This week: Frameline, Frameline, Frameline! Our coverage here. Ticket and schedule info here.

Hollywood's two big releases are the Adam Sandler-Andy Samberg arrested-development yukfest That's My Boy, and the Tom Cruise hair metal musical Rock of Ages. If you're excited about either, you probably aren't the type of person who gives two shits what movie critics say. Just a guess. So, enjoy. As you were.

Also of note for movie fans: the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society opens "The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of: San Francisco and the Movies" this weekend. It features work by Madeleine Ellster herself, Kim Novak, plus:

"The exhibition paints a picture of the amazing breadth of the Bay Area’s film history and filmmaking community, using educational text panels, photographs, posters, vintage cameras, movie props and other objects. Slide shows, lectures, book signings, oral history recordings, screenings, and multimedia will also be part of the exhibition."

(I can't confirm there will be a Harry Callahan street shootin' simulator, but that would be pretty awesome, no?)

But back to the movie theater:

Read more »

Prometheus, fuck yeah! Finally, after way too many spoiler-y trailers, Ridley Scott's new sci-fi epic reaches theaters. My review below, along with a few others this week worth seeing, if aliens and such don't float your boat. (But seriously, Prometheus! Worth seeing, even if aliens don't float your boat.)

Also worth checking out: the Pacific Film Archive's series highlighting local experimental talent Nathaniel Dorsky (Max Goldberg's write-up here) and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' exciting "New Filipino Cinema" programming (Dennis Harvey reports here, with a bonus midnight-movie DVD recommendation here).

Read more »

Good news for fans of the watch-movies-at-home lifestyle (stay tuned for tomorrow's post aimed at new-movies-in-the-theater junkies): just in time for Pride season (and just a week ahead of Frameline 36, the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival), Wolfe — "the largest exclusive distributor of gay and lesbian films" — launched a worldwide video-on-demand service.

Zip on over to Wolfeondemand.com to check out the 30 titles available for instant streaming (kind of like Netflix, you "rent" the film for viewing via home computer, iPad, iPhone, or even iPodTouch). The company plans to have its entire library of features and docs available eventually, but for now, check out films like Tomboy, which spent just a brief time in Bay Area theaters last year but was among Guardian critic Lynn Rapoport's top three of 2011 (read her review here).

Read more »

Admit it: you've already searched showtimes for Piranha 3DD (I totally did). It wasn't screened for critics (duh). There's plenty more to report on in the world o'cinema, however, including buzzed-about indie The Color Wheel at the Roxie and Smith Rafael (check out Ryan Lattanzio's review/interview here) and the latest from Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom (Michelle Devereaux has mixed feelings here).

By dint of its cast (which includes an Oscar winner, a vampire baby mama, a superhero, and a cocksucker), Snow White and the Huntsman will probably rake in the most of any new movie. But is it worth seeing?

Read more »

Attention! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! We are at zombie threat level red (as in oozing, dripping, blood red ... don't deny it, you clicked the photo link just like I did). So, what's a proactive citizen to do? Bar your doors, board up the windows, start rationing the Cheetos, and immediately overload your brrrraaaaaaaaiiiinnnn with these shambling, flesh-eating highlights (and lowlights) of undead cinema. And this is by no means a complete list. Use it as a jumping-off point to enrich your ongoing zombie education. WHAT YOU LEARN MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE.

Read more »

As we all breathlessly count the days — nay, milliseconds — until the June 1 release of Piranha 3DD, there's still plenty to gnaw on this Memorial Day weekend. Chernobyl Diaries screens tonight (i.e., the night before it opens) which is usually not a great sign, but it's likely critic-proof anyway (even for me, someone who's not entirely opposed to the idea of a new genre: nuclear-meltdown-sploitation! Sit down, 1979's China Syndrome. This one's got screaming teens and spooky spooks!) Er, anyway ... check back tomorrow for my review of that one.

Meanwhile, apply your brain and/or sense of social justice while watching Michael Glawogger's final entry in his "globalization trilogy," Whores' Glory (Dennis Harvey's review here), or adjust your popcorn levels accordingly for these other recommends:

Read more »

While all the cool kids are at Cannes, us losers are stuck stateside to contemplate the two big Hollywood movies opening this week: Battleship, which stars Liam Neeson, the guy still smarting from his titular role in the reigning biggest flop of all time, and aliens (and has no chance of being the best movie based on a board game); and The Dictator (review below). Your choice is clear.

You could also feed your Jack Black obsession (already running red-hot with the new Tenacious D album, natch) with Richard Linklater's new comedy, Bernie (review here). You could expand your cinematic horizons at the San Francisco Cinematheque's third annual "Crossroads" festival. Or, while weeping over blogs detailing Cannes flicks you won't get to see until 2013, you could organize your summer movie plan of attack.

And, of course, feed your Sno-Cap habit with The Dictator and other top picks from the rest of this week's opening slate:

Read more »