As usual, a lot of movies available on the Criterion Channel will disappear at the end of February. If you like screwball comedy, and other genres, check out these films before it's March. Full recommendations A+ The Lady Eve (1941) Like most great screwballs, Preston Sturges' The Lady Eve looks at class differences. It also examines the problems … Continue reading What’s leaving Criterion at the end of February
Tag: Preston Sturges
The Cerrito Classics Festival
Rialto Cinemas' Cerrito Cinema is playing classic American films from Friday, September 9 to Thursday, the 15. They're screening six old movies, and you have two of three chances to see each of these pictures. [[I corrected the dates]]. Here are the movies, with dates, times, and my own opinions: A The Treasure of The … Continue reading The Cerrito Classics Festival
What’s Screening: July 22 – 28
The Bay Area hosts several theatrical screenings of classic cinema this week. You can choose between laughs from Preston Sturges, Kubrick's great SciFi epic, Norman Jewison (who is, by the way, not Jewish) and changed the look of noir while breaking the color line. James Whales made the monster who just wanted to be loved. … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 22 – 28
What’s Screening: July 15 – 21
We start this week with two very romantic movies. Then two double bills at the finally-open Stanford. Those are followed by one of Pixar's best and two adaptions of Broadway musicals. And finally, crime stories from Tarantino and Ozu. (Yes, Ozu made crime flicks.) And three film festivals run this week. Festivals & Series The … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 15 – 21
What’s Screening: Jan 28 – Feb 3
What's happening in Bay Area cinema as January turns into February? We've got laughs from Preston Sturges, Bill Murray, and Monty Python. Also noir from Pedro Almodóvar, or satire from Boots Riley. I had to prepare this newsletter earlier than usual for personal reasons. That means that if a screening is announced at the last … Continue reading What’s Screening: Jan 28 – Feb 3
What’s leaving Criterion at the end of May
A lot of laughter will be leaving the Criterion Channel when May turns into June. The Preston Sturges flicks will disappear, along with comedies by Melvin Van Peebles, Elaine May, and John Sayles. Even a few great dramas will also leave the Channel. A+ The Lady Eve (1941) Like all great screwballs, The Lady Eve … Continue reading What’s leaving Criterion at the end of May
Before Halloween: 6 good movies leaving Criterion October 31
Here's something to scare you as Halloween approaches: 45 movies will disappear from the Criterion Channel as the kids go virtual trick-or-treat. Here are six of these movies that I can recommend. That doesn't mean I hate the other 39. I just haven't seen most of them. Others I haven't seen or didn't really like. … Continue reading Before Halloween: 6 good movies leaving Criterion October 31
More good than bad in August at the Criterion Channel
If you love great cinema, you really should subscribe to the Criterion Channel. Here you can get your fill of Akira Kurosawa, Fritz Lang, Mike Leigh, Atom Egoyan, Yasujiro Ozu, Asghar Farhadi, and so much more. And it's not all serious. Search for comedy, and (as I write this), you'll get 378 results. Throughout August, … Continue reading More good than bad in August at the Criterion Channel
Good movies, but strangely appropriate double bills
The double bill is almost a lost art. Here in the Bay Area, only the Castro and the Stanford regularly give you two movies for one admission. (I once had to explain the word intermission to my daughter.) Most double bills contain two films with matching moods or belong to the same genre. You don't … Continue reading Good movies, but strangely appropriate double bills
What’s Screening: July 6 – 12
After a couple of stubborn years, I've decided to accept the Pacific Film Archive's no-longer-new name, BAMPFA. It stands for Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive. I would rather they had called it PFABAM, because in my mind, the movies come first. Anyway, this week we have Jewish triplets, African-American telemarketers, animated Beatles, live Beatles, … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 6 – 12
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