Email Author Michael Fox

2010 Stories by Michael Fox

• Naked in Denmark

  published May 12, 2010

  More than 75 years after Viennese beauty Hedy Lamarr went skinny-dipping in Ecstasy, sex in mainstream movies has devolved completely from... More >>

• Play It Again, François

  published May 12, 2010

  The French New Wave blew a hurricane gale of fresh air into the stultified, hierarchical conventions of late-'50s world cinema, which continues to... More >>

• Darkness at Noon

  published May 5, 2010

  Film noir was made for San Francisco’s rainy, cheerless winters, when the sight of some other poor mug’s misfortune goes a long way... More >>

• Start the Presses

  published May 5, 2010

  Greenfield Village, a kind of living museum of outmoded American inventions and customs outside Detroit, used to feature working blacksmiths,... More >>

• Dancing Queen

  published April 28, 2010

  Even the most autocratic choreographer recognizes that creating a dance is a collaborative process. Pina Bausch went further than most; she’d... More >>

• On the Wings of Love

  published April 28, 2010

  Implausible plots, laughable dialogue, stilted acting — the plague of the self-serious summer blockbusters draws nearer every day. Be afraid,... More >>

• The Lies Have It

  published April 28, 2010

  The once-impervious wall separating documentary and fiction crumbles a little more each day, with most of the blows inflicted by reality TV. Fine... More >>

• What To Dor Thursday's Pick: The Short Films of Al Jarnow

  published Apr 22, 2010

  "Celestial Navigations: The Short Films of Al Jarnow" @ Red Vic Al Jarnow's free-association films serve as an astringent antidote to the wisecracking-animal-and-dancing-inanimate-object school of an... More >>

• S.F. International Film Fest preview

  published April 21, 2010

  It's that time of year again, when San Franciscans are treated to an embarrassment of cinematic riches. Between April 22 and May 6, the S.F.... More >>

• Visibly Animated

  published April 14, 2010

  Al Jarnow’s free-association films serve as an astringent antidote to the wisecracking-animal-and-dancing-inanimate-object school of... More >>

• Beach Party

  published April 14, 2010

  Next time you’re enjoying a bonfire, bottle, or bong at Ocean Beach, cast a glance at the northernmost condos facing the sunset. An amusement... More >>

• Experiments in Cinema

  published April 7, 2010

  Perhaps out of compassion for punch-drunk filmgoers who might flinch at the addition of another festival to their packed-to-the-gills calendars,... More >>

• What To Dor Tales From Terror Town at Mezzanine

  published Apr 05, 2010

  Tales From Terror Town @ Mezzanine Horror is all too often dissed as a low-rent genre, but talented directors from Roman Polanski to Francis Ford Coppola to Sam Raimi have entered the film biz throug... More >>

• Beyond Bigelow

  published March 31, 2010

  San Francisco Women’s Film Festival founder and executive director Scarlett Shepard might have yelled, “You go, girl!” when... More >>

• Our Lady of the Woods

  published March 24, 2010

  Anna Halprin, who celebrates her 90th birthday in July, is a force of nature. Not the kind that steamrolls everything in its path but a gently,... More >>

• Horror Business

  published March 24, 2010

  Horror is all too often dissed as a low-rent genre, but talented directors from Roman Polanski to Francis Ford Coppola to Sam Raimi have entered... More >>

• Screening Rights

  published March 17, 2010

  The Palestinian problem, as it’s called in some circles, is also an Israeli problem, of course. Countless American Jews on the left have... More >>

• Tortured Cels

  published March 17, 2010

  From Betty Boop to Beavis and Butt-head, from Fritz the Cat to the lads of South Park, animation has long proved a conducive setting... More >>

• On Poetry

  published March 3, 2010

  The poet Lorine Niedecker lived in out-of-the-way rural Wisconsin, but was widely recognized and embraced by contemporaries such as William Carlos... More >>

• Urban Jungle

  published March 3, 2010

  Spike Lee was hardly the first African-American independent filmmaker; in fact, his early breakthrough was only made possible by pioneers like... More >>

• Playing for Keeps

  published March 3, 2010

  Kimberly Reed is one high school quarterback whose glory days didn’t climax the night of the homecoming game. The Montana native went on to... More >>

• Palm Pictures

  published February 24, 2010

  Any schnook can shoot lo-res video with a cellphone or Webcam, as you once demonstrated to your (or your lover’s) satisfaction (or... More >>

• Eyes on the Horizon

  published February 24, 2010

  Our local topography inspires words like “scenic view” and “panoramic vista,” but there’s nothing particularly elevating... More >>

• Fassbinder’s Children

  published February 17, 2010

  Presumably you noticed the gaping void in last month’s movie listings, between New Year’s Day and late January’s Noir City, where... More >>

• Misfit Medleys

  published February 10, 2010

  Slap a title like “Freaks, Punks, Skanks, and Cranks” on a film series, and it can mean only one thing: Fun for the whole family.... More >>