The kids are back in school. The sun is setting a little earlier. The big-budget special effects extravaganzas are giving way to the occasional thoughtful film. You know what that means. This year’s Mill Valley Film Festival can’t be far behind. This is the other big general film festival for Bay Area cinephiles, after the … Continue reading Mill Valley Film Festival On the Way
Wings of Defeat
I wrote this review in 2008, after previewing this documentary before its screening at the San Francisco Asian American Film Festival. I held back the full-length review for the film's planned theatrical release. I feel now that I've held it back long enough, so I'm posting it now. Unfortunately, Wings of Defeat isn't available in any form. Historical … Continue reading Wings of Defeat
What’s Screening: September 9 – 15
The Brainwash Movie Festival runs tonight and Saturday night. The Iranian Film Festival runs Saturday and Sunday. From Britain with Love just keeps going at the Rafael. And the Santa Rosa International opens Wednesday. B+ Shaolin, 4-Star, opens Friday. The Buddhist monks in Benny Chan’s new period piece hate bloodshed, but they still get to … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 9 – 15
Shaolin
B+ Period action film One expects monks—at least of the Buddhist variety—to abhor violence. Yet the Shaolin Temple is known as an important center of Kung Fu. The monks in Benny Chan’s new period piece hate bloodshed, but they still get to beat up a lot of bad guys. The movie starts with a pacifistic … Continue reading Shaolin
Two Forgotten Films From the Early 70’s
Friday night I attended the opening screenings in the Pacific Film Archive’s new series, The Outsiders: New Hollywood Cinema in the Seventies. These were not classics that everyone knows and loves, but movies of their time that few remember today: The Heartbreak Kid and The Landlord. The Heartbreak Kid When you think of the edgy … Continue reading Two Forgotten Films From the Early 70’s
New PFA Schedule
I recently realized that I could put together a pretty good series on Hollywood in the 70s from DVDs and Blu-ray discs in my home collection. Then I discovered that the Pacific Film Archive had a better one on the way using 35mm prints. In other words, I only recently took a look at the … Continue reading New PFA Schedule
What’s Screening: September 2 – 8
The very unusual Brainwash Movie Festival starts Saturday night, then doesn’t come back until next week. From Britain with Love continues at the Rafael. It’s not really a festival, but the Castro is running a week-long Cary Grant celebration. I’m discussing four of those double bills, which I’m moving to the end of this newsletter. … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 2 – 8
What’s Screening: August 26–September 1
The From Britain with Love festival continues at the Rafael. This is a silent film-heavy week. Leap Year, Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, Saturday, 7:30. I have a good reason to have never seen Roscue “Fatty” Arbuckle’s last starring feature; this will be only its second public screening in the Bay Area. A major box … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 26–September 1
Cowboys, Aliens, and Original Blockbusters
I wanted to see Cowboys and Aliens as soon as I saw the advertising. Partly, it struck me as a cool idea. I also wanted to support any big-budget Hollywood summer movie that wasn’t a sequel, prequel, remake, or adaptation from a TV show, best-selling novel, or comic book. Besides, a new western is a … Continue reading Cowboys, Aliens, and Original Blockbusters
What’s Screening: August 19 – 25
From Britain with Love continues at the Rafael. The Sausalito Film Festival opens today for a three-day run. And since Buddhists and us Jews get our own festivals, it’s only right that the Roxie devote one day (Sunday) to the Atheist Film Festival. A- Special Harold Lloyd evening with presentation & Girl Shy, Niles Essanay … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 19 – 25
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