Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Brief Encounter, Topsy-Turvy, Siren of the Tropics, & Cotton Comes to Harlem

August 11, 2021August 11, 2021 ~ Lincoln Spector

Thanks to the current COVID surge, which I'm calling the Delta Blues, I've been staying away from movie theaters. But I'm still watching movies at home. A- Brief Encounter (1945) Love, romance, and marriage may make the world go around, but it often goes in the wrong direction. This pre-epic David Lean drama follows the … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Brief Encounter, Topsy-Turvy, Siren of the Tropics, & Cotton Comes to Harlem

The so-called Great War and its movies

July 29, 2020October 24, 2021 ~ Lincoln Spector

The First World War, called The Great War before a worse one followed it, created some exceptional cinema. Why is that? Perhaps, it's the timing. The ascendancy of feature-length films happened as the war was being fought. Another possibility: World War 1 was so horrible, and yet so pointless (we weren't fighting fascism yet), that … Continue reading The so-called Great War and its movies

Movies I’ve recently seen: Billy Liar, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, & Blithe Spirit

July 7, 2020 ~ Lincoln Spector ~ 2 Comments

Here are three films, all comedies (to a certain extent), that didn't play in a recent film festival, nor are they coming up soon. None of them are new and their distributors didn't ask me to review them. I just watched them for my own enjoyment. A Billy Liar (1963), Kanopy This is how a … Continue reading Movies I’ve recently seen: Billy Liar, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, & Blithe Spirit

Hitchcock, James Bond, Star Trek, and some other terrific double features in August at the Castro

August 1, 2019 ~ Lincoln Spector

The double bill is almost a lost art, but this month you can find many excellent examples at the Castro. Let's start with Hitchcock Wednesdays (my label). Each Wednesday in August, San Francisco's best movie theater matches a feature from the master of suspense with an appropriate non-Hitchcock title: August 7: Strangers on a Train … Continue reading Hitchcock, James Bond, Star Trek, and some other terrific double features in August at the Castro

Modern Cinema Festival Previews

January 23, 2018January 22, 2018 ~ Lincoln Spector

Want to know what classic films you should catch at the upcoming Modern Cinema festival? Here are six movies I can recommend, along with three others that I vaguely remember liking. All of the films will be screened at SFMOMA's Phyllis Wattis Theater. A+ Lawrence of Arabia, Sunday, February 18, 1:00 Lawrence isn't just the … Continue reading Modern Cinema Festival Previews

What’s Screening: June 9 – 15

June 9, 2017 ~ Lincoln Spector

Jane Fonda, Charles Dickens, Toshiro Mifune, Janis Joplin, and four film festivals grace Bay Area screens this week. Also, I'm adding another theater to the Bayflicks listings: The Sebastiani in Sonoma. I guess that's still the Bay Area. This non-profit primarily screens new movies, but I'll be covering their monthly Vintage Film Series. Festivals DocFest … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 9 – 15

What’s Screening: December 28 – January 3

December 28, 2012December 28, 2012 ~ Lincoln Spector

Still no festivals. But as we move in 2013, we do have some good movies. A Lawrence of Arabia, Castro, Saturday through Monday. Lawrence isn’t just the best big historical epic of the 70mm roadshow era, it’s one of the greatest films ever made. Stunning to look at and terrific as pure spectacle, it’s also … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 28 – January 3