Film Arts - Movies & Festivals - Reviews

The Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival will launch its 12th annual season in late March. The festival features films from around the world and several panel discussions with filmmakers.

I recently watched the movie “Roma” named after a neighborhood in Mexico City by well known Mexican Director Alfonso Cuarón. The film is shot notably in black and white as a prelude to its being from the actual memory of the director, and follows the daily life of the family maid, Cleo, in his middle-class family neighborhood.

I had some contextual knowledge so some of the seemingly unexplained scenes in the movie made sense to me. But if one has no historical knowledge of Mexican politics some scenes in the movie would be a bit of a mystery to the viewer. I think the producer would have done well to add a small paragraph at the very beginning explaining the era and some of the events of that time.

We finally made it to December! The best month for movies. Everyone loves the iconic song,”12 Days of Christmas”. So I made a list for all you movie lovers. 

There is a myriad of films/DVD’s that feature felines prominently but the inspiration for this article came the recent release,Bohemian Rhapsody, the story of Queen frontman, Freddy Mercury. Freddy loved his cats wrote songs about them, dedicated albums to them and when on tour called to chat with them. Another current feature is Can You Ever Forgive Me? Melissa McCarthy delivers an Oscar worthy performance as Lee Israel a down on her luck writer with a drinking problem who decides to fabricate letters that have been written by famous people and sell them to dealers. Her cat is sick and needs to see the vet and she is low on cash.

November is the month dedicated to families. Planning Thanksgiving dinner and what to do the days following Thanksgiving. For those of you who don't go to the movies together, change your tradition and go! Trust me you'll feel a lot better. This month there are 10 movies you should see in the theater, Including “Bohemian Rhapsody” about the Iconic Freddie Mercury, Opening November 2^nd 

It all started in 1932, with a film called What Price Hollywood? In this initial take on the plot , the ingenue is an aspiring actress who is a waitress at the Brown Derby where she meets a director. He sets up a screen test. Soon her fortune ascends as quickly as the alcoholic director’s fortune descends.

The 12th annual Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival,  March 28-31. If you love documentaries this one's for you. If you love cats you have to see “The Cat Rescuers”, directed by Rob Fructman and Steven Lawrence playing at the Robert Brent Auditorium. One film I'm excited about is “Alpha Mare”. Near Nicasio Reservoir, Karin suffers a psychotic episode. Through horsemanship, she learns a set of skills that help her manage her condition. Directed by Victor Tadashi Suarez and Mimi Wilcox. Also playing at the Robert Brent Auditorium.

Jewish Community Center Sonoma County is happy to announce its 2019 film season of the Israeli Film Festival, bringing to our local community a taste of the well-respected, robust and prolific film industry in Israel.

The film, Roma, is unique for several reasons. First of all, its presentation is unusual. It has played on local screens while being simultaneously streamed on Netflix. When a film is shown originally on TV, it is considered to be in a different category when one is considering award criteria. Because of its theatrical release, Roma garnered a place in the more prestigious Academy Award classification along with nine other nominations. In an additional quirk, it appears on the regular list of nominees and also on the shorter best foreign films list. It is unabashedly autobiographical . Director/writer, Alfonso Cuaron, is mostly known for having helmed Gravity and Children of Men but he also directed such disparate works as E Tu Mama Tambien and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Roma has nothing to do with Italy. It refers to an upper middle class section of Mexico City.

The basis of this film “I am not your Negro” is an uncompleted work Baldwin first began in 1979, "Remember This House"; an ambitious account of his various encounters with assassinated civil right leaders Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. At the time of his death, the book was still only 30 pages of notes but, courageously, Haitian director Raoul Peck spent a decade working to finish what Baldwin had started. The documentary puts the race problem in its correct truthful context. The problem is seen by Baldwin not one of black people but as one of the sickness within American society; the emptiness the frivolity and unmentionable cruelty it delivers to its African American populace. Baldwin says “you cannot  Lynch me and put me in ghettos, without becoming something monstrous yourselves." What touched me most is when he describes how a black child awakens to this reality when he describes a 5 year old black child suddenly discovering his blackness and realizes John Wayne his hero is actually the one killing the Indians  “colored” people just like his little self. 

Welcome to February. Home to Valentine's Day and The Oscars. The nominations came out last week and I'm very excited that my high school friend, Sam Rockwell got nominated for best supporting actor for his work in “Vice”. He won last year for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”. It would be amazing if he won twice in a row. His biggest competition is Mahershala Ali for his work in “Green Book”. Ali won two years ago for his work in “Moonlight”. Either way, one of these actors will be winning two Oscars in three years. Amazing! I hope Amy Adams wins best supporting actress for her work in “Vice”. She has been nominated five times before but has never won. Glenn Close has never won an Oscar! I know it's unbelievable. She has been nominated six times before. This can be her year for her work in “The Wife”.

For those of you who haven't experienced the magic that is “Mary Poppins Returns” you still have a chance to see this breathtaking movie in a theater. The Golden Globes nominations came out and both Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda were nominated for their roles in “Mary Poppins Returns”. The film itself is nominated for Best Picture, Musical or Comedy. Their biggest competition is “Green Book” which also is still in theaters. Both Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali were nominated for their roles in “Green Book”. “A Star is Born” was nominated for Best Picture, Drama.