Last week we were walloped by massive waterfalls from the sky. And this week? You must pick between noirs from the year of 1948 or half of the Coen brothers. Along with one of the brothers, Bay Area cinemas will be showing vintage movies from Martin Scorsese, F. W. Murnau, Jacques Tati, David Lynch, Howard … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 20 – 26
Tag: Anthony Hopkins
What’s Screening: December 23 – 29
Note: I attended to set this article to go live on Friday, December 23, at 8:30am. But, by my mistake, it came out earlier. There's not much Christmas spirit in Bay Area cinemas this holiday week – unless you count Die Hard. But there's joy in the Richmond district. The 4-Star cinema is showing five … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 23 – 29
More Mill Valley Movies
Here are the last five films I've seen and reviewed for this year's Mill Valley Film Festival. This time, there are two documentaries and three fiction films. They go from excellent to pretty bad. A Town Destroyer This local and very short documentary (55 minutes) does something rare in today's political docs: The filmmakers look … Continue reading More Mill Valley Movies
What’s Screening: August 27 – September 2
Want to talk about Apocalypse Now? How about young newlyweds exploring sex (even if the groom doesn't seem to care much). No? How about Anthony Hopkins going senile. Or, perhaps, Fellini's personal comic masterpiece or Wong Kar Wai's brilliant film about adultery. But while the Dark Knight goes after the Joker, Carl Th. Dreyer plays … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 27 – September 2
The Pandemic Oscar Ceremony
Last year, I attended the Academy Awards at the Roxie and I had a great time. I didn't know that within a few weeks, the Roxie and every other movie theater in the Bay Area would go dark. That would be the last time I would be in a movie theater in more than a … Continue reading The Pandemic Oscar Ceremony
The Oscar Nominees, and my opinion
The Motion Picture Academy usually announces the Oscar nominees in January. But everything was weird last year, and the weirdness has not yet worn off, so they waited until yesterday to announce them. I'm not going to list the nominees. You can find that list all over the web. So, I'll just offer a few … Continue reading The Oscar Nominees, and my opinion
What’s Screening: March 12 – 18
The theaters are opening up…or at least a few of them are; you can learn more from G. Allen Johnson's recent Chronicle article. But it may be too late for some. Alamo Drafthouse, the company that owns the New Mission, has filed for bankruptcy. Anyway, here's what's happening this week in Bay Area cinema: Discussions … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 12 – 18
And the Golden Globe nominees are…
Last week, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced the Golden Globe nominees. Filmmakers vote for the Oscars, international critics vote for the Globes. What makes the Globe more interesting than the Oscars? They happen first. So, let's look at some of the nominees: Best Motion Picture - Drama I've seen and liked four of … Continue reading And the Golden Globe nominees are…
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Elephant Man | Death to 2020 | The Incredible Shrinking Man | Sylvie’s Love | Ocean’s Eleven
I was lucky with the movies I chose to watch over the last couple of weeks. For the most part, they were exceptional. A The Elephant Man (1980) David Lynch makes full use of his first Hollywood-sized budget. Shot in beautiful black and white scope, the sounds and images take you into Victorian London with … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Elephant Man | Death to 2020 | The Incredible Shrinking Man | Sylvie’s Love | Ocean’s Eleven
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Mask of Zorro, The More the Merrier, Flower Drum Song, The Booksellers & Tunes of Glory
A couple of months ago, I thought I was going to spend last week at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Instead, I saw five other films at home. For the most part, they were disappointing. A The Mask of Zorro (1988), DVD I considered listing this totally delightful movie on my recent swashbuckler article, … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Mask of Zorro, The More the Merrier, Flower Drum Song, The Booksellers & Tunes of Glory
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