IndieFest continues through Thursday at the Roxie. And the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum runs its Mid-Winter Comedy Festival this weekend—Friday through Sunday. A The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Castro, Wednesday. Terry Gilliam followed Brazil with this big, splashy fantasy spectacular about the legendary teller of tall tales. The Baron’s alleged exploits had been filmed … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 12 – 18
What’s Screening: February 5 – 11
IndieFest runs through this week and the next at the Roxie. B+ The Music Man, Pacific Film Archive, Saturday, 5:30. One of my childhood favorites doesn’t quite look like a masterpiece anymore. But it’s still big, dazzling, funny, and filled with catchy tunes. Robert Preston carries the picture as Professor Harold Hill, the conman who … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 5 – 11
What’s Screening: January 29 – February 4
In festival news, Noir City closes on Sunday, and IndieFest opens Thursday. A+ Brazil, Castro, Wednesday. One of the best black comedies ever filmed, and the best dystopian fantasy on celluloid. In a bizarre, repressive, anally bureaucratic, and thoroughly dysfunctional society, one government worker (Jonathan Pryce) tries to escape into his own romantically heroic imagination. … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 29 – February 4
Kurosawa Diary, Part 11: Record of a Living Being (I Live in Fear)
Akira Kurosawa’s 15th film doesn’t enjoy the continued popularity of the works that bookcase it, Seven Samurai and Throne of Blood. Nor is it as widely available. I saw it for the first time only a few years ago at the Castro. My second viewing happened on DVD Sunday night, as part of my current … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 11: Record of a Living Being (I Live in Fear)
What’s Screening: January 22 – 28
Noir City opens at the Castro tonight for a 10-day run. I wrote a bit about it here. Edison Theater 5 Year Anniversary, Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum, Saturday, 7:30. The Museum has been presenting silent movies in their own Edison Theater for five years now, and they’ve got a free show to prove it. … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 22 – 28
Mon oncle at the PFA
I saw Jacques Tati’s Mon oncle (My Uncle) at the Pacific Film Archive Wednesday night. Playtime is no longer my favorite Tati movie. Mon oncle may be the funniest visual comedy made after the death of silent film. In typical Tati fashion, you sometimes have to think to get the joke, but that only increases … Continue reading Mon oncle at the PFA
The Strong Man at the PFA
I caught the Frank Capra/Harry Langdon comedy The Strong Man at the Pacific Film Archive Sunday. It was my first chance seeing it on the big screen. The movie has three bust-a-gut hilarious sequences, and it was great to share the gut-busting with a real audience. When I entered the theater, I stopped to say … Continue reading The Strong Man at the PFA
What’s Screening: January 15-21
This is a good week if you want to laugh. Nothing on the list of comedies…and good ones. A Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Castro, Thursday, 7:00. Terry Jones in person. Bump your coconuts together and prepare the Holy Hand Grenade, but watch out for the Killer Rabbit (not to mention the Trojan one). … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 15-21
What’s Screening: January 8 – 14
B+ M. Hulot’s Holiday, Pacific Film Archive, Thursday, 7:00. Jacques Tati’s second feature, and his first as the hapless Mr. Hulot, is odd, plotless, nearly dialog-free, and in its own quiet and reserved way, pretty damn funny. The pipe-smoking Hulot takes a vacation at a seaside resort, and while anarchy doesn’t exactly break out, it … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 8 – 14
Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati deserves his own special throne in the pantheon of comic star/auteurs--not quite beside Chaplin and Keaton, but not far behind them. If you’re not familiar with Tati, now is your chance to make is acquaintance. His five features (six if you include the made-for-TV, shot-on-videotape Parade) will play this month at at the … Continue reading Jacques Tati
Bayflicks 