Chad Liffmann – Page 25 – Spinning Platters

Film Feature: Chad’s Top 10 Films of 2013

Spinning Platters film critics Carrie Kahn and Chad Liffmann present their Top 10 Films of 2013. Here’s Chad’s list, presented in the order of which he feels they deserve to be ranked (1 being the best, 10 being pretty damn good too!)

1.) Inside Llewyn Davis

“If it was never new and it never gets old, then it’s a folk song” The Coen brothers newest film is a hilarious, thought-provoking, darkly intelligent, musical journey into the 1961 New York folk music scene. Featuring masterful performances under the direction of master filmmakers, Inside Llewyn Davis is a documentary of sorts — accurately capturing a time period and a historical mentality…yet its message is timeless. Continue reading “Film Feature: Chad’s Top 10 Films of 2013”

Film Review: Her

Cyber love is a many-splendored thing!

A future where someone looking like this (above) isn't creepy. — A future where someone looking like this (above) isn’t creepy.

Spike Jonze has delivered a cinematic gem once again, this time in the form of the incredibly touching, heartfelt, and honest, Her. Her marks the first time Jonze has been the sole writer of one of his directorial efforts, and his remarkable talent is on full display. There’s a lot of perspective and emotions to be gained from this simple story about the romantic relationship developed between a lonely writer and an operating system. There are a lot of things that could’ve gone wrong, too, but all are avoided. First and foremost, the glue that manages to bind all the odd and challenging (and borderline creepy) pieces together is its believability. Thanks to Jonze’s poignant script and memorable performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson, Her bridges the gap between what we fear technology may become and an ideal version of what technology could accomplish, presented in the form of a romance more sincere than most romances dare to be.

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Film Review: Inside Llewyn Davis

‘I am a man of COEN sorrow…’

Oscar Isaac cradling the real star. — Oscar Isaac cradling the real star of *Inside Llewyn Davis*.

In a dimly lit smoky bar, an unshaven, slightly disheveled, solo male singer leans into a mic and begins gently singing, ‘Hang me / Oh hang me / I’ll be dead and gone.’ For the next three or so minutes, we are up close and personal to this singer, watching his calm disposition as he sings out the entirety of the song, not even once looking up at the quiet audience wrapped up in the beautiful melody, drinks, and cigarettes. This is how Inside Llewyn Davis begins, the extraordinary and immaculately conceived new film by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, or as we know them, the Coen brothers. This singer is, of course, Llewyn Davis, and these opening lyrics are deliberately chosen to open the story — they set the tone and capture the somber outlook of the title character. Based on a pivotal moment in our nation’s cultural history, and using a fictionalized version of folk musician Dave Van Ronk to capture the experience of many lost artists of that time period, Inside Llewyn Davis is a pointedly dark and comical drama that serves as an allegorical tale and a cinematic exposé of the unfortunate “futility” of many talented artists.

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Spinning Platters Interview with T-Bone Burnett and Oscar Isaac from ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’

The towering, imposing, and yet, gentle-voiced T-Bone Burnett strolled into the room occupied by a few eager journalists. Oscar Isaac, quiet and kind, followed close behind. The two artists, one a musician who has been inching closer and closer to becoming a household name for three award-winning decades, the other an actor who is sharply on the rise, not wholly but in part due to his incredible performance as the lead role in the Coen brother’s newest masterpiece, Inside Llewyn Davis, sit down at the table. Without pause, we jumped into conversation…and it wasn’t hard to get T-Bone going…

What are your five favorite film soundtracks?

T-Bone Burnett: God, I don’t know. I can’t even think of any.

Oscar Isaac: The Mission. Ennio Morricone.

T-Bone: Yeah, that was a good one. I like My Fair Lady. Even though I think that Dr. Strangelove is a much more strange and subversive film and should’ve won the Academy Award…I’m talking like a Hollywood insider, like a movie person <<laughter>>… but I loved that musical. You know the song, “I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face”? I can barely make it through that song, it’s just so beautiful. And “On the Street Where You Live,” It’s just beautiful songwriting and one beautiful melody after another. It beat Dr. Strangelove, which is one of the most important movies ever.

So, one of the reasons why I called the Coen brothers was because I had become a fan of theirs after their first movie, Blood Simple, because it just had so much of my home (Texas) about it and there was a style of storytelling that I thought was really great. And their next movie came out, Raising Arizona, that just had this insane soundtrack — “Ode to Joy” on the banjo with whistling and yodeling. And every joke of it landed for me. And one thing about the Coens is that there’s history in every shot. Isn’t that right?

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Film Review: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Never has ‘desolation’ been so fun…to a degree.

Bilbo is sitting on a goldmine... — Bilbo is sitting on a goldmine…

When The Fellowship of the Ring was released in 2001, it blew everyone away. Audiences had never before seen a fantasy epic of that calibur, never mind one with such genuine emotional weight. The success of the first film set up eager anticipation for the 2002 middle chapter, The Two Towers. Aided by pitch perfect trailers and, crucially, a strong-enough middle part story arc, The Two Towers was a great success. Who can forget the incredible battle at Helm’s Deep!? Ten years later, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was released to wide anticipation but ended up disappointing audiences. There are many reasons why this happened — some reasons fall on the filmmakers’ shoulders and poor editing choices, while other reasons involve misunderstanding (or ignorance of) the differences between the original LOTR and Hobbit source materials. Nevertheless, the sub-par (but in my personal opinion, still quite fun) first Hobbit movie ensured that we all just wanted one primary thing in the follow-up — to be a better movie. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug meets, if not exceeds, our lackluster expectations. It remains flawed, lacking the character depth and story arcs we’ve come to expect from director Peter Jackson’s numerous cinematic journeys into Middle Earth. However, it doesn’t lag like the first film. It begins at a brisk pace and ends at an even faster pace, teasing us for the third and final chapter. And in between, we’re treated to a limited but welcome small dose of romance and emotional depth, as well as a handful of incredible action sequences. Even if it’s a minimal reward, we can finally start to care about these characters!

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Show Review: Singin’ in the Rain with the SF Symphony

It’s very likely that many folks who exited Davies Symphony Hall into sweeping sheets of pouring rain on Friday night felt like tap dancing their way to their cars, to BART, and to buses…with beaming smiles on their faces, and for good reason — Singin’ in the Rain with the San Francisco Symphony had just been let out, and the gleeful residuals were in full effect. Personally, I had never seen Singin’ in the Rain (1952) in its entirety. I had heard the music and seen clips at award shows, etc. but had no idea what an excellent tongue-in-cheek Hollywood satire it is. It’s witty, hilarious, romantic, and fun. And once again, what better way to experience an iconic film (never mind one with such famous musical numbers) than to see it with a live score accompaniment.

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Film Review: Frozen

It’s worth visiting Frozen’s musical winter wonderland.

Characters chill in Disney's "Frozen" — Characters chill in Disney’s “Frozen”

Disney made a lot of smart moves with Frozen, the new animated family film being released just in time for the holiday season. With snow/wintery elements at the core of its story, Frozen’s release is not only timed well at the beginning of the holidays, but is thematically (and seasonally) relevant. Also, Disney had been toying with an adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen for over a decade, and rather than rush it out the gate, it appears that the studio took careful consideration for a worthwhile script and stellar musical accompaniment. Finally, speaking of the music, Disney made a brilliant move by bringing in Robert Lopez, the Tony award winning composer behind the music for Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon. With a Broadway style of musical energy driving the story along (at least for the first three quarters), Frozen is heartwarming fun with a very powerful feminine voice…one that would pass the Bechdel test with flying colors.

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Film Review: Thor: The Dark World

All brawn and little brain, but still…all brawn, glorious BRAWN!

Kenneth Branagh, who directed the first Thor movie, stepped down from the director’s chair and left it to Alan Taylor, who has quite the resume — including credits directing episodes of Game of Thrones, Mad Men, and The Sopranos. Thor: The Dark World is therefore very well directed; the action scenes are easy to follow and filled to the brim with marvelous visuals. There’s nothing technically problematic about Thor: The Dark World, either. All the pieces fall into place to create a very fun superhero tale. But what’s missing is that extra uniqueness that made Thor a surprising success. Chris Hemsworth as Thor was definitely part of that box office attraction, but, in my opinion, Branagh’s handling of Shakespearean themes (familial betrayals and royal tensions) helped Thor really separate itself from the rest of the superhero fare. Thor: The Dark World lacks that maturity. Instead, this film relies on explosive adventure and playful Whedon-esque humor to carry the full load. It succeeds at the blockbuster surface level, but it fails to carry over its predecessor’s dramatic character arcs (except for Loki – -as always… damn, Tom Hiddleston is good.)

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Show Review: Hitchcock Week — Greatest Hits

Last night closed the book on Hitchcock Week with the San Francisco Symphony. The talented orchestra players, conducted by Joshua Gersen, performed selections from Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief, Strangers on a Train, Vertigo, Dial M for Murder, and North by Northwest. Part of the night belonged to the complex scores, at times sweepingly romantic, other times suspenseful and bombastic. The other half belonged to the charming host, Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront, North by Northwest). At 89 years old, she still carries a youthful exuberance that would make you question whether she was a day over thirty. Aside from a few film intro slip ups, she held her own, constantly throwing out sharp pokes at herself, hilarious flirtations at Gersen, and telling fascinating anecdotes about her work with Hitchcock.

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Film Review: 12 Years a Slave

Hard to endure, hard to fathom, but essential.

"12 Years A Slave" captures a personal, intimate, fear. — “12 Years A Slave” captures a personal, intimate fear.

12 Years a Slave feels like it could very well be the most accurate cinematic depiction of the atrocities of slavery. We don’t just see the physical brutality, we also feel the isolation, the helplessness, and each slave’s necessary abandonment of individuality in order to survive. The geographical solitude in which two different worlds are formed, the one inhabited by the slaves and the one inhabited by the landowners and overseers, is one of the story’s focal points and how it affects the mentality of each character. For all of these reasons, 12 Years a Slave, based on the book of the true story by Solomon Northup, succeeds where no other film about slavery has. In other films of this nature, the “hero” rises up against the odds. The protagonist rises up by gradually becoming an outspoken leader, or by finding the only sympathetic ear that winds up being a ticket to freedom. Those stories may be inspiring, and well told, but they are often sugar-coated, to put it bluntly. When viewing 12 Years a Slave, we, the audience, don’t get special treatment. We are forced into a very dark place in our nation’s history, and we are asked to face the harrowing truth head on.

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