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.
Phantom Thread Paul Thomas Anderson presents what Daniel Day-Lewis promises will be his big-screen swansong as a 1950s London dressmaker. Reynolds Woodcock (Day-Lewis) operates at the heart of London's women's fashion industry. Running The House of Woodcock with his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville), this life-long bachelor's life appears to be on cruise control until he meets a strong-willed customer, Alma (Vicky Krieps). The second outing between Anderson and Day-Lewis (has anyone forgotten 2007's explosive "There Will Be Blood?"), this artistic feast comes in widescreen 70mm. (2/15-16)
Apocalypse Now Redux (1979/2001) Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola wrestled for years making a film version of the Vietnam War whose literary paradigm was Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." "Your mission is to motor up-river to Col. Kurtz's headquarters and terminate his command with extreme prejudice." "Saigon, shit, I'm still only in Saigon!"
Martin Sheen's young officer begins his nightmare journey with these lines. Scattered around his hotel room are signs of the young man's breakdown, his lurch towards madness. The story will nearly consume its characters, as in real life it nearly consumed its creator, Coppola. Note the scene where the boat crew hears an Armed Forces Radio broadcast of Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones' "I Can't Get No Satisfaction."
Most memorable quote from Robert Duval's commanding officer Col. Kilgore: "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning!" With Harrison Ford, Dennis Hopper, Frederick Forrest, Bill Graham, Larry Fishburne, and a head-shaven Marlon Brando as the rogue Green Beret officer who is leaving the service on very bad terms.
Last Flag Flying Richard Linklater offers a kind of poignant sequel to Hal Ashby's 1973 Navy buddy saga "The Last Detail." Thirty years after they served together in Vietnam, former Navy Corpsman Larry "Doc" Shepherd reunites with his old buddies, former Marines Sal Nealon and Rev. Richard Mueller, to bury his son, a young Marine killed in Iraq. Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston and Laurence Fishburne provoke laughter and tears as they assume one of war's most wrenching burdens. (both 2/18)
Blade Runner 2049 30 years after the action of the first film, 1982s "Blade Runner," Officer K (Ryan Gosling) unearths a secret that could plunge what's left of humankind into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find former blade runner (slang for android killer) Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), missing for 30 years. Co-starring Ana de Armas, Robin Wright, Sylvia Hoeks and Jared Leto in Denis Villeneuve's sequel to Ridley Scott's sci-fi masterpiece, based on Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
Marjorie Prime In the near-future, with artificial intelligence, 86-year-old Marjorie (Lois Smith) has a handsome new companion who resembles her deceased husband and is programmed to feed the story of her life back to her. (both 2/19)
Darkest Hour Gary Oldman is breathtaking as British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, powering this Joe Wright drama to six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor.
Dunkirk In 1940, during the early days of WWII, hundreds of thousands of British and Allied troops are trapped on a Normandy beach, surrounded by German forces. RAF Spitfires battle Nazi planes in the skies above the Channel as a small armada of private vessels mounts a desperate effort to save even a fraction of Allied soldiers. Christopher Nolan recreates one of WWII's great turning points with a veteran cast headed by Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance. (both 2/20-21)
Tom of Finland Finnish filmmaker Dome Karukoski presents the story of a legend: Touko Laaksonen (1920-91), a one-time-obscure artist whose work ultimately would become iconic among gay men into leather. This narrative bio-pic, a hit at Frameline 41, concentrates on pivotal moments and relationships that would inspire Tom's hypermasculine drawings, art that would excite gay men worldwide. Arrested on a train by East German authorities, Tom is faced with both defending his unique artistic vision and maintaining his freedom at the hands of vicious homophobes.
BPM (Beats Per Minute) Robin Campillo's powerful docudrama on the Paris chapter of ACT-UP features a star-crossed couple. Nathan (Arnaud Valois) is seduced by Sean (Argentina's charismatic Nahuel Perez Biscayart), a young militant whose behavior intensifies as his grip on life is challenged by falling T-cell counts and screaming matches with others, just as life-saving drug treatments appear. (both 2/25-26)
Call Me by Your Name Romantic Italian director Luca Guadagnino provides LGBTQ filmgoers with a boy-meets-man romance exploring the nuances of same-sex affection over a glorious Northern Italian summer in 1983. The setup: 17-year-old, curly-haired imp Elio (Timothee Chalamet) falls for Oliver (Armie Hammer), a 6'5" American graduate student spending the summer as a live-in archeological assistant to Elio's dad (Michael Stuhlbarg). American screenwriter James Ivory ("Room with a View") joins forces with Andre� Aciman to produce an R-rated version of the latter's novel. The bond between Elio and Oliver includes a playful moment when Elio leaps on Oliver's back as if the latter were a wild horse in need of taming. Catch this one on the Castro screen in anticipation of the Oscars and a potential sequel. (2/27)