Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Stupidness getting stupider somehow makes it better.
Not only was I expecting to hate Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, but I kinda wanted to. I wanted a chance to get all my pent up anger and frustration out in a gorgeous scathing review. But dammit, it was a fun movie. Continue reading “Film Review: Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising“
Sometimes you want to go to the movies and see four actors doing amazing work in a wonderful film. That’s what you’re going to get when you see Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash. This is a movie with layers of meaning, with people saying things when they shouldn’t, and not saying things when they should. It’s a bit contrived, but very real. Let’s try to convince you to see it so we can talk about it later. Here’s my best shot.
To all you single folks — do you feel the pressure of finding a partner? Well, imagine that you have 45 days to do so otherwise you’ll be turned into an animal. How’s that for pressure? That’s the boiled-down premise of Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster, a fascinatingly bizarre and dark dramedy romance (you could say it transcends multiple genres). Of course, there’s a lot more to The Lobster than just the 45 day ultimatum tidbit. The film eschews most everything that remotely resembles normal storytelling yet manages to convey a uniquely human story within its dystopian setting. The Lobster is a sharp satirical look at the oppressive nature of our societal coupledom, maintaining a steady level of surrealist humor even as it descends into darker and darker territory and an appropriately uneven finish.
The Nice Guys isn’t the first time that director Shane Black has dabbled in the Los Angeles neo-noir comedy genre, and not the first time his LA neo-noir comedy has featured the pairing of an odd couple solving a crime. 2005’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a highly under-appreciated noir caper with hysterical performances from Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr. Truth be told, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a smarter, funnier, and all around better movie than The Nice Guys, but the latter is very entertaining and deserves a lot of credit. Despite a quasi-tonal mess that it actually ends up embracing, the film’s laid back trivial attitude and hilarious performances from its two leads make The Nice Guys a satisfying early summer romp.
This past Monday night, in support of his twelfth album, Are You Serious, Andrew Bird performed an hour-and-a-half set to a near-capacity crowd at San Francisco’s Masonic. Flanked by a rhythm section for the first time in a career where he’s held his own as a solo artist, the music swelled and climaxed at all the right intervals while the lighting in the ornate, historic theatre complemented the intricate, complex melodies beautifully. Continue reading “Photo Set: Andrew Bird at The Masonic, 4/16/2016”
With Money Monster, the actress Jodie Foster wears her feature film director’s cap for the first time since 2011’s Mel Gibson-helmed The Beaver (she’s done TV work in the interim, including Orange is the New Black and House of Cards), and the result, unfortunately, is nowhere near as good as an episode of either of those shows, and only slightly better than that odd Gibson picture. Here, Foster seems to want to make a cutting-edge indictment of a global financial system that is rampant with corruption and inequality, à la The Big Short, but what she ends up with falls, well, short. Big time.
Continue reading “Film Review: Money Monster“
And now, the previews. Let’s get previewing. The time to preview is now and is now that we will preview. Previews, now. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-05-11 – 2016-05-15”
Spinning Platters wraps up its coverage of the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, which ended last Thursday, May 5th, after showcasing nearly 200 films from over 40 countries. The Fest may be over, but many of its offerings will be released throughout the year, so be sure to use our eight spotlight posts as a guide for potential future viewing.
We conclude our coverage by looking at three final films and two special events.
The Bandit
(USA, 2016, 82 min, Closing Night Film)
Local filmmaker Jesse Moss, who found success two years ago with his intense, stunning, but somber documentary The Overnighters, told us at the Q&A after the closing night screening of his new film that after that emotionally wrenching experience, he wanted to go in an opposite direction and make a “fun car comedy” like the films he loved while growing up – films like the ’70s Burt Reynolds-helmed, car chase classic Smokey and the Bandit. Still a documentarian, though, Moss has thus made what he terms the first “action-comedy” documentary. Indeed, as a look at ’70s heartthrob action and comedy star Burt Reynolds and his lifelong friendship with Hal Needham, the Hollywood stuntman turned writer/director who made the iconic Smokey, Moss’s new film succeeds brilliantly at echoing the good ol’ boy charm of the best of Needham and Reynolds’s pictures. Featuring historical interviews with Needham (who passed away in 2013), as well as interviews with former Smokey co-stars, country music stars, friends, colleagues, family, and Reynolds himself, The Bandit is chock full of juicy behind-the-scenes insider stories and enough old TV and movie clips to please the most ardent pop culture fans. As a portrait of both a bygone era of movie-making and, more importantly, of a singular friendship that could shift between respect and rivalry, Moss’s picture mirrors the good natured southern charm of the Reynolds-Needham collaborations, while also examining more serious issues of fame, competition, and deep, enduring friendship. The Bandit took home the Audience Award at SXSW this year, and deservedly so; a genuine crowd pleaser, the picture is a must-see for students of ’70s cinema, and anyone who values engrossing, well-made documentary stories.
Screenings:
Spinning Platters is slowly but surely completing its coverage of the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival. Alas, SFIFF59 ended two nights ago, but we’re here to keep providing you spotlights on little known films that may come to a theater near you in the foreseeable future — so here’s a quick glimpse at four more features!
The Lobster
(USA, 2015, 119 min, Added Programs)
Dark and satirical, romantic and visceral, The Lobster is a bizarre piece of thought-provoking cinema from Dogtooth director Yorgos Lanthimos. Colin Farrell plays a recently single man who checks into a “center” of sorts that focuses on matching romantic couples together — and the ones that don’t succeed in finding love get turned into animals. This peculiar premise and all of its intricacies are treated with extreme informality. The most brilliant aspect of The Lobster is that at the heart of all the odd characters (including top notch performances from John C Reilly, Rachel Weisz, and Ben Whishaw) and morbidly humorous absurdities is a uniquely human story that connects to our innermost societal fears, anxieties, and emotions.
The Lobster will be in Bay Area theaters May 20th.
Oakland’s hometown heroes, indie rockers Rogue Wave released their new album, Delusions of Grand Fur, last week, and to celebrate, they’re playing a weekend of Bay Area shows. Tonight was their first one, at the relatively new venue, The Starline Social Club. It was the band’s first show in three years, and they’re first in Oakland for as long as they can remember.
Continue reading “Show Review: Rogue Wave with Cellar Doors at Starline Social Club, 5/5/2016”