C- I should be the perfect audience for Peter Rodger’s documentary. I’m curious and fascinated by comparative religions, and with how every faith creates both humanists and fundamentalists--including atheism. So it’s with considerable disappointment that I have to report that I didn’t care for Oh My God? It has its interesting moments--enough to keep it … Continue reading Oh My God?
Tag: film
Precious
A Few film-going experiences match this one for intensity. And it’s not the intensity of a good horror film or thriller (although it’s more horrible and suspenseful than most of them). This is the intensity of of life at its most relentlessly depressing and hopeless. And yet, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, … Continue reading Precious
What’s Screening: November 20-26
The Chinese American Film Festival continues through Thursday at the 4-Star. A+ Double Bill: Top Hat & The Gay Divorcee, Stanford, Friday and Saturday. The Gay Divorcee, on its own, would probably get only a B-. Arguably the first Astaire-Rogers movie (certainly the first where they were the real stars), it’s a flawed entertainment with one … Continue reading What’s Screening: November 20-26
What’s Screening: November 13 – 19
In last week’s newsletter, I failed to mention the Chinese American Film Festival that opened yesterday. It runs through Thursday at the 4-Star. The San Francisco International Animation Festival continues through Sunday. And on that very day, New Italian Cinema opens an eight-day run at the Embarcadero. B For the Love of Movies: The Story … Continue reading What’s Screening: November 13 – 19
What’s Screening: November 6 – 12
The 3rd I South Asian Film Festival continues through Thursday. The San Francisco International Animation Festival opens Wednesday for a five-day run. A- Skin, Clay, Shattuck, Guild, Rafael, opens Friday. Sandra Laing (an actual, living person, played here by Sophie Okonedo) was born to white parents in South Africa in 1955, but by all appearances … Continue reading What’s Screening: November 6 – 12
Skin
A- Biographical drama Written by Helen Crawley Directed by Anthony Fabian Race can be a very difficult thing to define; especially for bureaucrats working for a government where race determines everything. Sandra Laing (an actual, living person, played here by Sophie Okonedo) was born to white parents in South Africa in 1955, but by all … Continue reading Skin
What’s Screening: October 30 – November 5
The 3rd I South Asian Film Festival opens Thursday for a four-day run at the Roxie and the Castro. French Cinema Now also starts Thursday for a seven-day run at the Clay. In My Father's Shadow: A Daughter Remembers Orson Welles with The Lady From Shanghai, Rafael, Monday, 7:00. The Lady from Shanghai is not … Continue reading What’s Screening: October 30 – November 5
New PFA Schedule
Just as I started to write again, a new Pacific Film Archive schedule shows up in the mail. Plenty of stuff I’d like to see. They’ve got a Ingrid Bergman festival with an interesting twist: nothing from Hollywood. Between November 4 and December 17, the PFA will screen nine European features (and one collection of … Continue reading New PFA Schedule
Soul Power
Music Documentary Directed by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte In 1974, many of the greatest African and African-American musicians alive came together in Zaire for a big all-star concert attached to the legendary Muhammad Ali/George Foreman fight. The fight was delayed, but the concert went on as scheduled. But the film version of the Zaire ‘74 concert was … Continue reading Soul Power
What’s Screening: June 19 – 25
Frameline continues through the week. A Katyn, Kabuki, Rafael, opens Friday. In the spring of 1940, Soviet special forces massacred over 15,000 Polish prisoners of war, including the father of future filmmaker Andrzej Wajda. After the war, Stalin’s government insisted that the Nazis were to blame and suppressed the truth. Wajda tells the story of … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 19 – 25
Bayflicks 