Cinequest 2010 « Movie & Television Arts

Cinequest Mar 6: Oh, Mother, can this really be the end

When hanging out, pre-Zwigoff dogging, at the press lounge, heard a really, really young filmmaker talking about how he’d closed down the Cinebar the night before: glad to hear Cinebar is hosting a one year anniversary screening of Whiskey Tears tonight at 4:30pm.

As for Zwigoff: talked to him at Sabor afterwards, and felt slightly better [...]

Solitary at Cinequest

If Memento were redone for the Lifetime network, it might come out something like Solitary. The puzzle-thriller plot follows a familiar trajectory of doling out little clues that ultimately are of no use in determining what’s really going on; the only way to do that is to stick around, let everything play out and find [...]

Cinequest Mar 5: Maver-richard heads to I-80

Well, the one and only Maury Maverick, here staring at a pen as if it were a fecal sample, greets you this AM on the ever-so-early day of the writer. Since we live a little bit of distance from C’quest, it’s time to suit up and fight the traffic but we’re sure to miss a [...]

Mar 4: Thursday is the Thursday of weekdays.

by RvB

The upcoming Alice in Wonderland inspires new interest in the question, “Why is a raven like a writing desk?”
“Both have inky quills,” is one answer suggested in Martin Gardner’s The Annotated Alice (one of those books written before the answer to every question about Lewis Carroll’s work was answered “it’s a subtle allegory about [...]

Mar 3: Cinequest, further down the rabbit hole.

by RvB

Pardon my yawning. Up late last night watching Alice in Wonderland, about which more later; it may be the defining event of the Gothic Lolita gang’s generation; but it’s ultimately another sequel and not really Alice as we know it. I feel more affinity with Tim Burton than any other filmmaker [...]

Cinequest Mar 2

So tonight is The Girl With the Exploding Dragon Tattoo. Oh, wait, they’re different films. One must admit a tattoo of an exploding dragon would be sweet. 9pm at the magnificent California Theater: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, based on the Scandinavian best seller about a pair of investigators tracking down the real story [...]

Terry Zwigoff Is The Anti-Chopra

Happy news that a gen-u-wine maverick is coming on Friday to the Day of the Writer; unto us is delivered Mr. Terry Zwigoff, who will be put to the questions by James Dallesandro. Zwigoff—interviewed here in 2001 and here in 2006 by moi—is pretty much the most distinguished filmmaker in San Fran, with two documentaries [...]

Cinequest Mar 1

These quieter days are the best ones for the festival, as far as networking goes. The program today includes: The Days of Desire (12:30, Camera 12), which promises Bela Tarr-style Hungarian angst in a film that, synopsis-wise, sounds like The Maid.

One of Charlie Cockey’s picks, Border (4pm, Cam 12) concerns an incident of a buffalo [...]

Cinequest, Feb. 28

Krews

Day Seven at the Festival

The films to watch for on another busy day at Cinequest include the twist-filled crooks-in-suits crime drama Krews, a mixed bag with some potential. 6:45pm at Camera 12.

Also Heiran, an affecting and compassionate family drama from Iran: First-time director Shalizeh Arefpour “unfolds this tragic tale with no discernible melodrama.” 2pm [...]

Cinequest, Bummer Summer

There’s a lot of talk about digital this and digital that, but sometimes the old ways are the best. Walking down South First Street to Metro’s Friday party at South First Billiards, I was hand-promoted by a young man handing out postcards for Bummer Summer.

So just to return the favor, here’s Jody Amable’s review:

Bummer [...]

Movie & Television Arts