Festival Report | Nov 14, 2009
Gay Rights and New Italian Cinema
Different From Whom? and Sea Purple address gay rights in Italy from widely divergent perspectives. By Jeffrey Edalatpour
Film Review | Nov 13, 2009
Roland Emmerich blows up the world real good. Again.
As disaster movies go, 2012 is an over-the-top blast of pedal-to-the-metal, 100 percent unadulterated hokum. It works on the nervous system, the retinas and the gut, largely avoiding the cerebral cortex and, thankfully, the tear ducts. By Michael Fox
Event | Nov 11, 2009
The San Francisco International Animation Festival
It's PR-speak but it's also true that this little festival "celebrates San Francisco's prominence as a hub for one of the most creative cinematic forms." By Jonathan Kiefer
Festival Report | Nov 06, 2009
American Indian Film Festival
Like every other identity-oriented festival on the crowded Bay Area film calendar, the annual survey of movies by and about indigenous peoples is of substantial interest and value to nonmembers of the tribe (so to speak). By Michael Fox
Event | Oct 30, 2009
Kevin Smith at the Warfield
Kevin Smith, everyone's favorite chubby, foul-mouthed, bespectacled Jersey boy is coming to the Warfield for some stand-up. Will he actually speak or will he show up as Silent Bob? By Jonathan Kiefer
Festival Report | Oct 22, 2009
Cinema by the Bay Preview
Even with all the film festivals crammed into the local calendar, there isn't room to showcase all the remarkable work by Bay Area filmmakers. Cinema by the Bay neatly plugs the gap (a little). By Michael Fox
Film Review | Oct 18, 2009
Where the Wild Things Are
A classic by all accounts, and an unimprovable symbiosis of content and form, Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's book Where the Wild Things Are ranks high among "Oh no they didn't" fodder for movie adaptation. By Jonathan Kiefer
Event | Oct 17, 2009
Visible Histories
What do author Eric Lyle (On the Lower Frequencies), Oscar-nominated local documentarian Sam Green, and Oregon filmmaker Vanessa Renwick have in common with Carl Sagan? Find out tonight at Other Cinema. By Jonathan Kiefer
Art Review | Oct 15, 2009
Mama Don't Go: Candice Breitz at SFMOMA
Candice Breitz preys on the collective memories of popular culture, using familiar characters to create her video mash-ups, two of which are now on view at SFMOMA. By Kristin Farr
Truly CA Shorts | Oct 10, 2009
Close to Home
View Theo Rigby's short film, Close to Home, which follows the story of a father broken from the loss of his son, and a daughter waiting for the father that she once had.
NPR Topics: Movies
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James Franco Checks In To 'General Hospital'
The star of Milk and Pineapple Express — and a little movie franchise called Spider-Man — will be spending some time in Port Charles over the next couple of months. His guest-starring stint may help "freshen the image of daytime," says the soap opera's executive producer.
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'Broken Embraces': The Very Picture Of Romance
Brace yourself: Things are about to get meta. Pedro Almodovar's latest picture strings a colorfully knotty love story across layers of dark film-within-a-film intrigue. Complex of plot, deft in its blending of comedy and melodrama, and a treasure trove of golden-age movie references, the film is what you might call a lushly tragic lark — a heartfelt, if not quite heartbreaking, paean to romance and to the romance of cinema. (Recommended)
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A 'New Moon' Destined For A Quick Eclipse
Stephenie Meyers' four-novel Twilight saga set off a rage for lovelorn teen vampires -—one that only escalated after the release of the first hit movie. The second film, New Moon, set box-office records for advance sales, but critic David Edelstein says it's too turgid for the excitement to last.
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Judd Apatow On The Alchemy Of 'Funny People'
Judd Apatow, known for films like The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, was the guiding force behind the comedy Funny People, out now on DVD. The movie focuses on a comedian (Adam Sandler) who reassesses his life after a dire medical diagnosis. Apatow, a former comic himself, talks about why he made the movie — and what he finds funny.










