Dr. Fred Pollock and wife Carol on right with crowd

Dr. Fred Pollock, president of the WV Jewish Film Festival, with the assistance of manager Mike Tawney, presented an outstanding program of two new Jewish-themed films at The Park Place Stadium Theaters last night. Fred counted about 250 for the first film and 160 for the second.

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Film Comment magazine recently published a list of the top films of the decade. Charleston film expert has is own list which is below. I am still working on my own. (more…)

Dr. Fred Pollock, president of the WV Jewish Film Festival, has announced that on Sunday, January 24th at 3 PM, his group will be presenting the “a Jewish Comedy Mid-Winter Double Feature Afternoon Matinee Special” that starts with the  hit new Jewish documentary, “Yoo, Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg”. The film has been showing around the country to large audiences. It comes from Aviva Kempner, award-winning maker of The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg. (more…)

 Robert Gates bringing his DVDs in to SCM LaBelle Theater

Robert Gates has been making his own independent films in West Virginia longer than anyone, starting with Buffalo Creek in 1972. He made his first complete film in 1977 with “In Memory of the Land and People,” still considered the best documentary ever made about stripmining. He has also won awards for his short experimental film, “Communication from Weber” that traveled the British Isles, and has made many more films including two of the first films on the effects of MTR – “All Shaken Up” and “Mucked.” Last night, despite the chilling weather, about 75 people including Ken Hechler attended the local premieres of his two newest films, “Celebrating 40 Years – The West Virginia Highland Conservancy” and “Buffalo Creek.” He finished with the world DVD premiere of his classic “Morris Brothers Old-Time Music Festival”.(1972-released in 1980)

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  (Charleston, WV, December 4, 2009)The South Charleston Museum will begin its 2010 West Virginia Film Series on Saturday, January 9^th at 7 PM with three films by West Virginia’s leading independent filmmaker, Robert Gates. The three films will all be local premieres. He will introduce the film and answer questions afterwards. The three films are – “Celebrating 40 Years – The West Virginia Highland Conservancy,” “Buffalo Creek Disaster,” and the world DVD premiere of “Morris Family Old Time Music Festival.”- Admission is $4.  (more…)

Andrew Sarris I believe at his typewriter

Bullfrog Films of Oley, Pa. is the distributor “For the Love of Movies – The Story of American Film Criticism,”   a senational new film about the history of American cinema and American film critics. Given that many publications, including this one, The Charleston Gazette, no longer pays its reporters to review films, relying on bloggers like myself, the endangered world of “official” film criticism has spawned a thousand web film critics including myself. This new documentay is a must-see for anyone who loves films, and has enjoyed reading the serious film criticism that once was so important in American cinema. (more…)