The 39th Mill Valley Film Festival heads into its final four days at Century Cinema in Corte Madera, Century Larkspur in Larkspur, Cinearts Sequoia in Mill Valley, Lark Theater in Larkspur, and Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. Between today and Sun., Oct. 16, several dozen features and docs will receive their West Coast debuts. Below we give our picks for your attention, beginning with the revival of a venerable genre, slated to hit theaters in November.
Bleed for This You've probably noticed that boxing films are making a comeback. Once the staple of Hollywood's "B-list," boxing dramas, like the bloody sport itself, were written off as pop culture road-kill more than once. Once the province of Tinseltown macho dudes Kirk Douglas (Champion), William Holden (Golden Boy) and Robert Ryan (The Setup ), boxing dramas could launch or revive a fading career. Even James Dean was slated to put on the gloves for Somebody Up There Likes Me, a project that after Dean's death was passed on to rising star Paul Newman.
The latest to hop into the cinema ring is 30something hottie Miles Teller, already noted for edgy career choices (Whiplash, Divergent ). In Bleed for This Teller takes on complicated boxing bad-boy Vinnie "The Pazmanian Devil" Pazienza, a Providence, RI-raised boxer who rose to stardom on the strength of two world-title fights. At the height of his fame, Vinnie nearly lost his life as well as his career after a head-on collision left him with a severed spine. With the help of acclaimed trainer Kevin Rooney (Aaron Eckhart), Vinnie is triumphant not only in learning to walk again, but against all odds and his doctors' advice, in returning to the ring to regain his champion belts only a year after the accident. Directed by Ben Younger. (Rafael, 10/15)
Aquarius Brazilian star Sonia Braga returns as a one-time music critic struggling to hang on to her small apartment during her country's runaway building boom. Director Kleber Mendonca Filho allows his camera to reveal a well-lived life and a woman determined not to become a symbol of her frontier society's bouts of wretched excess. (Lark, 10/14; Larkspur, 10/16)
The Architect Indie star Parker Posey and TV vet Eric McCormack are a couple whose pursuit of a dream house is up-ended by an eccentric architect (James Frain). This comedy-drama comes courtesy of director Jonathan Parker. (Sequoia, 10/13; Rafael, 10/14)
Christine Rebecca Hall is Sarasota, FL TV reporter Christine Chubbuck, an ambitious young woman who rebels against the paint-by-the-numbers formulas of small market television. Christine's story acquires unexpected poignancy due to circumstances beyond her control. (Larkspur, 10/15; Lark, 10/16)
The Confessions In director Robert Ando's thriller set against the backdrop of international high finance, a monk knows secrets about the bankers who play fast and loose with human lives. In Italian, French and English, with English subtitles. (Sequoia, 10/14, 15)
Death in Sarajevo Oscar-winning Danis Tanovic returns with a jittery drama transpiring over an afternoon at a hotel conference in always-volatile Bosnia/Herzegovina. (Rafael, 10/13, 15)
Diani and Devine Meet the Apocalypse This indie comedy from directors Etta Devine and Gabriel Diani describes the comic pratfalls of a man, a woman and a small white dog. (Lark, 10/15; Sequoia, 10/16)
Egon Schiele: Death and the Maiden German filmmaker Dieter Berner dramatizes the brief (1890-1918) life of a noted Austrian painter who danced along the edge for an exhilarating moment as his compatriots failed to work out their disputes peacefully. (Larkspur, 10/15; Rafael, 10/16)
Ella Brennan: Commanding the Table Director Leslie Iwerks celebrates a Bay Area foodie queen, now in her still-vibrant 90s. (Larkspur, 10/15)
Fire at Sea The refugee crisis making headlines is vividly described in Gianfranco Rosi's doc shot on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. (Rafael, 10/13; Lark, 10/14)
Occupy, Texas Jeff Barry directs this off-beat comedy about an Occupy Wall Street activist who brings his cause home to the Lone Star State. (Lark, 10/13; Rafael, 10/14)
Gimme Danger Jim Jarmusch's portrait of punk rocker Iggy Pop and his band The Stooges. (Sequoia, 10/14; Larkspur, 10/15)
My Scientology Movie John Dower demonstrates the difficulty of making an accurate film about a highly secretive, quasi-religious organization with its share of high-profile celebrity members. (Larkspur, 10/13; Sequoia, 10/15)
Fukushima, Mon Amour German director Doris Dorrie captures the aftermath of this Japanese region's harrowing experience with the double whammy of tsunami and the meltdown of its nuclear reactor. (Sequoia, 10/14; Larkspur, 10/15)
I, Daniel Blake The veteran leftist director Ken Loach presents a drama about the declining working-class, starring Dave Johns and Hayley Squires. This year's top Cannes winner. (Sequoia, 10/14)
In Dubious Battle That artistic jack-of-all-trades James Franco adapts a John Steinbeck Depression-era tale about a California fruit-pickers' strike. (Rafael, 10/14)
The Long Night of Francisco Sanctis Directors Francisco Marquez and Andrea Testa present a story based on events in Argentina's Dirty War, based on a novel by Humberto Costantini. (Rafael, 10/14)
Lost in Paris Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon present a whimsical tale based on a missing relative. Here style beats content. (Larkspur, 10/13; Sequoia, 10/14)
Love Is Thicker than Water British directors Emily Harris and Ate de Jong offer a lovers' tale starring Johnny Flynn and Lydia Wilson as a couple whose romance plays out against the backdrop of today's London. (Sequoia, 10/15; Rafael, 10/16)
Lupe Under the Sun Mexican director Rodrigo Reyes' story concerns the social disruptions that unfold when an aging farmworker returns to his native Mexico. (Lark, 10/13; Rafael, 10/15)
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise Directors Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack's bio-doc on this amazing poet, with contributions from James Baldwin, Oprah Winfrey, Alfie Woodard, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Cicely Tyson and Angelou's son Guy Johnson. (Rafael, 10/13)
Mifune: The Last Samurai This bio-doc on notable Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune (Rashomon, Throne of Blood) (1920-97) from American director Steven Okazaki covers his work with Akira Kurosawa and the influence this had on Sergio Leone, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. (Lark, 10/14; Larkspur, 10/16)