With coronavirus spreading, it's a scary time to go to the movies. The Stanford is closed until further notice, ending or delaying the Kurosawa series. Amazon, Netflix and other companies have dropped out of SXSW - a major technology and film festival in Austin. But if you have the courage to go to an arthouse … Continue reading What’s Screening: March 6 – 12
Tag: Pedro Almodóvar
What’s Screening: October 11 – 17
Coming to Bay Area movie theaters this week: An aging filmmaker, rebellious students, creatures from the dead, a future that never happened, pre-Columbian America, and lots of beautifully photographed water. And six film festivals. Important message: Yesterday, October 9, I received an email from BAMPFA stating that the museum/theater was closed do to the blackouts. … Continue reading What’s Screening: October 11 – 17
Pain and Glory: A portrait of the artist as an aging man
B+ Drama Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar You can't watch a fictitious film by a major auteur, where the protagonist is also a major auteur, and not wonder to what degree the movie is autobiographical (think 8½). When I viewed Pedro Almodóvar's new film, Pain and Glory, I had to wonder to what degree … Continue reading Pain and Glory: A portrait of the artist as an aging man
Films you may want to catch at the Mill Valley Film
The Filipino war on drugs, failed justice in rural Alabama, an aging filmmaker, and documentaries on one of the worst, and one of the best, men in recent American history. Here's my opinions on five films that will screen at this year's Mill Valley Film Festival. A Watch List The Philippines' outrageously inhuman war on … Continue reading Films you may want to catch at the Mill Valley Film
What’s Screening: August 30 – September 5
In a miracle of miracles, Captain Kirk and H.G. Wells time travel to 1980s San Francisco. Tyrone Power and Basil Rathbone cross swords in early California. Pedro Almodóvar can take kink to another level, but unlike Bette Davis and Paul Henreid, you can't share a cigarette in a Bay Area movie theater this week. Festivals … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 30 – September 5
Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Stalker, Bad Education, Bardelys the Magnificent, & Carry on Cleo
Four more films that are new to me. As usual, I'm sorting them by quality. A Stalker (1979), Filmstruck This slow, strange, allegorical fantasy from the great Andrei Tarkovsky gets under your skin. A guide, called a stalker, takes two other men on a journey into a strange place called The Zone. We never find out … Continue reading Movies I’ve Recently Seen: Stalker, Bad Education, Bardelys the Magnificent, & Carry on Cleo
What’s Screening: August 4 – 10
Skeletons, mummies, heroic pirates, lost loves, rock 'n' roll, and James Cagney doing Shakespeare light up Bay Area screens this week. Also three new movies and two festivals. Festivals Modern Cinema continues through Sunday So does the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Check out my festival coverage. New films opening A An Inconvenient Sequel: Truths … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 4 – 10
What’s Screening: July 21 – 27
Sexy scientists, beautiful criminals, pampered dogs, adorable pigs, and four film festivals light up Bay Area screens this week. Festivals The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival continues this week at various theaters. You can read my recommendations, warnings, and reports for this festival. Charlie Chaplin Days opens today and runs through the weekend The Frozen … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 21 – 27
The cure for another superhero summer: What’s coming up at the Pacific Film Archive
Going to the movies in the summer usually means brainless superhero movies. But thanks to the Pacific Film Archive, you can have far better options. Yes, I know that we're all supposed to call it BAMPFA now, but I prefer the traditional name, or PFA for short. Whatever you call it, UC Berkeley's art house … Continue reading The cure for another superhero summer: What’s coming up at the Pacific Film Archive
