David Lowery – Spinning Platters

Film Review: A Ghost Story

Should the spirit move you to see this movie, ignore it

Casey Affleck plays a bed sheet clad ghost in A Ghost Story.

Boo! Sorry if I startled you, but such an opening seems appropriate for a review of A Ghost Story, writer/director David Lowery’s new film about, yes, a ghost – replete in Casper-esque white sheet with eyeholes and all. But this ghost isn’t exactly friendly; in fact, he’s sad. Bereft, even. And lost. He needs closure. And you will be yearning for it, too, if you choose to sit through this pretentious slog masquerading as a profound meditation on grief.
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Film Feature: 2017 Sundance Film Festival Spotlights #1

… in which our intrepid California-bred Senior Film Reviewer defies an epic winter storm and a fierce chest cold to bring you highlights from this year’s famous Park City fest.

The 2017 Sundance Film Festival ended last Saturday evening after ten days of showcasing over 200 films from around the globe; you can see all the winners here.

For the third year in a row, Spinning Platters was on the (snow-covered) ground trying to take in as many movies as our limited time and budget would allow. And so we bring you the first of our posts spotlighting the 17 films we managed to squeeze in to just over five days.

Many of these may receive distribution deals (if they haven’t already), so you can know what to watch for in the coming year with these handy capsule reviews, which use our patented Sundance Viewing Priority Level (VPL) Guide:

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5 Things I Learned at the 10th SF MusicTech Summit on 2/13/2012

Photo by Kara Murphy — Legal issues were all the rage at the SF MusicTech Summit, but I've never concerned myself much with the law in this area.

This week was the 10th SF MusicTech Summit at The Hotel Kabuki in Japantown, and while Spinning Platters has been covering this event since the beginning, this was the first time I personally got to attend. The event serves mainly as a chance for everyone in the music tech world to catch everyone else up on what they’re doing, congratulate themselves on how well they’re all doing, and look for money and engineers; however, sometimes you can learn things. Here’s what I learned. Continue reading “5 Things I Learned at the 10th SF MusicTech Summit on 2/13/2012”

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 6/2/11-6/8/11

cracker — A single Cracker is playing at Cafe du Nord on Monday

Big shows, little shows, in between shows, there’s a little bit of everything for everyone this week. It’s a great week to go to shows in the bay!

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Show Review: Cracker & Camper Van Beethoven at The Independent, 12/28/09

Cracker is a good band. They have nice fun upbeat songs, all the musicians are more than capable, their songs don’t all sound the same, and there is decent stage banter. The music is pretty straight forward likable rock. Much the same could be said about Cracker’s counterpart Camper Van Beethoven, especially since they basically have the same band members (take Camper Van Beethoven, subtract a violinist/guitarist and add a female back up singer to get Cracker). There really is no logical reason not to enjoy their live show, yet somehow, I spent the entire evening vaguely wanting to die. Why? Continue reading “Show Review: Cracker & Camper Van Beethoven at The Independent, 12/28/09”