The Sonoma International Film Festival continues through Sunday. Michael Ondaatje & David Thomson: Dialogues on Film, Rafael, Friday through Sunday. The novelist (also a poet) and the film critic (also a novelist) get together to screen Last of the Mohicans, Point Blank, The Grifters, Who'll Stop the Rain, and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo … Continue reading What’s Screening: April 3 – 9
The Edge of Love
Period Drama Written by Sharman MacDonald Directed by John Maybury The Edge of Love is very lovely to look at, and not only because three of its four stars are exceptionally good-looking. Director John Maybury has clearly fallen in love with the look of war-time London (or his imaginary equivalent), and gives us every bit … Continue reading The Edge of Love
What’s Screening: March 27 – April 2
The Tiburon International Film Festival ends Friday, but be patient. The Sonoma International Film Festival opens Wednesday. Double Bill: The Crowd & Our Daily Bread, Stanford, Friday, 7:30. Silent film was great for melodrama and better for comedy, but we don’t think o f it as the best medium for serious social drama. Yet few … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 27 – April 2
What’s Screening: March 20 – 26
The Asian American Film Festival finishes on Sunday, and the Tiburon International Film Festival continues through the week. Waltz with Bashir, Elmwood, opens Friday. Animated documentary sounds like an oxymoron, but I’m not sure what else to call Waltz With Bashir. The bulk of the film consists of actual interviews that writer/director Ari Folman had … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 20 – 26
Parkway Closing
The word went out this morning: Sunday is the last day for the Parkway Speakeasy Theater. This is very sudden. Last night I worked on next week's newsletter, and looked through the Parkway schedule for upcoming special events. There were several. This morning, I read they won't be happening. Founded 12 years ago, the Parkway … Continue reading Parkway Closing
Ang Lee & James Schamus at Zelerbach Hall
I just got home from watching Ang Lee and James Schamus talk about their films, show clips, and answer audience questions. It was all at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall. I assume you know that Ang Lee is the director of Brokeback Mountain, Lust, Caution, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and a whole lot of other great … Continue reading Ang Lee & James Schamus at Zelerbach Hall
60’s Westerns SFIFF: Robert Redford & Sergio Leone
They keep dribbling out more news about the upcoming San Francisco International Film Festival. Last week, they announced that Robert Redford will receive the Peter J. Owens Award for acting. (No, Peter J. Owens wasn't an actor; he was a philanthropist.) He'll receive the award at a big, expensive, black-tie affair April 30. But the … Continue reading 60’s Westerns SFIFF: Robert Redford & Sergio Leone
Waltz With Bashir
Animated documentary sounds like an oxymoron, but I'm not sure what else to call Waltz With Bashir. The bulk of the film consists of actual interviews that writer/director Ari Folman had with other veterans of Israel's 1982Lebanon war, as he tries to reconstruct his own traumatic memories of the front line. But the interviews, and the … Continue reading Waltz With Bashir
What’s Screening: March 13 – 19
The Tiburon International Film Festival opens Thursday night and runs through the 27th. Lust, Caution, Wheeler Auditorium, Berkeley, Tuesday, 7:00. Ang Lee in person! Ang Lee doesn't alter the conventions of the Hitchcockian thriller much in Lust, Caution, but he deepens those conventions, turning the thriller into a study of a young woman (newcomer Wei … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 13 – 19
Sean Penn as Who
I subscribed to a Google News Alert that searches for the words classics and blu-ray. What it finds and shows me isn't always about classics, but it occasionally is. Occasionally, in the search engine's desire to give you a title and your search words in context, you can get an odd juxtaposition, such as: Sean … Continue reading Sean Penn as Who
Bayflicks 