Worried that October doesn't have enough film festivals? Here's another. The 11th United Nations Association Film Festival runs October 19-26 in various Bay Area location. It will screen 41 films from assorted countries. This year's theme is Blue Planet, Green Planet. I have not seen any of the films listed, and between other festivals, Jewish … Continue reading United Nations Film Festival
Who Accepts What Marriage?
The great film director John Ford was a religious Catholic who, as a young man, fell in love with a Protestant divorcee. Since Ford's church didn't approve of the union, they married elsewhere. (Decades later, after she had converted and her first husband died, they finally got their church wedding.) Excuse me while I go … Continue reading Who Accepts What Marriage?
Coming to the Rafael
I picked up the October-December Rafael schedule Sunday. The schedule doesn't list everything the triplex will show, mostly just the special events, but they've got some good stuff. Very little of this in on their web site yet, so I can't provide many links; and some that I do provide are to my own reviews … Continue reading Coming to the Rafael
The Rest of Sunday at the Mill Valley Film Festival
I saw two movies today after Mishima, but didn't get a chance to write them up until now. It's hard to talk about Burning the Future: Coal in America as cinematic art. This documentary about the environmental effects on mountaintop mining is propaganda, pure and simple. But as I'm in complete sympathy with its message--that … Continue reading The Rest of Sunday at the Mill Valley Film Festival
Mishima at MVFF
Just saw Paul Schrader's Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters at the Rafael. Part of the Mill Valley Film Festival, of course. I've never seen it before, and this is a new "Enhansed" version created for Criterion DVD release. One scene restored (I don't know which) and some digital trickery added. Well, it was co-produced … Continue reading Mishima at MVFF
Real Time at the Mill Valley Film Festival
Odd how these things work. I've lived in the Bay Area for 33 years. I even lived in Marin County the first 17 months of that (around the corner from the Rafael, actually). Yet until today, I don't believe I have ever been in downtown Mill Valley. (Up until this year, every Mill Valley Film … Continue reading Real Time at the Mill Valley Film Festival
What’s Screening: October 3 -9
The Mill Valley Film Festival runs through this week. I'll list those films after everything else. Three other festivals, Dead Channels, French Cinema Now, and the Oakland International Film Festival open this week. Dead Channels screens independent and international fantasy films Friday through Thursday, mostly at the Roxie, although it moves to the Parkway for … Continue reading What’s Screening: October 3 -9
Arab Film Festival Preview
I've been able to preview two films screening at the upcoming Arab Film Festival. One of them is also playing at Mill Valley. Captain Abu Raed, Mill Valley: Sequoia, Friday, October 10, 7:30 (rush only); Rafael, Sunday, October 12, 4:45. Arab Film Festival: Clay (San Francisco), Friday, October 17, 4:00; Camera 12 (San Jose), Saturday, … Continue reading Arab Film Festival Preview
Good Grief! More Festivals
Tracking all the Bay Area's film festivals is a full-time job. And if anyone's willing to pay me, I'm ready and qualified. In addition to to the big Mill Valley Film Festival, all the festivals I told you about on the 23rd, and the additional two I mentioned on the 25th, there are two other … Continue reading Good Grief! More Festivals
What’s Screening: September 26-October 2
What do jazz, marijuana, and the family problems of Asian Americans have in common? (And you thought it was going to be easy.) Excellent films on all three of those subjects open for all-too-limited runs open today. In fact, everything's good--very good--in this week's line-up. Oh, yes, and the Mill Valley Film Festival opens Thursday … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 26-October 2
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