Spinning Platters Interview: Seth Rogen and Will Reiser on “50/50”

Will Reiser and Seth Rogen on the set of 50/50

Have you ever watched a cancer movie and thought, “You know what this needs? More dick jokes!” If so, 50/50 is the cancer movie for you. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Adam, who seems to have his life together: he works for a public radio station in Seattle, he has a devoted (if obnoxious) best friend, Kyle (Seth Rogen), and a beautiful girlfriend, Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard). But when Adam is suddenly diagnosed with cancer, his life begins to fall apart. His relationship with Rachael becomes increasingly strained, he is assigned a counselor named Katherine (Anna Kendrick) who is barely out of diapers, his overbearing mother (Anjelica Huston) won’t leave him alone, and Kyle keeps using Adam’s cancer to get himself laid. And if that sounds like too irreverent of a storyline for a film about cancer, then take it up with screenwriter Will Reiser. Because it’s inspired by his life.

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The Spinning Platters Guide to the 34th Mill Valley Film Festival

Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, which is having its Bay Area premiere during the Mill Valley Film Festival.

The Mill Valley Film Festival, one of the Bay Area’s most esteemed and prestigious film events, is returning for its 34th installment October 6-16. The MVFF has come to represent the first opportunity for Bay Area film buffs to check out festival favorites from the likes of Toronto, Venice, and Telluride before their theatrical releases, not to mention a chance to mingle with the talent; expected guests this year include Glenn Close, Martin Donovan, Luc Besson, Michelle Yeoh, Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, and Ezra Miller. Last year’s festival featured the likes of 127 Hours, Blue Valentine, and eventual Best Picture winner The King’s Speech. Look after the jump for the top 12 films to check out this year.

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Film Review: “Moneyball”

Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill in MONEYBALL

starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, Kerris Dorsey

written by: Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin

directed by: Bennett Miller

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some strong language

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Film Review: “Straw Dogs”

James Marsden tries to reason with Alexander Skarsgard's muscle tee in STRAW DOGS.

starring: James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgard, James Woods, Dominic Purcell, Rhys Coiro, Willa Holland

written and directed by: Rod Lurie

MPAA: Rated R for strong brutal violence including a sexual attack, menace, some sexual content, and pervasive language

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Film Review: “Drive”

Ill-fated henchman and Ryan Gosling in DRIVE

starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman, Christina Hendricks, Oscar Isaac

written by: Hossein Amini

directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn

MPAA: Rated R for strong brutal bloody violence, language and some nudity.

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Film Review: “Contagion”

Jude Law plays a San Francisco blogger in CONTAGION

starring: Matt Damon, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Ehle, Demetri Martin, John Hawkes, Elliott Gould, Enrico Colantoni, Sanaa Lathan, Bryan Cranston, Anna Jacoby-Heron

written by: Scott Z. Burns

directed by: Steven Soderbergh

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for disturbing content and some language

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Film Review: “Warrior”

Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte in WARRIOR

starring: Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Morrison, Kevin Dunn

written by: Gavin O’Connor, Anthony Tambakis & Cliff Dorfman

directed by: Gavin O’Connor

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense mixed martial arts fighting, some language and thematic material

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Spinning Platters Interview: Vera Farmiga on “Higher Ground”

Vera Farmiga in HIGHER GROUND

“This is challenging! This discourse is challenging! This is a campaign that is more rigorous than the Up in the Air Oscar campaign. Those questions were like, ‘What is it like to kiss George Clooney?'” But Vera Farmiga wouldn’t have it any other way. The Oscar-nominated actress, 38, is making her directorial debut with Higher Ground, adapted for the screen by Carolyn S. Briggs (and Tim Metcalfe) from her memoir, This Dark World. It is a finely observed, deeply felt spiritual character study about a woman named Corinne (Farmiga). Yes, this film dares to address religion, specifically evangelical Christianity. But it does so in a manner as completely disarming, sensitive, and uncompromising as Farmiga herself.

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Film Review: “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark”

Bailee Madison in DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK
starring: Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, Bailee Madison

written by: Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins

directed by: Troy Nixey

MPAA: Rated R for violence and terror

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Film Review: “Fright Night”

Anton Yelchin and Colin Farrell in FRIGHT NIGHT

starring: Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, Toni Collette, David Tennant, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Imogen Poots, Dave Franco, Reid Ewing

written by: Marti Noxon

directed by: Craig Gillespie

MPAA: Rated R for bloody horror violence and language including some sexual references

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