Last week, I posted an article on great World War 1 films. I soon realized that I missed some of the best. So here are three films that should have been in that earlier collection. A+ Grand Illusion (France, 1937) This is the film I most regret missing in last week's article. It's even in … Continue reading The so-called Great War and its movies, Part 2
Tag: John Huston
What’s Screening: February 7 – 13
What's coming to Bay Area arthouse cinemas this week? One of last year's best films rereleased in black and white. Also pictures by Kurosawa, Varda, Lubitsch, and Huston. All that along with Rudolph Valentino, college students, the Oscars, and four film festivals. Festivals SF Urban closes Sunday SF IndieFest closes Thursday. Read my preview. Berlin … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 7 – 13
What’s Screening: February 15 – 21
Note: After I posted this newsletter, a reader brought another film festival, opening tonight, to be attention. I've therefore corrected this article. What's happening in Bay Area theaters this week? Silent comedy, John Huston, Paul Butterfield, and David Bowie. Also two new movies and three four film festivals. Plus, at the Lark and Roxie, it'll be … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 15 – 21
Good film/bad film: The Other Side of the Wind & They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead
We waited more than 40 years to see Orson Welles' final film, The Other Side of the Wind. What a disappointment! This just may be the worst film ever by a major auteur. On the other hand, we now have They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, Morgan Neville's excellent documentary on the making of Wind. … Continue reading Good film/bad film: The Other Side of the Wind & They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead
What’s Screening: October 19 – 25
Faust with live music, a Dashiell Hammett double bill, a porn epic, a preview of Alfonso Cuarón's follow-up to Gravity, and five film festivals play this week in Bay Area theaters. Festivals The San Francisco Greek Film Festival closes Saturday The Arab Film Festival closes Sunday Modern Cinema>Satyajit Ray: Intimate Universes also closes Sunday. Read … Continue reading What’s Screening: October 19 – 25
What’s Screening: May 11 – 17
Professional killers, psychotic killers, inept superheroes, dangerous rabbits, and a whole lot of clay chickens on Bay Area movie screens this week. And only one film festival. Festivals CAAMFest continues through the week and beyond Promising events Mystery Men, New Mission, Wednesday, 10:15 I loved this superhero satire when it opened in 1999; I even … Continue reading What’s Screening: May 11 – 17
What’s Screening: January 19 – 25
Movies set in the White House, a sand pit, the High Sierra, a dystopian future, the early Soviet Union, and another planet - and all of them projected on Bay Area movie screens. And yet, still no film festivals (although that will change very soon). New films opening A- The Final Year, Embarcadero Center, Shattuck, … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 19 – 25
What’s Screening: September 15 – 21
Bogart goes for the gold, Curtis and Poitier flee for freedom, and James Dean wants to know his mother. All that and a lot of Wes Anderson in Bay Area movies this week. Festivals The Wes Ander-Thon Weekend opens today and runs through Sunday Cine+Mas SF opens today and continues through the month The San … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 15 – 21
What’s Screening: June 30 – July 6
W. C. Fields, Cab Calloway, Joe Dante, Bogart & Hepburn, tough British cops, and the Russian Revolution light up Bay Area movie screens this week. And oddly, not a single film festival. New films opening A- Nowhere to Hide, Roxie, opens Friday The experience of sitting through this documentary can best be described as harrowing, … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 30 – July 6
What’s Screening: August 10 – 16
No festivals this week. But there are some good movies. The Rolling Stones: Some Girls, Balboa, Tuesday and Thursday, 7:30. A Rolling Stone concert from 1978--well before they became respectable old men. Introduced with a recent interview with Sir Mick Jagger (see what I mean). A+ Double Bill: Sunrise & Freaks, Castro, Sunday. Haunting, romantic, … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 10 – 16
