by Dennis Harvey

The Dog  (7 pm) and Dog Day Afternoon  (8:55 pm) screen Thursday, September 11 at the Castro Theatre.

Very well-received at the time, Sidney Lumet’s 1975 Dog Day Afternoon  still personifies for many people what was so great about 1970s “New Hollywood” cinema: a gritty urban crime tale with depth and humor, stressing character over thrills or FX, aimed squarely at adults. Adding additional frisson was the fact that the story, which might have seemed ridiculous in less capable hands, was, in fact, based on a real-life incident. Continue reading →