Spinning Platters – Page 141 – Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds

SFIFF59 Spotlights #5: Indignation / Mr. Gaga / The Summer of Frozen Fountains / Radio Dreams

Spinning Platters continues its coverage of the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, which continues through this Thursday, May 5th. You still have plenty of time to get in a few screenings! More information and tickets are available here.

Here we spotlight three more Fest feature films, and one documentary.

Indignation
(USA, 2015, 110 min, Centerpiece Film)

College students Marcus (Logan Lerman) and Olivia (Sarah Gadon) get to know each other on their first date.

Writer/producer James Schamus (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Brokeback Mountain) here proves himself equally adept at directing, choosing for his first full-length feature foray an adaptation of Philip Roth’s 2008 novel Indignation. Set in 1951 at a fictional Ohio liberal arts college, Schamus’s screenplay remains true to the Rothian themes of coming of age, family conflict, sex, love, religion, and death. Schamus and a stellar cast, including Logan Lerman (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) as the protagonist Marcus, a working-class Newark atheist Jew trying to fit in at the conservative, religious campus, and Tracy Letts as the no nonsense, intellectually formidable, but bemused Dean of Men, handle Roth’s heady material with remarkable skill and sensitivity. Sarah Gadon as Marcus’s troubled love interest, and the great Broadway actress Linda Emond as Marcus’s mom, who shares a breathtaking, Oscar-worthy scene with Lerman, round out the absolutely terrific cast. A tour de force scene between Lerman and Letts, in which the two argue about Bertrand Russell, among other issues, is also one of the most compelling, uninterrupted takes you’ll see on screen this year. A powerful meditation on repression and finding yourself through love and family, Schamus’s directorial debut is not to be missed.

Screenings:

No more SFIFF screenings, but will open nationwide on July 29th.

Continue reading “SFIFF59 Spotlights #5: Indignation / Mr. Gaga / The Summer of Frozen Fountains / Radio Dreams“

Film Review: Keanu

Key & Peele deliver a solid R-rated comedy for cat lovers.

The dynamic comedy duo of Key & Peele make their feature film debut with Keanu, an R-rated comedy about two homely guys masquerading into the criminal world in search of their kidnapped kitten. If you’re familiar with the Key & Peele comedic style, you’re sure to like Keanu for all its racial, crude, and awkward humor. If you’re not familiar with it, you may find yourself laughing at a moment or two and frustrated at others. Luckily, it’s fast-paced enough to get by any failed humor with ease. Keanu is a solid gut-busting debut for Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, who utilize their strengths to bolster a hilariously absurd (and cuddly) premise.

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Film Review: Ratchet and Clank

Like a bunch of cut scenes without any of that fun video game stuff

RatchetClank — Ratchet and Clank star in the movie based on their popular and long lasting video game series.

The Ratchet and Clank series of video games have long contained the best cut scenes and voice acting of any games of their type. From the very first game on the PS2, the strong characterizations and fun action have made for consistently entertaining games with real character arcs for both our main characters and some of the side characters as well. So how do you condense hundreds of hours of story into a 90-minute animated film?

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Show Review: Storm Large at Feinstein’s At The Nikko, 4/15/2016

Storm Large became famous on the Internet in 2009 with her song called “(My Vagina Is) 8 Miles Wide.” Any song about the joy of sluttiness and empowering embodiment will instantly hook into my feminist sensibilities, but what makes this song even more awesome is the power of Storm Large as a vocalist and performer. She’s about six-feet-two-inches of tempestuous energy, with a rich voice, and a gigantic range, who pens songs that range from irreverent and funny (“Vagina” abovre), to heartfelt and hopeful (“Stand Up for Me”), to ominous and jaunty (“Throw Away the Key”), and brings the same deft force to the standards and rock ballads she covers. Her material, her range, her presence – everything about her music and performance makes me want to live and love openly, bravely, boldly.

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SFIFF59 Spotlights #4: Assassination Classroom / Thirst / The Demons

A scene from Eiichirô Hasumi's ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM will play at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, on April 21 - May 5,2016.

Spinning Platters continues its coverage of the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, which is happening NOW through May 5th. Information and tickets are available here.

Here’s a look at three more feature titles…

Assassination Classroom
(Japan, 2015, 110 min, Dark Wave)

A scene from Eiichirô Hasumi's ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM will play at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, on April 21 - May 5,2016. — A scene from Eiichirô Hasumi’s ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM will play at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, on April 21 – May 5,2016.

This is a bizarre one, ladies and gentlemen! Assassination Classroom is a new Japanese scifi-comedy-drama inspired by a manga series of the same name. The story is as outlandish as it gets, which is a welcome sight when you’re used to the common film festival fare. The plot: A ‘have a nice day’ smiley-faced alien comes to Earth and strikes a deal with the Japanese government that he will teach a middle school class how to assassinate him before graduation, at which point if he’s not assassinated he’ll destroy the planet. Woohoo! The film is filled with interesting socioeconomic commentary, with the alien being a metaphor for… something…I’m just not quite sure and too distracted by the zany, unexpected, unravelling plot to care. And that’s a good thing. Check it out!

Screenings:

Wednesday, April 27th – 10:00pm, Alamo Drafthouse

Tickets for Assassination Classroom available here.

Continue reading “SFIFF59 Spotlights #4: Assassination Classroom / Thirst / The Demons“

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-04-23 – 2016-04-27

"Anarchy burger! / Hold the government!" - The Vandals — This Saturday in Oakland, plenty of this.

We’re in the final weekend of Coachella 2016, and the consequent Fauxchella 2016 shows are coming our way. What’s Fauxchella? It’s when you can see a band that’s also scheduled at Coachella but without actually having to go to Coachella.

This week in The Bay Area we have old stars, old studio guys, old smoky guys, montage anchorpoints, as much anarchy as you’d like, and a band that just went ahead and named themselves California.

And previews. Preview time. Let’s preview. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-04-23 — 2016-04-27”

RIP Prince: His Importance To My Life

I woke up in utter disbelief this morning. We’ve had a lot of music legends pass away in the last year, but nothing prepared me for the passing of Prince. The man was simply eternally youthful and filled with boundless energy. Less than six months ago, Prince played a 38-song set at Oracle Arena that got out around midnight, followed by another 18-song set at 3am at the Great American Music Hall — a feat that much younger musicians cannot accomplish.

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Spinning Platters Interview: Charlotte Cooper of The Subways

“I think people still are crazy. I think definitely older. I’d say we’ve kept fans from the first record and they’ve grown up with us.”

Over a decade ago, British garage-rockers The Subways burst onto the US music scene with their 2005 hit “Rock & Roll Queen”, and followed it with a set of tours across the States, along with television appearances and an appearance at Lollapalooza. Despite the continued force with which the band kept moving in the years that followed, it took another 10 years before The Subways would come to the US again for another tour, hot on the heels of their self-titled fourth record that was released in 2015. We caught up with singer/bassist Charlotte Cooper to see what’s been happening with the band in the long time that they’ve spent away from this continent.

(Also: don’t miss The Subways’ upcoming show at The Chapel in SF on April 30th!)

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Fauxchella Review: Savages at the Fillmore, 4/19/2016

A thunderstruck, brilliant display of chaotic camaraderie, with a stunning surprise for the end of the performance

Every year during Fauxchella, there is always The One Show To Rule Them All. Often times, it’s a wildly infamous, recently-reformed act playing a tiny venue; other times, it’s a great swath of bands all playing one massive evening; occasionally, however, the headlining act is simply one of the most talked-about acts on the live circuit, and as luck would have it, they have that night all to themselves, and are poised to deliver a heart-stopping, utterly thrilling set to all of the lucky fans that managed to snatch up tickets to their gig. Many Bay Area concertgoers will be likely to rant and rave about all of the indietronic acts that dominated the earlier part of the week and weekend prior as the Shows To See, but this year, that honor went to the London quartet known as Savages, who took over the stage at the Fillmore and delivered one of the most ferocious and stunningly energetic performances of 2016 — in less than two hours’ time.

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Album Review: Briana Marela, All Around Us

A world of lush, ethereal soundscapes, reminding us that it’s still possible to explore new worlds in the modern age of music

In 2015, Briana Marela took off for Iceland to record her third album All Around Us. While the inspiration of Reykjavik and the music of Bjork are evident, the album is a beautiful contemplation on emotional honesty. Its messages are clear and concise, while the arrangements are emotionally soulful and filled to the brim with a translucent beauty, beckoning us to come and see rather than turn a blind eye. Continue reading “Album Review: Briana Marela, All Around Us“