Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
The 67th SFFilm Festival opens tomorrow, Wednesday, April 24th, and will run through Sunday, April 28th. The Festival is presenting over 45 programs featuring films from 40 countries in venues in San Francisco and Berkeley. We’ve already previewed five of the Fest’s films (two documentaries and three narratives), and below we take a look at five more narrative features:
Continue reading “Film Feature: 67th SFFILM Festival Preview #2”
The 67th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM) will take place April 24-April 28 with screenings at various theaters around San Francisco and the East Bay.
For a full view of special awards, spotlights, and centerpiece films, check out the complete festival guide. Tickets can be purchased here.
Below is a preview of the festival, featuring brief looks at five films:
1.) BILLY & MOLLY: AN OTTER LOVE STORY
(UK, 2023. 78 min)
Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story is a documentary about a man and his otter friend, and the film is an absolute joy. Produced by National Geographic and directed by renowned nature photographer Charlie Hamilton-James, Billy & Molly features brilliantly photographed coastal vistas and serene sunset colors. And, of course, there’s the most adorable otter ever, Molly. She enters Billy’s life when he most needs a friend, and they end up impacting each other’s lives in profound ways. The film is heartwarmingly narrated by Billy and his wife Susan with a wry sense of humor and a deep familial awareness. Billy & Molly will make you cry, smile, laugh, and love nature (and especially otters) more than you already should.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sat., April 27th, 12:15pm at the Marina Theatre Continue reading “Film Feature: 67th SFFILM Festival Preview #1”
OK. I’m not entirely sure if this is an actual “single,” but she played it on The Late Show, so I will pretend it is one. Anyway, I LOVE the new Maggie Rogers. I am very late to jump on this ship, but everyone to experience something for the first time? I was captivated by her set at Outside Lands last year, but this song is just a warm joy of an earworm. It’s firmly rooted in the Fleetwood Mac school of earnest soft rock, and there is no shame in that. Sometimes, you need something that’s just unapologetically nice and optimistic.
“The Kill” is a track off Maggie Rogers’s recently released Don’t Forget Me, which is available in all the usual places NOW! She’s also playing ARENAS!! Tour dates are here, and she’s even doing a fancy thing where the first allotment of tickets is being sold ONLY IN PERSON. For my fellow Bay Area folks, the Chase Center date on November 1st will have a special, box office-only sale THIS SATURDAY, April 20th, from 10 am – 1 pm. Yes, that is Record Store Day, so you gotta make some hard choices. Or find a store that opens at 8 am.
Heist films are commonly fun to watch, since they often include an ensemble cast, clever misdirections, and clearly defined stakes. In essence, Guy Ritchie’s latest film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, is a World War II heist film. It’s based on Damien Lewis’s 2014 book Churchill’s Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII. The film isn’t as bloody as you may expect (it’s still very violent). It’s not as funny or fast-paced as you may expect from Guy Ritchie, nor is it as dramatic. Yet, it carries a modicum of each element which, when put together, forms a solidly entertaining spy action flick. Continue reading “Film Review: “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare””
Griefcat is a music/comedy duo from just outside of Washington, DC. Although they are political by nature, they are definitely way more relevant than, say, The Capitol Steps. They just released a new video to their song “Carbon Footprint,” which can be enjoyed just above this paragraph. They are releasing a new album on April 19th called Late Stage Capitalism, which can be presaved here. Yes, that is the same day as the new Taylor Swift.
Anyway, I had a lovely chat with Louisa Hall and Annie Nardolilli of Griefcat, which includes some Taylor Swift talk because that happens sometimes? You can read all that RIGHT NOW: Continue reading “Interview: Louisa Hall and Annie Nardolilli of Griefcat”
The human body is a fascinating topic to think about, but if you’re director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name), the human body is primarily a sexual specimen to deliberately inspect, photograph, and place alongside other sexual specimens. Understandably, when you cast three beautiful young stars to be in your film, Zendaya (Dune), Josh O’Connor (The Crown), and Mike Faist (West Side Story), you’d want to supplement their on-screen charisma by showcasing their bodies, especially if your film is a sports drama. Challengers is Guadagnino’s first foray into mainstream territory, for lack of a more applicable term. With a star-led cast and a sharp script, the film is a compelling sports drama that contains the director’s hallmark character complexities, even if style gets in the way of substance in its final act. Continue reading “Film Review: “Challengers””
Normally, the Single Of The Week is a new release for that very same week. BUT- I missed this one. And now I can’t go more than a few hours without listening to it repeatedly. Saya Gray is clearly the living definition of being “post-genre.” In many ways, she’s a descendant of Bjork- eccentric yet accessible. She is unafraid to experiment and unworried about alienating people because creativity seems to ooze from her. “AA BOUQET FOR YOUR 180 FACE” is the first single off her latest release, QWERTY II. The whole thing is one lovely journey that spans genres and emotions the human brain has never before conjured.
QWERTY II is out now and ready for its place in your 2024 Top 10 lists.
I think the last time I saw a show in the LA Live complex in Downtown Los Angeles was when Steven Wilson was touring Hand.Cannot.Erase. It’s a surreal place. High end chain restaurants, shops, and live concert venues all pieced together in a way to showcase itself as a gathering center for food, art, and media, but really it just comes off as an attempt at a capitalist utopia. The Novo is the current iteration of what used to be Club Nokia, the more affordable venue in the complex, especially when compared to The Crypto Arena or the Staples Center. It was still Club Nokia when I saw Steven Wilson, Mindless Self Indulgence, Reel Big Fish, and a number of other bands back in the early 2010s. Nowadays, it is home primarily to hip-hop and pop artists, as a bartender shared with me, so it was going to be a very different night and a different crowd than usual as Re-TROS, Liars, and Flaccid Mojo took the place over.
Continue reading “Show Review: Re-TROS, Liars, and Flacid Mojo at The Novo (DTLA), 04-04-2024”
Alex Garland directed Ex Machina in 2014, Annihilation in 2018, Men in 2022, and now, Civil War. That’s four definite or near masterpieces, in my humble opinion. Each film in his directorial oeuvre has served as a cinematic discussion about the impact an ever-changing issue has had on humanity, sometimes overt and other times metaphorical: artificial intelligence, environmental degradation, toxic masculinity, and now, divisive American political idealism. It would be easy to criticize Civil War as “teaching us nothing new,” but that would be missing the point. The film is not intended to be a blaring warning siren. Instead, Civil War is a disturbing sensory vision of the future, featuring a distinct set of strong characters to help ground its grand-scale and daring filmmaking, meant to elicit a potent sense of current anxieties. Continue reading “Film Review: “Civil War””
Our good friends at Mosswood Meltdown have gifted us with their daily lineups for Mosswood Meltdown 2024! Coming to you July 6th & 7th, and featuring a headlining set by The legendary B-52’s, the return of The Mummies (who in the past have made their entrance on the toy motorbikes, riding on top of a vintage ambulance, and even after setting up on the mainstage, tricked everyone by playing in the middle of a grove of trees instead!), a very rare appearance from Pure Hell, an even MORE rare appearance by Go Sailor!, and even more rare appearance from the Bush Tetras, to name a few.
2 – Day and single-day tickets are available here—daily breakdowns below the jump.
MOSSWOOD MELTDOWN 2024 DAILY LINEUPS
SATURDAY JULY 6TH
The B-52s
Redd Kross
Hunx & His Punx
Peaches Christ Drag Show
Pansy Division
Go Sailor
Wifey
Trap Girl
Hot Laundry
SUNDAY JULY 7TH
The Mummies
Pure Hell
Big Freedia
Egyptian Lover
Gibby Haynes & the Paul Green Rock Academy
Bush Tetras
Die Spitz
Space Lady
Gumby’s Junk
