Gracing Bay Area screens this week: Scheming politicians, idealistic politicians, black superheroes, trouble on the road, nightmares of fascism, and a horrific film festival (that's horrific in a good way). Festivals Another Hole in the Head Film Festival opens Wednesday and will continue to frighten you for a couple of weeks. Read my preview. Preview … Continue reading What’s Screening: November 23 – 29
Movies I’ve Seen Recently: Lolita, A story from Chikamatsu, Cluny Brown, & The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Here are four more movies I've recently discovered or rediscovered. A Lolita (1962), FilmStruck I'm not sure if Kubrick's take on Nabokov is a very funny tragedy or a very sad comedy, but it's certainly about reprehensible people. James Mason carries the tragic vibe as the intellectual obsessed with a teenage girl but who cares only for himself. … Continue reading Movies I’ve Seen Recently: Lolita, A story from Chikamatsu, Cluny Brown, & The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Winter at the BAMPFA
The Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) recently announced its winter schedule, running from December through February, with eleven different film series. These are the ones that caught my eye: The Puppet Master: The Films of Jirí Trnka Dec 1–19 This Czech animator turned a kiddie genre into political satire. I saw his version of … Continue reading Winter at the BAMPFA
What’s Screening: November 16 – 22
The week that ends in Thanksgiving doesn't have much for cinephiles…at least not this year in the Bay Area. But we do have the Addams Family, Charlie Kaufman, angels over Berlin, and three movies shot in three-strip Technicolor. Also, three film festivals. Festivals The 3rd i South Asian Film Festival reincarnates itself for one day … Continue reading What’s Screening: November 16 – 22
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: FilmStruck binge watching
I'm not much of binge watcher (except in film festivals), but with FilmStruck closing in a little more than two weeks, I'm been watching a lot. A- The Lion in Winter (1968), FilmStruck An aging King Henry II (Peter O'Toole) has a very difficult Christmas with his bickering family in this medieval, humor-laced drama. Why … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: FilmStruck binge watching
The Big Lebowski on Blu-ray…and 4K
When I saw the Coen Brothers' Big Lebowski at the BAMPFA in 2014, I loved the movie but hated the horrible DCP. This exceptional comedy clearly needed a better digital transfer. I'm glad to say it now has one. More on that below. The Big Lebowski is a Raymond Chandler-type film noir story, except that the … Continue reading The Big Lebowski on Blu-ray…and 4K
What’s Screening: November 9 – 15
On Bay Area screens this week: Masterpieces by Renoir, Keaton, Bergman, Welles, Laurel, and Hardy, along with three new movies and six film festivals. Festivals The Cinematografo International Film Festival continues through Sunday The Napa Valley Film Festival also continues through Sunday. Read my preview. The San Francisco Transgender Film Festival opens tonight and, yes, … Continue reading What’s Screening: November 9 – 15
Monrovia Indiana: Not much to see here
C documentary Directed by Frederick Wiseman Frederick Wiseman's latest documentary studies life in a small, agricultural town in what we might call Trump country. We see people at work. We see people exercising. We see people joking around and telling funny stories. We see people in church and in town meetings. And when we don't … Continue reading Monrovia Indiana: Not much to see here
A celebration of The Great Buster
B+ Showbiz documentary Directed by Peter Bogdanovich There's no question in my mind that film historian and filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show) considers Buster Keaton to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, physical comedian since the invention of the movies. I agree completely. I'm such a big fan of the … Continue reading A celebration of The Great Buster
Napa Valley Film Festival opens Wednesday
The Napa Valley Film Festival opens tomorrow and runs through Sunday. Here are my opinions of three films running at the festival: A Capernaum Children living in poverty have to do for themselves in this heartbreaking story of love and the lack of love. Twelve-year-old Zain sues his parents for bringing him into a cruel … Continue reading Napa Valley Film Festival opens Wednesday
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