Spinning Platters – Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds

OUTSIDE LANDS NIGHT SHOWS ANNOUNCED!!!!

We are roughly six weeks out from Outside Lands 2026. Which means it’s time for news to start coming out again from the event organizers! I was literally just thinking about the night shows, and, sure enough, they’ve started rolling them out. Including the legendary Clipse playing the tiny Independent?!?! Also, Modest Mouse gracing the stage of the recently revitalized Castro Theater?!?! And so much more! OSL Ticket Holders can buy tickets starting tomorrow at 10 am. Tickets to the general public are on sale on Friday at 10 am from this link. Full lineup below! Outside Lands 2026 is mostly sold out, but you can get on the waitlist here if you slept on tickets.

Continue reading “OUTSIDE LANDS NIGHT SHOWS ANNOUNCED!!!!”

How Did Scott Simoneaux Get Here?

You can find the entire series of “How Did I Get Here”? here or on your favorite Podcast Application!

This is the story of Scott Simoneaux, the booker for ATG Live, an offshoot of ATG- the organization that brings touring productions of Broadway shows to big cities around the country. He’s bringing touring bands and one-off events to those theaters while they are dark. In the Bay Area, this includes the original stars of Airplane! hosting a Q+A this Friday, as well as Robert Plant and Art Garfunkel shows coming up. We talked about how he found himself starting this career by simply liking a band and wanting to help them, taking him from New Orleans to Los Angeles and all the way in between. We also both realized we had stumbled across t his book about the Stooges by accident.

Learn more about ATG Live here!

Film Review: “Disclosure Day”

Spielberg’s newest is summer cinema at its best

Margaret (Emily Blunt) and Daniel (Josh O’Connor) are on the run.

After spending some time ruminating on his past with the autobiographical The Fablemans, Steven Spielberg returns to summer blockbuster mode with Disclosure Day. Like E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and War of the Worlds before it, Disclosure Day mines Spielberg’s favorite topic: are we alone in the universe? But fear not: the new film is not so much a retread of old themes, but a fresh updating that’s more than a little relevant to our chaotic, uncertain times. With Disclosure Day, Spielberg has created the best kind of old-fashioned summer cinematic fare, giving us a film as action-packed as it is philosophical. Continue reading “Film Review: “Disclosure Day””

Single of the Week: “Ego” by The Warning

I’m not a “metal” guy. It takes something really special in that world for me to fall for. “Ego” is a Spanish Language, driving, chunky head banger that I’ve been listening to so much that, despite being three weeks old now, it only seems fair to give it the honors that it should’ve gotten right away.

“Ego” is off The Warning’s upcoming album, Everything’s Falling, which is out August 28th in stores and on your local DSP.

Film Feature: Chad’s 100 Favorite Films of All Time (25-1)

We made it! To catch you up one last time: I’m turning forty-two today. In the spirit of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, I’ve spent some time considering the existential mundanity of turning this age, and what has been the answer to the question of my life, my universe, and everything.

I have also decided to hang up my film critic hat. Over thirteen years and nearly three hundred film reviews written, numerous festivals covered, and a handful of interviews conducted, all beginning with my April 2013 review of 42 (see, it’s fate that I finish on my 42nd birthday), I’m ready for my next chapter. Of course, I’ll leave the door open for the occasional guest post or podcast appearance.

If you wish to use my 100 Favorite Films list as a watchlist, here’s a handy dandy PDF checklist. A more compact list can be found on my Letterboxd account.

Here’s Monday’s post listing films #100-76.
Here’s Tuesday’s post listing films #75-51.
Here’s yesterday’s post listing films #50-26.
And now, my Top 25 Favorite Films of All Time…

Why: The book gave me chills, and I thought it was impossible to adapt to film. Alex Garland proved me wrong and delivered a beautiful, horrifying, and haunting sci-fi drama that explores humankind’s self-destructive nature.
Favorite Scene: The nightmare bear.

Why: Buoyed by brilliant performances and a keen eye for unique visual storytelling, Lanthimos crafted a devilishly funny yet dramatic narrative portraying the misuse and misunderstanding of power. This was my #1 film last year.
Favorite Scene: The badger exchange.

Why: One of my favorite books and a decisively brilliant film adaptation. It’s tough to think of a more perfectly casted movie in the last twenty years, and each performer is firing on all cylinders.
Favorite Scene: Gas station clerk coin flip. Continue reading “Film Feature: Chad’s 100 Favorite Films of All Time (25-1)”

Show Review: Kesha at Concord Pavilion, 5/27/26

(Photo by Chris Tuite)

I’ve always had a soft spot for Concord Pavilion, before that when it had a different corporate sponsor attached to the name, and through every era in between. It’s one of the few large amphitheaters in the Bay Area where the setting is genuinely part of the experience. Nestled into the hills, the venue manages to feel intimate despite its size, and there really isn’t a bad seat in the house. Whether you’re up close or stretched out on the lawn, the rolling landscape behind the stage becomes part of the evening. Continue reading “Show Review: Kesha at Concord Pavilion, 5/27/26”

Film Feature: Chad’s 100 Favorite Films of All Time (50-26)

To catch you up, again, but quicker: I’m turning forty-two tomorrow. Below is an extrapolated version of my annual list of all-time favorite films. Also, I have decided to hang up my film critic hat. Ok let’s do this!

Here’s Monday’s post listing films #100-76.
Here’s yesterday’s post listing films #75-51.
And now for #50-26…

Why: I don’t think there’s an “artsier” film on this list, nor is there an actor with more interesting and impressive performances than Robert Pattinson over the last 10 years.
Favorite Scene: Thomas Wake’s guttural, bellowing sea curse… “Hark!”

Why: The funniest SNL film adaptation (sorry, Wayne’s World). This movie has an IV line of humor flowing directly into my bloodstream.
Favorite Scene: MacGruber recruits his super soldier team.

Why: There was a group of costumed fans at the advance screening. I bet they were really happy with what they saw. I know I was. Fury Road is the most “how did they do that” movie of the century.
Favorite Scene: The whole thing is basically one long chase, but the final gas truck chase sequence takes the cake. “Witness me!”
Read my full review
Continue reading “Film Feature: Chad’s 100 Favorite Films of All Time (50-26)”

Film Feature: Chad’s 100 Favorite Films of All Time (75-51)

To catch you up: I’m turning forty-two this Thursday, June 11. I feel that commemorating this meaningful/meaningless birthday with an extrapolated version of my annual list of all-time favorite films would be fun, and it turns out to be a lot of work.

I have also decided to hang up my film critic hat. Over thirteen years and nearly three hundred film reviews written, beginning with my April 2013 review of 42 (see, it’s fate that I finish on my 42nd birthday), I’m ready for my next chapter. Of course, I’ll leave the door open for the occasional guest post or podcast appearance.

Here’s yesterday’s post listing films #100-76.
And now for #75-51…

Why: If I recall correctly, this was the first R-rated movie I saw in theaters and also one of the first CDs I ever owned (it’s still one of my favorite movie scores). It was a huge movie event in the Bay Area because the film takes place and was filmed across various San Francisco locales.
Favorite Scene: The San Francisco car chase.

Why: The Grand Budapest Hotel felt like the culmination of all of Wes Anderson’s style and motifs up until that point, allowing for a large-scale character-driven story.
Favorite Scene: The “Get your hands off my lobby boy!” train stop.

Why: A brilliant send-up of Westerns, with the rare quality of containing humor that still holds up today.
Favorite Scene: Eating beans around the campfire. Continue reading “Film Feature: Chad’s 100 Favorite Films of All Time (75-51)”

Film Feature: Chad’s 100 Favorite Films of All Time (100-76)

I’m turning forty-two this Thursday, June 11. In the spirit of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, I’ve spent some time considering the existential mundanity of turning this age, and what has been the answer to the question of my life, my universe, and everything. Since I turned thirty and on every birthday since, I’ve curated an annual list of my “100 Favorite Films of All Time” and posted it to Instagram (it’s a personal ‘time capsule,’ not what I consider the “best” films of all time; please note the difference). I feel that commemorating this meaningful/meaningless birthday with an extrapolated version of my annual list would be fun, and it turns out to be a lot of work.

Without further ado, here’s my current list of 100 Favorite Films (divided into four countdown posts, because 100 is a lot) with short blurbs reasoning why each title is included, what each means to me personally (if applicable), and a link to my Spinning Platters review (also if applicable)… And presented in reverse order for added suspense. Here we go…

Why: A fun (and the superior) film adaptation of Charles Portis’ novel that fits perfectly into the Coen Brother’s tonal wheelhouse.
Favorite Scene: Tom Chaney gets the jump on Mattie.

Why: A stacked cast and great performances power this western actioner to the peaks of rewatchability, even if the final few minutes are hokey.
Favorite Scene: Doc Holliday’s surprise showdown with Johnny Ringo.

Why: Such a beautiful film. Also, this is my wife’s favorite film and one which I quoted in my wedding vow. But that didn’t factor into this 😉
Favorite Scene: Black’s discovery of peanut butter. Continue reading “Film Feature: Chad’s 100 Favorite Films of All Time (100-76)”