The Red Balloon and White Mane, Rafael, Lumiere, and Shattuck, opens Friday for one week. Janus Films put two Albert Lamorisse short children's films together into one feature-length package. Lamorisse's masterpiece "The Red Balloon" introduced me to a cinema beyond Hollywood when I was too young to read subtitles. They're not necessary; Lamorisse uses visuals, … Continue reading Recommendations and Warnings: Chaplin, Rats, and Balloons
Enchanted
B Family-friendly fantasy comedy Written by Bill Kelly Directed by Kevin Lima Howard Hawks’ famous criteria for a great film–three good scenes and no bad ones–almost applies to this family fantasy. It has more than three great scenes. But it also has a few that border on the edge of just plain bad, and some … Continue reading Enchanted
The Red Balloon & White Mane
B A pair of family-friendly short subjects Written and directed by Albert Lamorisse It's not easy marketing and distributing shorts in an industry geared to features. That's probably why Janus Films put two short children's films by Albert Lamorisse together into one package. Combined, "The Red Balloon" and "White Mane" run 73 minutes--just about the … Continue reading The Red Balloon & White Mane
Previews of Coming Attactions
Remember Hal Ashby? If you don’t, he was a top director in the --˜70s--one of those people who was Hollywood then but would be indiewood now if he were still alive. The Castro screens six of his movies over three nights in late November. Most are films I haven’t seen in decades but loved when … Continue reading Previews of Coming Attactions
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Crime drama Written by Kelly Masterson Directed by Sidney Lumet What fascinates us about crimes going horribly wrong? There’s Double Indemnity, One False Move, A Simple Plan and most movies by the Coen Brothers. Now Sidney Lumet, probably our oldest working film director, tries his hand with Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. And even … Continue reading Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
This Week’s Recommendations and Warnings Shall Not Be Redacted
Redacted, Shattuck, Embarcadero Center, and Aquarius; opens Friday. An American soldier in Iraq videos everything he sees. A French documentary shows how checkpoints work and why they don’t. A security camera captures thugs planning a violent crime and talking about it afterward. Every shot in Brian De Palma’s Iraq war “fictional documentary-- comes from a … Continue reading This Week’s Recommendations and Warnings Shall Not Be Redacted
San Francisco Silent Film Festival–Winter Edition
We think of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival as a summer event, but they’re taking over the Castro on December 1 for three presentations--two of them with live musical accompaniment. There’s a good reason why the 11:00am show won’t have live music: It’s not silent. Warner’s Vitaphone short subjects were among the first widely-seen … Continue reading San Francisco Silent Film Festival–Winter Edition
Romance and Cigarettes
Musical Written and directed by John Turturro To a radical non-smoker like myself--someone who finds the act of smoking about as sexy as Dick Cheney--the very term "Romance and Cigarettes" seems odd. That's appropriate. John Turturro's musical tragi-comedy about marriage and adultery is a very odd motion picture. The songs are familiar hits, and for … Continue reading Romance and Cigarettes
Redacted
War drama Written and directed by Brian De Palma An American soldier in Iraq videos everything he sees. A French documentary shows how checkpoints work and why they don’t. A security camera captures thugs planning a violent crime and talking about it afterwards, seemingly unaware that everything they do and say is getting recorded. People … Continue reading Redacted
Upcoming Events
A few interesting things coming up: The Roxie presents RKO Lost & Found, a series of six RKO movies that have not been seen since at least 1959, throughout the week of November 23. One of them, A Man To Remember, hasn’t been seen since it’s first run in 1938. I missed a press screening … Continue reading Upcoming Events
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