What's playing in Bay Area movie theaters this week? Laurel and Hardy, Jackie Chan, epic Fritz Lang, and two film festivals. But here's what's really strange: Only one theater is playing Groundhog Day. Festivals Noir City continues through Sunday. See my preview and last weekend's report. IndieFest continues through this week and beyond. Read my … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 1 – 7
Tag: Laurel and Hardy
What’s Screening: January 11 – 17
Real and fake Laurel and Hardy, dogs and cats of the deadly kind, a dying bureaucrat, a desperate cyclist, a hitchhiker with a twitchy trigger finger, musical POWs, and a boy named Apu. But no film festivals. The Week's Big Event A The Apu Trilogy, Stanford, Friday through Sunday The Stanford is starting a Satyajit … Continue reading What’s Screening: January 11 – 17
Stan & Ollie: The time two clowns cried
B- Biopic Written by Jeff Pope Directed by Jon S. Baird This is absolutely the least funny Laurel and Hardy movie I have ever seen. Of course, it's not a real Laurel and Hardy movie. It's certainly not a comedy, although it has many laughs. Stan & Ollie is a mostly sad story about the … Continue reading Stan & Ollie: The time two clowns cried
My Report on The Day of Silents
I spent more than 13 hours in the Castro Theatre Saturday, watching six programs of silent films. I discovered two great comedies (one short, one feature), revisited a romantic epic, and listened to a lot of great, live music. I noticed an interesting programming choice involving the music. The Festival hired piano players to accompany … Continue reading My Report on The Day of Silents
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
What’s Screening: September 21 – 27
Spike Lee, Gilda Radner, Ingmar Bergman, Laurel and Hardy, James Dean, and a young girl accused of witchcraft. Add three film festivals and there's plenty to see in Bay Area movie theaters this week. Festivals The SF Latino Film Festival continues through this week and beyond The Homage to Marcello Mastroianni takes over the Castro … Continue reading What’s Screening: September 21 – 27
What’s Screening: August 17 – 23
John Ford and John Wayne, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, Carl Sagan, Elia Kazan, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Mel Brooks light up Bay Area movie screens this week. But no film festivals. Also, I'm changing the Lebowskies section to Frequently-revived classics. The Big Lebowski doesn't screen as often as it used to. Promising events She Wore a … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 17 – 23
What’s Screening: June 15 – 21
Bergman illustrates Mozart. Antonioni does adventure. Garbo plays the Queen. And Keaton wrecks the house. All that, plus a full week of LGBTQ films in Bay Area movie theaters. Festivals Frameline continues through this week and beyond Promising events McKellen: Playing the Part, Embarcadero Center, Shattuck, Aquarius, Tuesday, 7:00 The great Shakespearean actor (and movie star) … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 15 – 21
What’s Screening: June 15 – 21
Only one festival this week, but it's a big one. Frameline LGBT continues through this week and beyond. A- Your Sister's Sister,Kabuki, Embarcadero, opens Friday. This romantic sex comedy kept surprising me. I thought it was shallow; then the characters deepened. I figured out whom was going to end up with whom, and what artificial … Continue reading What’s Screening: June 15 – 21