Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974; Martin Scorsese) GRADE: A- By Daniel Barnes In the recent Australian chiller The Babadook, Essie Davis plays a widowed mother who feels trapped by parenthood. She eventually becomes a greater threat to her screeching son than the titular monster. I thought about […]
When 25-year-old French Canadian auteur Xavier Dolan accepted a Jury Prize at last May’s Cannes Film Festival, he told jury chair Jane Campion, “Your Piano made me want to write roles for women…beautiful women with soul and will and strength, not victims, not objects.” Saturday at the Mill […]
There is more to the Mill Valley Film Festival than spotlighting splashy Oscar bait and handing out lifetime achievement awards to teenagers. The festival is also a great opportunity to watch under-the-radar independent and foreign fare, movies without release dates or distribution deals, movies you might never have […]
As I enter my second and final weekend at the Mill Valley Film Festival, I find that my comfort level has risen considerably. I no longer use the Google Maps app to navigate my way around the area. I know where to find free parking at every venue, […]
Monday saw me back in Sacramento, taking an off day from live screenings and spending some quality time with the wife and pets. However, I did manage to polish off a couple of screeners for films that played at Mill Valley this year, and my plan is to […]
Sunday morning in San Rafael started with Weaver’s Coffee, Theresa-and-Joe’s Comfort Food, a frantic last-minute switch out of Eric Decker from my fantasy lineup, and my first screening at the Christopher B. Smith Film Center. Pascal Plisson’s documentary On the Way to School follows four groups of children […]
