Films – Page 62 – Spinning Platters

Film Feature: Carrie and Chad Pick the Oscars

Film critics Carrie and Chad on who will – and who should – win the Oscars

The 86th Academy Awards air this Sunday, March 2nd on ABC at 5:00pm PST (red carpet coverage starts at 4:00). Here are Carrie and Chad’s predictions – and hopes – for the major categories:

BEST PICTURE:

Nominees: American Hustle/Captain Phillips/Dallas Buyers Club/Gravity/Her/Nebraska/Philomena/12 Years a Slave/The Wolf of Wall Street
Carrie: Will Win: 12 Years a Slave; Should Win: Nebraska
Chad: Will Win: 12 Years a Slave; Should Win: Her

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Show Review: A Night at the Oscars with the SF Symphony

A classy evening, complete with film classics.

As God is my witness, I’ll never listen to film score the same way again!

On Saturday, Feb. 15th, just two weeks before the 86th Academy Awards, the San Francisco Symphony hosted a night that celebrated a handful of iconic scenes from some of the very first, and most beloved, best musical score Oscar winners and nominees. Showcasing films as early as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) to as late as Ben-Hur (1959), the packed audience at Davies Symphony Hall marveled at fully restored 35 mm prints from six classics of cinema, including Gone with the Wind (1939), Citizen Kane (1941), An American in Paris (1951), and finally, The Wizard of Oz (1939), all the while enjoying the talented San Francisco orchestra drive through the scenes with scores ranging from bombastic to haunting to whimsical.

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Film Review: About Last Night

About this remake: Fresh humor balances romantic comedy clichés

Michael Ealy’s Danny watches the game while Joy Bryant’s Debbie watches him in About Last Night.

Hollywood is big on remakes these days; this week alone, three updates of 1980s movies have opened (RoboCop on Wednesday, and Endless Love and About Last Night today). Whether there is a lack of decent original screenplays right now, or whether aging Gen X studio execs are nostalgic for the stories of their formative days is hard to say, but the phenomenon does beg the question of whether these remakes need to be made at all, and, more importantly, whether they are any good in their own right. The new About Last Night is a particularly special case, since it is not only a remake of a film, but is also a remake of a film based on a play, which makes the new version especially far removed from its source material. Does that matter? Fortunately, in this case, not so much. Director Steven Pink, who apparently has a fondness for the 1980s (he directed the very funny ’80s time travel movie Hot Tub Time Machine) has tweaked the material enough to make his new version modern, fresh, and very funny. Continue reading “Film Review: About Last Night”

Film Review: The Lego Movie

Everything about this movie is awesome.

When I first learned of a LEGO movie, I was cautiously optimistic. I was raised on LEGO. I still vividly remember setting up Robin Hood-esque forest fortresses, flag-covered castles, and farming villages (yes, the medieval times was my go-to theme). The instructions that came with each box provided the groundwork for my imagination to later run wild. The idea of a LEGO feature film confused me, since I couldn’t conceive of a plot worthy of the great expanse of LEGO wonder. But then I saw the trailer, and it seemed to click. In a brilliant maneuver, LEGO and the filmmakers have included it all – legos from across “universes” and time periods – into a charming underdog story with a genuinely heartfelt message. The Lego Movie succeeds in its perfect execution of jam-packed jokes, self-referential humor, pop culture teases, talented voice acting, frenetic action that borders on being chaotic, and jaw-dropping animation. So yeah, it succeeds all over the place.

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The 2014 Super Bowl Movie Ads

Explosions, superheroes, Muppets, and the Bible…hooray, kinda!

Remember the good ole’ days of Super Bowl movie trailers (~15 years ago) when there were only 2-4 of them and they were completely jaw-dropping? Armageddon and The Mask of Zorro in 1998, The Mummy and The Matrix in 1999, Gladiator in 2000. Nowadays, the internet is set ablaze with news of movie trailers set to premiere during the big game (with some premiering online before the game). Super Bowl movie ads just don’t have the ‘wow’-factor they used to. This year, more than eight movies had their trailers broadcast during the commercial breaks. It was mostly a visual feast of action/adventure fare, and most were new, aside from a few including 3 Days to Kill and Monument’s Men (which has too many ads playing currently). So, here are the cream of the crop:

Transformers: Age of Extinction
No Shia? I’m game! No, seriously, we’re all fairly confident that this movie has little chance of being any better than the previous three crap-fests. That being said, Optimus Prime riding a robo-dinosaur? Again, I’m game!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNfOcV0eeg4

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Film Review: Labor Day

A little corniness forgivable in Reitman’s affecting new drama

Josh Brolin’s Frank shows Kate Winslet’s Adele and Gattlin Griffith’s Henry how to make the world’s best peach pie in Labor Day.

Director Jason Reitman returns to the screen this weekend with Labor Day, the new film that he also co-wrote with Oakland writer Joyce Maynard, author of the book of the same name. The film has already received much advance buzz (and laughs) regarding its pie-baking scene (think not of the infamous American Pie apple pie sequence, but of the pottery scene in Ghost, and you’ll have an apt comparison), but the film deserves attention for more than just that brief snicker-inducing scene. Markedly different in tone from his previous breezy, often darkly comic pictures (Young Adult, Up in the Air, Juno), Labor Day is Reitman’s warmest, most straightforward, earnest film to date. The film is not perfect by any means – it is filled with plot points that strain credulity, and contains its fair share of corny dialogue – but if you can suspend some disbelief for two hours, you will be rewarded with an arresting, well-crafted story of almost unbearable tension. Continue reading “Film Review: Labor Day”

Film Review: Gimme Shelter

Gimme shelter? How about gimme a better movie?

Vanessa Hudgens, as Apple, gets some life altering news in Gimme Shelter.

Conservatives have often accused Hollywood of having a liberal agenda, so they should be very happy with Gimme Shelter, writer-director Ron Krauss’s family-friendly film about a pregnant teenager that opens today. The picture has a not-so-subtle religious, pro-life message, and feels less like a major theatrical release and more like a made-for-TV movie that might air on the Family channel or the Christian Broadcasting Network. As a film review is not the place to delve too much into polarizing political debate, I’ll set that issue aside, and will review the film purely for its entertainment value. On that level, though, unfortunately, the film ultimately fails as a compelling dramatic narrative. Continue reading “Film Review: Gimme Shelter”

Film Review: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

A hell of a ride: Branagh, Pine infuse Clancy franchise with new energy

Chris Pine is on the run as Jack Ryan in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

With Oscar nominations announced yesterday and the slate of Serious Award-Worthy films soon to be on their way out of theaters, it’s time to make way for some rousing old-fashioned movie-going fun. Kenneth Branagh has helped us on that front with the somewhat awkwardly titled Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, his inspired and highly entertaining reboot of the late author Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan series. Branagh and screenwriters Adam Cozad and David Koepp have created an entirely new story for Clancy’s CIA agent character, the first not actually based on any of Clancy’s books. Koepp’s previous credits include 2012’s Premium Rush, the excellent Manhattan bicycle chase movie, and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit benefits tremendously from that same adrenaline-fueled, frenetic, thrill-a-minute aesthetic. Continue reading “Film Review: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit”

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 Feature: Carrie’s Top 10 Films of 2013

Spinning Platters film critics Carrie Kahn and Chad Liffmann present their Top 10 Films of 2013. Here’s Carrie’s list, presented in alphabetical order.

1.) All is Lost
Robert Redford struggles against the elements in All is Lost.

That a film with just a single actor and virtually no dialog can be absolutely riveting is a testament both to Robert Redford’s brilliant acting and to writer/director J.C. Chandor’s exceptional skill at his craft. Redford says more with his rugged face and worried eyes than most actors do with a wordy, five-star script. Not since Jaws and The Perfect Storm has a film so totally absorbed us in a man-against-sea survival story. And Chandor’s ambiguous ending lends itself to hours of debate and discussion; everyone who has seen this film has a strong opinion, and that a near-silent film can generate such passion makes it special and noteworthy. Continue reading “Film Feature: Carrie’s Top 10 Films of 2013”