Today
Sections
More
Features
Displaying 1 - 10 of 147 |
Next »Videos/Movies
The worst movie you watched in 2010
There was a lot to talk about during the Golden Globes last night. Was Paul Giamatti drunk? Is Sandra Bullock doing a Cher biopic? Why was January Jones wearing a dress made out of Red Vines? But the biggest baffler was the inclusion of "The Tourist" in one of the best picture categories. This is a movie that scored in the 30s on Metacritic. Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp could be in a muffler commercial together, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association would nominate them for eight awards ...
Associated Press
Pretentiousness rises from the ashes.
It's probable that "The Tourist" is on a lot of your worst movie of the year lists. I have even lower standards than that. If a motion picture has a couple of hot actors and a few explosions, it can hold my interest and entertain me on a superficial level. Unlike the worst films I watched in 2010, which were painful from beginning to end.
This list isn't definitive. I reviewed less bad mainstream movies and more art films and documentaries in 2010, and didn't seek out many of the losers. (I still watch most of the good movies because of my membership in the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, but there's nothing in the bylaws that says I have to screen "Cats and Dogs 2: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.")
But I still managed to find myself in a theater at least a half dozen times this year, occasionally jabbing myself with the pen to stave off death from boredom. Below are my three worst movies of 2010. Please add your pick to the comments ... Read More 'The worst movie you watched in 2010' »
| January 17 2011 at 07:32 AM
Peter Yates appreciation: An innovator with an eye for detail
.
The passing of Peter Yates, who died on Sunday in London, was a sad loss for cinema. In addition to his huge role in creating the famous "Bullitt" chase scene through the streets of San Francisco, he directed "The Dresser" and the exceptional "Breaking Away."
Yates directed action with a flair for innovation. You could see it in "Breaking Away" -- the scene where Dave races the semi truck is wonderful -- and especially in the classic "Bullitt" chase sequence. I wrote a magazine-style piece about that scene several years ago, interviewing as many living witnesses to the chase as I could find. (Yates was the one that got away.) Cinematographer William Fraker said he and Yates conceived the scene in a Hollywood restaurant called Martoni's, and it was Yates' idea to film the scene at full speed. Before "Bullitt," chase scenes were filmed at slower speeds, and then the film was edited faster in post-production.
Read More 'Peter Yates appreciation: An innovator with an eye for detail' »| January 10 2011 at 12:15 PM
Things movies get wrong about San Francisco
I enjoyed Clint Eastwood's "Hereafter." It didn't come close to making my Top 10 list, but I nodded my head in appreciation when Mick LaSalle put it on his. It was flawed, but interesting and unique -- the type of film Clint Eastwood should be making at this point in his career.
popeater.com
Matt Damon in "Hereafter," admiring his awesome parking spot.
It also contained a mistake that Bay Area native Eastwood definitely should not be making at age 80. During two separate scenes, major characters drive to a cooking class in San Francisco and find parking right in front of the school. These sequences don't occur in the Sunset District or Potrero Hill, either. I'm guessing based on landmarks and the architecture that they were shot in either Nob Hill or North Beach. (Updated! Apparently I was off by a body of water. See below.)
To be fair, Damon's character is a psychic, and could have had a premonition about the spot. But this still highlights one of my biggest frustrations about movies that take place in San Francisco: No one ever has to hunt for parking.
When I'm watching a movie that takes place in the Bay Area, I'm usually thinking of two different grades: the overall quality of the film, and the location-specific realism. For example, Philip Kaufman's "Twisted" would receive a Little Man sleeping, but as a San Francisco film the Little Man would be falling out of his chair. (All of Kaufman's SF films use the location wonderfully.) "Zodiac" and "The Pursuit of Happyness" are two more recent films that captured the vibe of the city, while getting the logistics right as well.
Below are a few of my specific San Francisco movie frustrations. Yours in the comments ... Read More 'Things movies get wrong about San Francisco' »
| January 03 2011 at 11:05 AM
Peter Hartlaub's 10 best movies of 2010
Below is my list of the Top 10 movies for 2010. You can read more in this Sunday's Datebook section, along with movie critic Mick LaSalle's Top 10 film picks and similar lists for music, video games, theater and other artistic pursuits.
win7ld.com
I'm leaving this whole movie season in my rearview ...
I struggled with this list, and not in a good way.
I thought 2009 was the best year for movies in a decade. While the end-of-year Oscar bait films were a disappointment, 2009 was an outstanding year for genre films -- particularly animation, war movies, mainstream science fiction and comedies. This year was the opposite, with a few solid Academy Awards contenders arriving late to save what had been a horrible year at the cinema. (Only the top four films here would have a chance at making my Top 10 last year.)
This list was compiled a week and a half ago, when I was voting for the San Francisco Film Critics Circle awards. At one point I had only six films that I wanted to put on my list, until I watched "Blue Valentine," "Winter's Bone" and "True Grit" in the days before my deadline.
Apologies in advance for creating the most boring Top 10 movie list in my tenure as a San Francisco Chronicle critic. Usually there are a few science fiction, horror or B action films in there, but in 2010 that just wasn't going to happen. As much as I want to use this list to champion films that are appealing to the geek moviegoer, I couldn't with good conscience put "Kick-Ass" or "Piranha 3-D" as my No. 10.
My Top 10 list is below, with a few honorable mentions. Let us know your favorite film of 2010 in the comments. Read More 'Peter Hartlaub's 10 best movies of 2010' »
| December 22 2010 at 01:46 PM
Your questions answered: Holiday movies, P-Fresh and "Cars"
This week on my VYou account, I talk about the similarities between "Doc Hollywood" and "Cars," tell you why I definitely don't deserve my job and ruin a perfectly good T-shirt in the name of Christmas.
Thanks for all your great questions and for putting up with my out-of-control narcissism. My workload is lightening a little bit, so I'll probably answer a few more in the next week.
The VYou portal is below. That's not really me (it's a pre-recorded loop) so don't feel uncomfortable or try to talk to me. You can see my answers by clicking on any of the blue questions to the right of the portal, and ask new questions in the field on the bottom. Read More 'Your questions answered: Holiday movies, P-Fresh and "Cars"' »
| December 21 2010 at 04:02 PM
John Lennon's death announced by Howard Cosell
.
In the past week I've seen and heard dozens of tributes to John Lennon, who was shot to death 30 years ago today. I generally don't get worked up about anniversary milestones and this one was no different. But listening to Howard Cosell interview Lennon and later tell the world about his death got me thinking about what the star meant to his fans and the world in 1980. Suddenly I was mourning two men.
This morning Brian Murphy and Paul McCaffrey of of KNBR played and discussed Cosell and Frank Gifford's 1980 announcement of Lennon's death on "Monday Night Football." (See that clip above.) I looked around on YouTube and found the earlier conversation (below) between Lennon and Cosell during a game in 1974.
Both clips are moving in their own way, and I think should be listened to together. I love the way that Cosell and Lennon are barely speaking the same language -- Lennon is thoroughly confused by football and I'm theorizing that the fogie-ish Cosell may have been more of a Dean Martin guy -- but there's a mutual respect and fondness in the conversation. When Lennon was killed, Cosell acted like a professional, but was clearly shocked and upset. Maybe he knew how much he man meant to Americans. I wonder if Cosell was thinking about that first meeting.
Read More 'John Lennon's death announced by Howard Cosell' »| December 08 2010 at 03:40 PM
Underrated movies of 2010 -- my choices and yours
In the two weeks before this Friday's first round of voting for the San Francisco Film Critics Circle awards, I typically watch at least one movie per day. It's like cramming for the world's most fun final exam. Even with two kids and a full time job, I'm not going to pretend that this is any kind of problem in my life.
empiremovies.com
This poster doesn't even capture 1/10th of the weirdness of this film.
As e-mail discussions and debates occur between my colleagues, I've been identifying a number of underrated movies that were good, but not quite good enough to be described in the context of awards. These are orphans that won't appear on more than one or two Top 10 lists across the country, but are still more than worth your time. Even though a couple of them were very successful films, I see these as orphans in the film landscape.
What does underrated even mean? It's a hard term to define, so I think we should sort of play it by ear. I excluded films that got excellent reviews or had a ton of buzz when they came out. (Otherwise, "The Town" and "Scott Pilgrim vs The World" would have made the list.) Movies that made a ton of money still qualified, but only if critics were lukewarm. By definition, just about every decent independent film is underrated, so I left those off the list altogether -- but may revisit them separately later. Full disclosure: I haven't seen "Unstoppable" yet; I have a strong feeling it would make this list.
I'm guessing the previous paragraph only made this more confusing. Let's continue anyway. My underrated films of 2010 are below, roughly in order of when they came out. Yours in the comments.
(Apologies to the core of parents who regularly read this blog, most of whom watch a movie in the theater approximately every two years.) Read More 'Underrated movies of 2010 -- my choices and yours' »
| December 06 2010 at 07:06 AM
Six best uses of San Francisco City Hall in the movies
I took my son to see "Megamind" yesterday afternoon. I already knew that the fictional Metro City government building was heavily inspired by San Francisco's City Hall -- I talked to the filmmakers about it while writing a pair of articles about the movie -- but didn't know the extent to which it mirrored the real thing. Along with the architectural similarities and gold leaf accents, the supervillain Megamind even found an excuse to paint the dome blue.
wikipedia.org
Just don't burn it down again ...
I'm adding "Megamind" to my list of films that have made the most memorable use of San Francisco City Hall. The historic structure, rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake, doesn't may not appear in films as often as the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars or Alcatraz. But it's often even more striking, especially when the an interior scene with the rotunda is included. Inspired use of San Francisco's City Hall in a film is generally the mark of a director or moviemaking team that has ties to the area -- all but one of the movies on my list had a strong local connection. And is it a coincidence that the odd film out featured the building engulfed in flames?
I didn't penalize movies that failed to accurately identify the building or even the city. (See No. 1 on my list.) I did consider the importance of the scene or scenes that feature City Hall, and whether the movie completely sucked. Hence, "The Wedding Planner" and "Bicentennial Man" didn't make the list ...
Please tell me what I missed in the comments. Read More 'Six best uses of San Francisco City Hall in the movies' »
| November 22 2010 at 07:03 AM
This week on VYou: Blog demographics, paint samples and Tim Goodman
Thanks for your patience with my VYou experiment. I received a lot of great questions in my first five days, and have already answered a dozen of them. Readers can now find out more than they ever wanted to know about The Poop's demographic breakdown, my shaving habits and my fantasy football team. Just click on any of the questions below my awkward welcome video at the end of this post and my answer should appear. I'll answer more questions throughout the week.
After a rough first day (I've adjusted the lighting so my bedroom look less like a serial killer's lair), this has become easy and fun on my end -- and I can see how it will become more useful in the future. I already got received two ideas for post topics while answering VYou questions. Read More 'This week on VYou: Blog demographics, paint samples and Tim Goodman' »
| November 20 2010 at 12:10 PM
All of your questions answered on VYou ...
I receive a lot of e-mails from The Poop readers, often with a question about the blog or something I wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle. I fully intend to answer every one of these, but often save them for later, and then forget. And then that person thinks I'm stuck up and stops reading this blog.
vyou.com/peterhartlaub
My VYou portal. Looking forward to your questions about my bedspread.
So when I heard about VYou, I was intrigued. It's a Q&A-style; video platform, where you can type in questions, and I answer them in my spare time using a webcam. The online start-up is in beta, but Chuck Klosterman and a few others are already set up. You can ask questions and (starting later today) see my answers to other people's questions at www.vyou.com/peterhartlaub. Assuming you didn't type in something I already covered, you'll get my "I haven't answered that question yet" message. Hit "yes" and your question will be added to my queue.
Down the line, I think anyone who wants to can set up their own account, and then everyone talks to each other using dynamic networking cross-channels that I don't completely understand, but I think work sort of like the Borg collective. In other words, it's a lot like Twitter.
Selfishly, I can think of a lot of interesting ways that this could be a fun addition to The Poop in the future. For example, if something like the Lloyd LaCuesta phenomenon happened again, I could theoretically pick a day to let you ask him questions, and then bring a laptop to whatever rainstorm/multiple murder scene he's stuck in so he can answer them himself. (My goal is to get Paul from the Diamond Center answering your questions on VYou before next Spring.) Read More 'All of your questions answered on VYou ...' »
| November 15 2010 at 06:42 AM
more