Films – Spinning Platters

Film Review: “Mother Mary”

Lowery’s pop-star exploration gets bogged down by metaphors and self-importance

Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway) is dressed up for the shot in ‘Mother Mary.’

Writer/director David Lowery (Pete’s Dragon, A Ghost Story, The Green Knight) is one the finest visual directors working today. Lowery’s deliberately paced stories pack surprisingly emotional gut punches, and he doesn’t let his distinct style get in the way of the story. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for his latest film, Mother Mary, a musical surrealist drama. Inviting audiences to interpret the events of a film’s ending, or major moments, or striking visuals, is one thing, but requiring audiences to fill in the narrative gaps while interpreting the events of a story is a tall task, and a distracting one. Mother Mary has visual panache and vibing music, but lacks a complete story, instead relying on pretentious dialogue and dreamlike imagery to gloss over its shortcomings. Continue reading “Film Review: “Mother Mary””

Film Feature: 69th SFFILM Festival Preview #3

It’s finally here! The 69th SFFILM Festival starts TOMORROW, Friday, April 24th! Running through Monday, May 4th, this year’s Fest features over 100 films from more than 40 countries. The SFFILM Festival FAQ website will quickly answer all your questions about programs, tickets, and venues. And be sure to review our two previous preview posts (#2 and #1) for more Spinning Platters-approved Festival highlights!

Below we highlight an additional two documentaries and two features that are worth a look. See you at the Fest!

1.) WHO MOVES AMERICA
(USA, 2026. 87 min.)

A real-life drama about the power of unions in the vein of Norma Rae and Pride, this inspiring documentary will leave you cheering. Focusing on the 340,000 UPS Teamster members and their 2023 contract negotiations and potential strike, documentarian Yael Bridges crafts a portrait of union struggle and solidarity that is as thoughtful as it is rousing. Bridges turns her camera on local chapters in New York, southern California, Kentucky, and New Jersey, and the stories of the workers profiled are insightful and engrossing. UPS doesn’t come off well, and its executives can’t be happy about this film. But that just makes this truth-to-power story all the more affecting. Union yes! .

Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Mon., Apr 27th, 6:15 pm PT @ Marina Theatre
– Mon., Apr 27th, 8:45 pm PT @ Marina Theatre
– Fri., May 1st, 3:45 pm PT @ Marina Theatre
Continue reading “Film Feature: 69th SFFILM Festival Preview #3”

Film Feature: 69th SFFILM Festival Preview #2

The 69th SFFILM Festival is days away, April 24 – May 4, featuring over one hundred films from more than forty countries. Please visit the SFFILM Festival website for more information about the exciting program, how to purchase tickets, and a calendar of special events and presentations.

In the meantime, here’s a second preview of the Festival, highlighting three films and six shorts: Renoir, How to Clean a House in 10 Easy Steps, Filipiñana, and shorts Corpus Christi, The Veil, Vultures, A Year of Marriage, Cardboard and First Winter.

1.) RENOIR
(Japan/France/Singapore/Philippines/Indonesia/Qatar/USA, 2025. 118 min.)

In Renoir, director Chie Hiyakawa (Plan 75) takes us deep into the emotional hardships of a Japanese family in late-’80s suburban Tokyo. Yui Suzuki is incredible as 11-year old Fuki, whose perspective we follow as she navigates coming to terms with a terminally ill father, an overwhelmed mother, and her own imagination, which often blurs the line between fantasy and reality. At times beautiful, and other times haunting and tense, Renoir is a patient meditation on grief as seen through the eyes of an adolescent.

Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sat., Apr 25th, 11:30 am PT @ BAMPFA
– Sun., May 3rd, 6:00 pm PT @ Marina Theatre

Continue reading “Film Feature: 69th SFFILM Festival Preview #2”

Film Review: “Everyone is Lying to You for Money”

McKenzie’s impressive directorial debut aims to sort through the crypto hysteria

Ben McKenzie sits down with Sam Bankman-Fried in ‘Everyone is Lying to You for Money’.

Best known for his lead role in the early 2000s teenage soap opera The O.C., Ben McKenzie has since supplemented his acting career with a journalistic approach to economics (a subject he earned an undergraduate degree in from the University of Virginia). Based on his writing debut, 2023’s “Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud,” McKenzie has directed, produced, and starred in a documentary, Everyone is Lying to You for Money, exploring his concern and criticism of the cryptocurrency era. Maintaining a brisk pace and a high-level approach suitable for wide audience consumption, McKenzie’s documentary effectively frames the critical questions we should all, as a monetarily-driven society, be asking about crypto. Continue reading “Film Review: “Everyone is Lying to You for Money””

Film Feature: 69th SFFILM Festival Preview #1

In the meantime, here’s a preview of the festival, highlighting four films: Rose of Nevada, The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford, The Queen and the Smokehouse, and Cookie Queens.

1.) ROSE OF NEVADA
(UK, 2025. 114 min.)

Rose of Nevada’s writer/director/cinematographer/editor/composer Mark Jenkin (Bait) has delivered a visceral cinematic allegory. George MacKay (1917) and Callum Turner (Eternity) star as young men in the British seaside village of Cornwall who agree to serve as fishermen on an empty vessel that has reappeared after being lost at sea for thirty years. After hauling in a successful catch, they return to a Cornwall that has changed in very strange ways. Utilizing 16 mm film for a vivid, old photographic feel, and with a focus on textural detail, from peeling paint on a door to slimy barnacles on a boat’s hull, Rose of Nevada evokes a unique sensory experience that takes the audience deep into the narrative’s mysteries.

Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sun., May 3rd, 8:30 pm PT @ Marina Theatre

Continue reading “Film Feature: 69th SFFILM Festival Preview #1”

Film Review: “Exit 8”

Exit 8 is equally mind-bending and frustrating

A anomalous (?) man smiles in the infinite passageway in ‘Exit 8.’

Based on an indie Japanese video game, Exit 8 finds its protagonist, a young man (Kazunari Ninomiya), on his way to a temporary job, only to get caught in a neverending loop of subway station hallways. The only clue the entrapped man (and the audience) has to what’s going on is through an information sign that warns to look for anomalies, and if one is spotted, to turn back immediately. Successfully spotting the anomalies, which can vary from a small change in a poster design to a horrific creature popping through ceiling vents, enables the protagonist to get to the “next level” (i.e., the next exit), which are numbered from 0 to 8. As a concept, this psychological setup is a great opportunity for sight gags, mind-bending conundrums, and visceral thrills. Unfortunately, Exit 8 tries too hard to be super serious and sincere amid its repetitiveness, to the extent that audiences will be begging for a tonal or structural shift (but maybe that’s the point?). Continue reading “Film Review: “Exit 8””

Film Review: “Hamlet”

Hamlet showcases Ahmed’s way with ‘Words, words, words’

Hamlet (Riz Ahmed) broods in the nighttime glow in ‘Hamlet.’

Set in modern day London amid a wealthy South Asian family, Hamlet is the latest cinematic adaptation of Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy. Clearly filmed on a modest budget, yet using dialogue directly pulled from Shakespeare’s text, Hamlet will be embraced by thespians and fans of the Bard, but generally dismissed by casual moviegoers looking for something more grandiose. Continue reading “Film Review: “Hamlet””

Film Review: “The Drama”

Zendaya and Pattinson create worthy Drama

Emma (Zendaya) and Charlie (Robert Pattinson) have an eye-opening conversation with friends.

This review will be shorter than usual, because writing about The Drama without giving any spoilers is nearly impossible. There is so much to say about this provocative and highly original film, but the less you know going into it, the more you’ll be able to enjoy its surprises. Suffice to say that I’ve already short-listed the movie for my 2026 Top 10. If you love unexpected, immensely creative, and thought-provoking films, you owe it to yourself to see The Drama.

Continue reading “Film Review: “The Drama””

Film Review: “Tow”

Byrne shines in maddening story of bureaucracy gone wrong

Tow company employee Cliff (Simon Rex) speaks with the stubborn Amanda (Rose Byrne).

Rose Byrne may have lost the Best Actress Oscar race last Sunday, but I’m guessing she’ll have another chance a year from now. She delivers a similarly fierce and exceptional performance in Tow, and the movie itself is already shortlisted for my 2026 Top Ten.

Continue reading “Film Review: “Tow””

Film Feature: Carrie and Chad Pick the 2026 Oscars

Film critics Carrie and Chad on who will – and who should – win the 98th Academy Awards

The 98th Academy Awards air tomorrow, Sunday, March 15th, live on ABC and Hulu at 4:00 pm PST, with comedian Conan O’Brien returning to host for the second year in a row. As always, our Spinning Platters film critics Carrie Kahn and Chad Liffmann make their major category predictions in the hopes of Oscar pool glory. Try your own luck here, and may the best film fan win!

Continue reading “Film Feature: Carrie and Chad Pick the 2026 Oscars”