The Second Night

Aug 18, 2023 — This week we’re revisiting After Hours and other ’80s greats and the oeuvres of Yasuzo Masumura and François Truffaut.

Aug 20, 2021 — The author of Velvet Was the Night pays tribute to the shockingly stripped-down, dread-inducing use of silence in Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterful neonoir.

Aug 13, 2021 — This week we’re reading about the first and second waves of noir and taking a good look at a smartly dressed man.

Nov 1, 2019 — Jonathan Glazer and Michael Mann return, Parasite fever burns on, and Paul Harrill rolls out his acclaimed second feature.

Mar 3, 2025 — Sean Baker’s eighth feature wins five top Academy Awards.

Apr 23, 2019 — It’s unlikely that anyone who pays attention to contemporary short films will be unfamiliar with our selection this week on the Criterion Channel, which took the film-festival circuit by storm last year, garnering dozens of awards and an Oscar nomination....

Jan 18, 2018 — One of the landmarks of 1960s Japanese cinema plays at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive this week.

Nov 25, 2025 — Having broken through in over-the-top horror movies, Kier turned in arresting performances in films by Fassbinder, Lars von Trier, and Gus Van Sant.

May 18, 2026 — Critics are taking to Paweł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland, Radu Jude’s The Diary of a Chambermaid, and Jordan Firstman’s Club Kid.

Jan 10, 2024 — The twentieth edition of MoMA’s festival of film preservation features classics and fresh discoveries from around the world.