San Francisco Bay Guardian | Movies+TV | Profiles & Interviews | AAN.org

Joyous Bluesnew

New doc spotlights the musical wanderings of Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz.

San Francisco Bay Guardian | Nicole Gluckstern | 09-22-2014 | Profiles & Interviews

Cary Cronenwett's 'Maggots and Men' (Re)stages a Revolutionnew

Set in a mythologized postrevolutionary Russia but based on actual historical events, Maggots marshals early Soviet cinema, the gutter erotics of Jean Genet, and what at times seems like a transgender cast of thousands to build its case for the necessity of queer utopias.

San Francisco Bay Guardian | Matt Sussman | 06-17-2009 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Cary Cronenwett, Maggots and Men, gay & lesbian issues

Gus Van Sant Gives Harvey Milk His Close-Upnew

Van Sant's first brush with Milk came in 1978 while he was driving across the country and heard on the radio that the supervisor was shot. Though he later saw the 1984 documentary The Times of Harvey Milk, it never occurred to him to make a film about the politician.

San Francisco Bay Guardian | Kimberly Chun | 11-19-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: San Francisco, Sean Penn, politics, Gus Van Sant, Milk, gay & lesbian issues, Harvey Milk

'Slumdog Millionaire' Gracefully Slides Between Fairy Tale Romance and Gritty Dramanew

It's a credit to the filmmakers that every moment, from the harsh street scenes to a Bollywood-style song-and-dance number, is integral to the story. In the end, that juxtaposition is what helps the film capture a sense of the "real" India, however tenuous the concept.

San Francisco Bay Guardian | Louis Peitzman | 11-12-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Danny Boyle, India, Slumdog Millionaire

How to Act the Steve Coogan Way: An Interview with the 'Hamlet 2' Mannew

As a parody of inspirational teacher flicks, Hamlet 2 is a rousing success -- the type Mr. Holland would toss his opus for. It's almost completely due to Coogan.

San Francisco Bay Guardian | Kimberly Chun | 08-21-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: comedy, Andrew Fleming, Steve Coogan, Hamlet 2

'Gonzo' Looks into the Minds of Hunter S. Thompsonnew

Gibney says that he was drawn to his latest subject largely because of that persona. "He was a guy who didn't play by the rules, and it seems like we need a guy like that around now, when the rules are being used against us by people in power."

San Francisco Bay Guardian | Cheryl Eddy | 07-02-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Hunter S. Thompson, documentary, Alex Gibney, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Trainspotting America with James Benning's 'RR'new

Barring a change of mind or circumstance, the masterful RR will be the last of Benning's works shot on 16mm, and how fitting that this 37-year phase closes with the image of a locomotive, pointedly stopped in front of a wind farm outside of Palm Springs, scrapped tires lying in the foreground, the end in a line of 43 trains shot across the United States.

San Francisco Bay Guardian | Mark Peranson | 05-08-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: technology, 16mm, art films, James Benning, RR, trains

'Girls Rock!' is Everything 'American Idol' Ain'tnew

Shane King and Arne Johnson totally know what you're about to ask them, because it's the question everyone springs right off the bat: What are a couple of dudes doing behind the camera of a film about an all-girls rock 'n' roll camp?

San Francisco Bay Guardian | Cheryl Eddy | 02-28-2008 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Girls Rock!, Shane King and Arne Johnson

Viggo Mortenson is Complicatednew

Mortensen's comfort level with director David Cronenberg has freed him to do things he might normally be hesitant to do -- for instance, fend off an attack from two mobsters in a bathhouse while wearing nothing but tattoos.

San Francisco Bay Guardian | Michelle Devereaux | 09-12-2007 | Profiles & Interviews

Tags: David Cronenberg, Eastern Promises