Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Summer is past its halfway point. It’s getting really hot, so if you are looking for a reason to spend your evening indoors, here are a few good ones: Continue reading “Spinning Platters Guide to Bay Area Concerts: 7/30/15 — 8/5/15”
When I visited Gonpachi, the restaurant that inspired Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1, I watched as a teenage bus boy, carrying a tub of dirty dishes, tripped on the second floor landing, sending a cascade of water on two well-suited Japanese business men at the bar below. Resulting in a flash and flury of apologies, towels, and more apologies, I waited for something to happen.
In all honesty, I hoped this was the open action sequence to a movie – the bus boy, who would *really* be an bus GIRL would be a high-stakes arms dealer attempting to get far undercover into mob headquarters to take out the mob boss who’d killed her father. Amid the building tension and suspicion, Mr. Mob, realizing his restaurant would now be the scene for said revenge, The 5, 6, 7, 8’s would loudly tear into: “I’m Blue.” Brilliantly choreographed knife and fist fights (imagine Kill Bill meets The Raid) between our starring underdog crime fighter lady and the mob’s henchmen would ensue. And above the nash of fists, faces, and katana swords and the interlude of “Bomb the Twist”, John Waters would quietly take the open seat next to me: “Soooo, hmm, yakitori?” he would ask calmly, coyly peeking at me through delighted eyes.
Continue reading “Burger Booglaoo 2015: The Best Show Around“
Your interest in seeing Irrational Man, Woody Allen’s newest film, will largely depend on your level of interest in existential philosophy. Allen does give us fair warning as to what he’s up to, though; his chosen title shares the same name as William Barrett’s seminal 1958 book Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy, an introduction to the philosophy’s basic concepts and major thinkers. So if you were on the edge of your seat during your Philosophy 101 days, then this film’s for you; if not, then you might want to skip this class – er, film.
Southpaw was not what I expected. I believed and hoped that I was walking into a Rocky type fable, or maybe a modern day Raging Bull. There have been a few strong entries into the sport fighting genre in recent years, including Rocky Balboa (2006), Warrior (2011), and hopefully the upcoming Creed (2015). Sure, there are twice as many sub-par entries between the aforementioned titles, but with a superb cast headlined by limitless Jake Gyllenhaal and under the consistently solid (if not above average) direction of Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer), Southpaw seemed destined to be the strong sports drama entry that comes along every handful of years. Alas, it is not. The sure bets going into the final product still shine—Gyllenhaal is superb and Fuqua’s direction is effective—but the story is formulaic and surprisingly, subtly, unnervingly, kinda racist.
No less than 10 bursts of applause, the loudest for the opening title and the reveal of the late Leonard Nimoy. That was the atmosphere at last night’s Star Trek in concert event at the San Francisco Symphony, where the live orchestra provided the score to a screening of J.J. Abrams’ 2009 feature film reboot of the nearly 50 year old franchise. There were Starfleet uniforms a plenty in the audience, a themed “red matter” cocktail at the symphony bars, display cases with props from the film, and a pervading admiration and respect for everyone’s own personal connection to Star Trek. What better show of respect than for conductor Sarah Hicks to hold up her hand in the iconic ‘live long and prosper’ gesture before launching into the prologue.
Continue reading “Show Review: ‘Star Trek’ Live in Concert with the SF Symphony”
Amy Schumer, who in the past year has become comedy’s reigning it girl, breaks on to the big screen today with Trainwreck, the Judd Apatow-directed film that she both wrote and stars in. The Apatow-Schumer combination is as powerful as comedy fans would hope; the film is filled with Schumer’s no-holds-barred, brilliantly edgy funny bits, tempered by the same down-to-earth sweetness Apatow brought to pictures like The 40-Year-Old Virgin. The result is a refreshing, raw romantic comedy that will charm and delight even the most jaded rom-com fans.
Boulevard is a tough movie to review, and an even tougher movie to watch, and not because it’s exceptionally good or exceptionally bad; it’s neither of those, but is a decent, if somewhat unoriginal, follow up by director Dito Montiel to his much lauded 2006 picture A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints. What makes the film hard to look at objectively is that it features Robin Williams in his last dramatic role, and it’s very difficult to see Williams’s performance here and not think about what he was going through when this film was made, only a year or so before his tragic suicide.
This Friday, July 17th, through Sunday, the 19th, 45+ bands will descend upon Chicago’s Union Park to perform at the 10th annual Pitchfork Music Festival. Tickets are officially sold out and that’s hardly a surprise. The stellar line-up consisting of the most iconic underground acts includes Wilco, Run the Jewels, Sleater-Kinney, Jamie XX, Future Islands, Perfume Genius, The Julie Ruin, Caribou, and Shamir.
They say it takes a village when it comes to the care and well-being of a child. A playground is also a bonus. Props to the very talented and kind Yoshi Kato for helping with my precocious little daughter while I took moments, here and there, to capture photos of the fifth annual Phono del Sol Music and Food Festival.
Held at Potrero del Sol, known for its skate park and generally idyllic weather (compared to the rest of San Francisco), this afternoon to early evening jaunt featured an eclectic mix of bands and local food trucks. It’s a volunteer-driven affair, so the sound wasn’t the best. Still, that didn’t dampen the mood as many fans gathered, mingled, and danced under the sun this past Saturday afternoon.
Continue reading “Photo Set: Phono del Sol Music Festival, 2015”
I’m not going to get too bogged down with analyzing the storyline or characters here (other than the Minions). The story actually well suits a feature-length treatment for these until-now side characters: After many millennia searching and serving (and inevitably losing) the biggest and baddest bosses they could find, three Minions leave their “colony” to find a new big bad boss. Honestly, I could watch 90 minutes of these adorable yellow pill-shaped creatures reading to each other in a classroom. With a language consisting of 50% Italian, 40% gibberish, and 10% random sounds, unique personalities befitting each standardly-named individual, and an unparalleled sense of loyalty, these little guys are too cute to dislike.