San Francisco International Film Festival 2018

[Chris Knipp]

Honoree at the festival: Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron has a ferocity and focus unique to contemporary
screen actors. She can utterly transform herself and transfix an
audience across a variety of genres, and the subtlety in her protean
performances is a tonic for these times. But her talent in that
regard dates back: By 2003, Theron was already a master of her
art, something never more apparent than in her role that year as
serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Patty Jenkins’ Monster (2003). Since
then, Theron has continued to build an impressive body of work,
receiving a second Academy Award nomination for her portrayal
of a miner who sues her company for sexual harassment in North
Country (2005), reviving George Miller’s Mad Max franchise with her
ferocious turn as the warrior Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury
Road (2015), and mixing slaughter and spycraft in the Cold War era
thriller Atomic Blonde (2017). Join us for this special conversation
with Charlize Theron, followed by a screening of Tully.

Tully
Jason Reitman, USA, 2018

Marlo (Charlize Theron) has lost her youth to motherhood and is
completely burnt out. When her brother (Mark Duplass) suggests a
night nanny—someone to help with her newborn—she reluctantly
agrees, welcoming a stranger named Tully into her home. Grounded
by Theron’s extraordinary performance, which delivers the smart and
hilarious dialogue written and directed with great care by frequent
collaborators Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman, Tully details all
aspects of motherhood however unglamorous they may be.

[Chris Knipp]

SFIFF 2018 begins.

The Festival began last night with A Kid LIke Jake.

Links to the reviews and Festival Coverage thread will be HERE.

Today's films include City of the Sun, The Rider, Winter Brothers, Barry, The Price of Everything, Makala, Workshop, Angels Wear White, I hate Kids, American Animals, My Life with James Dean, The Distant Barking of Dogs, Civilizations: How Do We Look? (Episode 2), and What Will People Say?.

Reviews of The Rider, Winter Brothers, and Workshop have already appeared on Filmleaf. I will soon be reporting in this thread on:


ANGELS WEAR WHITE

Angels Wear White
My Life with James Dean
The Distant Barking of Dogs
Civilizations: How Do We Look? (Episode 2)

[Chris Knipp]

ANGELS WEAR WHITE (Vivian Qu 2017)

Very young girls are molested in a motel by a middle-aged official. It takes a long time for anything to happen. This sophomore feature by the maker of the 2013 Trap Street (ND/NF 2014) is beautiful to look at but too diffuse and meandering. But it never ceases to be watchable - or #metoo-relevant. From China. In many festivals.

First 2018 SFIFF review.

[Chris Knipp]

MY LIFE WITH JAMES DEAN/MA VIE AVEC JAMES DEAN (Dominique Chosy 2017)

A gay French charmer about a hunky young filmmaker vaguely promoting his eponymous new film in Calais and some other towns on the Norman coast, with an actor he likes, a projectionist who likes him, and an organizer who likes the wrong person. Lightness is maintained. Stay for the surprise Bollywood finale.

Three screenings in the SFIFF, with the filmmaker and star present at all of them.

[Chris Knipp]

THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS (Simon Lareng Wilmont 2017)

An intimate documentary of Oleg, a 10-year-old Ukrainian boy living with his granny on the edge of the war zone of the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Beautiful and harrowing.

[Chris Knipp]

HAL (Amy Scott 2018)

Lesser known than other New Hollywood directors like Scorsese, coppola, Spielberg, or Lucas, Hal Ashby produced seven notable films in the nine years from 1970 to 1979. He declined thereafter and died at 59 of pancreatic cancer. This is a short reintro that tells more about the work than life. For a cool examination of that work you'd have to go to Pauline Kael's review of his 1978 Coming Home, anyway. Some of the actors and editors that worked with him reminisce here.

[Chris Knipp]

KIM MIN-HEE, ISABELLE HUPPERT IN CLAIRE'S CAMERA (HONG SANG-SOO)

April 7. Today is day 4 of the SFIFF.

I count 22 features or documentaries.This is not including celebrity live vents with Alex Garland, Wayne Wang, et al. Totally overwhelming! Filmleaf is covering a few of today's offerings, though.

Will cover the first three, have covered the second three:
Claire's Camera
The Human Element
The Third Murder
Winter Brothers
The Rider
The Workshop

Scheduled today in the festival:
The Human Element
Half the Picture
Makala
The Price of Everything
Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind
Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Claire's Camera
The Judge
The Third Murder
Ulam: Main Dish
Generation Wealth
No Date, No Signature
Kodachrome
Winter Brothers
The Rider
The Workshop
Un Traductor
Loveling
The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Three IDentical Strangers
A Man of Integrity
Revenge