Founded in 1998 by comedian Eugene Pak, Celebrity Autobiography presents celebrities reading passages from other celebrity (you guessed it) autobiographies. The show played on Bravo in 2005, and has run regularly in New York since 2008; in 2009 it won the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. Celebrity Autobiography has been playing in San Francisco thanks to SF Sketchfest for 11 years now, and, this year, I decided to take it upon myself to review it, so as to encourage newbies to check out what I consider to be Sketchfest’s hands down, funniest show. Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: Celebrity Autobiography, 1/20/19”
Author: Carrie Kahn
Film Feature: Carrie’s Top 10 Films of 2018
What were your favorite films of 2018? There were lots of worthy contenders, and choosing just ten can be challenging, but Spinning Platters Film Editor Carrie Kahn has given it a go. Below Carrie shares her ten favorite films of 2018, presented in descending rank order. You can also check out her list from last year, here.
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Film Review: Aquaman
Porpoise-less fish tale drowns in mediocrity
Yes, I know that headline is a real groaner, but so is the movie that inspired it, so fair is fair. Aquaman is the latest DC Comics superhero to headline his own picture, and, unfortunately, this idea is one that never should have floated to the surface. Australian director James Wan (of the Fast and Furious and Saw franchises) throws in a bit of everything with Aquaman, but ends up with a whole lot of spectacle, and — if you’ll forgive me another water pun — not a lot of depth.
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Film Review: The Front Runner
Reitman’s take on Hart/Rice scandal worth a look
To watch The Front Runner is to be amazed at how much the political climate has changed in 30 years. Back then, the well-regarded, young, smart, Kennedy-esque Colorado senator Gary Hart, widely considered the front runner for the Democratic nomination, had his campaign derailed by just the whiff of an extramarital affair. Fast forward to today, and a candidate with multiple accusations of affairs harassment, and vulgar language has no problem staying in the race, and, ultimately, winning. How far we’ve come. But director Jason Reitman’s (Young Adult; Juno; Up in the Air) new film is less a treatise on changing public perception, and more a study of how journalism has changed, opening the door to what is now considered acceptable and expected scrutiny of candidates’ private lives. And for that, the film is worth seeing.
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Film Review: Can You Ever Forgive Me?
No need to forgive Heller, McCarthy, and Co.: Their film is terrific
“As an unknown, you can’t be such a bitch, Lee,” book agent Marjorie (Jane Curtin) says to her down-and-out client, author Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy), in director Marielle Heller’s terrific new film Can You Ever Forgive Me? But the great strength of this based-on-a-true-story picture is that Lee is a hard personality; unlikable, acerbic, alcoholic, and misanthropic, Lee is tough and complicated. She’s far from a typical charming and redeemable female protagonist, which makes Heller’s film both unusual and refreshing, and McCarthy’s performance here one of her best to date.
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Film Review: Beautiful Boy
Break out the tissue: Carell and Chalamet are superb in wrenching addiction drama
Screenwriter Luke Davies knows a thing or two about writing tearjerkers — his adapted screenplay for the missing boy drama Lion was nominated for an Oscar last year — so it’s no surprise that his follow up is equally adept at pulling the heartstrings. Also based on a true story, Beautiful Boy is a gut-wrenching portrait of a son’s battle with addiction and his father’s unwavering quest to help him. With Oscar nominees Steve Carell (Foxcatcher) and Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name) as the father and son, respectively, Belgian director Felix Van Groeningen scored in the talent department, and it’s hard to imagine two other actors doing justice to the roles. Continue reading “Film Review: Beautiful Boy“
Film Review: The Oath
Happy Thanksgiving? Not this year
Comedian Ike Barinholtz (best known as Nurse Morgan on The Mindy Project) makes his big screen writing and directing debut with The Oath, a very timely, very funny, yet very dark comedy in which he also stars. A razor sharp take on today’s charged political climate, Barinholtz’s pointed comedy resembles Jordan Peele’s (a producer here) Get Out in terms of its satiric edge. While some viewers may find the satire a little too grim, Barinholtz has definitely made a think piece worth talking about, and for that reason, his film is worth a look. Continue reading “Film Review: The Oath“
Film Review: Bad Times at the El Royale
Bad times at this hotel make for good times at the cinema
Mad Men fans still mourning the end of that show have reason to rejoice: Jon Hamm revisits the late ‘60s in Bad Times at the El Royale, a period noir mystery that has stylistic echoes of Matthew Weiner’s acclaimed series. Imagine if Don Draper were a southern appliance salesman (still with a deep secret, of course) instead of a New York ad man, and you’ve got a sense of Hamm’s role here. But Hamm’s return to a 1969 persona is just one small reason to see this well-crafted and well-acted thriller, which has retro style and clever twists to spare.
Film Review: A Star is Born
Lady Gaga, not Cooper’s debut film, is the real Star here
What do the years 1937, 1954, and 1976 have in common with 2018? They, too, all had versions of the film A Star is Born playing in cinemas. Whether or not the movie-going public really needs a third remake of the 1937 original is up for debate (the ’54 and ’76 versions famously starred Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand, respectively), but actor Bradley Cooper apparently felt strongly that 2018 is the right moment for another try. He makes his writing and directing debut here, directing himself in a modern version of the classic story that, while showcasing the incredible talent of his co-star Lady Gaga, brings nothing fresh or extraordinary to the well-worn tale.
Film Review: Life Itself
Your life itself deserves better than this trite, facile disaster
I’m trying to come up with one kind thing to say about Life Itself, the new movie from writer/director Dan Fogelman, creator of television’s weep-inducing phenom This is Us, and all I can come up with is, boy, Oscar Isaac sure is nice to look at. When one of the film’s characters proclaims outright, “This is some deep philosophical shit,” you know you’re in trouble. Fogelman commits the cardinal screenwriting sin of telling (and over and over and over, mind you) rather than showing, and the result is a cringe-inducing, treacly, overwrought mess of a picture that even This is Us fans will do well to avoid.