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 | Forbidden Planet and Cruise Cat Assuming that the unseasonably warm nights that have graced the Bay Area in recent weeks finally give way to the foggy shroud that usually blankets San Francisco, filmgoers will be able to bundle up for an enjoyable evening of classic science-fiction cinema in the historic Presidio.More |  | Unfinished business Kerry Conran's [i]Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow[/i] culminates years of exacting labor to bring to life the heady "world of tomorrow"-era portrayed so imaginatively on the covers of science fiction pulp magazines of the 1920s and '30s. All those foreseen wonders (and terrors) of the future -- compact ray guns, gargantuan robots, floating platforms in the sky big enough upon which to land airplanes, zeppelins mooring atop the Empire State Building -- come to life with stylized realism in this alternate 1939.More |  | Dirty rotten scoundrels Criminal is a thoroughly entertaining movie about two small-time confidence men, one seemingly more experienced than the other, who join forces to pull off a lucrative scam that has unexpected consequences. A remake of Argentinean director Fabián Bielinsky's film Nueve Reinas ("Nine Queens"), this version by Gregory Jacobs, longtime assistant director to Steven Soderbergh, takes place in Los Angeles over the course of one day. Everyman actor John C. Reilly plays Richard, an unsympathetic grifter who spies opportunities everywhere, whether from gullible old ladies or eager-to-please restaurants.More |  | Dude, Where's My Burger? This road trip buddy movie about two guys in search of the perfect hamburger sounds like the sort of summertime stupidity you see only when everything else is sold out and someone's pointing a gun at your head. In the cosmic scheme of things, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle comes pretty close to that. However, given its ability to dumbfound audiences one moment by the sheer insanity of its unpredictable storyline, while eliciting peals of laughter the next, it just may well achieve "guilty pleasure" status.More |  | Kill Ginzo, Vol. 1 Interpreting the iconic character of the blind master-swordsman Zatoichi, who has enthralled Japanese audiences ever since he first graced the screen in 1962, auteur Takeshi Kitano (billed as Beat Takeshi) has crafted an entertaining yarn that could teach Quentin Tarantino a thing or two about choreographing fight scenes featuring maximum bloodletting. Blending light comedy with thrilling and beautifully filmed action sequences, The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi tells the engaging story of the nineteenth-century nomad who makes his living as a gambler and masseur. His hearing alone allows him to discern not only how the chips fall in the gamblingMore |  | Attack of the Tentacled Menace Spider-Man 2 comes two years after its predecessor first wowed audiences with its lifelike depiction of the heroic but humble web crawler swinging his way across Manhattan's skyline in search of villains large and small. As in the first installation, this film balances exhilarating special effects and violent action scenes with slower-paced, introspective moments as characters confront everyday issues of truth, love, and responsibility.More |  | Baghdad café When the United States started bombing Iraq in March 2003, Arab-American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim found herself, along with dozens of other journalists, in the US military's Central Command (Centcom) compound in Qatar. Instead of covering the military assaults occurring 700 miles away, as everyone else did, she trained her camera in the opposite direction- at the journalists reporting the news and the military spokespeople briefing the reporters.More |  | Lucy and Ethel Nia Vardalos made raucous, over-the-top ethnic family drama/comedy seem funny again in My Big Fat Greek Wedding so it comes as little surprise that she would try to make a raucous, over-the-top drag queen drama/comedy seem funny again too. The only problem is that it was never funny before and it's not funny now.More |  | A little too mysterious People like David Mamet because he writes well and elevates movie dialog to a sophisticated level. He doesn't explain things in obvious ways; you have to listen closely to what the characters say to understand. Spartan plops you right into the midst of a wild ride that swerves through seemingly unrelated territory: the netherworld of the secret service, human trafficking rings, and the stress of growing up in a political family.More |  | Rebels with a cause célèbre Cinephiles consider the spring of 1968 in Paris as their 9/11, when the old order was shattered and perceptions about life and society shifted drastically, especially at the intersection of art and politics. While the Cinémathèque Française, the school for the young New Wave filmmakers, attracted social experimenters and political commentators alike, government crackdowns on protests fueled revolution in the street. Heady stuff back then for eighteen-year-old Bernardo Bertolucci, who considered the Cinémathèque his cathedral - and a great backdrop for a film exploring human relationships amid these turbulent times.More |
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