Rock is dead, people say. They say this because EDM and hip-hop headliners rule the festival stage, and when a rock band is seen anywhere on stage, it’s always dismissed as a legacy act. When people say this, they’re stupid. , but Iif they need convincing, here comes a tour that gives a big giant fuck you to the concept. For rock isn’t dead, and The Darkness is here to stick their big giant riffs in your face in the name of rock and roll.Continue reading “Show Review: The Darkness with Diarrhea Planet at The Regency Ballroom, 3/31/2018”
61st annual San Francisco International Film Festival opens this Wednesday, April 4th
The 61st annual San Francisco International Film Festival begins this Wednesday, April 4th, and will run almost two weeks, until Thursday, April 17th. This year’s Festival features 186 films from over 40 countries, and will include eight world premieres, five North American premieres, and six U.S. premieres. Of special note is that over a third of this year’s selected films are directed by women. Tickets and more information about films and programs can be found here.
To help you plan your Fest schedule, we’ll start you off here with five Festival film spotlights (three narrative features and two documentaries). And be sure to bookmark Spinning Platters and check back frequently, as we’ll have more coverage throughout the Festival.
Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) enters the Oasis via his virtual reality gear.
Let me start this review with a caveat, since I know there are a lot of die hard fans out there of Ernest Cline’s 2011 sci-fi book Ready Player One, on which director Steven Spielberg’s new movie is based: I have not read the book. So if you’re looking for a detailed synopsis of how the movie is different from the book, you may as well click off Spinning Platters right now and search for a different review. That said, however, I did attend the screening with a friend who had read the book, and he let me know that much of the film’s plot differs dramatically from Cline’s story; he also opined that he thought a lot of the book’s charm was lost on screen. But that’s where I come in: to discuss a.) what, exactly, is on screen; and b.) to tell you if it’s worth your time and money. And the short answers are: a.) not much of interest, and b.) no. Continue reading “Film Review: Ready Player One“
Let’s face it: fame found as a result of an appearance on American Idol can be a mixed bag. On one hand, there’s the bad (William Hung, that guy who sang that “Pants on the Ground” song, Nikki McKibbin). On the other hand, without Idol none of us might ever have been exposed to Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson… While I haven’t seen the ABC reboot of this show, I have been known to follow the show in the past. Ever since Phillip Phillips‘s audition with a brilliant cover of “Thriller,” I’ve been a big fan. Over the years, I’ve seen him go from a no-name hopeful on a reality TV singing competition to winning the whole shebang, to opening for John Mayer, to headlining a Napa music festival. Now he’s released his third album, Collateral, which he played San Francisco’s legendary Fillmore this week to promote. Continue reading “Show Review: Phillip Phillips with Ballroom Thieves at the Fillmore, 3/20/18”
Dance of the Holy Ghosts returns to playwright’s native Oakland roots
Berwick Haynes (Oscar) with Viola’s famous sweet potato pie and Michael Curry (Marcus) with his precisely organized Crayolas™?. Photo courtesy of Simone Finney, 2018.
They say the brain only recalls the parts it wants to remember. And so it goes, memory is fragmented, and unreliable, as we come to learn in Ubuntu Theater Project’s production of Dance of the Holy Ghosts by Marcus Gardley.
Gardley is an Oakland native, and there’s something about seeing a play in the space that it’s intended for that really draws on the fragility that a memory play evokes. Walking through the doors of Oakland Peace Center, one immediately confronts a specific time and place which then colors the viewer’s experience. Bringing it all together, a complete choir of gospel singers open the show in this untraditional but very fitting setting. Continue reading “Theater Review: Dance Of The Holy Ghosts at Oakland Peace Center, Ubuntu Theater Project, 3/23/18″
From l-r: Bryan Cranston as Chief, Bob Balaban as King, Koyu Rankin as Atari Kobayashi, Bill Murray as Boss, Edward Norton as Rex, and Jeff Goldblum as Duke.
Early in Isle of Dogs, Wes Anderson’s ninth feature film, the troubled but resolute stray dog Chief (Bryan Cranston) exhorts his pack to persevere despite extreme difficulties. “You’re Rex,” he says to Rex (Edward Norton). “You’re King,” he reminds King (Bob Balaban). “You’re Duke,” he cajoles Duke (Jeff Goldblum): “We’re a pack of scary, indestructible alpha dogs.” We the audience are now helplessly under their sway, and will follow them through this film anywhere.
Soderbergh’s psych ward horror pic commits to mediocrity
Unwittingly committed to a psychiatric hospital, Sawyer (Claire Foy) tries in vain to leave.
Director Steven Soderbergh, whose much anticipated Logan Lucky last year ended up being a disappointment, continues his losing streak with his new film Unsane, a schlocky, run of the mill horror film that feels like the work of a first year film student, not a prolific and award winning director. Shot entirely on an iPhone 7Plus, the picture looks low budget and unpolished, although the grainy, shaky aesthetic in some sense works for the pulpy story. Too bad nothing else does, though; instead, we are treated to an interminable 97 minutes of Soderbergh trying to be a hip experimentalist. Continue reading “Film Review: Unsane“
Peter Hook and the Light hit the North American stages once again!
Photo by Jonathan Pirro at The Mezzanine (SF) in 2011.
Peter Hook’s saga of rock and roll history is not one to be trifled with. His indelible mark as a bass player and musical progenitor has been left in the forms of both Joy Division and New Order, two bands who influenced incredible waves over their tenures. What probably sets him apart from most musicians involved in such influential and groundbreaking groups is his unabashed and pure honesty in recollection. Anyone could just accept the moniker of “groundbreaking creator,” but how many will tell you that their entire style evolved over the fact that their equipment was shit and they just couldn’t hear themself during band practice?
Fifty years ago, Jimi Hendrix released his third and last studio album, Electric Ladyland, widely acknowledged to be a masterpiece. If you haven’t heard the album yet, well, lucky old you – you have a huge treat in store. Apart from pondering for the last half century what incredible music Jimi might have produced if he hadn’t died in London aged 27, there have been sporadic attempts at tributes and iterations inspired by his musical legacy. Although the album was recorded at Record Plant studios in New York, folklore has it that his management company constructed Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Villlage especially for Hendrix’s use. This was because he spent hours and sometimes days jamming with his NYC musician friends, “wasting” valuable studio time. So management caved in and built him his own exclusive pad. The studio is still going strong Continue reading “Show Review: Electric Lady Big Band, Bristol Jazz and Blues Festival, United Kingdom, 3/18/18”
Walking into The Independent on Friday night, I was greeted by a huge white screen stretching from ceiling to floor, effectively and purposefully blocking the entire stage. As DJ Roscoe 2000 set the mood with tunes blending seamlessly into one another, a long white strip of tape on the ground politely requested we stand behind it, helpful arrows drawn to indicate the direction. The screen held a projected animation of a large white circle on a black background. As I watched, parts of the circle’s lines began to glow brighter, light expanding and pushing the boundaries of the circle until particles of light began to escape their linear confines. More and more areas started to glow, particles of the light escaping faster and in greater numbers, swirling outward, creating their own patterns, connections, and collective energy, until eventually returning to the circle, only to start the entire process again. As the lights started to dim, the DJ’s set faded to an end, and the projection began to alter its loop. Continue reading “Show Review: Cornelius, DJ Roscoe 2000 at The Independent, 3/16/18”
