It's Oscar week, and at least eight Bay Area cinemas are projecting the ceremony onto their big screens. One theater is giving us a selection of Buster Keaton shorts from half a century. Aside from all that, there are excellent works by Hayao Miyazaki, Wim Wender, Christopher Guest, and Philip Kaufman. Festivals & Series Cinequest … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 10 – 16
Tag: oscars
What’s Screening: March 25 – 31
Come Sunday night, we'll finally know what's the best movie of 2022…if you agree with the members of the Academy. I'm not even sure if I'll be watching the show. But if you prefer older films to new ones, Bay Area theaters will be screening quite a few classics this week. Festivals & Series The … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 25 – 31
What’s Screening: April 23 – 29
In this week's Bay Area movie news: More theaters are opening up! You can talk about Cuckoo's Nest. You can learn about John Lewis and/or Sesame Street. And you can enjoy old movies by streaming, going to a drive-in, and in an actual, hard-top movie theater. Also two film festivals and something on TV called … Continue reading What’s Screening: April 23 – 29
My best top 10 films of 2020
I usually start the year with a survey of my best movie-going experiences - considering projection, sound, audience enthusiasm, and, of course, the quality of the movie. But I had very few chances to go to the movies in 2020. So, this year I'm offering the best new movies I've seen while sitting in front … Continue reading My best top 10 films of 2020
What’s Screening: February 22 – 28
What's playing in Bay Area movie theaters this week? Frank Capra, Humphrey Bogart, Buster Keaton, and The Band. Also two film festivals and the Academy Awards at a theater near you. Festivals Modern Cinema: Jia Zhangke closes Sunday. Read my preview. The East Bay Jewish Film Festival opens Thursday. I have a preview for that … Continue reading What’s Screening: February 22 – 28
My Thoughts on the Oscar Nominations
The Motion Picture Academy announced the Oscar nominations Tuesday morning. I'm not making any guesses, but here are my thoughts: Best Picture Roma is unquestionably the best film I saw that opened in 2018, but I doubt it will win. Alfonso Cuarón's look back at his childhood home is only the 10th foreign-language film to get … Continue reading My Thoughts on the Oscar Nominations
The Oscars: The Best Movies Actually Won
I don't recall an Oscar show where the Academy and I agreed in almost every category. My only disappointment was Roger Deakins' win for Best cinematography. Deakins is an excellent artist, but I was pushing for Rachel Morrison for Mudbound. A confession: I didn't watch the awards show. My wife and I had tickets to … Continue reading The Oscars: The Best Movies Actually Won
What’s Screening: March 2 – 8
This week in Bay Area movie theaters: Paramount comedies, British hit men, Ingmar Bergman searching for God, two versions of the end of the world, and, of course, the Academy Awards. Also a really big festival in the south bay. Festivals CineQuest continues through this week and beyond Promising events The Academy Awards, various theaters, … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 2 – 8
The Oscar Nominees
The Motion Picture Academy released the 2017 Oscar nominees this morning, and for the most part, they did a good job. (As I write this, oscar.com is over capacity. I'm getting the results from CNN.) Let's start with the big one: Best Picture. There are nine nominees this year, and I saw and liked eight … Continue reading The Oscar Nominees
The First Film Festivals of 2018
It's been a month since the last Bay Area film festival. But that changes this coming Friday. Here are two film festivals starting in January. For Your Consideration Rafael, January 5 - 11 Not just any subtitled movie can qualify to be nominated for the Foreign Language Film Oscar. Each country can put forth one … Continue reading The First Film Festivals of 2018
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