Spinning Platters – Page 234 – Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds

Save Big on SF MusicTech Summit #13

Robert Kaye of MusicBrainz at SF MusicTech Summit 12 — People, including Robert Kaye of MusicBrainz, take their SF MusicTech seriously.

The next installment of SF MusicTech Summit is a week away. If you tend to follow the biggest music + tech-related events in the Bay Area, you might be asking yourself something along the lines of “wait, didn’t they just throw one of these events a few months ago?” Yes, it’s not your imagination; the last conference took place in February.

Why did the organizers decide to follow up so soon on their bi-annual event? Besides the basic logistics involved in organizing a massively popular conference, there’s a deeper progression at play. Read on to find out why everyone involved in some aspect of music should especially attend, this time around, and how Spinning Platters can save you 20% on registration.

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Film Review: The Great Gatsby

Carey Mulligan and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Great Gatsby

Baz Luhrmann’s new adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby has been generating buzz for months. Critics, Hollywood insiders, bloggers, and anyone with a pulse have all been asking: Can an Australian director, filming in Australia, with many British and Australian actors, pull off a film of a classic American novel? Will filming in 3D help or hinder the film? Will the film be worth seeing? The short answers are no, no, and no. Continue reading “Film Review: The Great Gatsby”

SFIFF Final Spotlight: Golden Gate Awards

It’s nine o’clock at night and inside the velvet-lined nightclub Rouge, amidst the smells of savory tacos and steamy quesadillas (compliments of Nick’s Crispy Tacos), the tireless SFIFF staff welcomes in the crowd of filmmakers, critics, and film enthusiasts. They all exchange smiles and pleasantries, speak of their favorite festival films and entreat each other to stories of their experience in the city by the bay. Mika Mattila, the Finnish director of Chimeras, informs me of his plan to rent a car and explore the beautiful deserts and mountains just hours outside the city. The shmoozing continues; sipping wine, dipping chips into thick chunks of guacamole, and trading tales…briefly pausing for ten minutes as a few honors are bestowed.

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Spinning Platters Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts, 5/9/13-5/15/13

While the majority of the bands playing in the Bay Area this week are up at Bottle Rock in Napa, which, yes, in an amazing looking festival, it isn’t quite the Bay Area. The following shows (with one exception) are all easily accessible via BART. So enjoy your rock n roll, and remember not to drink & drive!

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SFIFF Spotlights #5: Crystal Fairy / Cutie and the Boxer

My final two spotlights from the 56^th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF), which ends today. Information and tickets for the day’s final films at: http://festival.sffs.org/

Crystal Fairy
(Chile 2012, 100 min; English and Spanish with English subtitles)

Michael Cera is comically brilliant as Jamie, a know-it-all American seeking a mescaline high in Chile. Chilean director Sebastian Silva contrasts Jamie’s self-absorption and rigidity with fellow American Crystal Fairy (Gaby Hoffman). She’s free-spirited and new-agey, yet endears herself to Jamie and the Chilean brothers travelling with them; watching her conflict with Jamie is terrific fun. Silva’s very funny, sweet picture proves that even the most annoying of us are capable of growth and compassion.

Next showing:
Opens nationwide July 12, 2013. Continue reading “SFIFF Spotlights #5: Crystal Fairy / Cutie and the Boxer”

Midnight Music Movies at The New Parkway: Streets of Fire

Streets of Fire plays at The New Parkway in Oakland on Saturday, May 11th at 10:30

Unlike other movies that have entered the canon of “cult films,’ Streets of Fire is actually considered a good movie by some people who judge that sort of thing. But it’s over-the-top nature of the characters, the terrific music, and the combination of Michael Pare and Diane Lane that make this movie absolutely worth seeing. But why should I try to convince you when I can just quote the opening voiceover from the trailer:

You are about to enter a world unlike any you’ve ever seen before. Where rock and roll is king, the only law is a loaded gun, where the beautiful, the brutal, and the brave all meet. In Streets of Fire. Continue reading “Midnight Music Movies at The New Parkway: Streets of Fire”

Show Review: Little Boots with AVAN LAVA and Feathers at Rickshaw Stop, 5/3/2013

Boots Dress

On a special Friday Popscene that went far into the night, all the way into the headliner’s birthday, the crowd was treated to synth pop in different forms — the dark tinged variety, the choreographed kind, and finally the made-for-the-charts sugary pop of Victoria Hesketh, aka Little Boots. It was a fun night, although not without some rough bits. Continue reading “Show Review: Little Boots with AVAN LAVA and Feathers at Rickshaw Stop, 5/3/2013”

SFIFF Spotlights #4: Fill the Void / Prince Avalanche / The Way, Way Back

More spotlights from the 56^th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF), which ends this Thursday, May 9th. Tickets for screenings still available at: http://festival.sffs.org/

Fill the Void
(Israel 2012, 90 min; Hebrew with English subtitles)

Yiftach Klein and Hadas Yaron in Fill the Void

In this Israeli Film Academy Best Picture winner, director Rama Burshstein takes us inside the Tel Aviv Hassidic community. Shira (Hadas Yaron) is a conflicted young woman under pressure to marry her recently deceased sister’s husband. Hadas Yaron, resembling Greta Gerwig both physically and stylistically, deftly conveys Shira’s uncertainty and vulnerability. At the Q&A I attended, Burshstein called the film a “journey of feeling,” an apt description of this beautiful meditation on commitment and love.

Next showing:
No U.S. release date yet; has been playing film festivals. Continue reading “SFIFF Spotlights #4: Fill the Void / Prince Avalanche / The Way, Way Back”

Show Review: Bleached, Ex Cops, Dirty Pillows and Spirit on the Water at the Blank Club, 5/4/2013

Bleached blew the doors off at the Blank Club, and luckily they weren’t DeLorean doors, because then people would have gotten decked for real, rather than that fake decking Floyd Mayweather gave Robert Guerrero earlier that evening. There’s more sports highlights herein. Buckle up.

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SFIFF Spotlights #3: Computer Chess / Google and the World Brain / The Kings of Summer

The SFIFF continues to showcase fascinating films from around the world. It ends soon (May 9th) so visit http://festival.sffs.org/ to get tickets to this week’s final screenings.

Computer Chess
(USA 2013, 91 min)

An existential satire of 1980’s computer technology and the burning topic (as it stood at the time) of human vs. computer, set against the backdrop of a small computer chess tournament. Devotion to an 80’s feel through cinematography, fashion, and hilarious social stigmas are definitely worth the viewing, though the film dives a bit unnecessarily into the psychedelic. It’s fun to see (and remember…if you’re old enough) how the computer geek culture has changed.

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