Once again, I'll start with the San Francisco International Film Festival presentations . San Francisco International Film Festival La Vie en Rose, Castro, Thursday, 7:00. Early in this Edith Piaf biopic, a hunched, aged-before-her-time Piaf walks up to a recording studio microphone. She looks bored and mildly annoyed. When she starts singing in that incredible … Continue reading Films for the Week of May 4, 2007

I just watched The Last Days of Yasser Arafat, and I give it a C. Sherine Salama conducted Yasser Arafat’s last interview, then she made this documentary about it. Her film’s power comes from the sense of immediacy, of being an eyewitness to history, but that’s a sense that can only go so far. It … Continue reading One More SFIFF Microreview

If you're trying to decide what to see San Francisco International Film Festival, don't go to far out of your way to catch Reprise, which has three more scheduled screenings as I write this. But then, if you happen to be at the right theater at the right time, you could do worse. If that … Continue reading Another SFIFF Recommendation

The bay area is in danger of losing yet another single-screen movie house--one that at least occasionally varies its Hollywood/indiewood fare with the classic and the unusual. I'm speaking of the Lark, a restored, classic single-screener in Larkspur run by a non-profit. A theater like the Lark doesn't make economic sense these days, so it's … Continue reading The Lark in Trouble

As I mentioned in my last post, I chose Danny Glover on Saturday over Mel Novikoff Award winner Kevin Brownlow, one of the world's foremost experts on silent films, because I was seeing Brownlow on Sunday. I just did. Billed as an "Introduction to Silents,-- Brownlow's presentation probably would have confused anyone truly unfamiliar with … Continue reading Festival Report, Part 3: Sunday

Why, after screening a dreadful film called Revolution Summer, would I bother seeing something called The Reel Youth Revolution? Because it was screening at a convenient time, and, as a collection of shorts, it couldn't be bad for very long. Besides, as a former film student myself, I was curious to see what young people--blessed … Continue reading Festival Report, Part 2: Saturday

I’m finally back at my computer and able to tell you about what I saw at the Kabuki and Castro. The first movie I caught was the first one shown without opening night hoopla, Otar Iosseliani, The Whistling Blackbird; appropriately, a movie about movies. Julie Bertuccelli’s documentary is a pleasant and often funny study of … Continue reading Festival Report, Part 1: Friday

Just to keep things simple, I'm listing San Francisco International Film Festival presentations first. San Francisco International Film Festival The Iron Mask, Castro, Friday, 2:00. Douglas Fairbanks must have felt melancholy as he made what he knew would be his last silent film. Based on Dumas' oft-filmed The Three Musketeers sequel, The Iron Mask is … Continue reading Films for the Week of April 27, 2007

I’m beginning to suspect that I will never see an English-language film theatrically again. The only one I’ve seen in the last three months is Blades of Glory--an outing that had more to do with parenting than cinephilia. Today I decided to break that track record and go see Hot Fuzz. But when I got … Continue reading Doomed to Subtitles and Other Tales

Golden Door, Castro, Thursday, 7:00. Emanuele Crialese begins his immigration allegory with two men climbing a mountain, barefoot, each carrying a sharp stone in his mouth. From there, Crialese fills his tale with strange, beautiful, and occasionally bewildering imagery. He also fills it with fascinating people and a dry, sardonic humor. Many of his characters, … Continue reading Films for the Week of April 20, 2006