Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris and Judi Dench
Written by: Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and John Logan
Directed by: Sam Mendes
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense violent sequences throughout, some sexuality, language and smoking
Continue reading “Film Review: “Skyfall” (aka The New James Bond Movie)”
If you think you’ve seen every possible narrative variation on a man trying to lose his virginity, then allow me to introduce you to The Sessions. A cheerful film of irrepressible optimism and remarkable sexual frankness, it is the true story of Mark O’Brien (John Hawkes), a man who was left near-paralyzed following a childhood bout with polio. Having attained local fame for graduating from Berkeley by attending classes on a motorized gurney, Mark now spends the majority of his days in an iron lung. His physical movement is limited to a 90-degree rotation of his neck, which he doesn’t let prevent him from pursuing work as a writer and freelance journalist (and what have you done lately?). When a magazine assigns him a story on sex and the disabled, his research leads him to “sex surrogate” Cheryl Cohen-Greene (Helen Hunt), essentially a physical therapist with an emphasis on sex. Yes, her vocation involves having sex with her clients. With great trepidation, Mark (still a virgin at 36) decides to undergo a series of therapy sessions with Cheryl to see if he is indeed capable of performing sexually.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: John Hawkes and Helen Hunt on “The Sessions””
“Oh, that’s just semen.” Matthew Lillard is trying to put me at ease about a mysterious glob on the chair I’m about to sit in. As I express my comfort with this substance and take a seat, I stare across the table and look directly into one of the most unforgettable faces of my teen years. Between Serial Mom, Hackers, and Scream alone, Lillard is arguably one of the key cult actors of that greatest of decades. Throw in SLC Punk!, She’s All That, Mad Love, and even If These Walls Could Talk, and we’re talking about a bona fide generational icon. By the time he hit paydirt with his uncanny embodiment of Shaggy in the 2002 blockbuster Scooby Doo and its 2004 sequel, Lillard seemed unstoppable. Then, after a decade of steady and successful work, Lillard entered a lengthy fallow period that tested his personal and professional resolve. But with two high-profile acting gigs over the last year and the victorious release of his long-gestating directorial debut, Fat Kid Rules the World, Lillard is back on the scene in a big way.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Matthew Lillard on “Fat Kid Rules the World””
Seven Psychopaths may only be the second feature-length film from writer/director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges), but it appears that he’s already having his 8 1/2 moment. A fragmented and bizarre but explosively funny crime comedy, it is ostensibly the story of Marty (Colin Farrell), a screenwriter attempting to write his next script, titled…Seven Psychopaths. There’s just one problem: despite the title, Marty has only thought of one psychopath. But when his friend Billy (Sam Rockwell), an aspiring actor and serial dognapper, and his dognapping partner Hans (Christopher Walken), unwittingly steal Bonny, the beloved shih tzu of vicious L.A. gangster Charlie (Woody Harrelson), Marty begins to realize that he may actually be surrounded by psychopaths.
starring: Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman, John Cusack, David Oyelowo, Macy Gray
written by: Lee Daniels and Pete Dexter
directed by: Lee Daniels
MPAA: Rated R for strong sexual content, violence and language
starring: Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Rebel Wilson, Skylar Astin, Adam DeVine, John Michael Higgins, Elizabeth Banks, John Benjamin Hickey
written by: Kay Cannon
directed by: Jason Moore
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sexual material, language and drug references
Please don’t read this post until you’ve already seen Rian Johnson’s excellent film, Looper. I’m about to spoil the heck out of it. There are some lingering questions about this movie (most of them crazy theories) that I want to discuss with someone, so I’m asking you, the Internet, to discuss it with me. If you click to read more, I’m going to assume you’ve seen it. Click below to reveal spoilers. Continue reading “Click to Reveal Spoilers: Questions About What Happened in Rian Johnson’s “Looper””
Looper, the ingenious new sci-fi drama from writer/director Rian Johnson (Brick), has one hell of a setup. The year is 2044, and time travel hasn’t been invented yet — but it will be. And when it is, it immediately becomes illegal. But in the bombed-out dystopian American future of Johnson’s imagining, time travel’s illegality just means powerful crime syndicates are the only ones with access to it. Due to implanted tracking devices, disposing of bodies in the future is impossible. So the mobsters dispatch their targets back to 2044, bound and hooded, where they are immediately shot and killed by assassins known as “loopers,” who then incinerate the remains. But a new crime boss known as The Rainmaker has risen to power, and he is determined to “close the loops” by finding the future versions of the assassins from 2044, sending them back in time and having them killed — by the younger versions of themselves. Got that? The loopers are understandably perturbed by this, and a moment’s hesitation can lead to the older version of themselves escaping and creating quite a time-space conundrum. Such is the case with Joe, played in 2044 by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and in the future by Bruce Willis.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interviews: Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Rian Johnson on “Looper””
End of Watch is unlike any cop movie we’ve seen before. Its distinguishing traits range from its texture — the film is shot and edited to resemble a pulse-poundingly visceral “found footage” documentary — to its thoroughly realized characterizations of LAPD officers Brian (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike (Michael Peña), thrill-chasing partners and best friends who have a tendency to run toward the action while others run away from it. The film plays out like a feature-length episode of COPS as written by Aaron Sorkin or David Mamet; its substance comes from the palpable bond between Brian and Mike, which plays out in a series of remarkably authentic-feeling conversations we watch them have as they drive around on patrol, waiting for that next call, never knowing if they’ll be getting a cat out of a tree or walking into gunfire. This naturalistic and wholly believable quality comes both from the direction and script of David Ayer (Harsh Times) and the committed performances of Gyllenhaal and Peña, with whom Ayer rehearsed for several months before shooting the film to get their chemistry just right. Anna Kendrick and Natalie Martinez are heartfelt and dynamic as the officers’ better halves.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Michael Peña and Natalie Martinez on “End of Watch””
starring: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Matthew Lillard, Robert Patrick
written by: Randy Brown
directed by: Robert Lorenz
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for language, sexual references, some thematic material and smoking