Category: reviews

A Review

Slim pickin’s on the movie scene. We walked to the Lumiere last night to see The Notorious Betty Page. Coming out of the theater, Carol said, “That was fun.”

“I was just going to say that myself,” I said.

It’s the story of a naive and open young girl from Nashville, abused by her father, growing into a naive and open woman in New York and taken advantage of by certain sleezeballs, befriended and sheltered by a nice husband and wife team who happen to do bondage photography.

What I knew: Betty Page is a pin-up queen; a wholesome, girl-next-door type who was totally built, but wasn”t terribly sexy. As noted in the movie, “She can be nude, without being naked.”
Continue reading “The Notorious Betty Page” →

This year we knew where to where to park and how to deal with the whole enchalada, so we took a picnic of sorts, pumped up the car radio, relaxed and let the show come to us.

The accolades I heaped on KABOOM last year still apply, so in case you missed it, here’s last year’s journal.

KABOOM 2005
KFOGs 12th Annual Music & Fireworks Show
And a beautiful day it was. One of those perfect San Francisco days when the sky is blue and clear, the sun is soft and warm on your skin and there is just that hint of cooling breeze that makes a loose overshirt feel just right. (Of course, if one has the right body, a tight tee shirt works too. We saw a few of those.)
Continue reading “KABOOM 2006” →

Imagine going to 13 movies in 21 days and not seeing a single car chase, or building explode, or a guy jump from the top of a building onto a moving bus. When the lights dimmed and the projector whirred into action, we saw a rolling list of sponsor logos with new age background music, and then the Chinese characters for Perpetual Motion appeared on the screen. No commercials, no Previews of Coming Attractions accompanied by ear splitting sound, no “visit our snack bar in the lobby” please.
Continue reading “What a Festival It Was” →

A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION (2006)
USA 103 minutes
Directed by Robert Altman, Written by Garrison Keillor

Cast:
Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Virginia Madsen, Tommy Lee Jones, John C. Reilly, Lindsay Lohan, Lily Tomlin, Woody Harrelson, Garrison Keillor

Closing Night. Lily Tomlin and Virginia Madsen were present for a Q&A after.

The movie was just plain fun, unencumbered by much of a story, and the blazing stars that Robert Altman brought along were sufficient to overshadow the sappy, stage hogging Garrison Keillor.

mrating * * * * *
Continue reading “SFiFF xiv: A Prairie Home Companion” →

DOMESTIC DRAMAS (2005)
Total running time 114 minutes

These narrative shorts convey the humor and tragedy that make up the most common spheres of our existence and the upheaval that results when the things we most desire refuse to come to fruition or are achieved in unexpected ways. [SFiFF Program Guide]
Seven are on the program; I saw five, as I had to leave for work.

Continue reading “SFiFF xiii: Domestic Dramas” →

SHOW AND TELL: TOMMY PALLOTTA AND A SCANNER DARKLY (2006)

This was a last minute add-on to the Festival, so its not in the Program Guide and I have no cool graphics.

Tommy Pallotta has produced:

1. A Scanner Darkly (2006) (producer)
2. Hell House (2001) (associate producer)
3. Waking Life (2001) (producer)
4. Figures of Speech (2000) (producer)
5. Snack and Drink (2000) (producer)
6. Roadhead (1999) (producer)
7. High Road (1996) (producer)

Tommy Pallotta was here to show clips of his Rotovision (?) animated films leading up to A Scanner Darkly, a Richard Linklater film, to be released this summer, based on a novel by Philip K. Dick .
Continue reading “SFiFF xii: Show and Tell: A Scanner Darkly” →

SWIMMERS (2005)
USA 90 minutes

This film was a bonus during SFiFF for members only on Sunday morning.
The Swimmer was a 1968 movie starring Burt Lancaster and based on a story by John Cheever. Reportedly there is a remake of that in production starring Alec Baldwin. Swimmers bears no relationship to that, whatsoever.

Written and directed by Doug Sadler
Cast:
Cherry Jones [two-time Tony Award-winner] as the Mother
Sarah Paulson as the Niece
Tara Devon Gallagher as the Girl

Maryland Outer Banks

Eleven year-old Girl loves to swim, during a swim meet; her left eardrum pops, requiring surgery that will cost $11,000.
Continue reading “SFiFF xi: Swimmers” →

ROMANCE AND CIGARETTES (2005)
USA, 115 minutes
Written and Directed by John Turturro

Cast: James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi, Kumar Pallana, Christopher Walken, Mandy Moore, Aida Turturro, Mary-Louise Parker, Eddie Izzard, Elaine Stritch and more.

John Turturro’s exuberant new film is many things: a warm, affectionate portrait of a working-class American family; an homage to the musical; a scatological celebration of outrageous behavior; an exploration of love and a vehicle for some of the world’s finest actors to let it rip in a deliriously over-the-top, no-holds-barred melodrama of the age-old love triangle. [SFiFF Program Guide]

The plot and moral doesn”t matter, just sit back and enjoy these wonderful actors doing wonderful things, it”ll come to you.

I laughed ‘til I cried.

Do yourself a favor and see this as soon as it comes around.
Continue reading “SFiFF x: Romance and Cigarettes” →

ILLUMINATION (2004)
France, 130 minutes
Written and Directed by Pascale Breton

Cast: Clet Beyer, Melanie Le Rey, Catherine Hosmalin, Herve Furic, Albertine Dagand

This was the U.S. Premier

Continue reading “SFiFF ix: Illumination” →

SCRIBBLE SCRAPPLE I.C.YOU (2006)
U.S.A. 90 minutes
Five short live performances with movie screen.

Golin Levin from Pittsburgh, presenting THE MANUAL INPUT WORKSTATION started off with an overhead projector, doing hand shadows, when he would make a hole, it would fill up with light and he”d open his hand and drop it—thunk! or ping!—and stuff would roll around making its noise and pretty soon there were lots of thingys rolling around and making a cocophany of digital light and sound. Weird and cool at the same time.

Continue reading “SFiFF viii: Scribble Scrapple I.C.You” →