Chad Liffmann – Page 12 – Spinning Platters

Show Review: Ratatouille—Feature Film with Live Orchestra

“In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read.” -Anton Ego, Ratatouille

There will be no negative criticism here. Ratatouille live at the San Francisco Symphony was absolutely wonderful, highlighting both the magnificent award-winning score by Michael Giacchino and the brilliant animated masterpiece that is Brad Bird’s 2007 Pixar film. Audience members of all ages, including many families, entered Davies Symphony Hall over the weekend to watch Ratatouille. The SF Symphony has delivered numerous memorable film screenings accompanied by live scores, and this one sits near the top.

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Show Review: Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage: A 50th Anniversary Celebration

Starfleet uniforms everywhere, a few Klingons posed for pictures, and ‘live long and prosper’ hand signals were shared — yes, the crowds gathered in Davies Symphony Hall last Thursday and Friday for the CineConcerts produced performance of Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage: A 50th Anniversary Celebration. Fifty years ago, Gene Roddenberry’s incredible contribution to science fiction came to life in the form of Captain Kirk and crew on the starship Enterprise. Since 1966, Star Trek has taken on many forms of media — tv series, video games, feature films, books, and so on. These performances are as much a celebration of the progressive themes and groundbreaking stances in Star Trek as they are of the sense of human existence and exploration, and perseverance, that permeates through every incarnation of the original stories. Oh, yes, and a celebration of the music!

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Film Review: Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters panders then panders some more, and only delivers when embracing its own originality.

Mighty ghostbustin' foursome. — Mighty ghostbustin’ foursome.

It’s obvious, or maybe just to me, that director/writer Paul Feig was under serious pressure to cater his entire effort in relauching Ghostbusters to the fans of the original films. Possibly due to the stupid backlash against the production for casting four women in the lead roles, and for the sake of protecting a cherished 80s title, Feig decided to include an unfathomable amount of shout-outs, throwbacks, and cameos alluding to the original Ghostbusters films. The cast, and Feig, are incredibly talented. The best moments of the new Ghostbusters film happen when the original 80’s films are out of its sights, and instead, it embraces the comedic timing and inventive action that the actors and director are each capable of, respectively.

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Spinning Platters Interview: Sarah Hicks, Ratatouille Feature Film with Live Orchestra

This upcoming weekend, July 16-17, the San Francisco Symphony will screen Pixar’s Oscar-winning film, Ratatouille, with the score performed live. Conducting the orchestra will be none other than the amazingly accomplished SF Symphony regular, Sarah Hicks. Sarah was gracious enough to answer some questions about her own musical tastes, as well as her special love of Pixar films…

Spinning Platters: My excitement for the Ratatouille show is growing, since it’s my favorite Pixar film. A popular dinner party question is ‘what’s your favorite Pixar film?’ So, do you have a favorite Pixar film?

Sarah Hicks: Oh, I can’t really choose because I love them all! That being said, I have to admit that the ones I keep going back to are Monsters, Inc., Up and Ratatouille.

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Show Review: The Music of John Williams—from Star Wars to Harry Potter!

As you can see from the image above, this wasn’t your average night at the symphony. On Thursday, the San Francisco Symphony honored legendary film composer John Williams with a program full of his iconic, award-winning scores. From fantasy epics like Star Wars and Harry Potter, to memorable dramas like Schindler’s List and Lincoln, John Williams has put a musical stamp on well over 100 films, and is still writing amazing scores to this day, at age 84.

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Film Review: The Secret Life of Pets

Animals run amok in wild, messy, manic children’s film.

I don’t really know what the point of The Secret Life of Pets was, but I know that children will love the film. The simple Toy Story-esque premise of ‘what do x do while people are gone’ (in this case where x are pets) is amusing for the first five to ten minutes of the film, but it quickly spins out of control. The story devolves into an adventure featuring an assortment of animal varieties, of few of which are very rarely legally allowed as pets. The aforementioned adventure is wonderfully animated and truly manic, but the gimmicky premise fades fast and the rest is a hyperactive mess with lots of humorous bits and not a lot of heart. Not like any children will care, though, since they’ll be fully satiated by the maniacally laughing psycho bunny, voiced by Kevin Hart.

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Film Review: The BFG

BFG delivers the magic, the humor, and the 3D.

Sophie and The BFG soak up the 3D rendered beauty. — Sophie and The BFG soak up the computer generated beauty.

There was a moment while watching The BFG that I snapped ever-so-briefly out of my trance and realized that I had been fully swept up in the magical atmosphere that Steven Spielberg had created in his cinematic adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s story. It’s not often that I become immersed in a movie. Or rather, it’s not often that a movie can effectively invite me to get immersed in it. The BFG is one of the few. It’s not a perfect movie — it falls just shy from delivering a rewarding emotional peak and contains some moments of directionless storytelling. However, from an entertainment standpoint, The BFG is like a wondrous and inventive bedtime story. It’s a truly magical family-friendly film from start to finish.

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Film Review: The Legend of Tarzan

Tarzan comes out swinging, but just barely misses.

Tarzan of the Apes, written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in the pulp magazine All-Story Magazine in 1912. Since then, Tarzan has been the title character of numerous novels, TV series, film adaptations, and more. It’s an old and valuable property, hence the ® symbol noticeably visible on the opening title credit. Now there’s a new Tarzan feature film, not surprisingly called The Legend of Tarzan since at this juncture there’s enough in the Tarzan mythos to argue a “legend” has been well-established. Unfortunately, the new film can’t avoid the blatant traditional racial tropes that were overwhelmingly present in Burroughs’ creation — after all, Tarzan, the hero who frees slaves and shifts the political and cultural course of central Africa towards the greater good, is a white man. Racial issues aside, there are still some emotional and visual pitfalls that the exciting action and stunning vistas can’t make up for. What does work about The Legend of Tarzan, in addition to a better-than-expected script, is a testament to the solid direction of David Yates (who directed the final four Harry Potter films).

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Spinning Platters Interview: Justin Freer, Founder and President of CineConcerts

On July 14-15, the San Francisco Symphony will celebrate 50 years of Star Trek with Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage, featuring iconic film and TV footage beamed on to a huge screen while the symphony performs the musical scores, live! CineConcerts, the producer of this live music experience, was founded by composer/conductor Justin Freer. Freer will be conducting the SF Symphony’s two performances.

Freer graciously took a short break from a studio session to speak to us about his musical career, CineConcerts, and of course, Star Trek…

Justin Freer: Let’s do this. What do you want to talk about?

Spinning Platters: Let’s talk about film music!

Justin Freer: <<laughs>>

SP: How did you first get into film music? I read that you grew up learning trumpet and later music composition, but when did film music start to interest you?

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Film Review: Central Intelligence

The Rock and Kevin Hart are having so much fun — it’s infectious.

Super secret action plan from The Rock to Kevin Hart.

There are more holes in the plot of Central Intelligence than there are in an average kitchen sponge, but it doesn’t matter. The action scenes are poorly shot, but it doesn’t matter. The character arcs are flatter than plywood, but it doesn’t matter. What matters the most is that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart are having a blast acting in the fast-paced, ridiculous buddy crime comedy, Central Intelligence, and their exuberance is infectious, making this film a satisfying viewing experience.

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