Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Twenty-one years ago, writer/director Rebecca Miller won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance for her drama Personal Velocity. Other well-received films followed, including her last film, Arthur Miller: Writer, a 2017 HBO documentary about her famous father. She returns now with She Came to Me, her first narrative feature since 2015’s terrific Maggie’s Plan, and, given her past successes, the results are disappointing.
With Armageddon Time, writer/director James Gray (Ad Astra; The Immigrant) has made his Belfast. Gray’s loosely autobiographical film substitutes the dawn of the Reagan era in early 1980’s Queens for the Troubles of 1960’s North Ireland. Like Kenneth Branagh’s protagonist Buddy (Jude Hill), though, Gray’s stand-in Paul (Banks Repeta) similarly faces the confusion and challenges of growing up in a volatile and uncertain time. The result is a film that, while occasionally heavy handed, nevertheless boasts some strong performances and leaves us with a message of hope.
You don’t need to have seen the previous three Ocean’s movies (that would be 11, 12, and 13 for the uninitiated) to enjoy Ocean’s 8, the female-helmed companion film that opens today; it stands alone as a highly enjoyable, old-fashioned heist movie. But those who are loyal fans of the original series will be rewarded with a few nods to the previous films, as well as a couple of cameos that I won’t reveal here, but which will no doubt please the films’ devotees. Breezy and fun, writer/director Gary Ross’s entry into the Ocean’s universe retains the brisk confidence of the original pictures, while providing a welcome freshness by changing the stories’ traditional casting.
*NOTICE: Many people have tried tirelessly to avoid exposure to any spoilers or plot details (or anything, really) regarding Interstellar. I found it hard to write about Interstellar without mentioning ‘anything, really’, so be forewarned*
starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Aaron Tveit
screenplay by: William Nicholson
directed by: Tom Hooper
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for suggestive and sexual material, violence and thematic elements
starring: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Matthew Modine, Juno Temple
written by: Jonathan and Christopher Nolan
directed by: Christopher Nolan
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language
“Look at this city!” Lone Scherfig is staring out at the San Francisco skyline from a conference room at the Ritz Carlton, perched high atop Nob Hill. Despite being a celebrated international director with a penchant for filming in the world’s loveliest locations, the 52-year old Danish director is in San Francisco for the first time (the closest she’d come previously was an appearance at the Mill Valley Film Festival). “You have so much good architecture here,” she exclaimed, eyes scanning the cityscape before us.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Lone Scherfig on “One Day””