Here's another random selection of films I hadn't seen before. None are particularly brilliant. But then, none is truly awful. Click a film's title to find out how you can stream the movie. B Men Without Women (1930) The film should have been called Men Without Oxygen. John Ford directed this tense, powerful naval thriller, … Continue reading Movies I’ve recently seen: Men Without Women ֍ Tales From Earthsea ֍ The Clock & The Longest Day
Tag: John Ford
Márta Mészáros & John Ford: Two evenings at the BAMPFA
Two evenings. Two movies. Two brilliant auteurs at the BAMPFA. Márta Mészáros Last Saturday night, I discovered Márta Mészáros, a new, brilliant auteur. Well, not really new. she turned 90 last year. But she's new to me. Before the movie, curator Kathy Geritz told us a bit about Mészáros. She made her first film, The … Continue reading Márta Mészáros & John Ford: Two evenings at the BAMPFA
What’s Screening: June 17 – 23
New and old movies are playing in San Francisco theaters; and a lot of them are already streaming. Looking for old-time movie stars on the big screen? This week you've got Clark Gable, Steve McQueen, Henry Fonda, Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, and Daniel Day-Lewis. If that list is a bit too male-centered, there are real … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 17 – 23
What’s leaving Criterion at the end of June
A lot of early John Ford films will disappear from the Criterion Channel at the end of June. There are several other good films that will go away after June 30. Click the film's title to start watching the movie – assuming as if you subscribe to the Channel. Full recommendations A+ The Last Picture … Continue reading What’s leaving Criterion at the end of June
The Castro Theater’s 100th Birthday Celebration
Maybe it was the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, but Another Planet Entertainment (APE) seems to realize that the Castro Theater should be what it always was: a movie palace. Next month, APE will give us the Castro Theatre 100th Birthday Celebration. From June 3 to 12, the Castro will run classic films. Each day, … Continue reading The Castro Theater’s 100th Birthday Celebration
Movies I’ve recently seen: Almost Famous ֍ Young Mr. Lincoln ֍ Planet of the Apes ֍ The Saphead
While reviewing films for the SFFilm Festival, I found some time to just enjoy some old movies. Click a picture's title to find how you can see one. A- Almost Famous (2000) The story would be unbelievable if similar events happened to writer/director Cameron Crowe in his adolescence. In 1973, a 15-year-old boy gets a … Continue reading Movies I’ve recently seen: Almost Famous ֍ Young Mr. Lincoln ֍ Planet of the Apes ֍ The Saphead
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Searchers ֍ Panic in the Streets ֍ Passing and ֍ Soup to Nuts
For various reasons, I haven't seen a movie in a theater recently. So here are three old movies and one new one that's already streaming. A- The Searchers (1956) The last time I wrote about The Searchers, I gave it a B. That's a pretty low grade for what many consider John Ford's masterpiece. Seeing … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: The Searchers ֍ Panic in the Streets ֍ Passing and ֍ Soup to Nuts
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: No Time to Die | 15 Minutes of Shame | The Life of Emile Zola | Libeled Lady & Wee Willie Winkie
You might notice that the new films in this selection are all better than the old ones - a strange situation from a lover of classic cinema. Why? I picked two out of three old movies not because I believed they were good, but because they were historically interesting. The other was, well, not as … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: No Time to Die | 15 Minutes of Shame | The Life of Emile Zola | Libeled Lady & Wee Willie Winkie
What will leave Criterion come midnight
When the trick-or-treaters go to bed and October turns into November, some excellent films will mysteriously disappear. Many of them were directed by John Huston. At the end of this month, Criterion will remove 59 feature films from its streaming service to make more for other classics. Here's a few of them: A The African … Continue reading What will leave Criterion come midnight
What’s leaving Criterion at the end of July
A lot of movies will leave The Criterion Channel come July 31 - and several of them written by Dalton Trumbo. Here are some you may want to catch before August - although some of these may be back on Criterion soon. A He Ran All the Way (1951) When I first saw this cheap … Continue reading What’s leaving Criterion at the end of July