Wrap up: 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival
The 61st San Francisco International Film Festival ended last Tuesday, but many of its offerings will find their way to your neighborhood cinema in the near future. We conclude our coverage of this year’s Fest by taking a look at four of the Fest’s films that you may want to keep your eye out for in the coming months (our previous coverage posts can be found here, here, and here). And if you’re curious to see which Fest films took home awards this year, you can see all the winners here. In the meantime, we’ll see you next year for SFFILM #62!
1.) Sorry to Bother You (USA 2018, 107 min. Centerpiece)
Oakland rapper and artist Boots Riley got the hometown reception from the Festival this year, as his debut feature film was given a first-of-its kind, dual-venue Bay Area premiere at two of the Bay Area’s most iconic and beloved theaters: Oakland’s Grand Lake Theater and San Francisco’s Castro Theater. The movie had previously premiered at Sundance, where it garnered a Grand Jury prize nomination, but its Bay Area premiere definitely felt more special. Riley’s film centers on Cassius (Lakeith Stanfield, Get Out), a new employee at a telemarketing company in downtown Oakland (exteriors were shot around Kaiser’s Franklin Street building) whose rise up the corporate ladder doesn’t come without cost, to himself, his girlfriend (Tessa Thompson), and his friends, colleagues, and community. While inarguably entertaining, Riley’s film has a definite first attempt feel: elements of political satire, social criticism, surrealist comedy, outrageous sci-fi, and sweet romance often overlap to an extreme, coming dangerously close to burying the picture beneath its own everything-but-the kitchen-sink weight. Comedically deft performances from Stanfield and Armie Hammer, as a villainous corporate head, though, are appealing enough to make the flaws of Riley’s jam-packed screenplay forgivable.
Sorry to Bother You will open in the Bay Area on Friday, July 6th.
2.) Alex Strangelove (USA 2018, 90 min. Global Visions)
We went decades without a gay teen romance movie, and now, in the span of just two months, we have two, which is wonderful progress, and a sign of our changing times. Alex Strangelove joins Love, Simon in telling the tale of a closeted teenage boy whose coming out is presented as a catalyst for love, acceptance, and yes, romance. Writer/director Craig Johnson (The Skeleton Twins; Wilson) trades some of the edginess of those pictures for an earnest sweetness here, in a loosely autobiographical story that’s not without some genuine, well-earned, and heartfelt laughs. When young Alex Truelove (Daniel Doheny, and yes, his character name is ripe for much comedic fodder) decides to lose his virginity to his pretty and game girlfriend Claire (Madeline Weinstein), complications ensue, as Alex realizes his reluctance to consummate the deal may be stemming from something within him that he hasn’t acknowledged yet, and which new friend Elliott (Antonio Marziale) may have something to do with. Doheny, who was found at an open casting call in Vancouver, is utterly believable and exudes sincerity as a well-liked, maturing young man on the cusp of adulthood. Of course it helps that he looks like a cross between a young John Mulaney and Zac Efron circa High School Musical. Weinstein, on the other hand, looks about 25, which is somewhat distracting. But that’s a small quibble in a picture whose supporting players (Law and Order: Criminal Intent’s Kathryn Erbe plays Claire’s patient and understanding mom, and Daniel Zolghadri brings warmth and subtle humor to the role of Alex’s best friend Dell) are exceptionally well cast. And of course a terrific soundtrack (When in Rome’s 1988 classic “The Promise” is well used here) helps the proceedings, making this picture a refreshing spin on the typical coming of age movie.
Alex Strangelove will be available on Netflix on June 8th, with a limited theatrical release to follow.
3.) Won’t You Be My Neighbor (USA 2018, 93 min. Marquee Presentations)
If you don’t know who King Friday and Queen Sara are, you probably grew up without a TV. For millions of Gen X and millennial children, though, watching the royal rulers of the Neighborhood of Make Believe on the PBS show Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood was an integral part of our childhood. Oscar winning documentarian Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom) chronicles the history of the classic children’s show, from its late ‘60s beginnings in Pittsburgh to its national syndication on PBS, all under the guidance of a young Presbyterian minister named Fred Rogers, who believed children deserved respect, attention, and supportive and engaging television programs. Neville’s film works not only as a fascinating look at the history of revolutionary television, but also as an often jaw-dropping reflection on how our social and cultural landscape has shifted and progressed. Interviews with family members, friends, colleagues, critics, pundits, and academics provide a richly layered backdrop to the story of how Mr. Rogers forever changed both children’s television and the way children were viewed, treated, and raised. His idea that children deserve to be loved and accepted for exactly who they are was groundbreaking at the time of his show’s inception, and many of the episodes (about death, assassination, national tragedies, divorce, and other “adult” topics) were met with controversy because of his insistence that the show should not talk down to its audience. Mr. Rogers’s commitment to, and belief in, the emotional intelligence of children was unwavering, even in the face of criticism and backlash. The film’s many highlights include present day interviews with François Clemmons, who famously portrayed Officer Clemmons. Clemmons is a born raconteur, whose many stories touch on the appalling repressive racial and sexual mores of the times. Lots of other behind the scenes scoops about characters, cast, crew, and Rogers and his family make for an engrossing and reflective look at a singular, visionary man whose contribution to the lives of so many of us is immeasurable. But heed my warning now: bring tissue with you, because you’ll need it.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor will open in the Bay Area on Friday, June 8th.
4.) A Thousand Thoughts – A Live Documentary (USA 2018, 85 min. Live & Onstage)
That A Thousand Thoughts was co-presented by Pop-Up Magazine at the Castro Theater during the Festival was appropriate, since the “Live Documentary” had the same feel as one of Pop-Up’s unique stage shows, which typically combines live storytelling, music, photography, and/or video. Academy Award nominated filmmaker Sam Green (The Weather Underground) and film editor Joe Bini collaborated to write this immersive and experiential documentary about the Kronos Quartet, the Bay Area’s own world-famous, cutting edge string quartet. Green himself emceed the show, alternately telling us facts about the group’s long history (they were founded in the 1970s) and introducing clips, pre-recorded interviews, and old photos on the screen behind us. Green’s already absorbing biographical narration was frequently interrupted by the current Kronos members themselves (violinists David Harrington and John Sherba, cellist Sunny Yang, and violist Hank Dutt) who played live on stage for us, much to the audience’s delight. Green had full access to the Quartet’s archives, and the still photos and old recordings are a treasure trove of both personal and cultural histories of the Bay Area music scene and some of its most storied players. Considered the punk rockers of string quartets, the Kronos Quartet forever changed the notion that classical music meant stuffy old men in tuxes playing music by dead white men. Featuring interviews with a veritable who’s who of the contemporary classical music scene, including composers Philip Glass, Tanya Tagaq, John Zorn, George Crumb, and John Adams, among others, A Thousand Thoughts is an utterly original and enthralling theatrical experience that should be sought out by casual and fervent music fans alike. As the Quartet ended the show with a rousing rendition of Ervin T. Rouse’s “Orange Blossom Special,” the appreciative audience’s applause and cheers nearly threatened to drown out the music.
A Thousand Thoughts has no immediate planned Bay Area return dates, but you can check for upcoming show locations and dates here.
