What a giant. Yes, the Kurosawa and Kobayashi films, but also outstanding in some of the best by Naruse (When a Woman Ascends the Stairs), Teshigahara (Face of Another), Ichikawa (Conflagration), Okamoto (Sword of Doom, Kill), etc. R.I.P.

Not a huge YouTube guy so here’s two I like a lot: @noirfoundation.bsky.social’s NoirCity channel Experimental choreographer Mimi Garrard’s mimigarrarddance

Friend who saw this in Pordenone says it’s a fun one.

I really liked the new Richard Linklater movie. boxd.it/bFeCgB

This week, Chris Shields on one of Anthony Mann's existental westerns, Man of the West, screening at the Stanford on Saturday and Sunday on a Gary Cooper double bill with High Noon: www.screenslate.com/articles/man...

Oh wow.

35mm print of Out of the Past at the Brattle

I’ve never been big into “Noirvember” but I don’t boycott it either. This was the first unseen film from the current “Blackout Noir” Criterion Channel series that I decided to mark off my list this year boxd.it/bE4Y1f

This is today!

If you see this, post and album cover with a motor vehicle on it.

Bay Area: tomorrow afternoon is the California premiere of an absolutely terrific film- an experience cinephiles won’t want to miss the opportunity to see projected (it’s playing at the Vogue) sffilm.org/event/powwow...

Wish I could be there this weekend- if you’re in or near Western New York State you have no excuse!

Mamdani “has spoken about the influence of his parents, particularly his mother’s emphasis on cultural rootedness and justice.” www.theguardian.com/film/2025/no...

My last eight (a.k.a. November so far)

“Black Cat” is the last stand for heavy metal in the tournament. Vote for Janet and defeat Mopium!

Join us tonight for a free open screening! If you have something you'd like to show in the program, email [email protected].

Letterboxd seems to be back up, so I can share what I wrote about an extremely rare Mikio Naruse movie I saw last weekend boxd.it/bCtk9F

A wise child, clearly he saw Rowling for what she is 👁

The whole piece is just 🔥🔥🔥

Terrific news: Life After is now streaming,on @pbs.org and YouTube.

Gotta vote for the last San Francisco Bay Area album in the bracket: FREEDOM

Oh dear one less anti-Trump Republican vote in Wyoming how will the Dems make up for that?

If you are new to San Francisco, go to this. Don't miss it.

An army of Heather Knights coming for NYC

Altman’s film is one of my favorites of his, and I’ve never seen SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE! And look at the lineup of masterpieces following these two!

Lots of Bay Area filming locations too- including the glorious Paramount Theatre in Oakland playing his campaign HQ!

A film that you’ve seen more than seven times, in a GIF

Noteworthy first views of October 2025 (new films excluded, order viewed): The Whirled, Ken Jacobs Nalujuk Night, Jennie Williams The Snow Woman, Tanaka Tokuzo The Church, Michele Soavi The Mafu Cage, Karen Arthur

R.I.P. Peter Watkins. I love that he shot and edited a sequence in Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo’s underrated pseudo-doc It Happened Here! Of course Edward Munch is a masterpiece. Weirdly I saw it when a restored 35mm print was booked for a week in 2005 at the Oaks Theatre in North Berkeley.

Also happy birthday to Lee Grant, who probably turns either 100 or 99 today! Seeing her play against Carol Kane in this brilliant slice of psychological horror would be an excellent way to celebrate. boxd.it/byltaF

Happy Halloween!

10 years ago I interviewed Marielle Heller and Bel Powley in a Fairmont Hotel suite. I biked up the hill because I was a dumb baby journalist and as I asked them questions in that beautifully appointed room, the heat of my sweating face kept fogging up my glasses. www.kqed.org/arts/1398310...

Followers with an interest in the bygone movie palaces of San Francisco (perhaps @bobcalhoun.bsky.social for instance?) might enjoy reading my brief (two-paragraph) writing on this seasonally popular Disney short:

Post a perfect album from 1989, as perfect a music year as any

Anyone who has seen Claire Denis’ masterful Ozu remake 35 RHUMS will find it hard to resist voting for the Commodores here:

I believe Saturday’s matinee is the long-delayed Bay Area theatrical premiere of Frederick Wiseman’s brilliant 2007 documentary about lawmakers in Idaho.

Co-sign. She’s absolutely right.

Frank Borzage’s INDECENT PROPOSAL

At tonight's Other Cinema, it's the West Coast premiere of Angelo Madsen's new documentary A Body to Live In!

As a voter in Maine my current overriding opinion about how to beat Susan Collins next year is that everyone should vote “No” on Question 1 next month.

35mm prints of this one don’t show often!

My last four:

My answer: “Ode to Joy” in Christopher Maclaine’s 1953 film The End

Relatedly, I bought four great CDs for a total of $4 plus tax at a thrift shop the other day. 🤷

Write a bit on the William Wyler movie that’s lingered longest at the top of my to-see list. R.I.P. Samantha Eggar and Terence Stamp… boxd.it/bsF1Gp

a Bela Lugosi “Dracula” Medallion,

This Sunday we have a special Bob Wilkins Super Horror Show. And we're running a silent auction of fandom articles.