The lovers in Jim Jarmusch’s fantastic film, Only Lovers Left Alive, are Adam (Tom Hiddleston, excellent) and Eve (Tilda Swinton, fine), a sophisticated couple both in love with each other and with art and science. They’re also vampires, but they’re far from the emotionally stunted teenagers that tend to haunt the genre. This pair are […]
An ex-lover may just be able to alleviate Rudolf Bauer’s painter’s block in the world premiere of "Bauer" at the SF Playhouse
After this review of Bauer at the SF Playhouse, read more Seventh Row writing on theatre. The first thing you notice about an SF Playhouse production is the phenomenal and detailed set. This was true even in their old, smaller location on Sutter St, but now on Post St with a bigger space, the sets […]
What to see and what to skip at the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF)
“Frank” **1/2 (Ireland) Director Lenny Abrahamson, who brought us the brilliant psychological drama What Richard Did, may not seem like the most likely candidate to make a comedy, but Frank” is a deftly handled, bizarre and charming comedy. Michael Fassbender plays the eponymous Frank, a talented musician whose main quirk is that he walks around […]
Review: In Breathe In, a foreign exchange student quickens the breath of a middle-aged man
Writer-director Drake Doremus’s new meditation on marital infidelity, Breathe In, is a puzzling combination of emotional resonance and frustratingly lazy, on-the-nose directing. When it works, it’s usually thanks to the strong performances of its leads, eighteen-year-old British exchange student Sophie (Felicity Jones, playing a character ten years younger than herself) and the dissatisfied high school […]
What to expect at the 57th annual San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF)
The 57th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) runs from April 24 to May 8, and it is already shaping up to be a must-attend event for cinephiles. The festival will screen 168 films, including 29 documentary features, from 56 different countries, and in 40 different languages. The festival expects 200 filmmakers and industry […]
Review: Le Week-End is a late middle-age Before Midnight
Imagine picking up with Jesse and Celine of Before Midnight in their sixties, and you’ll get an idea of what’s in store in Le Week-End, Roger Michell’s intelligent new film about a middle-aged British couple spending a weekend in Paris. They are Meg (Lindsay Duncan), a teacher who is still gorgeous and vivacious at sixty-three, […]