This week in Bay Area movie theaters (aside from the final Star Wars flick): Agnès Varda says her goodbye. Bruce Willis and Gene Hackman go after bad guys. Sidney Lumet opens his big-screen career and Ingmar Berman closes his. You can even spend Christmas watching Fiddler on the Roof. And speaking of that happy holiday, … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 20 – 26
Tag: Ernst Lubitsch
My Report on the Day of Silents
I spent Saturday at the Castro Theater for the Day of Silents, a one-day event produced by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. I saw four features and eight shorts, all with live musical accompaniment. It was a wonderful day. Fatty + Buster: The Comique World of Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton One hundred years … Continue reading My Report on the Day of Silents
Movies from 1939 at the Stanford
I'm not sure who proclaimed 1939 The Great Movie Year. Probably it was Ted Turner, when he owned the MGM, Warner, and RKO libraries. A lot of beloved classics came out that year, including The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind - the two most beloved films of Hollywood's studio era. Also, 1939 … Continue reading Movies from 1939 at the Stanford
A Day of Silents at the Castro
As usual, the San Francisco Film Festival will put on its one-day affair in early December, called A Day of Silents. This year's Day is December 7. From 11:00am until probably about 10:00pm, you can enjoy movies, live music, other enthusiasts, and the Castro Theatre. Here's what they're showing: 11:00am: Fatty + Buster: The Comique … Continue reading A Day of Silents at the Castro
What’s Screening: August 9 – 15
Want something other than superhero movies? Here's what else is playing in Bay Area movie theaters: A Palestinian soap opera, jazz geniuses, and classics by Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Abbas Kiarostami, Sergio Leone, Masaki Kobayashid, David Lean, and Ernst Lubitsch. Also, two film festivals. Festivals Modern Cinema: Haunted! (Gothic Tales by Women) continues through the … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 9 – 15
Thursday at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival
Thursday was the first full day at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. And believe me; it was full.. Amazing Tales From the Archives The free, 10am show this year presented four illustrated lectures. The first had San Francisco's Silent Film Festival's Robert Byrne, along with Thierry Lecointe, discussing flip books made from early films. … Continue reading Thursday at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival
Buster Bookends Silent Film Festival
Buster Keaton's first MGM feature and penultimate silent, The Cameraman, opens this year's San Francisco Silent Film Festival on May Day (May 1st). Four days of bleary eyes and stiff backs - and a lot of fun - later, the festival will close with Keaton's second feature, and in my opinion, his first feature masterpiece, … Continue reading Buster Bookends Silent Film Festival
My 15 Best Moviegoing Experiences of 2018
I went to the movies quite a bit in 2018, and it was often a wonderful experience. I attended six (I think) Bay Area film festivals, numerous special presentations, and just plain really good movies. In May, I flew to Rochester, New York for the Nitrate Picture Show. For four days of screenings and museum … Continue reading My 15 Best Moviegoing Experiences of 2018
What’s Screening: December 21 – 27
This week on Bay Area movie screens: Two great new social dramas, plus Garbo, Forman, Lubitsch, Bergman (of course), a Billy Wilder double bill, no film festivals, and a theater's birthday party. Oh, and some Christmas movies. New films opening A Capernaum, Clay, Shattuck, Rafael, opens Friday Children living in poverty have to do for … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 21 – 27
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: More FilmStruck binge watching
With Thanksgiving finished, I had a chance to watch more movies before FilmStruck goes away. Only three more days left in the best streaming service ever. A Being There (1979), FilmStruck Peter Sellers gave the best performance of his life as Chance, the Gardener (AKA Chauncey Gardner), a mentally deficient TV addict who knows only about … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: More FilmStruck binge watching
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