Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson
Ratings (out of five): ****

Clint Eastwood more or less established the modern-day biopic formula back with Bird (1988), though it was not a formula back then; the proof is that the movie only received one Oscar nomination, for its sound design. Two years ago, Eastwood revisited the biopic genre with the interesting, if not entirely successful Invictus; if anything, that movie simply bit off more than it could chew. Now Eastwood is back with a third biopic, J. Edgar (also on Blu-Ray), and given the first two, there was no reason for high hopes.

However, thanks to a smart script by Dustin Lance Black, who also wrote Gus Van Sant's Milk (2008), and Eastwood's typically understated direction, J. Edgar turns out to be a fascinating portrait, not so much of a man, but of the way that man tried to manipulate his own legacy.

Continue Reading J. Edgar

It's a bit of an escapist-themed week for new DVDs at GreenCine, with tons of vintage Italian re-releases, dates with Marilyn, and dodging adulthood, plus much much more!Head to the jump for the full list. 

Continue Reading New and Coming Releases: March 13, 2012.

Reviewer: Philip Tatler IV
Ratings (out of five): ****

Watching a play rehearsal is usually the province of long-suffering stage parents showing support for their fledgling thesps. The idea of sitting on cold chairs in a darkened, dusty theater while actors in street clothes decipher their text and block out their movements isn’t a universally appealing one. But that’s the essence of Louis Malle’s 1994 swansong, Vanya on 42nd Street: watching actors informally work over the finer points of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya.

Continue Reading Vanya on 42nd Street (Criterion)

Brace Yourselves ... for Game of Thrones plus some other stellar DVDs are new to GreenCine this week!

Continue Reading New and Coming Releases: March 6, 2012.

The San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), presented by the Center for Asian American Media, is the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asian films, annually presenting over 100 works in the San Francisco Bay Area. GreenCine is proud to sponsor the Festival’s 30th anniversary program, which celebrates the past, present, and future – not only honoring pioneers in Asian and Asian American media-making, but also new directions in digital and interactive media, sound and youth culture, and gaming.

Connect! Facebook / Twitter / Youtube / Flickr

And thanks to our friends at CAAM, we've got 10 tickets to give away for any of the SFIAAFF screenings! More details after the jump.

Continue Reading 30th Annual San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, March 8 - 18th Ticket Giveaway!

Reviewer: Craig Phillips
Ratings (out of five): ****

With a title that makes it sound like an action film, Steve James' new documentary The Interrupters actually is an action film in a way -- it's about the brave actions of a few reformed souls who try to do some good in a world of violence. James, who co-directed the masterful epic Hoop Dreams, one of the most important documentaries of the past thirty years, returns to Chicago for this story of those who call themselves "interrupters," people who try to mediate gang-related disputes before they escalate into violence.

The film, based on a book by Alex Kotlowitz, has a remarkably fluid, fly on the wall style of which Frederick Wiseman would approve. Though snubbed by this year's Oscars, it did at least win the Indie Spirit Award for Best Documentary.

Continue Reading Frontline: The Interrupters

Reviewer: Philip Tatler IV
Ratings (out of five): *** 1/2

The Criterion Collection’s release of Lena Dunham’s Tiny Furniture has been met with much consternation from a certain type of cinephile. Dunham – the argument goes – is too young, too amateurish and too privileged to receive the imprimatur of the venerated DVD label, especially with her first film. For many basement-dwelling film theorists, the Criterion label is sacrosanct – the equivalent of cinematic sainthood – and Dunham’s inclusion represents a type of apostasy.

I first caught up with Tiny Furniture after reading all the outraged blog posts (about a year before the actual DVD release) and braced myself for the worst. It wasn’t bad. Then, a year later, I received the reviled DVD in the mail and – before my second viewing – dove deep into the disc’s ample extras.

Continue Reading Tiny Furniture (Criterion)

Being Flynn is the new dramatic feature from Academy Award-nominated writer/director Paul Weitz (About a Boy). Adapted from Nick Flynn's 2004 memoir Another Bulls—t Night in Suck City, the movie explores bonds both unbreakable and fragile between parent (Robert De Niro) and child (Paul Dano).

Evocatively told, ruefully funny, and moving in its depiction of the ties that bind, Being Flynn tells a story that reveals universal truths.

We've got a prize pack up for grabs to celebrate the film's Friday (3/2) release!

Continue Reading Being Flynn Prize Pack Giveaway!

Though not as big a winner at the Oscars as The Artist, Hugo still came up big this awards season. Check it out among other winners for rent, this week! 

Continue Reading New and Coming Releases: Feb 28, 2012.

GreenCine writers and special guests will be  live tweeting the Oscars on Sunday night,  February 26, 2012. Join us for some live, rapier (t)wit! 

Continue Reading GreenCine Oscar Night Tweetup 2012!