Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
starring: Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillippe, Marisa Tomei, William H. Macy, John Leguizamo, Josh Lucas, Michael Peña, Frances Fisher, Bryan Cranston, Trace Adkins, Katherine Moennig
written by: John Romano (screenplay), Michael Connelly (novel)
directed by: Brad Furman
MPAA: Rated R for some violence, sexual content and language.
starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman, Jeffrey Tambor, Blythe Danner, Bill Hader, Joe Lo Truglio, Sigourney Weaver, Jane Lynch, David Koechler, Jesse Plemons, John Carroll Lynch, and the voice of Seth Rogen
directed by: Greg Mottola
written by: Nick Frost and Simon Pegg
MPAA: Rated R for language including sexual references, and some drug use.
starring: Josh Radnor, Kate Mara, Zoe Kazan, Pablo Schreiber, Malin Akerman, Tony Hale, Michael Algieri, Richard Jenkins
directed by: Josh Radnor
MPAA: Rated R for language.
starring: Amanda Seyfried, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons, Gary Oldman, Virginia Madsen, Julie Christie, Lukas Haas, Billy Burke
directed by: Catherine Hardwicke
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for violence and creature terror, and some sensuality.
Beastly
starring: Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Neil Patrick Harris, Mary-Kate Olsen, Peter Krause, Lisa Gay Hamilton
directed by: Darren Barnz
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for language including crude comments, brief violence and some thematic material.
Take Me Home Tonight
starring: Topher Grace, Anna Faris, Dan Fogler, Teresa Palmer, Chris Pratt, Michael Biehn, Lucy Punch, Demetri Martin, Michelle Trachtenberg, Michael Ian Black, Angie Everhart, Bob Odenkirk
directed by: Michael Dowse
MPAA: Rated R for language, sexual content and drug use.
Continue reading “Film Reviews: “Beastly” / “Take Me Home Tonight””
starring: Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Jenna Fischer, Christina Applegate, Nicky Whelan, Richard Jenkins, Stephen Merchant
directed by: Peter & Bobby Farrelly
MPAA: Rated R for crude and sexual humor throughout, language, some graphic nudity and drug use.
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.
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.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Gregg Araki on “Kaboom””
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.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Alex Pettyfer on “I Am Number Four””
“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.
Continue reading “Sketchfest Review: An Evening with Cloris Leachman at the Castro Theatre, 2/5/11”