Arts & Culture :: Movies

Best movies of the year, 2018

Best movies of the year, 2018

  • by David Lamble
  • Dec 18, 2018

The best 2018 films reflect a striking LGBTQ visibility from singular talents such as rising star Lucas Hedges.

Starring RBG

Starring RBG

  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Dec 18, 2018

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg shines in "On the Basis of Sex," Mimi Leder's new biopic that recreates Ginsburg's years at Harvard Law School and the first case she argued in a courtroom.

Classics revisited for holiday giving

Classics revisited for holiday giving

  • by Tavo Amador
  • Dec 18, 2018

DVDs are good holiday gift choices, especially for fans of classic Hollywood films.

Boy with a problem

Boy with a problem

  • by David Lamble
  • Dec 11, 2018

The dark drama "Ben Is Back" begins with the sudden return of a teenage boy, Ben Burns (slyly disturbing Lucas Hedges) to his suburban home.

All shook up

All shook up

  • by David Lamble
  • Dec 11, 2018

This week a Norwegian film delivers a cautionary revenge-of-nature tale that will be hard for many Bay Area residents to resist. "The Quake" (opening Friday) may strike some as a 106-minute preview of coming attractions.

Fritz Lang's delusions of grandeur

Fritz Lang's delusions of grandeur

  • by Sura Wood
  • Dec 4, 2018

An undisputed titan of cinema, Fritz Lang was a genius at luring unsuspecting audiences into his claustrophobic, nightmarish universes.

December comes to the Castro Theatre

December comes to the Castro Theatre

  • by David Lamble
  • Dec 4, 2018

December 2018 at the Castro Theatre is a collection of the fabled cinema palace's greatest hits that should have something for every movie fan.

Italian landscapes

Italian landscapes

  • by David Lamble
  • Nov 27, 2018

Now in its 22nd year, the 2018 edition of the New Italian Cinema Film Festival returns with a youth-must-be-served theme.

Transgender & fit to serve

Transgender & fit to serve

  • by David-Elijah Nahmod
  • Nov 20, 2018

The new documentary by Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson "TransMilitary" shares the stories of four transgender people who serve in the U.S. military.

Teenage chefdom

Teenage chefdom

  • by David Lamble
  • Nov 20, 2018

In the new culinary film bio-doc "Chef Flynn" (opening Friday), a blond, lightly freckled teenager, Flynn McGarry, is seen working up a head of steam in his family's kitchen.

Rural realities

Rural realities

  • by David Lamble
  • Nov 20, 2018

You have a sense of what you're dealing with when the credits for "Hale County This Morning, This Evening" flash across the screen at the Roxie, where the ambitious, Alabama-shot film opens Friday.

Becoming Jane Fonda

Becoming Jane Fonda

  • by Brian Bromberger
  • Nov 13, 2018

When they turn 80, most people would probably love to look like Jane Fonda, who appears more like 50.

Women fighting back

Women fighting back

  • by David Lamble
  • Nov 13, 2018

With "Widows," Afro-British director Steve McQueen completes the fourth in his quartet of films on topics that have shaped our modern world.

French Noir: Cinquieme Fois!

French Noir: Cinquieme Fois!

  • by Sura Wood
  • Nov 13, 2018

It would seem to defy the laws of probability that there could still be undiscovered gems in the vaults of Film Noir.