The first Ocean Beach Surf Film Festival, celebrating the art and cinema of surfing, tops this week’s local movie slate.
Taking place at the Balboa Theater, just blocks from Ocean Beach (a longtime home for surfing), the bound-to-be-fun three-day festival kicks off on Friday with a treat: screenings of the classic 1966 documentary “Endless Summer,” featuring surfing stars, mighty waves and a glimpse into the surfer psyche. The film will be shown in its original format, with a 16mm Technicolor print (discovered by local archivist Jon Bastion).
Saturday’s lineup includes Thomas Campbell’s “The Seedling,” presented with live music and narration; Kathryn Bigelow’s “Point Break” and William Phelps’ “North Shore.”
On Sunday, look for an outdoor concert by the Mermen, plus screenings of Grant Washburn’s “Chasing Big Waves” and free local short surf films.
There’s more. Visit balboamovies.com for details.
Close Your Eyes
This new film by Spanish master Victor Erice (“The Spirit of the Beehive”) — his first feature in decades — is a terrific reason to visit your local arthouse.
The drama centers on a filmmaker named Miguel (Manolo Solo), who hasn’t made a movie since the 1990s, when Julio, the lead actor in that film, who was also Miguel’s friend and Franco-era prison buddy, mysteriously vanished.
About 20 years later, in contemporary Madrid, Miguel begins investigating Julio’s disappearance. His journey features old colleagues, ex-lovers, Julio’s daughter, some friendly nuns, and a shuttered old cinema. Eventually, Miguel gets some answers, but they result in even more mysteries.
At first, Erice’s unhurried storytelling may cause some to worry that this 169-minute drama will prove ponderous. But not to fear. The contemplative tone befits Miguel’s meaningful, introspective quest.
“Close Your Eyes,” opening Friday at the Roxie, is a beautifully navigated and moving consideration of memory, friendship, and the enduring impact of the movies on the consciousness and the imagination.
The Critic
Tonal problems mar this initially enjoyable bad-behavior comedy opening Friday at the Kabuki directed by Anand Tucker (“Leap Year”) and set in 1930s London.
Acting treasure Ian McKellen plays Jimmy Erskine, a newspaper theater critic who can make or break careers. An arrogant and debauchery-loving man with working-class roots, Jimmy basks in the prestige his job gives him.
That all changes, however, when new boss David Brooke (Mark Strong) tells Jimmy he’s about to be fired for refusing to tone down the scathing tone of his reviews, and for failing to be discrete with his sexual “proclivities.”
To retain his job, Jimmy hatches a scheme involving blackmail, seduction and a career-focused actress (Gemma Arterton).
So far, what has transpired is amusing enough, and the self-important Jimmy, played with nuance as well as relish by McKellen, makes for an entertaining and even interesting monster who isn’t without a positive attribute or two (his disdain for fascism, for example).
But then the story takes a wrong turn, when Tucker and screenwriter Patrick Marber drastically darken Jimmy’s doings, which become nastier and deadly. Incompatible with the more palatable earlier scenes, this material isn’t compelling. It’s off-putting.
Winner
Available Friday on video on demand, filmmaker Susanna Fogel’s (“Cat Person”) comedy-drama profiles Reality Winner—the Texas-bred National Security Agency contractor who, in 2017, leaked information to the press about Russian interference in the U.S. elections. Winner’s actions resulted in a raw deal: a five-year prison sentence for espionage.
Featuring Emilia Jones in the title role (Sydney Sweeney played Winner in director Tina Satter’s 2023 “Reality”), the movie, which includes droll voice-over passages that overfocus on its heroine’s usual name, is billed as a dark comedy, but it unfolds too flatly and formulaically to merit that description. It’s instead a watchable standard biopic and a missed opportunity.
I’ll Be Right There
The acting outshines the filmmaking in this superficial but likable comedy at the Lark in Larkspur.
Edie Falco plays Wanda, a woman who is so committed to attending to the demands of her emotionally needy grown children (Kayli Carter, Charlie Tahan) that she neglects to consider her own happiness. Her gambling-addicted mother (Jeannie Berlin) is no picnic either.
Director Brendan Walsh, working from a screenplay by Jim Beggarly, gives the movie a sit-commy tone. Capable actors bounce dialogue back and forth adeptly, but dramatic impact occurs only on the surface.
At the same time, though, Walsh wisely avoids sentimentality. And Falco, creating a believable character who is both frustrating in her behavior and embraceable in her goodness, keeps us involved.
Merchant Ivory
The filmmaking universe of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant receives deserved attention in this documentary at the Opera Plaza.
Hailing from Bombay and Berkeley respectively, Merchant and Ivory, and their company, Merchant Ivory Productions, released more than 40 films from 1961 to 2005, including acclaimed British literary adaptations like “A Room With a View,” “Howards End” and the ahead-of-its-time gay love story “Maurice.”
Via archival materials and recent interviews, filmmaker Stephen Soucy explores the history and dynamics of the Merchant Ivory team, which also included screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and composer Richard Robbins. Many will be surprised to learn how scrappy the Merchant Ivory operation was, and that romantic as well as professional entanglements existed in this dysfunctional family of sorts.
Cinema lovers of many stripes will appreciate this doc.
The Zombie Wedding
Brains are on menu, but not much IQ or depth, in this genre comedy about a mixed marriage — she’s a human, he’s a zombie — and a wedding where pandemonium is sure to happen.
Directed by Micah Khan and based on an interactive play, the movie, streaming online starting Friday, is a low-budget, low-effects affair, and that proves refreshing. But there’s nothing clever or novel enough here.
The cast includes Deepti Menon, Donald Chang, Cheri Oteri, and Mickey Dolenz (oah f Monkees fame).
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