Spike Jonze – Spinning Platters

Spinning Platters film critics Carrie Kahn and Chad Liffmann present their Top 10 Films of 2013. Here’s Chad’s list, presented in the order of which he feels they deserve to be ranked (1 being the best, 10 being pretty damn good too!)

1.) Inside Llewyn Davis

“If it was never new and it never gets old, then it’s a folk song” The Coen brothers newest film is a hilarious, thought-provoking, darkly intelligent, musical journey into the 1961 New York folk music scene. Featuring masterful performances under the direction of master filmmakers, Inside Llewyn Davis is a documentary of sorts — accurately capturing a time period and a historical mentality…yet its message is timeless. Continue reading “Film Feature: Chad’s Top 10 Films of 2013”

Cyber love is a many-splendored thing!

A future where someone looking like this (above) isn't creepy. — A future where someone looking like this (above) isn’t creepy.

Spike Jonze has delivered a cinematic gem once again, this time in the form of the incredibly touching, heartfelt, and honest, Her. Her marks the first time Jonze has been the sole writer of one of his directorial efforts, and his remarkable talent is on full display. There’s a lot of perspective and emotions to be gained from this simple story about the romantic relationship developed between a lonely writer and an operating system. There are a lot of things that could’ve gone wrong, too, but all are avoided. First and foremost, the glue that manages to bind all the odd and challenging (and borderline creepy) pieces together is its believability. Thanks to Jonze’s poignant script and memorable performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson, Her bridges the gap between what we fear technology may become and an ideal version of what technology could accomplish, presented in the form of a romance more sincere than most romances dare to be.

Continue reading “Film Review: Her”