Author: Chad Liffmann

Film Review: “The Apprentice”

A Tale of Two Insecure Men, aka The Apprentice

The Apprentice begins with President Nixon’s famous “I’m not a crook” speech, where he claimed in the wake of an ongoing Watergate investigation that he had never personally profited from public service, and maintained that he’s “earned everything he’s got.” That’s an appropriate and scary way to begin this film. After all, we know how Nixon’s (and Trump’s) story plays out. The audience’s foreknowledge is The Apprentice’s biggest hurdle, wanting to shed light on a well-documented figure when that figure remains in the headlines today. I wonder what the point of The Apprentice is, aside from providing a showcase for its stars? It doesn’t feel like a cautionary tale, nor does it take any creative liberties with exposing blame. Instead, The Apprentice is a straight-laced historical re-enactment (with some embellishments) of how a few men with deep insecurities played by their own corrupt rules to gain power.  Continue reading “Film Review: “The Apprentice””

Album Review: The Offspring, “Supercharged”

Let’s take a moment to recall a few of the most memorable radio-edited lines of the mid-90s: “Drivers are rude / Such attitudes / But when I show my piece / Complaints cease / Something’s odd / I feel like I’m God / You stupid dumb s**t g*d d**n mother f****r!” 

Ahh yeeaaah, so sit back, relax, and read about The Offspring and their latest album release…

Their debut self-titled album, The Offspring, was released in 1989. I’ll do the math for you – that’s 35 years ago – and the band is still going strong, releasing their 11th studio album, a 35-minute-long (coincidentally) energetic record aptly titled Supercharged. Perhaps it’s a sign that they’ve shed their rebellious youthfulness (frontman Dexter Holland is turning fifty-nine in December) or, like other bands, are searching for hope and serenity in their art to battle against real-world anxieties, but Supercharged is the band’s most joyfully rollicking and variety-filled pop punk record yet. It’s a blast to listen to, especially loud. Continue reading “Album Review: The Offspring, “Supercharged””

Film Review: “A Different Man”

Identities, social stigmas, and performance art make for bizarrely fun bedfellows in A Different Man

By pure coincidence, two surrealist films about physical appearance are opening in theaters one week apart, The Substance and A Different Man. The two films are vastly different but share overarching thematic similarities. The latter is a dark dreamlike comedy from Aaron Schimberg (Chained for Life). It’s also a performative showcase for its three stars, who are able to fully explore the depths of their characters. A Different Man’s story is small-scale and bizarre, but through the performances and direction, it remains grounded in an off-kilter reality that makes it highly humorous, shocking, and entertaining. Continue reading “Film Review: “A Different Man””

Film Feature: Preview #2 of the 47th Mill Valley Film Festival

The 47th Mill Valley Film Festival will take place Oct 3 – Oct 13, 2024, with screenings at theaters across the North and East Bay.

For a full view of special awards, spotlights, and centerpiece films, check out the complete festival guide. Tickets can be purchased here. 

Below is a second preview of the festival (read our first preview of six films), featuring brief looks at an additional four films:

Continue reading “Film Feature: Preview #2 of the 47th Mill Valley Film Festival”

Film Feature: Preview #1 of the 47th Mill Valley Film Festival

The 47th Mill Valley Film Festival will take place Oct 3 – Oct 13, 2024, with screenings at theaters across the North and East Bay.

For a full view of special awards, spotlights, and centerpiece films, check out the complete festival guide. Tickets can be purchased here. 

Below is a preview of the festival, featuring brief looks at six films:

1.) MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE
(USA, 2023. 101 min.)

Writer/Director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes’s feature debut is an emotional and thoughtfully comical story about family and the debilitating effects of PTSD. The stellar cast is led by Sonequa Martin-Green (Star Trek: Discovery) and Natalie Morales (Parks & Rec) and supported by silver screen legends Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman. My Dead Friend Zoe was inspired by Hausmann-Stoke’s army experience in Iraq, and he has infused his film with charm, humor, and heartbreak to tell a timely story about the epidemic of suffering among US Military veterans after returning home.

Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sat., Oct. 5th, 7:00pm at the CinéArts Sequoia
– Sun., Oct. 6th, 11:30am at the CinéArts Sequoia

Continue reading “Film Feature: Preview #1 of the 47th Mill Valley Film Festival”

Film Review: “Transformers One”

Transformers One relaunches the franchise with high-octane action and surprising emotion

Good franchise reboots are easy to remember: Batman Begins, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Casino Royale, just to name a few. When a lucrative intellectual property gets tiresome or outdated, it’s common for the owners to seek a fresh take on popular characters to spark a new film or TV series (yes, ultimately to make money). After seven live-action films starting in 2007, with an uneven mixture of fun but mostly embarrassing results, the Transformers franchise is rebooting with Transformers One, an attempt to reset the cinematic dial on Hasbro’s iconic brand with animated pizzazz. Transformers One is the first CG-animated Transformers film, featuring an A-list voice cast and a surprisingly strong emotional core. It sets a fun and exciting tone for the series to build on moving forward. Continue reading “Film Review: “Transformers One””

Album Review: Snow Patrol, “The Forest is the Path”

“This is not a love song,” remarks Gary Lightbody, Snow Patrol’s frontman, in the opening line of the first track, “All,” on the band’s eighth studio album, The Forest is the Path. “I’m just checking that your light’s still on / I just want to feel like I belong / But I don’t know where I am,” he continues. Sentiments like this, feeling lost in love and searching within oneself for a sense of belonging, are prevalent on the album, the first one since 2018’s Wildness. Snow Patrol have long toed the line between classic and alternative rock, with their catchiest songs gracing movie soundtracks and ruling radio airwaves. Lightbody is the only remaining original band member, and despite a serious battle with depression and alcoholism that nearly cost him his life (and necessitated long hiatuses between album releases) and the recent departure of the band’s drummer and bassist, he has kept the Snow Patrol sound and motifs intact. On The Forest is the Path, the band’s trademark balance between soaring rock anthems and mellow ballads is on full display, with a reflective depth that rewards listeners over the course of multiple listens. Similarly, in the middle of “All,” Lightbody comes to the appropriate realization after measuring up his feelings, “So I guess this is a love song after all.” Continue reading “Album Review: Snow Patrol, “The Forest is the Path””

Film Review: “Blink Twice”

Kravitz’s directorial debut is a messy but impressive comic thriller

Let’s get this out of the way – Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, Blink Twice, very closely recalls a similar directorial debut from 2017, Jordan Peele’s Get Out. “It’s Get Out, but for women,” would be an apt headline. This comparison should be considered a compliment, even if it oversaturates the public discourse about the film. All of this shouldn’t take away from Kravitz’s stylish, thrilling, sometimes messy, but thoroughly entertaining thriller. Blink Twice is an imperfect concoction of thrills, laughs, and sinister themes.  Continue reading “Film Review: “Blink Twice””

Album Review: Foster the People, “Paradise State of Mind”

In the years following Foster the People’s third studio album in 2017, Sacred Heart’s Club, during the height of the COVID pandemic, front man Mark Foster recalls wondering, “How can I make a record that is healing for me, and maybe for people who listen to it, too?” Now, seven years later, Foster the People is releasing its fourth full-length studio album, Paradise State of Mind, a cosmically hopeful and upbeat record heavily influenced by late 70s disco and early 80s New Wave. The album is not without its lyrical meditations on sadness and emotionally dark places, but overall, it’s a joyful blend of varied instrumentation, dance-floor beats, and catchy hooks. It’s all about balance – in life as in music. As Foster sings on the lead single, “Lost in Space,” amidst a double quartet of strings and Giorgio Moroder-inspired synths, “Love when I’m with you / a warm embrace / the more we give ourselves, the more we have to give away.” Continue reading “Album Review: Foster the People, “Paradise State of Mind””

Film Review: “Sugarcane”

Sugarcane depicts the importance of breaking a generational cycle of trauma and exposing the truth

If you’re unfamiliar with “Indian residential schools,” which were boarding schools run by the Catholic church for Indigenous children in Canada and the United States, their existence marks a horrific chapter in North American history with repercussions still being felt (and investigated) to this day. Sugarcane is a new documentary by co-directors Emily Kassie and Julian Brave Noisecat that brings us into the emotional fold of these repercussions. Sugarcane shines a specific spotlight on the Canadian residential school system and the traumatic impact they’ve had on generations of Indigenous families. It’s a troubling and devastating documentary, but all the more important viewing for the strength and resilience it represents. Continue reading “Film Review: “Sugarcane””