Small Screen Berkeley: ‘John Lewis: Good Trouble’, ‘King: A Filmed Record’ and ‘Cupid in Quarantine’
The life of the Alabama farm boy who went from preaching to chickens to being a liberal hero; the story of Dr. King; and 10 minutes on smallpox.
John Seal
John Seal is Berkeleyside’s film critic. A movie connoisseur with a penchant for natty hats who lives in Oakland, John writes a weekly film recommendation column at Box Office Prophets, as well as a column in The Phantom of the Movie’s Videoscope, an old-fashioned paper magazine, published quarterly. He also writes regular film reviews for IMDB, which can be read here.
Articles by John
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Small Screen Berkeley: ‘Miss Juneteenth’, ‘The Last Tree’ and ‘Quarantine Cat Film Festival’
‘Miss Juneteenth,’ a compelling tale of multi-generational family conflict, is a perfect companion piece to ‘The Last Tree.’ Also: kitty antics for cat people.
Small Screen Berkeley: ‘You Don’t Nomi’
If you’ve ever been mesmerized by the atrocious piece of cinematic swill that is ‘Showgirls,’ you really do need to see ‘You Don’t Nomi.’
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Small Screen Berkeley: ‘Sometimes Always Never,’ ‘The Black Panthers’ and ‘Too Late for Tears’
An intelligently written and heartwarming comedy-drama starring Bill Nighy. Also recommended: two great films available for free.
Small Screen Berkeley: ‘Tommaso,’ starring Willem Dafoe
Now available to screen at home, this film marks the seventh collaboration between Dafoe and the director. An eighth comes out in July.
Small Screen Berkeley: Pacific Film Archive’s ‘Watch from Home’
A chance to savor the works of two great Hungarian directors, courtesy of BAMFA, as well as the movie François Truffaut famously described as the best film noir he’d ever seen.
Small Screen Berkeley: ‘The Painter and the Thief,’ ‘The Ghost of Peter Sellers’ and ‘The Wolf House’
All at the Virtual Roxie: the first great documentary of 2020 is full of surprising and deeply moving revelations; on set with a comic great; and an unsettling film best watched with the lights on.
Small Screen Berkeley: CAAMFest 2020
San Francisco’s annual celebration of Asian and diaspora cinema will be coming to a device near you, albeit in a curtailed form, starting Wednesday, May 13 and continuing through Friday, May 22.
Small Screen Berkeley: ‘Deerskin’, ‘Natan’ and ‘The Whistlers’
There are incredible films you can stream from home that go beyond Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and other services.
Small Screen Berkeley: ‘Balloon’ and the return of Pacific Film Archive
Chances also are that you’re in the mood for a movie with a happy ending: meet ‘Balloon.’ Plus: Pacific Film Archive films are coming to a small screen near you!
Small Screen Berkeley: ‘The Booksellers,’ ‘Other Music,’ and ‘Beyond the Visible’
Viewers can stream some incredible documentaries about the high-stakes of rare book dealing, a specialty music store, and the Swedish artist who invented abstract art
Small Screen Berkeley: Less obvious, but no less good, films to stream while sheltering
There’s a treasure trove of movies to stream at home if you know where to look — and luckily for us our film writer does!
Small Screen Berkeley: Beyond Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Disney
If you look beyond the usual platforms, there are excellent places to find British, Korean and Russian films as well as restored American classics for diverting lockdown viewing.
Big Screen Berkeley: How hard is it to make it as a gig worker? ‘Sorry We Missed You’ delivers the discouraging news
Also: Mick Jagger stars in a finely crafted slice of suspense opening this week, ‘The Burnt Orange Heresy,’ and ‘Brightness’ offers a magical realist examination of a father-son relationship.
Big Screen Berkeley: Fraud and faith are at the center of the Oscar-nominated ‘Corpus Christi’
Bartosz Bielenia is outstanding as Daniel, a troubled young man paroled from juvenile hall who ends up impersonating a priest.
Big Screen Berkeley: The zombies in ‘Zombi Child’ are not the type you might expect
Though the supernatural does eventually intrude, the French film is largely a deliberately paced examination of teenage tomfoolery, cultural appropriation, and elitist pedagogy.
