Film Arts - Movies & Festivals - Reviews

The biggest show of the year, the Monte Rio Variety Show will take place at the Monte Rio Amphitheater on Thursday July 25. Join us for a special evening of music, comedy and theater. With a uniquely wide range of acts, from Jazz to Classical, from Country to Rock, the Monte Rio Variety Show has been a Russian River tradition for 108 years.

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.

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.

This year, the 4th of July falls on a Thursday so you can catch up on movies you missed in June on Saturday and Sunday. “Late Night” starring Emma Thompson is a movie you should see in the theater. Thompson will definitely be nominated for best actress at the Oscars next year.  Another movie you should see in the theater is “Toy Story 4”. This is the best sequel ever made. Watch it to break all box office records! This is an exciting month for Marvel movie fans. Yes, “Spider-Man Far From Home” comes out July 2. It stars Tom Holland, Jake Gyllenhaal and Samuel L Jackson. Peter Parker’s relaxing European vacation takes an unexpected turn when Nick Fury suddenly shows up in his hotel room. Parker soon finds himself donning the Spider-man suit to help Fury and fellow superhero Mysterio battles an evil new threat.

Author, recovering addict and subject of the film Beautiful Boy Nic Sheff will be speaking at Healdsburg Library on Saturday, June 29, at 2 p.m. as part of Sonoma County Library’s Distinguished Speaker Series. Community members are invited to attend the free event.

The film is a reminder of the long and difficult work that victory took in a political climate in which all things progressive are at risk. No such victory can be taken for granted. "Freedom to Mary"  introduces us to the people who worked for decades for the fight for marriage equality which led to the 2015 Supreme Court ruling making it legal for gay people to marry in all 50 states.

The film 'The white Crow' beautifully interweaves Nureyev’s past from the day he is born in a train, with the film's present event of a trip to France in 1961 when Nureyev is put under dire pressure and defects. His dancing was unique in that he wanted to break with the traditional male clasical ballet dancer role; he wanted to be more expressive and center stage as female dancers are traditionally poised to be in classical ballet. 

Wine Country is a hybrid. It was released theatrically on Wednesday the first week of May and it was available for streaming the following Friday. This almost simultaneous accessibility is a trend. The film celebrates our locale and this double venue situation gives more people a chance to view it. The plot, if there is one, revolves around six women who want to honor one of the group's fiftieth birthday. What better place to do this than the Napa Valley.

What we are witnessing is a major upheaval in the film industry. Unlike the advent of sound and the demise of the studio system, which were also extreme changes, the fact that cable companies have gradually been creating their own products has not been met with tumult or notoriety. The transition has been fairly smooth with only some derision by the established media. Netflix has been the leader in this movement, but Amazon and Hulu are close behind and recently Apple has joined the group. The flicks produced are neither cheap nor hastily formatted. Often times films are given a brief theatrical release before they are ensconced in the streaming platform. Most display strong production values and star A-list actors. Despite his recent multiple stints in rehab, how much more A-list one can get than the two time Oscar winner, producer, director and general heart throb, Ben Affleck? This brings us to Triple Frontier from Netflix. The title refers to the borders between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. 

The San Francisco Film Festival opens April 10th and goes to April 23rd. For those of you who enjoyed last month’s Sonoma International Film Festival and the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, this one is much bigger and more celebrities attend. The highlight for me at Sonoma was meeting Julia Ormond, who came for her opening night premiere of “Ladies in Black”. Opening this month at your local theater is “The Best of Enemies” starring my friend and recent Oscar winner Sam Rockwell and Taraji P Henson. The true story of the unlikely relationship between Ann Atwater, an outspoken civil rights activist and C.P. Ellis, a local Ku Klux Klan leader. Could Sam earn his third Oscar nomination in 3 years? Let’s hope! It opens April 5th. Also opening this weekend is “Shazam!” starring Zachary Levi. A fun superhero movie where teenager Billy Batson tests out his newfound powers. For my live theater fans there is “Jesus Christ Superstar” directed by the very talented Lesley McCauley who has been directing at the Junior College for over 20 years. And so much more...

The title refers to a pamphlet that was published that indicated which establishments were African-American friendly in the southern United States. The script follows Tony Vallelonga, a rough around the edges Italian bouncer who needs an interim job and accepts one as chauffeur to Dr. Don Shirley, a dignified and sophisticated, black, classical pianist. Shirley is on a concert tour into the deep South in the 1960's. Basically we have an odd couple on a road trip. Tony uses muscle. Don uses finesse. Tony leads with his gut. Don is an intellectual. Even though cliche driven, at the end they come to know and respect one another as brothers and it is a delightful evolving.