Michael Guillen

PALM SPRINGS SHORTFEST 2011: CLEAR BLUE (2010): Interview With Filmmaker Lindsay MacKay and Producer S. Brent Martin

Lindsay MacKay developed a keen sense for the craft of filmmaking as both a writer and director while studying film production at Toronto's York University (where she graduated from their Film and Video Production program with producer S. Brent Martin).... More »

By Michael Guillen

PALM SPRINGS SHORTFEST 2011: Dominic Mercurio's Top 10 Countdown

[Once again, we'd like to thank Evening Class intern Dominic Mercurio for being our eyes and ears at the 17th edition of the Palm Springs International Shortfest. Here are his recommendations. Short synopses courtesy of the festival.] 10. The Coldest... More »

By Michael Guillen

PALM SPRINGS SHORTFEST 2011: Dominic Mercurio's Dispatch

[We would like to thank Evening Class intern Dominic Mercurio for his dispatch from the 2011 Palm Springs International ShortFest.] When I travel to San Francisco from where I live in Redwood City, it's customary to bring a sweatshirt. You... More »

By Michael Guillen

PFA: JAPANESE DIVAS (Two Ozus, Three Mizoguchis & One Kurosawa)

[Our thanks to Evening Class intern Kurtiss Hare for offering these capsule reviews to Twitch.] Tokyo Story / Tokyo monogatari (Ozu Yasujirō, 1953)--After almost 70 years of smiling, the faces of Mr. and Mrs. Hirayama are adorned with the signature... More »

By Michael Guillen

SFFS / New People Cinema

[Our thanks to Michael Hawley for this celebratory announcement for San Franciscan cinephiles.] In what must surely be the most celebratory news of 2011 for Bay Area cinephiles, the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS) announced last week that it will... More »

By Michael Guillen

FRAMELINE35 2011: THE PUNK DOCS

[Our thanks to Jackson Scarlett for dispatching from the 35th edition of San Francisco's Frameline Film Festival.]The intersection of queer and punk is both broad and well-traveled and so it stands to reason that there are quite a few films... More »

By Michael Guillen

HOLEHEAD 2011: WRAP-UP

[Our thanks to Jackson Scarlett for providing this dispatch from San Francisco's 8th annual Another Hole in the Head Film Festival.] "No man knows what he will do when driven by hunger." Falsely attributed to Alexander Pearce--so called "cannibal convict"... More »

By Michael Guillen

FRAMELINE35 2011: Michael Hawley's Documentary Capsule Reviews

[Our thanks to Michael Hawley for his dispatch from San Francisco's Frameline35.] As mentioned in my previous entry, the 35th anniversary edition of the Frameline SF International LGBT Film Festival launched Thursday, June 16 and runs right up through Gay... More »

By Michael Guillen

FRAMELINE35 2011: Michael Hawley's Narrative Feature Capsule Reviews

[Our thanks to Michael Hawley for dispatching from San Francisco's Frameline 35.] The 35th anniversary edition of the Frameline SF International LGBT Film Festival launched on Thursday, June 16 and continues right up through Gay Pride Day on Sunday, June... More »

By Michael Guillen

SFIFF54: KURTISS HARE WRAPS UP FIVE FAVES

[Our thanks to Kurtiss Hare for offering a handful of reviews from SFIFF54.] Kurtiss Hare and I met in line waiting for films at the 54th edition of the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF54). I checked out his... More »

By Michael Guillen

SFIFF54: Michael Hawley Wrap-Ups Four Special Events

[Our thanks to Michael Hawley for offering this entry to Twitch.]The 54th edition of the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF54) drew to a close on Thursday, May 5, after showcasing 193 films from 48 countries at 265 screenings... More »

By Michael Guillen

TALENT CAMPUS: KEEPING IT REEL: Interview With Dana Shaw

Whereas Dominic Mercurio expressed his respect by listening to offered advice, Art Institute of California senior graduate Dana Shaw caught my attention for his intelligent and respectful profiles of Bay Area creative personalities, including tattoo artist George Campise, artist Greg... More »

By Michael Guillen

TALENT CAMPUS: NUCLEAR FAMILY: Interview With Dominic Mercurio

In recent months I have been invited on three separate occasions to speak to the film classes of respected colleagues. Megan O'Hara invited me to the Art Institute of California / San Francisco (Art Institute) to speak to her "Bay... More »

By Michael Guillen

SFIFF54: A Dozen

[Our thanks to Frako Loden for offering this egg carton's worth of reviews to Twitch.] For this year's San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF54), I have yet to go on a screener binge--that starts later today--so I'll be attending festival... More »

By Michael Guillen

SFIFF54: REVIEWS OF FRENCH FILMS

[Allow me to introduce the most recent intern for The Evening Class, Jackson Scarlett, known to local cinephiles through his efforts for the Global Film Initiative and as publicity coordinator for the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. We... More »

By Michael Guillen

SFIFF54: 10 SCREENER REVIEWS

[Our thanks to Michael Hawley for providing these SFIFF54 screener reviews.] The 54th edition of the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF54) gets underway this Thursday, April 21 and runs until May 5. Since the Opening Press Conference three weeks... More »

By Michael Guillen

SFIFF54: Interview With Joanne Parsont, SFFS Director of Education

Joanne Parsont has worked in the Bay Area film community for 15 years as a film programmer, writer, editor, consultant, project manager and media educator, specializing in outreach, education, youth media, children's and documentary programming. She spent eight years directing... More »

By Michael Guillen

SFIFF54: BEGINNERS (2010)

"Men perish because they cannot join the beginning to the end."--Alcmaeon of Croton. Mike Mills' Beginners had its world premiere at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival where its initial reviews (as rounded up by David Hudson at MUBI) applauded... More »

By Michael Guillen

STAKE LAND (2010): Interview With Jim Mickle

Jim Mickle's Stake Land (2010), co-written by its leading star Nick Damici, has been a consensual favorite for the Twitch team even before its world premiere at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), where Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes... More »

By Michael Guillen

SCHREI 27: Interview With Diamanda Galás

Hailed as one of the most important singers of our time, Diamanda Galás has earned international acclaim for her highly original and politically charged performance works, as well as her memorable rendition of jazz and blues. A resident of New... More »

By Michael Guillen

« Previous

Page 2 of 44

Leading Voices in Global Cinema

Todd Brown, Founder & Editor Toronto
Peter Martin, Managing Editor Dallas
Ryland Aldrich, Festivals Editor Los Angeles
James Marsh, Asian Editor Hong Kong
Brian Clark, European Editor Paris

Destroy All Monsters: Retire Superman

While the internet is tearing itself apart in its efforts to empirically determine whether Man of Steel "sucks" or "is awesome" - because such things are now apparently possible, given Superman Returns' near-unilateral, and intellectually disturbing, dismissal - I'd like to pause to make a gentler request: may we please... More »

Fifteen Unfilmable Novels And The Directors Who Should Try Anyway

Ah, the 'unfilmable' novel. Go back ten or fifteen years and it seems everyone had some sort of list of great novels that could never be brought to the screen. The limitations at the time were largely technical and in recent years those lists have dwindled with titles such as... More »

Jason Gorber's Cineruminations: On MAN OF STEEL, SuperJesus, and THIS IS THE END's Jewpocalypse

Back in 1933, while Hitler was ascending into power in Germany and diasporic Jews throughout the world looked on with concern, two high school students created one of the most indelible mythical heroes of the last century. Borrowing from the Nietzschean concept of the Übermensch, Joe Shuster and Jerry... More »

Twitchvision: Talking MAN OF STEEL and THIS IS THE END

This is the big week of Superman's return, with Zack Snyder's take on the caped saviour hitting our screens. While my opinion's kind of mixed on the film, there's still plenty to admire about it. I also discuss the overt Jesus imagery throughout, as expanded in a full cineruminations column... More »

70s Rewind: Bridges, Barbra, Bogdanovich, Brynner

Amazon's Prime Instant streaming service is not as well-established as Netflix and has far more modest offerings in off-beat and strange cinema. Still, since I temporarily dropped Netflix, I've been diving deeper into Amazon's catalog, and discovered a good number of films from my favorite movie decade. Here's a selection... More »