Carrie Kahn – Page 35 – Spinning Platters

Film Review: Nebraska

Just in time for the holidays: The joy and Payne of family

David (Will Forte, right) discusses his stubborn father (Bruce Dern, left) with his exasperated mother (June Squibb).

We are heading into the time of the year when studios typically release what they hope are their best films, the ones they want to be fresh in the minds of Academy members for Oscar Best Picture voting. Director Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants) gets into this game with Nebraska, sure to be a contender in many categories come Oscar time. Beautifully shot in black and white and filled with nuanced and sensitive performances, the picture brilliantly melds Payne’s signature quirkiness with charm, emotional honesty, and wry humor. Continue reading “Film Review: Nebraska”

Film Review: Diana

Diana loves Hasnat, and we don’t care

Diana just wants to lie around with her hunky heart surgeon b.f. in Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Diana.

German director Oliver Hirschbiegel has made a puzzling contribution to the oeuvre of films about Diana, the late Princess of Wales. His new film, simply titled Diana, is very narrowly focused. Set during the last two years of Diana’s life, the picture highlights Diana’s (Naomi Watts) relationship with a London-based Pakistani heart surgeon, Dr. Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews). Hirschbiegel directed 2004’s critically acclaimed Downfall, so this misstep is both surprising and disappointing. The picture plays like a made-for-TV movie (appropriate perhaps for Lifetime), and does nothing to make the viewer remember Diana with any fondness or respect. Continue reading “Film Review: Diana”

Film Review: Blue is the Warmest Color

On screen drama outshines off screen soap opera

Adele (Adele Exarchopoulos) and Emma (Lea Seydoux) begin their new relationship with a kiss in Blue is the Warmest Color.

Much has been made in the press already about Blue is the Warmest Color, the three-hour French film that won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year. The film gained notice immediately when, in an unprecedented move, the festival’s highest award was bestowed not just on the film’s writer/director, Abdellatif Kechiche, but also its two lead actresses, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux. Since that time, the film has made headlines for its plot – a lesbian romance between two young women (one of whom is a high school student when the film begins) containing a lengthy and explicit sex scene between the two, as well as for its off-screen melodrama. That drama has included a very public war of words between the actresses and their director, and a promise by several New York City theaters to admit teenagers of all ages, despite the film’s NC-17 rating, a decision that has irked several conservative organizations. Continue reading “Film Review: Blue is the Warmest Color”

Mill Valley Film Festival Spotlights

Film fans can relish eclectic offerings at 36th MVFF

There’s something for everyone at the MVFF, which opens on Thursday.

The 36^th Mill Valley Film Festival opens this Thursday, October 3, and runs until Sunday, October 13. The Festival is featuring early views of some hotly anticipated fall films, including August: Osage County, Nebraska (opening night film), Dallas Buyers Club, 12 Years a Slave, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, among others. Here at Spinning Platters, though, we thought we’d spotlight some of the lower profile films that may not be getting as much attention. Full schedule, tickets, and more information available at: http://mvff.com

Continue reading “Mill Valley Film Festival Spotlights”

Film Review: Enough Said

Gandolfini, Louis-Dreyfus shine in smart, warm comedy

James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus share a laugh in Enough Said.

Fans of HBO’s Sex and the City may remember an episode in which the four protagonists attend a singles party to which they are each supposed to bring someone they dated, but ultimately rejected, the theory being that one woman’s trash, if you will, can just as easily be another’s treasure. Writer/director Nicole Holofcener, who coincidentally penned a few episodes of SATC (as well as the indies Friends with Money and Lovely and Amazing), has taken that idea and, in her new film Enough Said, expanded it to a full length feature, with a twist: what if you are dating your friend’s ex, but your friend actually has absolutely nothing kind to say about him? Holofcener’s take on this premise is by turns exceptionally funny, wryly intelligent, emotionally honest, and genuinely moving. Continue reading “Film Review: Enough Said“

Film Review: I Give It a Year

The anti-rom com: When “I do” becomes “Actually, I might not”

Josh (Rafe Spall) and Nat (Rose Byrne) optimistically share a dance at their wedding.

Two weeks ago, I reviewed the insipid Austenland, a banal, predictable, utterly forgettable romantic comedy. This week, however, I am happy to report that I have found its antithesis with I Give It a Year, an edgy, brilliantly funny British romantic comedy that is as fresh and inspired as Austenland is stale and uninspired. If a film like Austenland makes you think you hate romantic comedies, then you owe it to yourself to go see I Give It a Year, which, I promise you, not only will make you laugh, but will also give you a newfound appreciation for the genre’s possibilities. Continue reading “Film Review: I Give It a Year”

Film Review: Drinking Buddies

When Luke met Kate: Can drunk men and women ever be just friends?

Olivia Wilde’s Kate and Jake Johnson’s Luke are drinking buddies… and maybe more.

Watching Joe Swanberg’s new film Drinking Buddies is a bit like spending a summer evening out having beers with friends. The beers are cool and tasty, the company is good, the conversation can run the gamut from light, playful, and flirty to serious and intense, and the whole experience is decidedly pleasant. Of course, when you awake the next morning, you may only have a hazy recollection of having had a nice time, and by day’s end, you probably will have forgotten much of what transpired. But that’s not to say the diversion wasn’t worth it. Continue reading “Film Review: Drinking Buddies”

Film Review: Short Term 12

Strong performances anchor lovely story of compassion, hope

Brie Larson’s Grace lends a sympathetic ear to Keith Stanfield’s Marcus in Short Term 12.

After writer/director Destin Cretton graduated from college, he took a job in a group home for troubled teenagers. Years later, for his film school thesis, he created a short film loosely based on his experiences, which went on to win the Jury Prize for short filmmaking at Sundance in 2009. He has now turned that 20-minute short into a feature-length film of the same name, Short Term 12, and the result is a truly beautiful piece of cinema that speaks to the transcendent power of kindness, understanding, and love. Continue reading “Film Review: Short Term 12”

Film Review: Austenland

No sense and no sensibility: Jane Austen as uninspired rom-com

Jennifer Coolidge, Keri Russell, and Georgia King are living the Jane Austen dream in Austenland.

With Austenland, first-time director Jerusha Hess (one half of the husband/wife team that wrote Napoleon Dynamite) has turned Shannon Hale’s popular novel into a dippy, run-of-the mill, predictable romantic comedy. The novel’s fans may be the only audience for this dud, and even then their enjoyment no doubt will stem purely from the curiosity of seeing how the story translates to the screen. Everyone else would be better entertained by staying home and reading an actual Jane Austen novel. Continue reading “Film Review: Austenland”

Film Review: Europa Report

To boldly go where everyone has gone before: Mediocre sci-fi film delivers nothing new

Europa’s icy landscape awaits exploration by the Europa One crew

In his new film Europa Report, Ecuadorian director Sebastian Cordero tries his hand at cinema verité science fiction, and, unfortunately, the results are disappointing. Working from a screenplay by Philip Gelatt, Cordero can’t overcome the flatness of the material, and the story, which has a sort of Blair Witch Project meets The Right Stuff feel to it, never fully gels. Despite featuring a few skilled performances from his international cast, Cordero’s film ultimately fails to satisfy as either intriguing science fiction or as compelling docudrama. Continue reading “Film Review: Europa Report”