Israeli writer-director Samuel Maoz is diabolically clever in using the metaphor of an old-fashioned dance - the kind they used to teach in school before rock-n-roll - in his latest fiction feature "Foxtrot."

A couple married 48 years, skillfully brought to life by film veterans Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland, are the best reason to catch Italian director Paolo Virzi's American film debut "The Leisure Seeker."

Even before she left her Nazi-threatened Austrian childhood home, it was clear that Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000) was not just another pretty face.

Oscar winners and runners-up feature heavily in the Castro Theatre's March schedule. A dash of classic French cinema adds spice to this cold and unpredictable month.

In "Tehran Taboo," opening Friday at the Roxie, a collection of cartoon adults and kids take us on a perilous excursion through a country our president has consigned to limbo.

Although film is considered a director's medium, it's equally dependent on writers. Thus, from their inception, the Academy Awards honored screenplays.

Again this year Landmark Theatres is offering audiences a chance to see the new Academy Award nominees in the categories of Best Animated & Best Live Action Short Films.

To describe Francois Ozon as a cinema "bad boy" may seem a tad quaint, but the one-time Young Turk of French film is back with a new feature that comes with big aspirations.

Director Andrey Zvyagintsev's bleak and emotionally harrowing domestic drama "Loveless" is Russia's Oscar candidate for Best Foreign Language Film.

Since its inception a decade ago, the Mostly British Film Festival has carved out an unusual niche, distinguishing itself among a crowded field of local festivals as a reliable source for classic and first-run English-language movies from abroad.

"In Between" opens with a comic prologue. A young woman is having her legs waxed by a grandmotherly type.

In the second half of February, the Castro Theatre's countdown to Oscar rolls out a handful of Best Picture contenders the way they should be seen.

"A Fantastic Woman," the 2018 Best Foreign Film Oscar nominee from Chile, opens in the shadows, within a poorly lit Santiago nightclub.

The 20th San Francisco Independent Film Festival continues through Feb. 15 at the Roxie (3117 16th St.), Victoria (2961 16th St.) and 518 Val Pop-Up (518 Valencia).