Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me is a terrific documentary opening at AMC Bay Street in Emeryville on Friday, Nov. 14 I’ve never cared much for country-western music, but there are exceptions to every rule — even this one. Consider the recordings of Glen Campbell: though deeply rooted in country (and reflecting that genre’s frequently melancholic […]
John Seal
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‘Diplomacy’: A confident statement from one of Germany’s greatest living filmmakers
Set in 1944 Paris, Diplomacy, directed by Volker Schlöndorff, details a fascinating cat and mouse mind game played out between a German general and a Swedish consul, directed by Volker Schlöndorff, details a fascinating cat and mouse mind game played out between a German general and a Swedish consul I spent a good portion of my teens […]
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‘Lilting’: An exquisitely crafted character study movie
Pei-pei Cheng in Lilting, written and directed by Hong Khaou, opening at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas today., written and directed by Hong Khaou, opening at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas today. Pei-pei Cheng is a Chinese cinema legend. Born in Shanghai in 1946, Cheng began her film career in the mid ‘60s, appearing in so many wuxia films that she quickly acquired […]
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Big Screen Berkeley: ‘The Two Faces of January’
Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, and Kirsten Dunst in The Two Faces of January, opening in Berkeley on Oct. 10 I’ve never read any of Patricia Highsmith’s novels, but at some point I probably should. Highsmith’s writing has inspired a number of very fine cinematic adaptations, including Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train (1955), René Clément’s Plein […]
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‘Art and Craft’: Spotlight on the life of an art counterfeiter
In his cheeky 1973 documentary F for Fake, Orson Welles related the words of one of the world’s foremost art counterfeiters: “Do you think I should confess? To what? Committing masterpieces?” You can see his point: the greatest counterfeiters have been able to pull the wool over the eyes of patrons and museums around the […]
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‘Jealousy’: Beautifully shot, affecting and to the point
Jealousy, directed by Philippe Garrel, lives up to its title by considering jealousy in all its painful glory Sometimes a one-word title doesn’t tell you much about a film, but sometimes — Todd Solondz’ 1998 feature Happiness, of course, being a prime example — that single word can be downright duplicitous. For better or worse, truth […]
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‘The Zero Theorem:’ Terry Gilliam’s twisted brain on view
The Zero Theorem: opening Friday at Rialto Cinemas Elmwood The very first new release I ever reviewed for Berkeleyside was Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Released in January 2010, it was Gilliam’s best effort in a while – and now, four years later, he’s finally completed a feature follow-up, which (while not quite […]
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Big Screen Berkeley: ‘God Help the Girl’ and ‘Mobilize’
God Help the Girl: a wonderful film well worth a trip across the Bay Bridge Since 1996, Scottish musician Stuart Murdoch has earned a decent crust writing songs for his musical projects Belle and Sebastian and God Help the Girl. Now, apparently eager to further stretch his creative muscles, Murdoch has directed his first feature […]
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Stanley Kubrick’s early films offer rich rewards
Told via flashback, Stanley Kubrick’s Killer’s Kiss features some of the most evocative New York City location footage ever shot. I’ve always been a little ambivalent about Stanley Kubrick. I never grokked the appeal of his science fiction epic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), found much of A Clockwork Orange (1971) offensive (which was probably the […]
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Review: Lee Marvin stars in ‘Shack Out on 101’
Shack Out on 101 is a zippy 80-minute programmer starring Lee Marvin as Slob, short order cook at a seedy California burger bar owned and operated by gruff World War II vet George (Keenan Wynn) Summer is almost over (well, in most of the country; here in California it’s just getting started), but there’s one […]
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Big Screen Berkeley: The Kill Team
The Kill Team, a grim new documentary, opens at Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas on Friday. We all knew it wouldn’t last. My dalliance with popular comedy was truly an aberration — and as the song goes, after laughter comes tears. This week, we return to our regularly scheduled programming with The Kill Team, a grim new […]
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Big Screen Berkeley: Office Space
Gary Cole in Office Space It’s summer time, so I’m sure you’ll forgive me for writing about something other than my usual assortment of depressing foreign dramas, grim documentaries, and art-house snoozers. How does a comedy sound this week – and an American one at that? Despite being one of the country’s most respected repositories […]
