SFIFF: Paul Schrader, Romeo Is Bleeding, Results, And More Mid-Week Picks

SFIFF: Paul Schrader, Romeo Is Bleeding, Results, And More Mid-Week Picks

The San Francisco International Film Festival is well underway, and everything I’ve seen thus far has been pretty good. A highlight has to be David…

SFIFF Weekend Picks: Apfel, Rubell, Bacon, Brando, Del Toro, Rossellini, Gere

SFIFF Weekend Picks: Apfel, Rubell, Bacon, Brando, Del Toro, Rossellini, Gere

The 58th San Francisco International Film Festival officially started last night and runs through May 7th. There are more movies than you could ever hope…

Weekend Watch: The Age of Adaline, The Water Diviner, Blackbird, Little Boy

Weekend Watch: The Age of Adaline, The Water Diviner, Blackbird, Little Boy

The Age of Adaline – Everywhere Blake Lively stars as a Adaline, a woman cursed to look like 29-year-old Blake Lively for all of eternity….

Weekend Watch : True Story, Unfriended, Ex Machina, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Monkey Kingdom

Weekend Watch : True Story, Unfriended, Ex Machina, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Monkey Kingdom

True Story – Everywhere In 2001, Michael Finkel, a journalist with the New York Times, was fired for partially fabricating a story about brutal working…

Weekend Watch: The Longest Ride, Cut Bank, Kill Me Three Times, Lambert & Stamp, The Man From Reno

Weekend Watch: The Longest Ride, Cut Bank, Kill Me Three Times, Lambert & Stamp, The Man From Reno

The Longest Ride – Everywhere The Longest Ride has to be the one you take on the way to the theater to see this latest…

Weekend Watch: Furious 7, Woman In Gold, While We’re Young, Effie Gray, Kumiko The Treasure Hunter

Weekend Watch: Furious 7, Woman In Gold, While We’re Young, Effie Gray, Kumiko The Treasure Hunter

Furious 7 – Everywhere I have seen every movie in this franchise. Do not judge me. They’re fun, dumb, and exciting, and after I’ve seen…

Weekend Watch: Get Hard, Home, Danny Collins, Serena

Weekend Watch: Get Hard, Home, Danny Collins, Serena

Get Hard – Everywhere If you haven’t already been bombarded with trailers and ads for this Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart comedy, well, I envy…

Weekend Watch: The Gunman, Insurgent, It Follows

Weekend Watch: The Gunman, Insurgent, It Follows

The Gunman – Everywhere The Gunman is a ridiculous movie from the director of another ridiculous movie, Taken. But where Taken was ridiculous and fun,…

Clean Yourself Up, Or Get Ribbed: Dame Edna’s Glorious Goodbye: The Farewell Tour

Clean Yourself Up, Or Get Ribbed: Dame Edna’s Glorious Goodbye: The Farewell Tour

Every time I go to the theater, I’m a little amazed by what people choose to wear. Theater tickets are, in general, not cheap, and…

Weekend Watch: Cinderella, Run All Night, CAAMFest, The Cult Of JT Leroy

Weekend Watch: Cinderella, Run All Night, CAAMFest, The Cult Of JT Leroy

Cinderella – Everywhere If you’re looking for a modernization or feminist updating of Cinderella, ala last year’s Maleficent, look elsewhere. This is certainly not that….

Weekend Watch: Chappie, Unfinished Business, The Second Best Marigold Hotel

Weekend Watch: Chappie, Unfinished Business, The Second Best Marigold Hotel

Chappie – Everywhere More like CRAPPIE, amiright?!! OK, maybe not, but advance word on the latest film from District 9 and Elysium director Neil Blomkamp…

Weekend Watch: Focus, The Lazarus Effect, Maps To The Stars

Weekend Watch: Focus, The Lazarus Effect, Maps To The Stars

Focus – Everywhere Remember when Will Smith movies would always open on Fourth of July weekend? Those days seem to be gone, and Mr. Smith…

Bring On The Dancing Boys: Newsies

Bring On The Dancing Boys: Newsies

I’m about ten years too old to have been overcome with Newsies fever in the early 90’s, but will admit it’s always seemed an odd…

Weekend Watch: Hot Tub Time Machine 2, The DUFF, McFarland USA, What We Do In The Shadows

Weekend Watch: Hot Tub Time Machine 2, The DUFF, McFarland USA, What We Do In The Shadows

Hot Tub Time Machine 2 – Everywhere Seriously, what was John Cusack so busy with that he couldn’t sign on to Hot Tub Time Machine…

Weekend Watch: The Kingsman: The Secret Service, Fifty Shades Of Grey, Mostly British Film Festival

Weekend Watch: The Kingsman: The Secret Service, Fifty Shades Of Grey, Mostly British Film Festival

Kingsman: The Secret Service – Everywhere I gotta admit, when I first saw the above trailer, I nearly had a spontaneous orgasm. Nope! Not talking…

Suckers For Punishment: Fifty Shades of Grey

Suckers For Punishment: Fifty Shades of Grey

Let’s be honest. It doesn’t matter what any critic has to say about Fifty Shades of Grey, women are going to flock to it. It’s…

Weekend Watch: Jupiter Ascending, Seventh Son, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water, She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, SF Indiefest

Weekend Watch: Jupiter Ascending, Seventh Son, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water, She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, SF Indiefest

Jupiter Ascending – Everywhere I had the same reaction the first time I saw the trailer to Jupiter Ascending as I did when I first…

Weekend Watch: Project Almanac, Black Or White, The Loft, Berlin & Beyond Fest

Weekend Watch: Project Almanac, Black Or White, The Loft, Berlin & Beyond Fest

Project Almanac – Everywhere Could someone please build an actual time machine and go back to 1999 and somehow make it so that The Blair…

A Fine Balance Between Dark And Light: Blithe Spirit

A Fine Balance Between Dark And Light: Blithe Spirit

Blithe Spirit, Noel Coward’s classic comedy about marriage, mortality, and spirits has landed in San Francisco for a brief twelve night run, featuring Angela Lansbury…

Weekend Watch: Mortdecai, The Boy Next Door, Cake, Strange Magic, Killers, Song One, Match, The Humbling

Weekend Watch: Mortdecai, The Boy Next Door, Cake, Strange Magic, Killers, Song One, Match, The Humbling

Mortdecai – Everywhere Basically, the rule for picking what movie to see this weekend is, if it stars or was created by someone whose name…

Weekend Watch: A Most Violent Year, American Sniper, Still Alice, Paddington, The Wedding Ringer, Noir Fest

Weekend Watch: A Most Violent Year, American Sniper, Still Alice, Paddington, The Wedding Ringer, Noir Fest

A Most Violent Year – Embarcadero The titular year in question is 1981, and for the city of New York, it was the most violent…

Print The Legend: American Sniper

Print The Legend: American Sniper

There’s a famous quote in the classic Western The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, in which a reporter says, “When the legend becomes fact, print…

As Close As You Can Get To Watching A Movie Stoned Without Actually Getting Stoned: Inherent Vice

As Close As You Can Get To Watching A Movie Stoned Without Actually Getting Stoned: Inherent Vice

Paul Thomas Anderson won me over with his first four movies, (Hard Eight; Boogie Nights; Magnolia; Punch Drunk Love), so much so that I’ve been…

Weekend Watch: Inherent Vice, Taken 3, Selma, Preservation, Predestination

Weekend Watch: Inherent Vice, Taken 3, Selma, Preservation, Predestination

Inherent Vice – Everywhere Director Paul Thomas Anderson returns with an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s hippie detective novel Inherent Vice. Just give Joaquin Phoenix the…

Weekend Watch: Big Eyes, Into The Woods, Unbroken, The Gambler

Weekend Watch: Big Eyes, Into The Woods, Unbroken, The Gambler

Big Eyes – Everywhere Tim Burton tells the story behind those big eyed paintings that at one time were a thrift store and garage sale…

Weekend Watch: The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, Annie, Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb

Weekend Watch: The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, Annie, Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb

The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies – Everywhere The Hobbit did not need to be three movies. I suspected as much when the trilogy…

Weekend Watch: Top Five, Exodus: Gods And Kings, The Captive, The Imitation Game, Zero Motivation

Weekend Watch: Top Five, Exodus: Gods And Kings, The Captive, The Imitation Game, Zero Motivation

Top Five – Everywhere Chris Rock wrote, directed, and stars in this smart comedy about a comedian–not too unlike Chris Rock himself–who tries to reboot…

Preaching To The Choir: Kinky Boots

Preaching To The Choir: Kinky Boots

Kinky Boots, based on the 2005 movie, with a book by Harvey Fierstein and music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, tells the story of a…

Weekend Watch: Wild, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, The Pyramid, Happy Valley, Miss Julie

Weekend Watch: Wild, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, The Pyramid, Happy Valley, Miss Julie

Wild – Everywhere The wildly popular book gets the movie treatment, produced by and starring Reese Witherspoon. Being a fan of the book, I had…

Weekend Watch: Horrible Bosses 2, The Penguins Of Madagascar

Weekend Watch: Horrible Bosses 2, The Penguins Of Madagascar

Horrible Bosses 2 – Everywhere Here’s the good news: You really don’t need to see the first Horrible Bosses in order to understand its sequel,…

Weekend Watch: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Foxcatcher, The Better Angels

Weekend Watch: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Foxcatcher, The Better Angels

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 – Everywhere I’ve read all of the Hunger Games books, and thought the first was great, the second was…

Weekend Watch: Dumb And Dumber To, Rosewater, French Film Noir, The Theory Of Everything

Weekend Watch: Dumb And Dumber To, Rosewater, French Film Noir, The Theory Of Everything

Dumb and Dumber To – Everywhere Gotta admit, that’s a brilliant title…and the brilliance may just stop right there. Rosewater – Everywhere I’m reading the…

Theatrical Time Travel: I Love Lucy Live On Stage

Theatrical Time Travel: I Love Lucy Live On Stage

I Love Lucy Live On Stage seems like a weird concept for a theatrical show: recreate two episodes of the classic sitcom with performers imitating…

Jazz Hands And Hat Tipping: Chicago The Musical

Jazz Hands And Hat Tipping: Chicago The Musical

Here’s something I didn’t know prior to seeing the San Francisco premiere of Chicago the Musical at the Orpheum Theatre on Friday: it’s a comedy!…

Weekend Watch: Interstellar, Big Hero 6, SFDFF, SFTFF, French Cinema Now

Weekend Watch: Interstellar, Big Hero 6, SFDFF, SFTFF, French Cinema Now

Interstellar – Everywhere A LOT of nerds love Christopher Nolan, but I’ve never been as impressed by his movies as most of my fellow nerds…

Weekend Watch: Nightcrawler, Before I Go To Sleep, Laggies, Horns

Weekend Watch: Nightcrawler, Before I Go To Sleep, Laggies, Horns

Nightcrawler – Everywhere No, this is not another X-Men spinoff. This is a thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal as an “underground crime journalist” obsessed with getting…

Weekend Watch: Ouija, Listen Up Philip, Birdman, John Wick, Dear White People

Weekend Watch: Ouija, Listen Up Philip, Birdman, John Wick, Dear White People

Ouija – Everywhere When I was a kid, I had a Ouija board, and I was an eager “player,” because it is, as the box…

Weekend Watch: Fury, The Best Of Me, The Book Of Life, St. Vincent

Weekend Watch: Fury, The Best Of Me, The Book Of Life, St. Vincent

Fury – Everywhere Brad Pitt is back fighting Nazis in another World War II movie that is just as preposterous as Inglourious Basterds, but not…

Weekend Watch: The Two Faces Of January, The Judge, Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Dracula Untold, Advanced Style

Weekend Watch: The Two Faces Of January, The Judge, Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Dracula Untold, Advanced Style

The Two Faces of January – Embarcadero This is being dubbed “The Talented Mr. Ripley, but in Greece,” and that’s not too far off. After…

Weekend Watch: Gone Girl, Annabelle, Men, Women & Children, Left Behind

Weekend Watch: Gone Girl, Annabelle, Men, Women & Children, Left Behind

Gone Girl – Everywhere I started casting the movie version of Gone Girl in my head the moment I started reading the book back in…