Garfunkel & Oates are Riki Lindhome and Kate Miccuci. On their own, they are both well respected actresses, musicians, and writers. Of course, when they work together, it’s pure magic. No matter who you are, somebody has posted one of their videos on your Facebook wall. They are bringing their live show to Rickshaw Stop on Saturday, February 10th to close out this year’s installment of Sketchfest. We had a few moments to talk to both Garfunkel and Oates. Since you weren’t there with me, I’ll let you read about it:
Dave Grohl, director of the new documentary Sound City.
Directed By: David Grohl
Written By: Mark Monroe
Starring: Trent Reznor, Tom Petty, Mick Fleetwood, and a cast of musical legends
The movie ‘Sound City’ started as a movie about a location but evolved into the raw internal disclosure of the emotional soul of a musician and the music industry. It allows a peek into the behind the scenes non-glamorous side of an album recording, opening insight to the controversy of analog verses digital methods.
left: Analeigh Tipton, Teresa Palmer, and Dave Franco in WARM BODIES; right: writer/director Jonathan Levine
2013 is off to a pleasantly promising start when it comes to genre films. Just a few weeks after the soulfully spooky Mama, we are now treated to Jonathan Levine’s thoroughly delightful adaptation of Isaac Marion’s beloved novel Warm Bodies. A hilariously self-aware and surprisingly sweet reimagining of the overly familiar “love transforms a monster” trope, Warm Bodies tells the story of a zombie named R (Nicholas Hoult), who narrates much of the film from his very unique point-of-view. Although zombiedom has robbed R of his ability to express himself verbally, his thoughts are as articulately human as ever; the film mines quite a bit of humor from this cognitive disconnect.
R spends his days staggering around an abandoned airport with a familiar lineup of other zombies, grunting and pondering what these people were like in life. But R is roused from his undead existential crisis when he meets Julie (Teresa Palmer), the daughter of one of mankind’s last great protectors, Grigio (John Malkovich). Julie enters zombie territory on an armed mission along with her boyfriend Perry (Dave Franco) and best friend Nora (Analeigh Tipton); it’s love at first sight for R despite the fact that Julie is trying to kill him. When the mission goes haywire and Julie is left behind, R devises a plan to keep her safe from the other zombies in the hopes that she’ll fall in love with him in spite of their, uh, differences.
If you combined equal parts James Brown and Otis Redding, a splash of Hendrix and a dash of old time swagger, you might come close to figuring out just what Cody ChesnuTT is made of. In his own way, he’s found out how to blend hip-hop beats, soulful jazz stylings, silky smooth vocals and a sprinkling of Motown showmanship into a performance that feels almost… nostalgic. Cody’s pure love for the show and the art of the song truly comes from his heart, bursting at the seams with passion and care.
Sara Benincasa is one of my absolute favorite comedians that I have never seen live. She has one of the finest YouTube channels, filled with brilliant characters, excellent political humor, and two great vodcasts: Advice Time, where you get actual advice about issues you may be going through and Gettin’ Wet, where Benincasa interviews important cultural figures from her bathtub! Her Twitter (@sarajbenincasa) feed is pretty on point, too. She probably doesn’t remember this, but her Twitter introduced me to Die Antwoord many years ago. She’s currently working on her second book, and will be performing this weekend all over Sketchfest! She will be performing as part of The SF Sketchfest Dozen with Jonah Ray and Dave Thomasan Friday, February 1st at 8 PM and Saturday, February 2nd at 9:15 PM. She will also be doing You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes alongside Kumail Nanjiani at a special matinee show on Saturday, February 2nd at 1 PM. We had a few minutes to chat with her ahead of these shows, and this is what we talked about!
The greatest band on earth from The Warfield last year
The greatest band on earth, The Hives, will be coming back to the United States on Monday, February 18th to assault the crowd at HP Pavilion before P!nk takes the stage. And, as a special gift to you, they will be dropping off prize packs for us to give out to two lucky Spinning Platters readers. Each winner will get an autographed copy of their latest record, Lex Hives, a custom guitar pick for each member of the band, a poster, a pin pack and stickers! We will be drawing two winners on February 15th, so you have until 6 PM PST to enter. If your Valentine’s Day sucks, at least you’ve got something to look forward to!
This time last year, I hadn’t yet experienced the delight that is The Thrilling Adventure Hour. Since then, I’ve become a bona fide fan, even subscribing to their podcast. I admit, I was disappointed when the lovely Busy Philipps confirmed via Twitter that she would be missing this year to attend the SAG Awards in LA, but the addition of Rider Strong was a happy consolation. And really, what better way to spend a Saturday night solo in San Francisco than at a charming comedy show? I couldn’t think of anything, either, so I schlepped over to Marines’ Memorial Theatre last night at 7pm sharp and prepared for the fun to ensue!
“PTX” takes the stage (L to R: Kirstie, Avi, Kevin, Scott & Mitch)
Never heard of Pentatonix? That’s okay, you’re not alone: neither had our editor-in-chief until I mentioned my excitement at covering their sold-out show at the Warfield this past Sunday. While he feared he may be losing his touch (“getting old I am,” said his text), I reassured him that if a cappella groups aren’t his thing and/or he’s never seen a recent episode of NBC’s The Sing-Off, it makes sense that season 3 winners Pentatonix haven’t yet crossed his radar…until now.
Most people know Stephen Tobolowsky for the roles he’s played: Ned in Groundhog Day, Sammy Jankis in Memento, or perhaps giving a sexy line reading of “passport” in Sneakers. But there are a growing number of people in the corners of the Internet who know him not just for his acting, but also for his storytelling prowess, as heard on the podcast that shares the name with tonight’s event, The Tobolowsky Files.
The Tobolowsky Files podcast started as an offshoot of my favorite movie podcast, The /Filmcast. He came to their attention through a film called Stephen Tobolowsky’s Birthday Party, a fantastic film in which his birthday is celebrated by him telling stories about his life. Now, he makes it very clear in every episode of the podcast, and again tonight, that all of his stories are true, and that all of them happened to him. He says that “the truth trumps clever ever time,” and because of this, he refuses to tell friend-of-a-friend stories. (To hear the genesis of this, you can listen to his interview on the Pop My Culture podcast.)
Now these stories aren’t just your typical Hollywood actor stories about working on famous films (although those are included). Tonight at Yoshi’s, for example, he told of how he experienced a miracle on a trip to Iceland, how he learned about a Talmudic interpretation of Psalm 94 called The Afflictions of Love, and about a remarkably astute conversation he had with a dog. The stories themselves twist and turn in ways that it would be unfair for me to describe. These become classic stage monologues in his hands, bringing the audience both laughter and tears. These are fascinating tales, well told.
There was a brief slideshow in the middle of the event followed by a Q&A, where Tobolowsky gave an important tip to storytellers everywhere: write down what happens in your life so you can remember it later. He was also asked to talk about authors who inspire him, and named Dickens, George Eliot, Shakespeare, Chekhov and Loren Eiseley, but also admitted he’s afraid to read others when writing for fear he’s steal from them. Finally, one audience member asked him to talk about auditioning for Glee, and he happily told that story as well.
With the increasing exposure national public radio will be bringing to The Tobolowsky Files, I expect him to become somewhat of a sensation in the public radio crowd (we know who we are). I strongly recommend both the podcast itself and his new book, The Dangerous Animals Club.
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