Thursday, September 24th Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Show Preview: 9/24/15-9/30/15”
Spinning Platters Weekly Show Preview: 9/24/15-9/30/15
Show Review: Rodrigo y Gabriela at the Masonic, 9/16/2015
Three years ago, I noted that one of the most exciting moments of Rodrigo y Gabriela’s concert was when the Mexican guitar slayers left their accompanying musicians in the background, and took center stage to melt faces and rock bodies with their breakneck-pace blend of Latin-meets-thrash nuevo flamenco. I was excited to see the extra depth and complexity that C.U.B.A. added to their pieces, but ultimately I had missed the mesmerizing speed and magnificent chemistry that was so utterly more palpable when the two were playing solely off of each other. With their most recent tour, in support of their fourth album 9 Dead Alive, Rodrigo y Gabriela have returned to their solo takeover of the stage, and brought with them an astonishing level of energy and joyous camaraderie that is remarkable to behold.
Continue reading “Show Review: Rodrigo y Gabriela at the Masonic, 9/16/2015”
Film Review: Everest
Everest tragedy comes alive in stunningly shot, absorbing new film
Readers of a certain age may remember the spring of 1997, when the must-read, buzz generating new release was Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, his account of the tragic Mt. Everest climbing expedition from the year prior. With Everest, Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur has crafted a cinematographically stunning and emotionally powerful dramatization of the events of that climb. Basing the film not just on Krakauer’s book, but also on other published survivor accounts, screenwriters William Nicholson (Gladiator; Unbroken) and Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours) bring us another a heart-pounding, riveting story of both the best and worst of the human spirit.
Film Review: Sleeping with Other People
When Jake met Lainey: Headland’s smart, funny rom-com worth seeing
If you don’t like romantic comedies, you might as well stop reading right now, since Leslye Headland’s new film Sleeping with Other People is, without a doubt, a bona fide rom-com. But, if you are open to the category, then you’re in for a real treat here – Headland’s film is smart, funny, and true, and one of the best and brightest pictures the genre has seen in years.
Spinning Platters Interview: Thao Nguyen of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down
Thao Nguyen is a hometown hero. She’s continuously pushing the boundaries of folk music, and making the acoustic guitar an instrument you can dance to. Her 2013 record We The Common is a beautiful and thought provoking piece of work. She’s headlining the 20th St Block Party this weekend alongside Nick Waterhouse, Dominant Legs and many more. This is a totally free event, so there is no excuse not to come.
Spinning Platters had an opportunity to chat with Thao ahead of this performance. Here’s a bit of what we talked about: Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Thao Nguyen of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down”
Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 9/3/15-9/9/15
Thursday, September 3rd Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 9/3/15-9/9/15”
Film Review: A Walk in the Woods
Go take a hike: Redford, Nolte lead us on pleasant enough Walk
A Walk in the Woods, based on Bill Bryson’s popular 1998 memoir of attempting to hike the Appalachian Trail, is inevitably going to be compared to Wild, last year’s film of Cheryl Strayed’s memoir about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, on the opposite side of the country. Aside from similar plots, though, the two films have little in common; Wild is the better picture by far, but A Walk in the Woods holds its own as a sort of lightweight, droll counterpart. What Wild did for solo women hikers on the PCT, A Walk in the Woods might do for the grandfather set on the AT.
Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 8/29/15-9/2/15
Here’s what’s coming up this week: the formerly rebellious, the reformed, and chocolatiers. Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 8/29/15-9/2/15”
Film Review: Learning to Drive
Clarkson and Kingsley reason to see slight but likable picture
Spanish director Isabel Coixet (Paris, je t’aime; My Life Without Me) must have enjoyed working with Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley in her well-received 2008 film Elegy, since she’s collaborating with them again here in Learning to Drive. While this vehicle (no pun intended) is more lightweight than Coixet’s earlier picture, its characters are equally compelling, and it makes for a pleasant enough end-of-summer movie outing.
Film Review: Grandma
Tomlin’s feminist Grandma takes to the road in sharp black comedy
At 75, Lily Tomlin has had such a long, varied acting career that few may not realize she hasn’t actually had a leading role in a film since the 1988 comedy Big Business. Thanks to writer/director Paul Weitz, though, who directed Tomlin as Tina Fey’s mother in 2013’s Admission, Tomlin returns to brilliantly helm a picture in Weitz’s smart and engaging Grandma, which opens widely today after rightfully garnering much praise at the Sundance Film Festival in January.