The beauty of the documentary is the wide range of subjects and points of view the format can accommodate, whether simply celebrating a life, showcasing a significant moment in tim... Read More
When I have an evening screening in downtown San Francisco at the Metreon or Century 9, I generally time things so I can drive from my neighborhood and park on Mission Street, a b... Read More
Some time back, I was at my Russian Hill abode with friends to watch a VHS tape of a 1974 buddy movie about two San Francisco police detectives who don’t play by the book. (Yes,... Read More
After decades as a Californian who has lived in both San Francisco and Los Angeles for extended periods, I think I have the experience and baseline knowledge to weigh in on the way... Read More
In the middle of what an old Nat “King” Cole tune referred to as “those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer,” certain folks choose to take a break from the heat in a nice, air... Read More
Cats are cool. I’m talking the domesticated kind that live in relative harmony with people, not the wild predators who don’t care what you think of them as long as you&... Read More
Saoirse Ronan’s Academy Award-nominated supporting performance as a precocious but troubled 13-year-old in Atonement — a 2007 British period drama — provided clear evidence t... Read More
Who doesn’t like pizza? Maybe a better question should be, “What kind of pizza do you like?” So many variations on the theme of doughy crust, tomato sauce, and ch... Read More
As mass media became increasingly massive during the past five decades, some pundit or scholar developed the concept of “information overload.” One might imagine a poor unfortu... Read More
Call it the time-lapse effect. I go in and out of San Francisco and Los Angeles in roughly two-to-three-month cycles, and due to that lifestyle I see things change in strange and u... Read More
It’s been a few weeks since the release of the incredibly enjoyable, wildly kinetic, and unquestionably groundbreaking superhero movie Black Panther, the latest addition to what�... Read More
At the turn of the new year, my body kidnapped me. For more than a week, I was basically incarcerated at my Los Angeles digs, weak and bed-ridden, wavering from the sweats to the c... Read More
I was simply minding my own business at a high-tech shopping mall when singer-songwriter-actor Justin Timberlake’s summer hit “Can’t Stop the Feeling” — a highpoint of th... Read More
Dawn breaks on the first day of a new year, and all things seem possible — especially in a state like California with two big cities where, traditionally, people relocate to rene... Read More
It’s like clockwork when you cover the motion picture business. The beginning of a new year inevitably brings … one or more lists of the previous year’s best movies. So w... Read More