Review: “Greyhound”

Military-themed movies don’t come more retro than Greyhound. The film stars Tom Hanks as the captain of a U.S. naval destroyer escorting a convoy of supply ships to WWII-torn England that comes under attack by a wolf-pack of Nazi submarines. Originally scheduled for a March 2019 theatrical release, Apple acquired the film from Sony Pictures…

Review: “Soul”

Soul is a beautiful film of incredible depth, more depth than we’ve become used to from animated films – even Pixar’s. Gorgeously animated, wonderfully voiced (with contributions from some recognizable Bay Area theatre talent), and vibrantly scored, I think it would have been the least financially successful Pixar film to date had it been released…

Review: “Mank”

If you come to David Fincher’s Mank seeking a definitive answer to the question of who really wrote Citizen Kane you are likely to find yourself disappointed. The question, first raised by film critic Pauline Kael in a 1971 essay, has hung out there in the cinema atmosphere for decades. Kael’s conclusion that it was…

Review: “Run”

You’ve got to be of a certain age or a cinephile to understand the term “B” movie. Originally used to identify the second feature on a double-bill (the first being the “A” movie), some studios maintained “A” and “B” production units, while other studios – like Monogram and Republic – produced nothing but low-budget features…

Review: “Hillbilly Elegy”

When J. D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy was published in 2016, there was some controversy as to whether Vance’s take on Appalachian culture as embodied by his family was truly representative. Others latched on to Vance’s memoir as a guide to understanding red state politics and the rise of Trump.   The Ron Howard-directed film adaptation,…

Review: “Uncle Frank”

It’s been a while since a movie has ripped out my heart out and repeatedly stomped it into the ground while still giving me a sense of hope. Such a film is Alan Ball’s Uncle Frank, available now on Amazon Prime. Part family drama, part road-trip movie, part coming-of-age story, and part coming-out-late-in-life tale, it’s…

Review: “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness “

With the entire country under shelter-in-place for the past month, an edgy, stir-crazy nation has been desperate for new shows that could help take the edge off of the possibility of mass societal extinction. So, it is not unusual that a show such as Tiger King, a seven part Netflix reality show/documentary would capture a…

Rafael screens ‘Her’; local ‘Millennials Talk Cinema’ critics to appear on panel

Argus-Courier’s film-loving “Millennials” on stage for live screening: Three of the four local film reviewers responsible for the Argus- Courier’s weekly “Millennials Talk Cinema” columns will take to the stage on Feb. 13, at 7 p.m., for a (no doubt) lively post-film conversation following a screening of the science-fiction film “Her,” starring Joaquin Phoenix, Amy…

UPDATE – Mill Valley Film Fest returns to Mill Valley

“Harriet,” “Knives Out” and other highly anticipated films at this year’s Mill Valley Film Festival moved to Larkspur on Wednesday due to the expected electricity shutdown in various parts of Marin County. Thursday’s screenings, however, will return to Mill Valley. Here’s the latest from their website: PG&E POWER OUTAGE UPDATE – BACK TO MILL VALLEY…