Spinning Platters – Page 201 – Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds

Show Review: ‘Fantasia’ Live with the San Francisco Symphony

'Fantasia' live with the SF Symphony — ‘Fantasia’ live with the SF Symphony

There are few films that have better captured the bond between film and music more than Fantasia (1940). This visionary masterpiece of animation had a profound effect on the evolution of music videos and has helped introduce classical music to generations of children. Fantasia 2000, though not as highly regarded as its predecessor, has also aided in these cultural purposes. Yesterday night and again tonight, the San Francisco Symphony welcomes in audiences to experience the magic of both these films, reminding us of the emotional storytelling power of classical music and the wide spectrum of beauty and characters that animation can provide.

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Film Review: The Grand Seduction

A small glass of Irish Canadian schmaltz, please. Thank you!

No matter how predictable, cliché, or improbable a story is, it’ll translate into a worthwhile movie-watching experience if it’s executed well (I’m ready to argue about this). This is definitely the case for Don McKellar’s The Grand Seduction, a remake of the 2003 French film, La Grande Séduction. The Grand Seduction is an incredibly charming film filled with great laughs, lovable characters, and a quaint story that befits the film’s soothingly calm pace.

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Film Review: Maleficent

I don’t know you, I may have walked with you once upon a dream…

Well. Well. What magnificent horns you have.

…but honestly, who are you?

This is not the Maleficent from Disney’s 1959 animated classic, Sleeping Beauty. There’s a physical resemblance, sure. For about 10-15 minutes, the story and tone seems to reflect the Disney version as well. But mostly this is a completely new retelling, including new environments, and newly structured characters and motives. Unfortunately, it’s the title character that suffers the most from the creative liberties taken. Yet, it’s still Angelina Jolie, playing the title character of Maleficent, who ends up stealing the show from start to finish with her powerful features, dark silhouette, and devotion to her character — no matter how weakened the character is now.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/29/14-5/28/14

Thursday, May 29th Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/29/14-5/28/14”

Review: SOHN, Mr. Little Jeans at The Independent

SOHN and Mr. Little Jeans, who are touring together on a jaunt through the West Coast, have a few things in common. Besides sharing a stage set up of vertically-aligned pulsating LEDs, they’ve both released long-awaited, highly-anticipated debut albums, within a month of each other, after a riding a long wave of well-deserved hype.

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Film Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past

Back to the future past!

So. Damn. Magnetizing. — He’s just so…magnetizing.

The only actors seemingly capable of producing the same intense chemistry with onscreen conversations as Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellan do…are Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy. Put them all in a movie together and it’s practically a how-to on acting. Throw in Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Lawrence and you now have one of the most talented ensembles ever. Oh, wait, Tyrion Lannister, err… Peter Dinklage, too?! With this billed cast, it could’ve been a biopic about the GEICO gecko and I’d get in line. Luckily for everyone, it’s actually X-Men: Days of Future Past, one of the best entries in the X-Men series (including all spinoffs, etc.) and an insanely fun film.

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Film Review: Words and Pictures

No matter how you paint this picture, there’s only one word for it: Bad

Clive Owen pretends like he’s in Dead Poets Society.

Australian director Fred Schepisi has an impressive resume; he’s directed the critically acclaimed pictures Roxanne, Six Degrees of Separation, and A Cry in the Darkness, among others. So naturally it’s disheartening that his newest film, Words and Pictures, is such a disappointment, especially considering it stars two high-caliber actors – – Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche. Unfortunately, writer Gerald Di Pego (Message in a Bottle; Angel Eyes) doesn’t give them much to work with, and Schepisi’s direction seems to echo the mediocrity of Di Pego’s script.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/22/14-5/28/14

Thursday, May 22nd Continue reading “Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/22/14-5/28/14”

Show Review: Nickel Creek, The Secret Sisters at The Fox Theater – Oakland, 5/19/14

creekheader — All photos by Jonathan Pirro

To paraphrase Laura Rogers, lead vocalist for The Secret Sisters: “When Nickel Creek come on, you are going to smile, and stay smiling the whole time they are on stage.” It’s been nearly seven years since the great Southern California trio have last toured as a unit. Despite all three members making many trips to the Bay Area throughout the hiatus, it’s remained a very lonesome and sad seven years. During this period, we had to weather a folk revival with a slew of lesser bands become bigger than Nickel Creek ever were. Simply put, the world needs Nickel Creek.

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Show Review: An Evening with Failure at the Great American Music Hall, 5/14/2014

Back in March of 2014, the massive art-metal juggernaut known as Tool rumbled through the Bay Area, gracing its residents with a set of shows once again at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Those who were wise enough to arrive early for the show might have had a chance to watch the real surprise of the night: the recently-reformed Los Angeles trio of Failure, bringing their expert musicianship and crushing brand of alt-space-rock back into the fold for a set of short but powerful sets. Continuing the connection, Failure made a reappearance for Tool singer Maynard James Keenan’s 50th birthday celebration, with all three members offering both their own songs and contributions to the sprawling evening of music that took place each night. With a healthy amount of new exposure under their belt, Failure is coming back on the road for their own headlining tour, this time with zero accompaniment — an Evening With, two sets, and a furious chunk of tunes across their three records to throw into the mix. If their show at the Great American Music Hall was any indication, this is one reunion that isn’t fading any time soon: Failure are back and as sonically potent as ever before.

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