Film Feature: 69th SFFILM Festival Preview #2

The 69th SFFILM Festival is days away, April 24 – May 4, featuring over one hundred films from more than forty countries. Please visit the SFFILM Festival website for more information about the exciting program, how to purchase tickets, and a calendar of special events and presentations.

In the meantime, here’s a second preview of the Festival, highlighting three films and six shorts: Renoir, How to Clean a House in 10 Easy Steps, Filipiñana, and shorts Corpus Christi, The Veil, Vultures, A Year of Marriage, Cardboard and First Winter.

1.) RENOIR
(Japan/France/Singapore/Philippines/Indonesia/Qatar/USA, 2025. 118 min.)

In Renoir, director Chie Hiyakawa (Plan 75) takes us deep into the emotional hardships of a Japanese family in late-’80s suburban Tokyo. Yui Suzuki is incredible as 11-year old Fuki, whose perspective we follow as she navigates coming to terms with a terminally ill father, an overwhelmed mother, and her own imagination, which often blurs the line between fantasy and reality. At times beautiful, and other times haunting and tense, Renoir is a patient meditation on grief as seen through the eyes of an adolescent.

Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sat., Apr 25th, 11:30 am PT @ BAMPFA
– Sun., May 3rd, 6:00 pm PT @ Marina Theatre

Continue reading “Film Feature: 69th SFFILM Festival Preview #2”

Eat All: The Songs of Heated Rivalry: Episode 4

EPISODE 4: ROSE

SYNOPSIS: Ilya’s friend-with-benefits Svetlana and Shane’s teammate Hayden are starting to think their friends might be getting serious about that person they’re always texting. After a hookup at Ilya’s Boston apartment, he asks Shane to stay the night. They nap and watch hockey; Ilya tells him about Svetlana. Ilya makes Shane a tuna melt, which my therapist says is Canadian for “I care about you.” Shane overhears Ilya talking on the phone with his sick father, leading to a new level of intimacy between them, which leads Shane to freak out. At a party soon after, Shane hits it off with the movie star Rose Landry and figures he might as well try girls again, leading to a jealous standoff between our two heroes at a Montreal nightclub.  Continue reading “Eat All: The Songs of Heated Rivalry: Episode 4”

Single of the Week: “Do We Exist?” by Spacemoth

Spacemoth is back! I’m bloody thrilled… She’s returned with a bright and sunny bit of krautrock joy. Does that make sense? NOT AT ALL! Until you listen to the track. Heck, even Willow Smith is on board at this point. Put your brain in a swimming pool in the sun and enjoy.

“Do We Exist?” is the first single off Spacemoth’s sophomore record, Inward Eye, dropping June 26th. See them at their record release show at Rickshaw Stop on July 24th, or at the King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard curated Field Of Vision Festival August 14-16! Or on your computer right now courtesy KEXP! 

Eat All: The Songs of Heated Rivalry: Episode 3

EPISODE 3: HUNTER

SYNOPSIS: New York Guardians captain Scott Hunter — who we have met in passing at the first MLH Awards, the all-star game, and the Sochi Olympics — is having a streak of bad luck. A smoothie bought from a cutie named Kip breaks that streak, so Scott keeps coming back. Scott gives Kip hockey tickets. Kip literally runs into Scott while cater-waitering a gala. The next thing you know, these two are shacked up and in love, until Kip’s badass pal Elena tells them both that they deserve sunshine. Scott can’t come out right now. So Kip goes home to his awesome dad, then gets a full ride to grad school. 

This episode is the series’ double-LP concept album, having to jam an entire book into one hour. Continue reading “Eat All: The Songs of Heated Rivalry: Episode 3”

Film Review: “Everyone is Lying to You for Money”

McKenzie’s impressive directorial debut aims to sort through the crypto hysteria

Ben McKenzie sits down with Sam Bankman-Fried in ‘Everyone is Lying to You for Money’.

Best known for his lead role in the early 2000s teenage soap opera The O.C., Ben McKenzie has since supplemented his acting career with a journalistic approach to economics (a subject he earned an undergraduate degree in from the University of Virginia). Based on his writing debut, 2023’s “Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud,” McKenzie has directed, produced, and starred in a documentary, Everyone is Lying to You for Money, exploring his concern and criticism of the cryptocurrency era. Maintaining a brisk pace and a high-level approach suitable for wide audience consumption, McKenzie’s documentary effectively frames the critical questions we should all, as a monetarily-driven society, be asking about crypto. Continue reading “Film Review: “Everyone is Lying to You for Money””

Film Feature: 69th SFFILM Festival Preview #1

The 69th SFFILM Festival is days away, April 24 – May 4, featuring over one hundred films from more than forty countries. Please visit the SFFILM Festival website for more information about the exciting program, how to purchase tickets, and a calendar of special events and presentations.

In the meantime, here’s a preview of the festival, highlighting four films: Rose of Nevada, The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford, The Queen and the Smokehouse, and Cookie Queens.

1.) ROSE OF NEVADA
(UK, 2025. 114 min.)

Rose of Nevada’s writer/director/cinematographer/editor/composer Mark Jenkin (Bait) has delivered a visceral cinematic allegory. George MacKay (1917) and Callum Turner (Eternity) star as young men in the British seaside village of Cornwall who agree to serve as fishermen on an empty vessel that has reappeared after being lost at sea for thirty years. After hauling in a successful catch, they return to a Cornwall that has changed in very strange ways. Utilizing 16 mm film for a vivid, old photographic feel, and with a focus on textural detail, from peeling paint on a door to slimy barnacles on a boat’s hull, Rose of Nevada evokes a unique sensory experience that takes the audience deep into the narrative’s mysteries.

Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sun., May 3rd, 8:30 pm PT @ Marina Theatre

Continue reading “Film Feature: 69th SFFILM Festival Preview #1”

SXSW 2026 Diary

SXSW

Our newest addition to the Spinning Platters crew, Misty Brewster, had a daunting first assignment: SXSW 2026. Here’s SEVEN days straight of music: Continue reading “SXSW 2026 Diary”

Single of the Week: “Famine” by Kate Nash

I don’t like to pick covers for Single of the Week, but I’ll make an exception here- Kate Nash has presented a retelling of Sinead O’Connor’s “Famine,” which tells the truth about the Irish potato famine and how it all ties back to English Imperialism. Last night I saw Habibi perform, and their lead singer, Rahill, discussed at length what’s happening in Iran, and it was potent. (Her song about that is dropping soon) But the history of false famines to control a population is as painful as it is deliberate. (See: US destroying Cuba RIGHT THIS FUCKING SECOND)

“Famine” is ready to stream now, and the 7″ can be preordered for release July 17th. 

Film Review: “Exit 8”

Exit 8 is equally mind-bending and frustrating

A anomalous (?) man smiles in the infinite passageway in ‘Exit 8.’

Based on an indie Japanese video game, Exit 8 finds its protagonist, a young man (Kazunari Ninomiya), on his way to a temporary job, only to get caught in a neverending loop of subway station hallways. The only clue the entrapped man (and the audience) has to what’s going on is through an information sign that warns to look for anomalies, and if one is spotted, to turn back immediately. Successfully spotting the anomalies, which can vary from a small change in a poster design to a horrific creature popping through ceiling vents, enables the protagonist to get to the “next level” (i.e., the next exit), which are numbered from 0 to 8. As a concept, this psychological setup is a great opportunity for sight gags, mind-bending conundrums, and visceral thrills. Unfortunately, Exit 8 tries too hard to be super serious and sincere amid its repetitiveness, to the extent that audiences will be begging for a tonal or structural shift (but maybe that’s the point?). Continue reading “Film Review: “Exit 8””

Film Review: “Hamlet”

Hamlet showcases Ahmed’s way with ‘Words, words, words’

Hamlet (Riz Ahmed) broods in the nighttime glow in ‘Hamlet.’

Set in modern day London amid a wealthy South Asian family, Hamlet is the latest cinematic adaptation of Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy. Clearly filmed on a modest budget, yet using dialogue directly pulled from Shakespeare’s text, Hamlet will be embraced by thespians and fans of the Bard, but generally dismissed by casual moviegoers looking for something more grandiose.  Continue reading “Film Review: “Hamlet””