Theatre Review: “Wine Escape”

Wine Escape brings a bit of Northern California to the UK
Daniel Craze and Nick Hessling as Jimmy & Johnny- a duo not to be messed with! Photo Courtesy of Molly Grave (2022).

Greetings from the UK! The land that brings you British Pantomime. For our readers who are unfamiliar with Pantomime, it is a form of theatre that encourages audience members to participate. The plot almost always revolves around a fairy tale. There’s some set of rules like certain characters who always appear so repeat pantomime goers have an idea of what to expect. Audiences love moments like shouting at the main character that something has appeared behind them, like a big bad wolf. Of course they don’t notice, and this drives the audience wild, especially younger audience members, who are typically the target for these type of shows. Singing and dancing along to pop songs is encouraged, and, in general, it’s a smashing good time. Continue reading “Theatre Review: “Wine Escape””

Film Review: Churchill

It’s never too late to grow up

Winston Churchill wrestles with a difficult decision.

In Churchill, opening in Bay Area theaters today, we’re asked to see the old English bulldog in a new and unflattering light as he attempts to bend the tide of history to his will. The film suffers from too narrow a focus, and an approach to story that is as simplistic as the former British prime minister was complex.

Continue reading “Film Review: Churchill

Part One of the Spinning Platters Interview: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost of The World’s End

Maybe we can get a fourth movie in this trilogy if we ask nicely.
Maybe we can get a fourth movie in this trilogy if we ask nicely.

Tomorrow sees the U.S. release of The World’s End, the third film in a so-called trilogy of films from Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of sitting around a table with a group of San Francisco film writers to talk with them for a few minutes. Those few minutes became a lot more minutes, as once they started talking, they had a lot to say. Part one of this two-part interview will touch on subjects such as traveling to England, Raising Arizona, and putting peanuts in a log. Come back tomorrow for part two of this interview, and a review of the movie as well.

You mentioned during a post-film Q&A that you wanted to show parts of England that weren’t London, but then these parts of England that aren’t London have zombies, they have murderers, they have what we see in this movie …

Edgar Wright: Which is basically saying “Don’t go to England.” Continue reading “Part One of the Spinning Platters Interview: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost of The World’s End”