Tired of blockbusters? Have no fear. We're heading into the fall film festival season. I guess the theory is that now that the kids are back in school, the grownups can go to the movies. Two festivals open the week after next, one big, one small. They're both general film festivals, identified with a town … Continue reading Fall Film Festival Season

Make no mistake: You should check out Kirby Dick’s documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated. It covers an important issue (important, at least, to anyone who cares about the art of cinema), the control that the MPAA’s rating board has on what we see on American screens. Dick has a strong opinion, and he … Continue reading This Film is Not Quite Honest

I accidentally knocked my wife's coat off a hook the other evening. So I bent down, picked it up, and hung it back up. What's the point of this story? There was no point. In fact, the very point I'm trying to make is that the incident was completely pointless. Here's my point: If that … Continue reading Life vs. Film

So much to cover! The Bay Area is hosting a lot of interesting film events in the next couple of weeks. Here are a few quick summaries. But first, if you’re not entirely bored with all the coverage I gave the Castro’s recent 70mm series, check out some discussions of sound problems on my Letters … Continue reading So Much to Cover!

I confess. I have not yet seen Snakes on a Plane. Not that I don't want to. I'm curious, and it sounds like fun. But I don't have time to see every movie that attracts me, and there are plenty of other new films out there right now that are higher priorities (top of the … Continue reading Snakes on a Plane

Cinematic civilization isn't just a big city affair. I had reason to spend last Friday night in Red Bluff, a hamlet of 13,000 considerably north of here on Interstate 5. I took a walk early Saturday morning, and spotted an old single-screen movie theater that had clearly seen better days. You'll find these in almost … Continue reading Movies in Red Bluff

What this country needs is a really good, big budget, escapist action flick. No, that sentence is neither oxymoronic nor sacrilegious. These things exist. Last year we had Star Wars III, Batman Begins, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, King Kong, and Narnia, all superb entertainments providing plenty of fun and computer-generated spectacle, while … Continue reading Lousy and Expensive

Fifty years ago, Hollywood desperately needed to tempt people away from their TVs. They turned to bigger, wider techniques for shooting and presenting movies. A lot of formats were tried, but only one survived for 40 years as a way to make that movie at that theater an extra-special treat: 70mm. The Castro's second 70mm … Continue reading Glorious 70mm

I wasn't as clear as I should have been in last week's newsletter. I didn't mean to imply that San Francisco still enjoyed a huge market for revival house cinema. There was such a market 30 years ago. In the late 1970's, cinephiles not wishing to leave the City's borders could catch classics any day … Continue reading Classics–Not So Common

Gary Meyer of the Balboa wrote a decidedly depressing newsletter last week. In case you don't subscribe, you'll find it on his Web site's Latest News page. Scroll down to "NO NEW CALENDAR?" Courtesy of Patrick Crowley Meyer informed his theater's fans that the Balboa cannot continue its programming policy of classics and little-known independents. … Continue reading The Balboa’s Problems and the Silent Film Festival