Category Archives: Big Screen Berkeley
Big Screen Berkeley: In “North Face” a summit stars
There are plenty of human characters in North Face, a new German-Austrian drama opening this coming weekend at the Shattuck Cinemas. Unfortunately, none of them are particularly interesting characters, but the film does include one larger than life presence that will keep your attention throughout North Face’s two-hour running time: Switzerland’s Eiger Mountain.
Previously Clint Eastwood’s co-star in 1975’s The Eiger Sanction, the mountain soars to an imposing 13,000 feet, and its Nordwand (North Face) was long considered … Continue reading »
Big Screen Berkeley: “Terribly Happy” is awfully good
There’s a new Danish film coming to town on Friday, and it’s the best film I’ve seen so far this year.
Terribly Happy tells the tale of Copenhagen copper Robert (Jakob Cedergren, looking a bit like a young Donald Sutherland), reassigned after a bitter divorce and a nervous breakdown to the remote Jutland town of Skarrild. Other than some shoplifting, the worst thing that happens in Skarrild is domestic abuse—specifically, the beating of willowy blonde Ingelise (Lene Maria Christensen) by … Continue reading »
Big Screen Berkeley: A good trailer is hard to find
Do filmmakers and studios pay enough attention to the humble preview?
Trailers have only a few minutes in which to pitch their product, but all too frequently they consist of hastily cobbled together collections of off-cuts. (I’ve seen countless previews featuring scenes or shots that ultimately didn’t appear in the movie.)
Often they give away too much plotline, or simply fail to present a film in the best possible light — an especially critical issue for foreign or indie … Continue reading »
Big Screen Berkeley: Bettany slums, Bridges sings
Some intriguing smaller pictures opened in Berkeley this past weekend, giving moviegoers ample opportunity to sample something a little more refined than, for example, the new wide-release apocalyptic thriller Legion.
Truth be told, though, I’m probably going to check out Legion at some point (it’s currently playing at the UA Berkeley 7). For those of us who enjoy the occasional dose of sturm, drang, blood, and guts, Legion’s trailer is spectacular: featuring a little old lady who climbs walls, walks on … Continue reading »
Big Screen Berkeley: Gilliam’s still got it
After the tempered enthusiasm I offered it last week, I’m delighted to report that Terry Gilliam’s latest film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, is the director’s best in ages.
This comes as something of a relief after his two previous misfires—the off-kilter The Brothers Grimm, a film with some great set-pieces but little story and even less heart; and the squirm-inducing Tideland, which, if nothing else, at least proved conclusively that heroin addiction and parenting don’t mix.
I’d go so … Continue reading »
Big Screen Berkeley: The Imaginarium of Frank Capra
Capra-corn: ever since 1946’s It’s a Wonderful Life morphed into an American pop culture staple, that’s the pejorative term often used to describe the work of director Frank Capra. Pacific Film Archive is doing its part to put the term out to pasture with their new series, Before “Capraesque” (the preferred label for admirers of the Sicilian-born director’s homey, sentimental style), which focuses on the silent and pre-Code features that preceded his later commercial successes.
The series begins at … Continue reading »
Big Screen Berkeley: More tales of cinemas past
Last week I shared fond memories of the legendary and much missed UC Theater, but Berkeley has lost many other movie houses over the last few decades (and many more before then, but that’s a story for another day).
Among the fallen was Center Street’s Act 1/Act 2, a drafty twinplex with exceptionally uncomfortable seats. The theater hosted many fine features over the years, but my enduring memory of the Act 1/Act 2 was when it booked The Blair … Continue reading »
Big Screen Berkeley: A trip down memory lane
With Pacific Film Archive closed over the holidays, I thought this the perfect time to take a trip down memory lane and ruminate upon the ghosts of Berkeley cinemas past, starting with the biggest and best of them all, the UC Theater on University Avenue.
After moving to the East Bay in 1981, I promptly began taking the 51 bus from North Oakland to downtown Berkeley two or three nights a week in order to soak up as much cinema … Continue reading »
Big Screen Berkeley: in Chris Smith’s new release things are getting worse, much worse
Pacific Film Archive has a couple more Otto Preminger treats in store for us before they close down for their annual hibernation scheduled this winter between December 21 and January 13.
On Saturday December 19 at 8:30 pm, the Archive offers Preminger’s psychedelic anti-classic Skidoo, a 1968 mistake that truly must be seen on the big screen to be fully appreciated.
This is the film in which star Jackie Gleason plays a mob hit-man who gets dosed with LSD, Carol … Continue reading »
Big Screen Berkeley: prickly Preminger’s in town
Pacific Film Archive’s ongoing salute to Otto Preminger continues this week with a selection of the director’s best features from the 1950s and 1960s. On Friday December 11, at 8:20pm, the Archive offers a screening of Otto’s taboo-breaking 1953 comedy-drama The Moon is Blue, long infamous for being the first Hollywood film in which the word ‘virgin’ is uttered.
The prickly Preminger managed to get the film released without the Production Code’s Seal of Approval, thus assuring that his … Continue reading »
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