Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Author: Carrie Kahn
Moving from the arthouse to the multiplex with grace, ease, and only the occasional eye roll. Proud member of the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle.
Anderson triumphs in sobering tale of an aging showgirl
Shelly (Pamela Anderson) ponders her future after learning her Vegas showgirl gig is ending.
Demi Moore just picked up her first Golden Globe in a 45+ year career for her ferocious performance as an aging, cast-aside starlet in The Substance. That Moore, a 62-year-old former 1980s it girl herself, so deftly inhabits that character speaks to the power of an art-mirroring-life role. Now Pamela Anderson, the 57-year-old former 1990s it girl of Baywatch fame, follows in Moore’s footsteps, turning in an exceptional, unforgettable performance as an aging showgirl in the far less bloody but no less affecting The Last Showgirl.
The end of the year of course means Top 10 lists! Here are my ten favorite films of 2024 (and four honorable mentions). Oscar nominations follow in just a few weeks, on Friday, January 17th. Stay tuned to see if Oscar voters share my thinking. And be sure to also check out fellow SP Film Critic Chad’s Top 20 list here. In the meantime–see you back in the cinema in 2025!
Mangold, Chalamet create a biopic worth a watch—and a listen
Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) arrives in New York from Minnesota.
Writer/director James Mangold is no stranger to a music biopic. In 2006, Reese Witherspoon won a Best Actress Oscar for playing June Cash in Mangold’s Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. The movie garnered four other nominations, including a nomination for Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of Cash. Now, 18 years later, don’t be surprised if A Complete Unknown, Mangold’s dramatization of Bob Dylan’s rise to fame, yields similar awards for its exceptional cast.
Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo, l.) and Galinda (Ariana Grande) become friends after a rocky start.
There are three main things you need to know if you’re considering seeing Wicked, the cinematic adaptation of the award-winning Broadway musical. First: Be aware that it’s very long–almost three hours. Second: Most of the movie posters for the film haven’t emphasized this fact–and only recently did IMDB change the film’s title from just Wicked to Wicked: Part I–but the film that opens today is indeed only PART ONE of a two-part adaptation. The movie released today corresponds to the live musical’s first act. That means that somehow the production’s entire story–which managed to be told in a nearly three hour live musical (including an intermission, no less)–has, in the hands of director John M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians; In the Heights), become an interminable six hour filmic experience, with the two individual movies running just as long as the original musical itself, while each only telling half the story. Which brings us to point three: While the film is a visual feast, featuring exceptional production design and cinematography, its stretched-out story drags, meanders, and is often mind numbingly dull.
Benji (Kieran Culkin, l.) and his cousin David (Jesse Eisenberg) have lunch during their group tour of Poland.
If you loved Kieran Culkin as the brutally honest but sensitive Roman Roy in Succession, you’re bound to enjoy his work in A Real Pain. As Benji in Jesse Eisenberg’s new film, Culkin creates a similar character whose lack of social filters and often inappropriate bluntness masks deep empathy and pain. Eisenberg also co-stars as Benji’s more buttoned up cousin, David. The duo’s performances help make A Real Pain one of the year’s best films.
Ivan (Mark Eidelshtein) and Anora (Mikey Madison) have a good time.
Filmmaker Sean Baker first gained acclaim with his 2015 iPhone-filmed indie Tangerine. He continued his ascent with the equally well-received TheFlorida Project (2017) and Red Rocket (2021). Now, with his new movie Anora, writer/director Baker may finally find himself on the receiving end of an Oscar, for screenplay, directing, picture, or even all three. And his leading lady, Mikey Madison, is bound to earn an acting nomination for her incomparable performance as the titular Anora.
Reitman’s take on SNL‘s first episode is as much fun as the show itself
Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) surveys sketch ideas for the first episode of his new live show, Saturday Night.
That the new film Saturday Night opens this Friday, October 11th, is no accident. Exactly 49 years ago to the date, Saturday Night, the original title of the iconic late night sketch show Saturday Night Live premiered on NBC. Director Jason Reitman’s movie, which dramatizes the chaos immediately preceding the airing of that first trailblazing episode, is the perfect homage to the long-running live program that is about to enter an incredible 50th season.
We’ve already shared two previews for you (here and here), but at last the day is almost upon us: the 47th Mill Valley Film Festival opens tomorrow, Thursday, October 3rd, and runs until Sunday, October 13, 2024. Screenings take place in Marin County theaters and at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA). For a complete listing of all films and special programming, check out the full Festival program.
Below is our third and final preview of the Festival, highlighting two documentaries and one feature. See you at the Fest!
Contemplative film captures joy, pain of growing up
Vicente (René Pérez Jogla) has fun with his two daughters, Violeta (Dreya Renae Castillo, l,) and Eva (Luciana Quinonez).
That In the Summers is being widely released today, just at the start of fall, as long summer days become distant memories, is appropriate. The film is a quietly moving, often profound meditation on the passage of time and the peculiar way it seems to move in slow motion for children, whose awakening to the imperfections of their parents can take years. Colombian-American filmmaker Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio’s remarkable first feature-length film earned her both the Grand Jury Prize and the dramatic directing award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. More awards are sure to come for this affecting, unforgettable film, which is one of the year’s best.
Bonkers film skewers Hollywood’s obsession with youth and beauty
Elisabeth (Demi Moore) picks up a special package at a mysterious location.
Anyone who thinks Hollywood has no original stories left should immediately go see The Substance. It’s one of the most unique, startling, and unforgettable films you’ll see this year. It also happens to be one of the most insane, visceral, and downright gory pictures in recent memory, so if you’re at all squeamish, this movie isn’t the best choice for your Friday night cinema outing.
