Screen Grabs: Art imitates life
Social media political propaganda campaigns, sexual abuse accusations, invaded privacy—art certainly seems to be imitating life even more than usual amongst new streaming releases at present, and that’s just...
Screen Grabs: The shift evident, women directors rise
While the stampede of sexual harassment and assault accusations unleashed by the #MeToo movement may make it seem the entertainment industry is a sexist cesspool beyond redemption, in fact...
Screen Grabs: Films that pull back the veil
The Trump regime’s egregious wrongdoing and pollutive effect on society has wound up bringing greater attention to long-term (yet rapidly worsening) woes of American life like police violence, income...
Screen Grabs: Don’t look away from ‘Decade of Fire’ and ‘The Painted Bird’
This weekend’s new streaming releases are dominated by two major literary adaptations, both of which would have looked great on the big screen ... but oh well. Though otherwise...
Screen Grabs: Welcome to Jewish Film Fest’s online ‘Cinegogue’
Four months into the COVID crisis (with no end in sight yet), many film festivals and organizations have had time to come up with alternatives to completely canceling their...
Screen Grabs: From the dark, to the streaming services
The demand for streaming movies has increased such during recent months that many films are getting taken off the shelf where they’ve laid neglected since premiering at a festival...
Screen Grabs: Build your own silent film festival
For years the San Francisco Silent Film Festival was a July event, and this summer would have marked its 25th anniversary—but due to you-know-what, that big Castro Theatre shebang...
Screen Grabs: In the grip of hard truths—both political and personal
New releases of interest this Friday run a global gamut from Vegas to Australia and Japan, with France, Russia and South Korea in between. It’s an assortment that particularly...
Screen Grabs: Cinema’s future in doubt, but these world classics endure
Movie theaters (drive-ins aside—who’d have imagined they’d get a comeback?) remain closed for the time being, their re-openings TBD in the Bay Area and many other parts of the...
Screen Grabs: ’90s UK rave scene springs back to life in ‘Beats’
The SF International Film Festival that wasn’t a couple months ago—one of COVID-19’s earliest cultural casualties—would have included a 20th-anniversary screening of Greg Harrison’s Groove. That SF-set ensemble piece...
