starring: Liam Neeson, January Jones, Diane Kruger, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, Frank Langella
directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sexual content.
Film Review: “Unknown”
Category: Films
Spinning Platters Interview: Gregg Araki on “Kaboom”
For most of the ’90s, the name “Gregg Araki” was synonymous with edgy underground movies about armageddon and alienation, with bursts of disturbing violence and, most importantly for those of us who were going through puberty at the time, lots of graphic pansexual coupling. Emerging from the New Queer Cinema scene with films like The Living End and Totally Fucked Up, Araki earned his place in the cult-movie pantheon with his sex-and-apocalypse masterworks The Doom Generation and Nowhere.
Then, after 1999’s comparatively tame romantic comedy Splendor, Araki stunned fans and critics alike with the devastating drama Mysterious Skin, which starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a revelatory, career-best performance as a furious hustler living in the aftermath of the molestation he suffered as a young boy. Araki followed this with a much lighter offering, the delightful Anna Faris stoner comedy Smiley Face.
But for those of us who’ve always had a soft (or hard) spot for his ’90s heyday, there’s good news: the old Araki is back in business with Kaboom, which out-sexes and over-apocalypses even his most delirious big-screen moments. Araki recently sat down with Spinning Platters to discuss creative freedom, talking to Republicans about gay sex, and the Doom Generation commentary track we’ve all been waiting for.
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Spinning Platters Interview: Alex Pettyfer on “I Am Number Four”
Alex Pettyfer is looking at a flyer with his name and picture on it. “ALEX PETTYFER!” he bellows in a mock-announcer voice. “And also, BAY AREA NATIVE DIANNA AGRON!” he reads, referring to the Glee actress and Burlingame native, also his I Am Number Four costar and rumored girlfriend. The flyer is advertising a promotional appearance Pettyfer and Agron will be making at a store in San Bruno the next day. “This is very impressive,” he says. “Just… wow.”
Like the rest of America, the 20-year-old Pettyfer isn’t quite used to seeing himself in the spotlight yet. As of this moment, the British native is still able to walk the streets largely unrecognized. Other than roles in such little-seen films as Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker and the Emma Roberts vehicle Wild Child (and his work as a Burberry model), there’s really no reason you should know him. But that all changes this Friday, with the release of the massively promoted, Michael Bay-produced I Am Number Four.
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Sketchfest Review: An Evening with Cloris Leachman at the Castro Theatre, 2/5/11
“80. Fuckin’ 80.”
These were the first words that the legendary Cloris Leachman, who will actually be turning 85 in two months, said into her microphone at Idol Worship: An Evening with Cloris Leachman on Saturday, the main attraction of the 10th annual SF Sketchfest’s closing night, co-presented with Midnight Mass and hosted by “the very, very nervous” Peaches Christ. And Peaches had every right to be nervous: Ms. Leachman was as delightfully batty and unpredictable as the audience could have dared to hope.
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Sketchfest Review: The SF Sketchfest Comedy Writing Award – James L. Brooks in conversation with Danny DeVito at the Castro Theatre, 2/1/2011
While past recipients of the SF Sketchfest Comedy Writing Award have included Robert Smigel and John Hodgman, the Sketchfest crew that introduced this years’s winner freely admitted to outdoing themselves this time: the legendary James L. Brooks, a towering institution in the worlds of film and television writing, the man who won three Oscars – Picture (as a producer), Director, and Adapted Screenplay – for his very first directorial effort, the immortal weepie Terms of Endearment.
And not only did they snag Brooks, but they also got the inimitable Danny DeVito, who has known Brooks since their Taxi days, to serve as a moderator for what was intended to be a discussion of Brooks’ life and career. I say “intended” because the evening was ultimately less about Brooks’ personal career reflections than DeVito’s broad comic interpretation of their years working together. But since he had everyone (including Brooks) red-faced and panting from laughter, everyone still walked away satisfied. Well, everyone except poor Debra Winger.
Film Review: “The Rite”
starring: Anthony Hopkins, Colin O’Donoghue, Alice Braga, Ciarán Hinds, Toby Jones, Rutger Hauer, Marta Gastini
directed by: Mikael Håfström
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for disturbing thematic material, violence, frightening images, and language including sexual references.
Film Review: “No Strings Attached”
starring: Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Kline, Greta Gerwig, Mindy Kaling, Lake Bell, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Cary Elwes, Olivia Thirlby, Talia Balsam, Jake M. Johnson, Abby Elliott
directed by: Ivan Reitman
MPAA: Rated R for sexual content, language and some drug material.
Film Review: “Another Year”
starring: Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen, Lesley Manville, Peter Wight, Imelda Staunton, Oliver Maltman, David Bradley, Martin Savage, Karina Fernandez
directed by: Mike Leigh
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some language
Film Review: “True Grit”
starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Hailee Steinfeld, Barry Pepper
directed by: Joel & Ethan Coen
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of western violence including disturbing images.
Album Review (with bonus movie talk): Daft Punk – TRON: Legacy Original Soundtrack
I’m a fan of the original 1982 movie TRON, even though I’m aware it’s kinda crappy. So I’ve been following the TRON: Legacy hype pretty closely for the last few years. And when I was sent Daft Punk’s TRON: Legacy Original Soundtrack for review, I immediately emailed our lead film reviewer, Jason LeRoy, and called dibs when he got his tickets for a preview screening. Then I began listening to Daft Punk’s film score to get myself psyched. And it worked. I was psyched. Continue reading “Album Review (with bonus movie talk): Daft Punk — TRON: Legacy Original Soundtrack”