Stop me if you’ve heard this one – a shy, nerdy high school senior secretly pines for the “popular” girl at his school and makes a fool of himself (well, he throws up on her) when he tries to talk to her. Ok, how about this one – a shy, nerdy high school senior tries…
If you think paying taxes sucks now, just wait till 2035 when the government has figured out how to tax your dreams. That’s the jumping off point for Albert Birney & Kentucker Audley’s Strawberry Mansion, one of the featured narrative films at this year’s SFFILM Festival. The festival, which is North America’s longest running, was…
Netflix’s Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal is an odd film. It’s part documentary, part docu-drama, and all absolutely infuriating. Director Chris Smith uses interviews and dramatic recreations to tell the story of the great College Admissions Scandal of 2019 in which elite members of the business, law, and entertainment communities used the “consulting…
Robert Forster has passed away. I had the privilege of meeting and having a lengthy conversation with him when he was in Santa Rosa promoting his appearance at a screening of “Jackie Brown”. I had just watched his first film – “Reflections in a Golden Eye” with Marlon Brando – and he was delighted to…
A young man walks into a police station. Either unable or unwilling to speak, he non-verbally asks for something with which to write. Given a pen and a piece of paper, he scribbles down and displays the following: “I am Donovan Reid”. So begins Donovan Reid, a film co-written and directed by Austin Smagalski. Filmed…
