Today, if you have the time, watch a film with printed titles instead of dialogue. After all, today is Silent Movie Day. With the exceptions of the Sebastopol and the Elmwood, the theaters and festivals don't seem to care. If you're not a silent film fan, and you're wondering what's so special about 100-year-old movies, … Continue reading Stuck at home? Celebrate silent films if you can’t go to a theater
Tag: Harold Lloyd
What’s Screening: Aug 26 – Sept 1
You may have noticed that I didn't post much, lately. Well, I hope you noticed. Anyway, I've been busy with other things. Nevertheless, I found several worth-watching vintage films that will play in Bay Area theaters this week. Festivals & Series Cinequest closes Monday The San Francisco's 48 Hour Film Festival plays for two days. … Continue reading What’s Screening: Aug 26 – Sept 1
National Silent Movie Day…at home
This coming Wednesday is National Silent Movie Day, which makes it a perfect day to start exploring silent cinema. Here are eight of my nine favorite silent feature films. (The other, Napoleon is too big for most theaters, let alone your living room.) I'm not listing them best to worst, as I usually do. They're … Continue reading National Silent Movie Day…at home
On the 29th, we celebrate silents
September 29 is the first National Silent Movie Day, when we celebrate the years when movies didn't have soundtracks. To celebrate the day, watch silent films, read about their history, and marvel at the glorious restorations of hundred-year-old films. This is not a Bay Area thing. As the name tells us, it's national. However, since … Continue reading On the 29th, we celebrate silents
Good movies suddenly available on Criterion
The Criterion Channel added a lot of good movies at the beginning of September. Here are some of the best: Most of these are part of one of more collections – mostly New York Stories. A+ The Crowd (1928), part of the series New York Stories Of all the films in my All-Time Great Films … Continue reading Good movies suddenly available on Criterion
1928: The peak and the fall
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
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
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