The Motion Picture Academy announced the Oscar nominations Tuesday morning. I'm not making any guesses, but here are my thoughts: Best Picture Roma is unquestionably the best film I saw that opened in 2018, but I doubt it will win. Alfonso Cuarón's look back at his childhood home is only the 10th foreign-language film to get … Continue reading My Thoughts on the Oscar Nominations
M & Not Wanted at BAMPFA
I spent Sunday afternoon at the BAMPFA, where I watched a recognized masterpiece and a lesser-known disappointment. M It had been a long time since I'd seen Fritz Lang's first talkie on the big screen, and it was as wonderful as I expected. Maybe more. Lang shows us a Germany sinking into corruption, depression, and … Continue reading M & Not Wanted at BAMPFA
Movies for Martin Luther King Jr. Day
If there's anyone in American history worthy of celebrating, it's the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. And so, come next Monday, we'll celebrate him by going shopping on a day where we'd usually go to work or school. After all, it's too cold and wet for barbeque. Not really the best way to honor … Continue reading Movies for Martin Luther King Jr. Day
What’s Screening: January 18 – 24
Harold Lloyd climbs into the public domain, Pickett and Prueher show very bad videos, and Germany frightens us in both sound and silence. Also Satyajit Ray, Christopher Guest, Ida Lupino, and a whole lot of great movies on Bay Area movie screens this week. But no film festivals. The Week's Big Event A Safety Last, … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 18 – 24
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Logan, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Great Ziegfeld, Cavalcade
A few months ago, I realized that I'd seen all but five Best Picture Oscar winners - three of them from the 1930s. So I set out to see all five. I saw Mrs. Miniver and Cimarron in FilmStruck's last weeks. Thanks to Netflix DVD, I recently saw the last two Oscar winners of the … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Logan, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Great Ziegfeld, Cavalcade
IndieFest coming soon
I can't easily pigeonhole IndieFest amongst Bay Area film festivals. It's not about a genre, such as Noir City or DocFest. It's not aimed at certain people, such as Frameline or CAAMFest. Nor is it a fancy red-carpet affair like SFFilm or Mill Valley. Instead, it focuses on low-budget, unusual, often weird films that will probably … Continue reading IndieFest coming soon
What’s Screening: January 11 – 17
Real and fake Laurel and Hardy, dogs and cats of the deadly kind, a dying bureaucrat, a desperate cyclist, a hitchhiker with a twitchy trigger finger, musical POWs, and a boy named Apu. But no film festivals. The Week's Big Event A The Apu Trilogy, Stanford, Friday through Sunday The Stanford is starting a Satyajit … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 11 – 17
Destroyer: Nicole Kidman as one tough dame
B+ Crime thriller Written by Fred Berger, Phil Hay, & Matt Manfredi Directed by Karyn Kusama Crime and grime penetrate Los Angeles in this very dark noir. The deeply dense plot works mostly as a structure for presenting atmosphere and character. But then, in the last few minutes, that plot suddenly becomes clear and everything … Continue reading Destroyer: Nicole Kidman as one tough dame
Stan & Ollie: The time two clowns cried
B- Biopic Written by Jeff Pope Directed by Jon S. Baird This is absolutely the least funny Laurel and Hardy movie I have ever seen. Of course, it's not a real Laurel and Hardy movie. It's certainly not a comedy, although it has many laughs. Stan & Ollie is a mostly sad story about the … Continue reading Stan & Ollie: The time two clowns cried
2001: A Mistake Odyssey
The more you love a film, the more you often you see it. And the more often you see it, the more you notice its flaws. And those flaws endear you to the movie all the more, because it reminds you that it was created by imperfect human beings. I don't know how many times … Continue reading 2001: A Mistake Odyssey
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