SFIFF59 Spotlights #7: The Lobster / Escapes / The Islands and the Whales / Ayiti Mon Amour

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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)

Colin Farrell, et al. in THE LOBSTER.
Colin Farrell, et al. in THE LOBSTER.

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.

Continue reading “SFIFF59 Spotlights #7: The Lobster / Escapes / The Islands and the Whales / Ayiti Mon Amour

Show Review: Rogue Wave with Cellar Doors at Starline Social Club, 5/5/2016

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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.

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Film Review: Captain America: Civil War

You want the most action-packed, entertaining, thought-provoking Marvel movie to date? Aye aye, Captain!!

See Cap Run. Run, Cap, Run.
See Cap Run. Run, Cap, Run.

Remember Batman v. Superman? If you don’t, then congrats. If you do, rest assured that Captain America: Civil War will wash the bad taste from your mouth. The new movie has a remarkably similar plot to BvS but every bit is a million times superior. In fact, it’s so much better that you won’t even recognize the similarities upon first viewing. The benefits of watching Captain America: Civil War don’t end there — the third Captain America film is probably the best Marvel movie yet! A bold statement, you may think. Well, there is nary a moment in CA:CW that isn’t entertaining or driving the story forward. It explores thought-provoking themes of social class, abuse of power, government regulations, and sacrifice, all while delivering high levels of fun. What’s most impressive about Captain America: Civil War is its ability to utilize what we already know about each character to fuel the story we’re seeing, meanwhile teasing us with stories to come. It’s like the Empire Strikes Back of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and that’s just about the highest compliment I can give it.

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SFIFF59 Feature: Golden Gate Awards

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Last night at Gray Area, the newly remodeled Grand theater, the Golden Gate Award winners of the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival were announced. With tacos and chardonnay in our stomachs, and smiles being exchanged between filmmakers, Film Society members, SFIFF59 staff members, and press members alike, we took time to honor all the films at this year’s festival.

Here are the winning films in the 12 categories announced at the GGA celebration (~$40,000 in prize money):

Golden Gate New Directors (Narrative Feature) Prize:
Winner: The Demons, Philippe Lesage (Canada)
Jury note: “The Demons is an extraordinarily perceptive and structurally daring exploration of childhood in all its terrors and anxieties, both real and imagined.”

Special Jury Prize: Mountain, Yaelle Kayam (Israel/Denmark)
Jury note: “The film provides a rigorous and multifaceted character study that becomes a bold statement about the role of women in physical and psychological confinement.”

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SFIFF59 Spotlights #6: Mountain / Under the Sun / Little Men / Afternoon with Aardman Animations

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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 another three features and the Golden Gate Persistence of Vision award!

Mountain
(Israel/Denmark, 2015, 83 min, GGA: New Directors)

A scene from Yaelle Kayam's MOUNTAIN will play at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, on April 21 - May 5,2016.
A scene from Yaelle Kayam’s MOUNTAIN will play at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, on April 21 – May 5,2016.

Mountain is a touching yet ultimately unsettling character study of an Orthodox Jewish woman living with her husband and four children on the Mount of Olives, an ancient Jewish cemetery and religious locale for Judeo-Christian faiths. Shani Klein gives a powerfully restrained performance as Zvia, a woman caught between family, tradition, and desire and the ramifications of choosing one over the others. The Mt. of Olives plays a crucial role as well, steeped in Jewish tradition and history, yet it serves as a constant reminder of loss and becomes a discrete location for nighttime prostitution. Director Yaelle Kayam patiently studies the effects of this symbolic location on its inhabitants, and utilizing a focus on Zvia manages to convey the deepest internal struggles of Orthodoxy in an ever-changing world.

There are no more screenings of Mountain.

Continue reading “SFIFF59 Spotlights #6: Mountain / Under the Sun / Little Men / Afternoon with Aardman Animations

Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-05-02 – 2016-05-08

Most likely not the Spurs that will be appearing with Daniel Martin Moore this Wednesday at the Hemlock.
Most likely not the Spurs that will be appearing with Daniel Martin Moore this Wednesday at the Hemlock.

This week in The Bay Area we have music from across the Pacific Ocean, from across the Atlantic Ocean, and more. International travel is neat these days.

And now, previews. Preview time. It is time for us to preview. Let’s preview. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 2016-05-02 — 2016-05-08”

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.

Key and Peele and Kitty
Key and Peele and Kitty

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

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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
Storm Large

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.

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