Gordon Elgart – Page 4 – Spinning Platters

Film Review: Doctor Strange

It takes an amazing cast to make goofy material work, and this movie has both.

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Marvel movies have been around so long, they’ve transitioned from feeling like momentous events to being like episodes of a very expensively made television series. We see the same characters interacting with each other in different ways, with plot threads being left open for the next film to pick up on. The newest movie from the series, Doctor Strange, breaks this pattern and creates an entirely new set of characters set in both the universe we’ve seen and ones we haven’t yet seen. Continue reading “Film Review: Doctor Strange”

The Insiders’ Guide to the Treasure Island Music Festival (Updated for 2016)

This weekend’s Treasure Island Music Festival has quickly become my favorite musical event of the year. There are no conflicting set times, so you can see everyone on the bill. The size of the festival is fairly small, so it’s easy to get around. The setting in the middle of San Francisco Bay is absolutely stunning. And something about all of these combine to keep the people going in a relaxed, pleasant mood that makes being there all the more enjoyable.

Now, you might think going to this festival is as easy as hopping in your car and going to the festival to enjoy some music, but you’d be wrong. Read on, and I’ll teach you how to avoid rookie mistakes. And if you just found this article while looking for a place to buy tickets, just click here! (Updated for 2016 by Dakin Hardwick)

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Film Review: Kicks

A promising start that never elevates to excellence during its running time.

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Kicks starts off with Brandon, our lead character, introducing us to his wishes of being in space, where he no longer gets chased around the neighborhood and can live in perfect quiet. His dreams are accompanied by visions of a man (or woman) in a space suit, and this astronaut makes many appearances throughout the movie during critical moments. It’s weird and otherworldly, and does momentarily elevate this movie into the stratosphere, but the reality keeps dragging us down.

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Film Review: Neon Demon

What an amazing movie. Parts of it may repulse you. Go see it anyway.

Elle Fanning in Nicolas Winding Refn's Neon Demon

Nicolas Winding Refn doesn’t care what you think about his movies. He makes films without traditional plots, and with a fair measure of gruesome violence. He believes himself so important that he uses a little NRW monogram under the title card of his features. He doesn’t feel the need to explain anything to the audience; instead, he deals with metaphor and buried meaning. Regardless of whether or not his movies fall under any old fashioned idea of what’s “good,” he’s awesome at making them.

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Film Review: A Bigger Splash

The impossibility of getting away from it all, rendered beautifully

Dinner is never just dinner in Luca Guadagnino's newest film. — Dinner is never just dinner in Luca Guadagnino’s newest film.

Sometimes you want to go to the movies and see four actors doing amazing work in a wonderful film. That’s what you’re going to get when you see Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash. This is a movie with layers of meaning, with people saying things when they shouldn’t, and not saying things when they should. It’s a bit contrived, but very real. Let’s try to convince you to see it so we can talk about it later. Here’s my best shot.

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Film Review: Ratchet and Clank

Like a bunch of cut scenes without any of that fun video game stuff

RatchetClank — Ratchet and Clank star in the movie based on their popular and long lasting video game series.

The Ratchet and Clank series of video games have long contained the best cut scenes and voice acting of any games of their type. From the very first game on the PS2, the strong characterizations and fun action have made for consistently entertaining games with real character arcs for both our main characters and some of the side characters as well. So how do you condense hundreds of hours of story into a 90-minute animated film?

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Spinning Platters Interview: Lily Cato of Parlour Tricks

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The album Broken Hearts/Broken Bones was a nominee for Spinning Platters album of the year in 2015. Its combination of classic girl group harmonies, soaring melodies and dance driven beats truly defies description; even the band themselves know this to be true. The band is hitting the road this month with veteran rocker Electric Six, and they’re stopping in San Francisco on Sunday, March 20th at The Independent. Lily Cato got on the phone with me as the tour was just beginning to discuss her band, their videos, and which podcast is the best to pass the time on a cross country van trip. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Lily Cato of Parlour Tricks”

Film Review: Deadpool

The Mad Libs of comic book movies. This one’s for the fans.

Ryan Reynolds in costume as Deadpool. No feet. Apparently this is important.

The journey to theaters for Deadpool has been a long one. Ryan Reynolds played the titular character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as a silent but deadly killer, which misses the entire thrust of the character. This character is a wisecracking, violent character known as “The Merc With a Mouth.” After the utter failure of Green Lantern, a Deadpool movie with Ryan Reynolds seemed as far from reality as possible, but some test footage of a possible movie “leaked,” became a viral hit, and the movie was greenlit. Would this movie be the crass, irreverent, R-rated film that the fans want?

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Film Review: Zoolander 2

Yet another piece of evidence that comedy sequels don’t work.

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson tell it like it is in Zoolander 2. — Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson telling it like it is in Zoolander 2.

Zoolander 2 (also seen in some advertising as 2oolander or Zoolander No. 2) starts with an exciting chase scene. Some mysterious figures on motorcycles are chasing a man in a hooded sweatshirt. They catch up to him in an alleyway, and riddle him with bullets. As he takes bullet after bullet in a shot that continues for 10-15 seconds, the audience goes from laughter to applause. Why? Because it’s Justin Bieber. That’s the comedic currency of this entire movie: celebrity cameos as punch lines.

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