I don't believe in golden ages and "great film years." Every year since the beginning of cinema has had good and bad films. But there's something special about 1928. At least in America, it was the artistic pinnacle of silent film. And yet it was also the year where silence began to die. Movies kept … Continue reading 1928: The peak and the fall
Tag: Harold Lloyd
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: December 27 – January 2
How can you close 2019 and open 2020 in Bay Area movie theaters? The Lark has a major New Year's Eve Party, including a movie. But there's a whole week of good films, including works by Paul Thomas Anderson, Alfred Hitchcock, Louis Malle, Harold Lloyd, Ernst Lubitsch, Agnès Varda, and more. New Year's Eve Events … Continue reading What’s Screening: December 27 – January 2
What’s Screening: April 5 – 11
What's on Bay Area movie screens this week? Student films, silent films, Hitchcock, Kubrick, and Tarantino films. Also, the SFFILM Festival opens this week. Festivals SFFILM (the San Francisco International Film Festival) opens Wednesday. You can read my reports. The Week's Big Event A Safety Last, Lark, Friday, 7:00 Even Alfred Hitchcock never mastered the … Continue reading What’s Screening: April 5 – 11
The Kid Brother Blu-ray review
If people know about Harold Lloyd at all, they think of Safety Last. Or maybe The Freshman. But for my money, his penultimate silent, The Kid Brother, is his masterpiece. It has several of the funniest, brilliantly designed, extended comedy sequences ever filmed. But it's more than just a very funny movie. It makes you … Continue reading The Kid Brother Blu-ray review
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Magnificent Ambersons, Waking Life, The Newton Boys, Hot Water
Orson Welles' ruined masterpiece, Harold Lloyd at his worst, and good and bad movies by Richard Linklater. A- The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Newly purchased Blu-ray Orson Well's follow-up to Citizen Kane just might have been a masterpiece. RKO took the film away from Welles, cut out about a third, and added a horribly happy ending. But … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Magnificent Ambersons, Waking Life, The Newton Boys, Hot Water
What’s Screening: January 18 – 24
Harold Lloyd climbs into the public domain, Pickett and Prueher show very bad videos, and Germany frightens us in both sound and silence. Also Satyajit Ray, Christopher Guest, Ida Lupino, and a whole lot of great movies on Bay Area movie screens this week. But no film festivals. The Week's Big Event A Safety Last, … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 18 – 24
What’s Screening: November 30 – December 6
Going through FilmStruck withdrawal? Perhaps you can relieve the symptoms by watching movies where they should be seen - in a theater. Consider these mostly old movies screening in the Bay Area this week. Festivals Another Hole in the Head Film Festival continues through this week and beyond New Italian Cinema opens Friday and closes … Continue reading What’s Screening: November 30 – December 6
Coming to FilmStruck in December
The best way to see a movie is in a movie theater. But let's face it; you probably also watch movies at home. Last week, I told you about the classics Coming in December to Bay Area theaters. Now I'll tell you about some films and special offerings coming to FilmStruck's Criterion section during the … Continue reading Coming to FilmStruck in December
What’s Screening: November 24 – 30
This week in Bay Area movie theaters: Swiss activists, French martyrs, Swedish knights, Spanish rebels, British rockers, and a very American Harold Lloyd. And you know what we don't have this week? Film festivals! New films opening B+ The Divine Order, Opera Plaza, Shattuck, Rafael, opens Friday Swiss women didn't get to vote until 1971. … Continue reading What’s Screening: November 24 – 30
