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\nMasahiro Motoki stars as Lord Murashige in \u201cThe Samurai and the Prisoner.\u201d (Janus Films via Bay City News)<\/p>\n
Japanese genre chameleon Kiyoshi Kurosawa (\u201cCure,\u201d \u201cCloud,\u201d \u201cTokyo Sonata\u201d) combines a jidaigeki\u00a0drama with a whodunit in \u201cThe Samurai and the Prisoner,\u201d a classically styled period piece adapted from the novel by\u00a0Honobu Yonezawa and\u00a0distinguished by its unconventional protagonist and philosophical quality. It opens\u00a0at the Roxie\u00a0Theater\u00a0on\u00a0Friday.\u00a0Murashige Araki (Masahiro Motoki),\u00a0is a fact-based ahead-of-his-time pacifistic samurai warlord and a former retainer of the ruthless warlord Nobunaga Oda (Bando Shingo). It is\u00a01578, and Murashige, who has turned against Oda, has\u00a0barricaded himself in his own castle, surrounded by Oda\u2019s forces and supported by his devout wife (Yuriko Yoshitaka) and\u00a0loyal generals.\u00a0Enter\u00a0Kanbei\u00a0Kuroda\u00a0(Masaki Suda), an envoy sent by Oda to pressure Murashige to surrender. Rather than take the standard samurai course of action \u2014 and decapitate\u00a0\u00a0Kanbei\u00a0\u2014 Murashige, for varied reasons that include a distaste for killing, imprisons\u00a0him in the dungeon.\u00a0When four baffling crimes \u2014 involving, among other weirdness, a disfigured decapitated head \u2014 occur, Murashige, rejecting the argument that \u201cdivine judgment\u201d has been at play, turns to the untrustworthy but brilliant\u00a0Kanbei\u00a0for detective work. \u00a0The plot also includes rival clans, lots of scheming, a Buddhist battle\u00a0cry\u00a0and a treasured tea urn.\u00a0Kurosawa\u2019s unhurried storytelling and restrained tone\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0produce an overtly compelling movie. Action-wise,\u00a0political\u00a0and ideological conflicts outweigh the battlefield.\u00a0But with its deftly crafted narrative, intelligently talky screenplay and complex character dynamics, the film\u00a0emerges\u00a0as an absorbing and multifaceted consideration of war,\u00a0violence\u00a0and decency.\u00a0Imposing and nuanced in the role of the dread-plagued, complicated Murashige, who would rather be making tea than devising war strategies, Motoki gives the film a fascinating hero. Suda, star of Kurosawa\u2019s \u201cCloud,\u201d makes the mystery-solving\u00a0Kanbei\u00a0himself an intriguing mystery.<\/p>\n
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\nL-R, Aivan Uttapa, Gustavo Sanchez Parra and Diego Olmedo appear in \u201cOlmo.\u201d (Greenwich via Bay City News)<\/p>\n
\u201cOlmo,\u201d written and directed by Fernando Eimbcke (\u201cDuck Season\u201d) and opening at the Roxie Theater Friday, is a coming-of-age dramedy noteworthy for its\u00a0realistic, thoughtful portrayal of\u00a0a family dealing with illness.\u00a0Mischievous 14-year-old Olmo (Aivan\u00a0Uttapa) lives with his working-class Mexican American family in 1970s New Mexico. Olmo\u2019s father, Nestor (Gustavo Sanchez Parra)\u00a0has multiple sclerosis and receives full-time care from\u00a0Olmo\u2019s mother, Cecilia (Andrea Suarez Paz); Olmo\u2019s slightly older sister, Ana (Rosa Armendariz); and Olmo himself. When Cecilia leaves to work a double waitressing shift \u2014 to help pay the family\u2019s overdue rent \u2014 Ana, having already made roller-rink plans, refuses to stay home and take care of her dad. The responsibility falls to Olmo, who, too, balks: He has been invited to a party by Nina (Melanie Frometa), his neighbor and crush. Olmo makes quick arrangements for Nestor\u2019s care, purloins his mother\u2019s car, and\u00a0with\u00a0his friend Miguel (Diego Olmedo), drives off.\u00a0\u00a0Snafus occur, of course, causing Olmo to realize the importance of family. \u00a0While the storyline is predictable, there is\u00a0much\u00a0to\u00a0experience between the plot points, from family members dragging Nestor\u2019s urine-soaked mattress outside to Olmo and Miguel trying to look cool and performing \u201cSaturday Night Fever\u201d dance moves. \u00a0In a sadder scene, Nestor, repairing a plot-pivotal stereo, tries to share his\u00a0electronics\u00a0knowledge with Olmo, who is too selfish to\u00a0listen.\u00a0\u201cOlmo\u201d is a warm, compassionate, funny, serious, and appealingly acted movie.\u00a0Parra, giving Nestor humanity and dignity, is the standout among the solid cast.\u00a0Olmedo, as\u00a0supportive\u00a0Miguel, almost steals the show.<\/p>\n
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\nL-R, Jackie Tohn and Aya Cash star in \u201cThe Floaters.\u201d (Brainstorm Media via Bay City News)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Floaters,\u201d filmmaker Rachel Israel\u2019s Jewish\u00a0summer-camp comedy, screens at Rialto Cinemas Sebastopol Tuesday and\u00a0opens\u00a0at the Opera Plaza Cinema\u00a0on\u00a0Friday (visit\u00a0landmarktheatres.com t<\/a>o verify). Jackie Tohn\u00a0stars as\u00a0Nomi, an out-of-work rock singer who accepts a job offer from her friend Mara (Sarah Podemski) at Camp Daveed. Nomi is instructed to oversee the \u201cfloaters\u201d \u2014 misfit teens who\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0sign up for any activities \u2014 and stage the camp\u2019s\u00a0umpteenth production of \u201cFiddler on the Roof.\u201d Instead, Nomi inspires the kids to create something reflective of their own spirit.\u00a0Expect audaciously\u00a0unorthodox results.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is hosting a 12-week film series titled \u201cThrough an Open Window,\u201d inspired by the center\u2019s\u00a0exhibition \u201cGaHee\u00a0Park: Behind the Curtain,\u201d\u00a0featuring\u00a0work\u00a0by the Montreal-based Korean\u00a0painter\u00a0who explores sexuality, mortality, fantasy, identity and alienation through a surrealist lens.\u00a0Screenings\u00a0are at 2 p.m.\u00a0on Saturdays. \u00a0\u00a0Movies by renowned directors screen, beginning with a Hitchcock classic and ending with a Powell and Pressburger masterwork.\u00a0Here\u2019s\u00a0the schedule:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Aug. 15: \u201cRear Window\u201d (1954), Alfred Hitchcock\u00a0 Visit\u00a0YBCA.org<\/a> for more information.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bay Area filmmakers and life partners Nathaniel Dorsky and Jerome Hiler, known for their poetic and experimental cinema,\u00a0present four programs of their films \u2014 including Dorsky\u2019s \u201cHours for Jerome, Parts 1 & 2,\u201d \u201cAlaya,\u201d and \u201cArboretum Cycle\u201d and Hiler\u2019s \u201cWords of Mercury\u201d and \u201cCareless Passage\u201d \u2014 during a 16-day series at\u00a0Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive\u00a0beginning Friday. Visit\u00a0bampfa.org.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The post Movies: \u2018Mr. Advocate,\u2019 \u2018Samurai and the Prisoner,\u2019 \u2018Olmo,\u2019 \u2018Floaters,\u2019\u00a0GaHee\u00a0Park-inspired films at YBCA, Dorksky\/Hiler selections\u00a0\u00a0<\/a> appeared first on Local News Matters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A film about modern education, a\u00a0samurai whodunit, a Mexican American coming-of-age tale, and a Jewish summer-camp comedy are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-430083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u2022 Aug. 22: \u201cAnd Life Goes On\u201d (1992), Abbas Kiarostami\u00a0
\u2022 Aug. 29: \u201cGoodbye, Dragon Inn\u201d (2003), Tsai Ming-liang\u00a0
\u2022 Sept.\u00a05:\u00a0\u201cQuerelle\u201d (1982), Rainer Werner Fassbinder\u00a0
\u2022 Sept. 12: \u201cPandora and the Flying Dutchman\u201d (1951), Albert Lewin\u00a0
\u2022 Sept. 19: \u201cTrouble in Paradise\u201d (1932), Ernst Lubitsch\u00a0
\u2022 Sept. 26: \u201cYourself and Yours\u201d (2016), Hong Sang-soo\u00a0
\u2022 Oct. 3: \u201cA New Leaf\u201d (1971), Elaine May\u00a0
\u2022 Oct. 10: \u201cThe Music Room\u201d (1958), Satyajit Ray\u00a0
\u2022 Oct. 17: \u201cThe Ceremony\u201d (1971), Nagisa Oshima\u00a0
\u2022 Oct. 24: \u201cSilent Shorts Program,\u201d multiple directors \u2022 Oct. 31: \u201cThe Red Shoes\u201d (1948), Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger\u00a0<\/p>\n