Email Author Gregg Rickman

2011 Stories by Gregg Rickman

• On Obsessions, Corinthians, and Parakeets

  published August 31, 2011

  A four-hour film that zips by in a feverish dream, Sion Sono's ninja softcore art movie satire Love Exposure enlists viewers in its... More >>

• Counter-Outsider Activists

  published August 24, 2011

  Max Good's Vigilante Vigilante quickly sketches — you could say "tags" — the history of graffiti in America, rousingly in... More >>

• Fall Arts: What Fall Movies to Seek Out

  published September 7, 2011

  We know that Hollywood will continue to rain bad romantic comedies, dumb action movies, and shameless Oscar fodder on our complaining but... More >>

• Edgar Wright, Filmmaker Behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Says He'll Never Make a Sequel

  published Aug 31, 2011

  Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead is a particularly beloved film. Jesse Hawthorne Ficks, host of the venerable Midnites for Maniacs series, where Wright appeared over the weekend, reported that several... More >>

• "Love Exposure": Ninja Softcore Art Movie? Yes, Please

  published August 31, 2011

  A four-hour film that zips by in a feverish dream, Sion Sono's ninja softcore art movie satire enlists viewers in its cult even as you're... More >>

• The Arbor's Clio Barnard Talks About the Human Tragedy Amid Poverty in Thatcher's Britain

  published Aug 19, 2011

  Andrea Dunbar was a major figure in British theater in the Thatcher era. The life -- and afterlife -- of the playwright is the subject of Clio Barnard's new documentary The Arbor. Most Americans know... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Better Than Something Captures Garage Rocker Jay Reatard's Brief, Troubled Life

  published Aug 17, 2011

  Opening in a burst of feedback, Better Than Something -- screening tonight at the Roxie -- offers a 90-minute portrait of the late Memphis punk musician Jay Reatard (1980-2010). Filmmakers Alex Hammo... More >>

• "Vigilante Vigilante": Quirky Doc Follows Antigraffiti Activists

  published August 10, 2011

  Max Good's film quickly sketches – you could say "tags" – the history of graffiti in America, rousingly in favor of even the... More >>

• Jewish Filmmakers Talk About What It's Like to Live Between Two Worlds

  published Aug 03, 2011

  "In Israel, we were asked, 'Do you represent all American Jews or just Bay Area Jewsr'" says Berkeley filmmaker Deborah Kaufman. "And we answered, 'We represent two Jews.'" Kaufman and her husband an... More >>

• Cartoonist Bill Plympton Talks About Idiots and Angels and Finding Success on His Own Terms

  published Jul 25, 2011

  For three and a half decades cartoonist Bill Plympton has astonished audiences with his rapidly mutating animated films. In works like Your Face (1987) and 25 Ways to Quit Smoking, (1989) human featur... More >>

• The Red Vic Movie House Is Dead. Long Live the Red Vic Movie House.

  published Jul 22, 2011

  Harold and Maude, in its whimsical sentiment and barbed satire, is the ideal memento mori for this venerable repertory cinema that closes its doors tonight after three decades. Hal Ashby's film (drawn... More >>

• S.F. Silent Film Festval: Resurrecting Napoleon, Fiercely Debating Modern Musical Scores

  published Jul 18, 2011

  The 16th San Francisco Silent Film Festival reached a triumphant conclusion Sunday after four full days of nonspeaking - but not mute - cinema at the Castro. Founded in 1994 by a small band of enthusi... More >>

• Quiet on the Set

  published July 6, 2011

  John Ford was an early practitioner of silent cinema’s straight-ahead narratives, moving up as a journeyman in cowboy movies to a respected... More >>

• A Hole in the Iron Curtain

  published June 29, 2011

  To most of us, North Korean cinema, like North Korea itself, is a blank wall. We assume it’s pure propaganda, generated by a strange clique... More >>

• "Happy": Doc About Happiness Is So Shallow It's Depressing

  published June 29, 2011

  Fresh as a summer breeze, and as substantial, Genghis Blues director Roko Belic's new film zips across a dozen countries in an effort to... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Terence Stamp Entertains Castro Crowd with Tales from Priscilla, Other Films

  published May 02, 2011

  Like a latter-day Superman supervillain General Zod, British actor Terence Stamp materialized Friday evening at the Castro Theatre, special guest star in the ongoing flow of San Francisco Internationa... More >>

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  FEATURED STORY

  Space-Con Boldly Goes Where Few Fans Have Gone Before: The First Star Trek Conventions

  published Apr 13, 2011

  Stardate Feb. 22, 1975: It's Northern California's first Star Trek convention, held at Lincoln High School in San Francisco. The long lines, crowded rooms, and boisterous reception for guests George ... More >>

• Sci-Fi Fandom, the Prequel

  published April 13, 2011

  Stardate Feb. 22, 1975: It's Northern California's first Star Trek convention, held at Lincoln High School in San Francisco. The long... More >>

• Bee Worried

  published March 23, 2011

  Apiphobes — people suffering from the fear of bees — will want to avoid Queen of the Sun, the latest film by the director... More >>

• "Queen of the Sun": Documentary Looks at Bee Colony Collapse

  published March 23, 2011

  Apiphobes — people suffering from the fear of bees — will want to avoid this latest film by the director of The Real Dirt on... More >>

• A Director Offside

  published March 16, 2011

  Six years in prison, and 20 years before he can film or even write again. That’s the sentence meted out earlier this year to Iranian... More >>

• Nice Kid on a Dangerous Roll

  published March 9, 2011

  If Wes Anderson and Charlie Kaufman collaborated on a movie about skateboarding, they would be hard pressed to come up with something as... More >>

• Self-Proclaimed Genius Outsmarts Hollywood

  published February 16, 2011

  In The Woman Chaser, bored, nihilistic used-car salesman (Patrick Warburton) decides to become a movie director in Eisenhower-era... More >>