverado as a Great Western
Kansas City Confidential
One man conceives of the perfect crime, then brings three hardened criminals in on it. Everything goes smoothly, with an innocent bystander taking the wrap. But when that bystander is released for lack of evidence, he has business to attend to.I just watched Kansas City Confidential, at home, on Blu-ray. I found it to be … Continue reading Kansas City Confidential
What’s Screening: June 29 – July 5
The Broncho Billy Silent Film Festival opens tonight and runs through the weekend. Other than that, it's a slow week. Enjoy the fireworks. C+ Pink Ribbons, Inc., Opera Plaza, Shattuck, Rafael, opens Friday. Breast Cancer kills nearly 60,000 North Americans a year. Yet organizations like Susan G. Komen for the Cure have turned it into … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 29 – July 5
Thoughts on Bernie
I caught Richard Linklater's Bernie this evening at Landmark's Shattuck Cinemas. You probably already know that it's based on the true story of Bernie Tiede, a popular assistant funeral director in a small Texas town. He befriended, possibly seduced, and definitely murdered the richest and meanest widow in the area. You've also probably heard that … Continue reading Thoughts on Bernie
Pink Ribbons, Inc.
C+ Documentary Directed by Léa Pool Breast Cancer kills nearly 60,000 North Americans a year. Even if yours is discovered early, and you do everything you're supposed to do, it could still kill you. Yet organizations like Susan G. Komen for the Cure have turned it into an upbeat campaign, heavily themed on the color … Continue reading Pink Ribbons, Inc.
What’s Screening: June 22 – 28
In festival news, Frameline LGBT continues through Sunday. A- Oslo, August 31, Kabuki, Embarcadero, Rafael, opens Friday. Anders, a recovering drug addict living in a clinic in the country, gets a day’s leave to return to Oslo for a job interview. The trip will also give him a chance to catch up with some friends. … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 22 – 28
Oslo, August 31
A- drama Written by Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier Directed by Joachim Trier Early in Oslo, August 31, a young man leaves the home of a beautiful woman he has just slept with, and attempts suicide. We know this is not going to be a happy picture. The young man is Anders (Anders Danielsen Lie), … Continue reading Oslo, August 31
Bayflicks 