I haven't gone out much lately. One activity I can do at home is to watch a favorite movie with a commentary track. There's something special about watching a beloved film once again while someone tells you interesting facts about it. I recommend the experience. (I suppose I shouldn't even have to say this, but … Continue reading Commentary tracks: Another way to enjoy your favorite movies
Tag: Akira Kurosawa
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Stunt Man, The Wind, American Trial, & Snow Trail
Five more films, all worth watching…but not all of them great. A- The Stunt Man (1980), My own DVD, which I hadn't watched in ages One of my favorite cult movies. Strange, audacious, funny, suspenseful, and totally weird. A Vietnam vet on the run from police accidentally kills a stunt man, and the vet takes … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Stunt Man, The Wind, American Trial, & Snow Trail
Films that increase empathy
Roger Ebert once called movies "a machine that generates empathy." I'm not sure that's always true. Triumph of the Will generated a lot of emotions, but empathy wasn't one of them. And yet, the best films can help you understand those trapped in poverty, loneliness, and sickness. Ever since the invention of the close-up, motion … Continue reading Films that increase empathy
What’s Screening: February 28 – March 5
Robbie Robertson ignores his Band. Kurosawa goes '60s noir. Hitchcock becomes stranger on a train. And a giant mutant predator hits South Korea (and no, it's not Donald Trump). All this, plus three film festivals and more this week in Bay Area arthouse cinemas. Festivals The East Bay International Jewish Film Festival opens Friday and … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 28 – March 5
What’s Screening: February 21 – 27
This week in Bay Area art cinemas: John Boorman's wartime childhood, Federico Fellini's runaway bride, and two epic tales of hippies. Also, Salma Hayek plays an artist, Harold Lloyd becomes romantic, and Steve McQueen calls bullshit. No film festivals, but another Kurosawa double feature and a whole lot of cats. Promising events Hope and Glory (1987), … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 21 – 27
What’s Screening: February 14 – 20
What's in Bay Area art house cinemas this week? Still more Agnès Varda, but this time with something by her husband, Jacques Demy. Also Kurosawa and Monty Python double bills. And works by Spike Lee, Alfonso Cuarón, Hal Ashby, and Paul Thomas Anderson. But only one film festival. I have to wonder, what would Pauline … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 14 – 20
Kurosawa Series Here. Coppola Series coming soon
There's a new Akira Kurosawa series going on at the Stanford. And starting next month, the BAMPFA will start a series on Zoetrope, also known as American Zoetrope, the company that Francis Coppola created more than 50 years ago. What's more, Kurosawa and Zoetrope came together in the early 1980, and the film that the … Continue reading Kurosawa Series Here. Coppola Series coming soon
What’s Screening: February 7 – 13
What's coming to Bay Area arthouse cinemas this week? One of last year's best films rereleased in black and white. Also pictures by Kurosawa, Varda, Lubitsch, and Huston. All that along with Rudolph Valentino, college students, the Oscars, and four film festivals. Festivals SF Urban closes Sunday SF IndieFest closes Thursday. Read my preview. Berlin … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 7 – 13
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
Modern Cinema festival honors Satyajit Ray
Few artists caught the sorrows and sympathies of the human condition like India's Satyajit Ray. Come October, you'll get a chance to see 15 of his feature films, along with 11 others that either inspired Ray or were inspired by him, at SFMOMA's Phyllis Wattis Theater. SFFILM and SFMOMA presents Modern Cinema/Satyajit Ray: Intimate Universes … Continue reading Modern Cinema festival honors Satyajit Ray
