My favorite thing about SF Sketchfest is catching all kinds of funny people at once in the same room. Not only that, but these are the kind of people I don’t often have the chance to see live, so it’s always fun to peruse the schedule every year and see who’s slated to appear with whom, what’s being celebrated, yadda yadda yadda. As is the case with most years, there were quite a few events I was interested in, but in the end, I only made it to one. This past Saturday night, I found myself queuing up around the block at Cobb’s Comedy Club to watch old clips of Derek & Simon: The Show with the stars and creators of the show (Derek Waters, Simon Helberg, and Bob Odenkirk in particular). Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Derek and Simon (and Bob): An SF Sketchfest Tribute Celebration at Cobb’s Comedy Club, 1/27/24”
Tag: Bob Odenkirk
Film Feature: Chris Piper’s Top 10 Films of 2021
Films make a big comeback in 2021
2021 in American cinema was remarkable in how it seemed so… normal. Whatever the numbers say, my feeling was that the year started a little slowly, then found its footing around March, then kicked into something like a normal gear over the summer. As fall approached, and it seemed to me more theaters reopened, a slate of films pretty much like those in 2019 awaited. Winter seemed to bring somewhat larger than normal crop of smaller-budget films, and here we are, at the end of the year with a number of solid films released, awards season in full swing, and waiting for Oscar noms in just over a month.
So here are my top 10 films of 2021. See these 10 films in any order you want, preferably in the theater, but on your couch if you must. Here’s hoping for more of more of the same in 2022. Continue reading “Film Feature: Chris Piper’s Top 10 Films of 2021”
Film Review: Nobody
Nobody isn’t perfect, but it’s the somebody we need for our return to theaters
Fans of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul know that Bob Odenkirk has a terrific wry, deadpan presence. If you’ve ever wondered what Breaking Bad might have been like had Odenkirk been cast as Walter White instead of Saul Goodman, you may want to check out the new action thriller Nobody.
Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Episode 10 with David Owen, Co-Founder of Sketchfest
Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” is available most everywhere you enjoy podcasts. You can find us and subscribe here!
In this installment, I got to speak to SF Sketchfest co-founder David Owen about, well, how to put on an underground comedy festival, and what do you do when it’s no longer underground. We talked about his first production, his first festival, how he met Cole Stratton and Janet Varney, the other two founders of the festival (SPOILER: It’s Talking Heads related, just like the name of this podcast), and how they are handling things when it’s entirely unknown when the festival will be safe to play out again.
SF Sketchfest is doing a virtual live read of Plan 9 From Outer Space just in time for Halloween with Kat Aagesen, Maria Bamford, Bobcat Goldthwait, Dana Gould, Jean Grae, David Koechner, Tim Meadows, Laraine Newman, Oscar Nunez, Bob Odenkirk, Jonah Ray, Paul F. Tompkins, Janet Varney, Baron Vaughn, plus musical accompaniment by Eban Schletter. Well, just before Halloween. October 29th to be precise. Tickets can be purchased here!
SF Sketchfest’s archives have also been opened up for rental, and those shows can be found here!
If you have any feedback about this episode, feel free to email me at dakin@spinningplatters.com. If you like what you heard and want to help support this thing, feel free to Venmo me whatever tip you feel is adequate @Dakin-Hardwick. And, most importantly, please go to SaveOurStages.com to find out what you can do to help independent promoters and venues weather this COVID crisis so we have shows to go back to when this pandemic is over. Thanks for listening!
Film Review: Long Shot
Cast is terrific, but this movie becoming a must-see is a long shot
Director Jonathan Levine tries his hand at comedy again for the first time since 2017’s tepid Amy Schumer/Goldie Hawn vehicle Snatched, and somewhat redeems himself. Long Shot is a bit smarter and a bit funnier than Levine’s previous picture, but, while entertaining enough, it isn’t destined to become a comedy classic.
Continue reading “Film Review: Long Shot“
Film Review: The Post
Spielberg brilliantly brings First Amendment showdown to life
“We can’t have the administration dictate our coverage just because they don’t like what we printed about them in the newspaper,” Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) tells Post owner and publisher Kay Graham (Meryl Streep) in director Steven Spielberg’s fine new film The Post. A paean to journalism that is still exceedingly relevant today, Spielberg’s story of the Post’s battle to publish the confidential Pentagon Papers in the early 1970s succeeds on a number of levels, making it one of the best pictures of the year, and giving it a rightful place in the canon of great journalism movies.
Film Review: Boulevard
Williams makes unimaginative picture worth seeing
Boulevard is a tough movie to review, and an even tougher movie to watch, and not because it’s exceptionally good or exceptionally bad; it’s neither of those, but is a decent, if somewhat unoriginal, follow up by director Dito Montiel to his much lauded 2006 picture A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints. What makes the film hard to look at objectively is that it features Robin Williams in his last dramatic role, and it’s very difficult to see Williams’s performance here and not think about what he was going through when this film was made, only a year or so before his tragic suicide.
Film Review: Nebraska
Just in time for the holidays: The joy and Payne of family
We are heading into the time of the year when studios typically release what they hope are their best films, the ones they want to be fresh in the minds of Academy members for Oscar Best Picture voting. Director Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants) gets into this game with Nebraska, sure to be a contender in many categories come Oscar time. Beautifully shot in black and white and filled with nuanced and sensitive performances, the picture brilliantly melds Payne’s signature quirkiness with charm, emotional honesty, and wry humor. Continue reading “Film Review: Nebraska”
Sketchfest Review: 7-Man Sweater (2/5/2012)
Bob Odenkirk: a cult legend credited with championing and evolving a subversive, acclaimed comedy sentiment. Birthday Boys: a hyped collection of vastly witty, silly sods. Together they formed a rousing precession of jubilant, sophisticated sketches, closing Sketchfest with a bang — bang, scream, yell, “He’s got a gun!”, “My baby!”. You know, comedy. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: 7-Man Sweater (2/5/2012)”
A Music Nerd’s Guide To SF Sketchfest 2011
To the uninitiated, San Francisco’s Sketchfest is probably the most overwhelming 2 1/2 weeks out of the entire year, in terms of live entertainment booking. Its closest cousin is probably Austin’s SXSW festival, where you have a wide array of up-and-coming talent mixed with veterans, all playing some very intimate spots.
As a person that considers himself to be an expert of sorts on taste, I am going to sift through this year’s line-up, and let you know what you should be going to at this year’s Sketchfest. I will guide you through which Emmy winners or CSI corpses (both of which are well represented by this event), in my humble opinion, is most worthy of your hard earned dollar.
Continue reading “A Music Nerd’s Guide To SF Sketchfest 2011″