April Fool's Day seems like a strange time to start a documentary film festival. It would be more appropriate for a mockumentary fest. Nevertheless, Doc Week 2022 opens on Friday, April 1, and ends on April 7. It happens at the New Parkway in downtown Oakland. Unlike most documentary festivals, this one doesn't focus on … Continue reading Doc Week at the New Parkway
What’s Screening: March 18 – 24
Four of the greatest films ever made are playing in Bay Area movie theaters this week - one of them through the whole week. The other three movies are pretty good, too. Plus three film festivals. Festivals & Series The East Bay Jewish Film Festival continues through this week and beyond Noir City opens Thursday, … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 18 – 24
What’s leaving Criterion at the end of March
At the end of every month, The Criterion Channel removes a considerable number of films from their streaming platform. Here are some I suggest catching before April Fool's Day. Full recommendations A The Killing (1956) Stanley Kubrick started his Hollywood career with this crackerjack noir heist thriller. A career criminal (Sterling Hayden) orchestrates a complex racetrack robbery … Continue reading What’s leaving Criterion at the end of March
What’s Screening: March 11 – 17
Here's what's happening in Bay Area cinema this week: A new Russian/Finnish romance, along with classics from F.W. Murnau, Jacques Tati, Fritz Lang, Federico Fellini, Wim Wenders, Wayne Wang, and, of course, Alfred Hitchcock. Also, as a two-year anniversary of shutting down the theaters, the Oakland's New Parkway will show free movies on Tuesday. Plus, … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 11 – 17
Touch of Evil in 4K Ultra
Orson Welles' last Hollywood feature was one of the great film noirs. It begins with a brilliant sequence done in one shot without cutting, but with considerable camera movement. Welles has already shown you that a timebomb will soon explode. It's entirely set at and near the American/Mexican border. Come next Tuesday, Kino Lorber will … Continue reading Touch of Evil in 4K Ultra
Opposites attrack in Compartment No. 6
B romantic road movie Written by Andris Feldmanis & Juho Kuosmanen, from the novel by Rosa Liksom Directed by Juho Kuosmanen You don't expect a romantic road movie to come out of Russia - but then the director is Finnish. Two people are thrown together on a train. At first, they hate each other…or at … Continue reading Opposites attrack in Compartment No. 6
Movies I’ve recently seen: Hive ֍ Million Dollar Legs ֍ International House ֍ Murder at the Vanities
Three of the four movies here are part of the Criterion Channels' current Pre-Code Paramount series. I saw and liked two of the Pre-Code movies decades ago, and was disappointed when seeing them again. But hey, when two of the four films star W.C. Fields, they can't be totally bad. A- Hive (2021) It's the … Continue reading Movies I’ve recently seen: Hive ֍ Million Dollar Legs ֍ International House ֍ Murder at the Vanities
What’s Screening: March 4 – 10
What's happening in Bay Area cinemas this week? Two by Fellini, two written by Greta Gerwig, early Richard Linklater, along with desperate poverty, teenage girls, and silent horror. And as Omicron lifts, film festivals that didn't happen in January and February have dates set up in March. Festivals & Series WinterFest closes SundayThe SF Urban … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 4 – 10
Pre-Code Paramount at the Criterion Channel
As silent movies died and the talkies took over, movies became racier. The jokes got raunchier. The gowns were more revealing. And the bad girl could get the good guy - or maybe two good guys. This so-called "Pre-Code era" died in 1934, when the censors of the Production Code Administration took away much of … Continue reading Pre-Code Paramount at the Criterion Channel
4 films playing at Berlin & Beyond
Remember going to the Castro Theatre to attend film festivals like Berlin & Beyond? Well, they're back. The Castro's new owners, Another Planet Entertainment, will rent the movie palace for the Bay Area's annual celebration of new German-language cinema. This year, Berlin & Beyond runs from March 11 to 16. The first three days be will … Continue reading 4 films playing at Berlin & Beyond
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