The press release for the Tiburon International Film Festival arrived last night, and I only just got around to opening it. Some interesting stuff in the lineup. A Warner Brothers tribute will include a screening of The Jazz Singer. The legendary cinematographer and sometime director Haskell Wexler will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by … Continue reading Tiburon Film Festival
Kurosawa Diary, Part 4: The Quiet Duel
Early in his career, Akira Kurosawa seemed unable to be make two good films in a row (or at least films that seem good from a distance of 6 decades and several thousand miles). While his odd-numbered films prove very good, with a promise of the master to come, the odd-numbered ones are usually a … Continue reading Kurosawa Diary, Part 4: The Quiet Duel
What’s Screening: March 6 – 12
Festivals come and festivals go. Cinequest continues through the weekend, closes Sunday. And the San Francisco Irish Film Festival closes today. Then the Asian American Film Festival starts Thursday. Medicine For Melancholy, Embarcadero, opens Friday for one-week engagement. One could describe this low-budget indi as the African-American version (and the Bay Area version) of Before … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 6 – 12
What’s Screening: February 27 – March 5
Cinequest continues throughout the week. And the San Francisco Irish Film Festival opens Thursday for a two-day run at the Roxie. [B] The Birth of a Nation, California Theater, San Jose, Friday, 7:00. A film that's easy to love, easy to hate, and easy to love to hate. The historical influence of this 1915 Civil … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 27 – March 5
The New PFA Schedule and the New New Deal
I got the new Pacific Film Archive schedule. As usual, there's a lot of interesting stuff. There's Women’s Cinema from Tangiers to Tehran, a film-lecture course uses film to understand Buddhism, a screening of Reefer Madness with a "totally dope soundtrack by Cal student DJs," and a retrospective of Agnès Varda, the one woman director … Continue reading The New PFA Schedule and the New New Deal
More Revivals at the SFIFF
The San Francisco International Film Festival just announced two more revivals planned for the upcoming festival. That's in addition to The Lost World. The movies are A Woman Under the Influence and Le Amiche. I saw John Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence--an extremely harrowing and raw drama about a housewife going insane and a … Continue reading More Revivals at the SFIFF
Oscar Report 3
Technical problems kept me from live blogging throughout the Academy Awards, so let me hit the high and low spots: Just my luck! When Best Picture finally goes to the low-budget, heavily subtitled movie that normally wouldn't stand a chance, it's a picture I don't even like. Yes, Milk was more conventional, but it was … Continue reading Oscar Report 3
Oscar Report 2
I apologize for any errors. I'm not checking spelling or even if I'm getting the names right. The usual, extremely brief mention of the previous technical awards dinner. Historical error: The actress announcing it (I don't remember her name) said that Thomas Edison invented the Kinemagraph <sp>. He didn't. An employee of his, William Dickson, … Continue reading Oscar Report 2
Oscar Report 1
I've paused the DVR about an hour into the Oscar presentation. A few quick observances: Why do I watch the pre-show, which is about beautiful movie stars in designer gowns? I want one of the interviewers to ask a star "Who are you wearing?" and have her respond "I picked this up at Woolworth." I … Continue reading Oscar Report 1
Lost World at SFIFF
This year's San Francisco International Film opens April 23, and even though the official press conference is more than a month away, bits of information are trickling in. Here's one: The 1925 version of The Lost World will screen May 5, with live accompaniment by the "genre-busting pop band" Dengue Fever. Based on Sir Arthur … Continue reading Lost World at SFIFF
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