Part of the San Francisco International Film Festival's programming is now up on Bayflicks.net, so I have to explain the little red dot icon () that marks some of the festival's presentations on my schedules. The red dot tells you that this particular film will probably get a regular theatrical run after the festival. With … Continue reading Red Dot Journalism

I just saw Golden Door, the Italian film about immigration to America that's opening the San Francisco International Film Festival. A very good, very unusual picture. I'm giving it an . You can click that to read my microreview. The festival is only screening Golden Door on opening night, giving you no options if you … Continue reading Another Festival Preview

I’m changing the site, again. Hopefully to your liking. First, you no longer need to be a registered member to comment on my posts and reviews. Now anyone can tell me I’m wrong, and I hope you do. There’s another change. Starting this week, the commentary part of Bayflicks.net becomes less like a traditional newsletter … Continue reading More Site Changes

Journey From the Fall, 4Star and Elmwood, opens Friday. “Nothing is more precious than freedom.-- Ho Chi Minh’s hypocritical quote adorns the entrance to a re-education center (in other words, a slave-labor camp) in Ham Tran’s small-scale historical epic. But Ham blows his wad early as he shows us a Vietnamese family’s horrific journey away … Continue reading Listings for the Week of April 13, 2007

I've just posted my first three microreviews of films screening at the San Francisco International Film Festival. One is a new film I saw at a press screening; the other two are older films I'd already seen. I'll post more as I see more. Flanders, Pacific Film Archive, Sunday, May 6, 5:15; Kabuki, Tuesday, May … Continue reading San Fran Festival Previews

Spike Lee Courtesy San Francisco International Film Festival Since you’re type of person who reads Bayflicks.net, you probably already know that the San Francisco International Film Festival opens on Thursday, April 26 and runs two weeks and a day, closing Thursday, May 10. You also probably know that this year represents SFIFF’s 50th anniversary, and … Continue reading The Big Five-Oh

Babe, Cerrito, Saturday, noon and 3:00; Sunday, 2:00. Few live-action children's films retain this level of fairy-tale charm--especially without ever growing sappy. A technical marvel in 1995 (and still impressive today), Chris Noonan's fable is funny, endearing, occasionally dark, and an effective 89-minute commercial for vegetarianism. If you've had the misfortune of seeing the sequel, … Continue reading Movies for the Week of April 6, 2007

Finally saw Hollywoodland. It's a very good film hidden inside a very mediocre one. The good film stars Ben Affleck as George Reeves, the actor best remembered for playing Superman in the 1950's TV show. It paints Reeves as a tragic figure, and a pathetic one--one of those actors who hangs around Hollywood for years, … Continue reading Neither a Bird Nor a Plane

Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, Red Vic, Friday through Tuesday. A sad, harrowing, yet ultimately inspiring true story told with only moderate competence. Refugee All Stars focuses on six musicians, refugees from Sierra Leone’s horrifyingly brutal civil war, who came together in the Guinean refugee camps in which they’d lived for many years. In the … Continue reading Movies for the Week of March 30, 2007

Once again I don't have time to write an essay, so I'll just give you my recommendations.There isn't much, not because the movies are lousy; I just haven't seen the new ones, and haven't seen the old ones recently enough to comment on them. Children of Men, Elmwood, opening Friday. Set in a dystopian, near-future … Continue reading Movies for the Week of March 23, 2007