This is a big week for Bay Area movie lovers. You have a choice between serious, international cinema with The SFFilm Festival in several theaters, or old-time Hollywood movies at Oakland's Grand Lake. If you want to know what to see at SFFilm, check out my articles SFFilm Festival previews and SFFilm Fest Previews, Part … Continue reading What’s Screening: April 14 – 20
Tag: Ray Harryhausen
What’s leaving Criterion when December ends
You'll probably be happy to see the end of 2020. But you may also find sadness about the films going away from The Criterion Channel at the end of December. Here are a few that will disappear from Criterion on New Year's Day: A Trouble in Paradise (1932) What's so fascinating and entertaining about witty, … Continue reading What’s leaving Criterion when December ends
What’s coming in December on the Criterion Channel
I don't expect Santa to come down my chimney, but I do expect a lot of good movies to come down my Internet connection next month. The Criterion Channel will offer a lot of movies worth watching. Here are just some of the movies, and some of the collections of movies, that will become available … Continue reading What’s coming in December on the Criterion Channel
In Bay Area Virtual Cinema: June 26 – July 2
This week, through closed Bay Area movie theaters and into your home, you've got Stanley Kubrick, Ray Harryhausen, Spike Lee, Charlie Chaplin, Ella Fitzgerald, and some talented artists you've never heard of. And a few conversations over the Internet. Virtual Festivals Frameline continues through Sunday. Read my preview. Charlie Chaplin Days opens today and closes … Continue reading In Bay Area Virtual Cinema: June 26 – July 2
Swashbucklers: A needed escape from reality
Since we can't escape from COVID-19's reality, we can at least spend some time with the most escapist genre in the history of cinema: swashbucklers. Although these sword-wielding adventure movies are usually set in Europe or the Caribbean from 1500 to 1800 CE, you can find them set in ancient Greece or 19th-century China. The … Continue reading Swashbucklers: A needed escape from reality
Before Armstrong: Moon Missions from Méliès to Kubrick
I should have written this article weeks ago. But I got the idea a month too late. On or around July 20, The Rafael, The New Parkway, and The Roxie celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing. But most of their programs centered on documentaries. But why not celebrate the anniversary with a series of fictitious … Continue reading Before Armstrong: Moon Missions from Méliès to Kubrick
Three Days of Ray Harryhausen
We use the word auteur primarily when we talk about directors. Occasionally we call producers auteurs. But Ray Harryhausen was the only special effects engineer who can be reasonably called an auteur. He picked the stories and fleshed them out. His drawings guided the art direction and camerawork. And his model animation technique, which he … Continue reading Three Days of Ray Harryhausen
What’s Screening: July 13 – 19
Astaire and Rogers, Powell and Loy, Harryhausen and Disney, and the Wrath of Khan. Also Beatles, Chaplin, exploitation, five (count 'em, five!) film festivals, and love amongst the autistic - and all available this week on Bay Area movie screens. Festivals Modern Cinema/Black Powers: Reframing Hollywood continues. Read my preview. Charlie Chaplin Days opens tonight … Continue reading What’s Screening: July 13 – 19
What’s Screening: August 11 – 17
Both the Castro and the Rafael are honoring Robert Mitchum on his centenary; the Rafael series will run for three weeks. Also 3 Women, two swashbucklers, one Bogart, a flock of porn stars, and several animated monsters on Bay Area screens this week. Festivals New Filipino Cinema 2017 opens Thursday New films opening A- Whose … Continue reading What’s Screening: August 11 – 17
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
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