The 66th SFFilm Festival concludes today, with screenings through this evening. We wrap up our Fest coverage with two final spotlights for you: Here’s a look at a documentary and a feature film that have been playing the film festival circuit, but may receive theatrical distribution. Continue reading “Film Feature: 66th SFFILM Festival Wrap-Up”
Record Store Day 2023 – My Guide to the Most and Least Essential Releases
For as long as I can remember, independent record stores across the world have celebrated Record Store Day. At first a small initiative to get people to shop at their local record stores, it’s now an excuse for thousands of people to join hours-long queues at record shops across the world to buy one (or several) of the several hundred special releases made for that day that will only ever be sold in stores, and for which pre-orders are not allowed to be taken. As the list of releases has grown, the quality of those releases has diverged. While some of the announced records are long-awaited reissues of rare and important material, others are obvious cash grabs meant to appeal to the completist nature of a certain type of collector. Now, I’ll sort some of these in buckets for you, starting with the most essential and ending with the least essential.
I’ve focused on the U.S. list for this post as this is where we are and will be waiting in line.
Continue reading “Record Store Day 2023 — My Guide to the Most and Least Essential Releases”
Film Review: “Somewhere in Queens”
Romano, Metcalf anchor stellar directorial debut
Ray Romano is one of our most underrated dramatic actors. If you know him only from the network sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, you’ve only seen a fraction of what he’s capable of. Check him out in the indies Paddleton or The Big Sick, for which his heartbreakingly honest monologue about infidelity should have netted him a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Or better yet: go see him in his outstanding feature film directorial debut Somewhere in Queens, opening today.
BONUS Single Of The Week: “Orbit” by Dream Wife
Remember in 2021 when I kept posting Wet Leg singles, and they ended up becoming the biggest thing in 2022? Well, every single off Dream Wife’s third record, Social Lubrication (Out June 9th), has been incredible, and I think there is a reasonable chance that 2023 will be the year of Dream Wife. “Orbit” is a dance-punk piece of infectiousness that you will listen to on repeat until the next single drops.
Also, they dropped a small assortment of US dates that you can see below. And if you happen to be visiting the UK from the Bay Area in June and can pick me up a copy of this version of Social Lubrication, I’ll pay you back when you return to the States.
September 15 – Brooklyn, NY, USA @ Brooklyn Made
September 17 – Portland, OR, USA @ Mississippi Studios
September 18 – Seattle, WA, USA @ Barboza
September 20 – San Francisco, CA, USA @ Bottom Of The Hill
September 21 – Los Angeles, CA, USA @ Zebulon
Outside Lands Daily Lineups HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED!
August seems so much closer in the last week than it has been… It might be the fact that our three months of ACTUAL WINTER have finally drifted away, and the sun has revealed itself. Although if you are a real San Franciscan, you are most excited about Karl The Fog returning in August, which makes Outside Lands consistently the most comfortable music festival in America.
But I digress… Single Day lineups have been announced, so you can kinda start planning? It looks pretty likely that we are gonna get Janelle Monae warming up the crowd for Kendrick Lamar, which is basically gonna cause my brain to implode. We also see Orville Peck and Trixie Mattel playing on the same day, so keep your fingers crossed that this happens! Will they try to find a way to combine Fake Fruit and Venus & The Flytraps for the most uncomfortable concoction for Gastromagic on Sunday? I certainly hope soo…
Single Day GA, GA+, VIP, and Golden Gate Club passes are on sale Wednesday, April 19th at 10 am at sfoutsidelands.com!
Film Review: “Showing Up”
Reichardt delivers a sharp, funny look at creativity
I saw Showing Up one week ago today, and sat down to write this review at 5:00am this morning. Yes, I procrastinated, even though I love to write about movies. But I think writer/director Kelly Reichardt would forgive me and understand my dilemma, as it’s exactly what her newest picture so charmingly explores.
Single Of The Week: “Too Many Things” by The Linda Lindas
The Linda Lindas are too good for how young they are. We have been trumpeting the brilliance of this formerly tween, now mostly teen rock band since 2019. Their debut record, 2022’s Growing Up, is possibly the most exciting and diverse debut of the pop-punk canon. However, my first listen to “Too Many Things” still surprised me. The pulsating, anxious bassline. The lyrics? A deep, introspective look at the feeling of being overwhelmed that wouldn’t have been out of place on a Sleater-Kinney or Go-Go’s record. (The two bands that, IMHO, have best conveyed “anxiety” on record)
“Too Many Things” is out now in all the usual places. They are spending the Summer opening for Paramore everywhere (except the SF SHOW!!!!), and the press release teases that more is to come this year from The Linda Lindas, so keep an eye out!
I will also note that this has been the hardest week for Single of the Week, and there are a TON of great new releases this week to give your ears a nice little treat! Veruca Salt’s Louise Post graces us with her debut solo single, “Guilty.” The triumphant return of Speedy Ortiz, “Scabs.” NYC’s soul group 79.5 has a genuine Summer anthem ready for you with “B.D.F.Q.” Pinkshift returns with a burner of a track, “to me.” And if you are looking for evidence of how blessed and lucky you are, the first Natalie Merchant album in nearly 10 years, Keep Your Courage, is out today!
Film Feature: 66th SFFilm Festival Spotlights
The 66th SFFilm Festival opens tomorrow, Thursday, April 13th, and will run through Sunday, April 23rd. Tomorrow’s opening night premiere – a documentary about Steph Curry — is sold out for advance tickets and at rush (if you want to show up and take your chances), but luckily there’s tons more cool stuff to see over the next week and a half. Here we present just a taste: a look at four upcoming screenings — two documentaries and two narrative features. Continue reading “Film Feature: 66th SFFilm Festival Spotlights”
Single of the Week: “Salad” by Blondshell
I usually don’t like picking multiple tracks from the same album as “Single Of The Week.” But each track off Blondshell’s self-titled debut record has been better than the last. “Salad” is a brilliant piece of work. Like, it’s positively chilling. This is the kind of storytelling in song that I thought was perfected by Nick Cave and Kristin Hersh. Vocalist Sabrina Teitelbaum sings with a haunting quiver, bending her voice around the vulnerable ferocity of her backing band. This song is simply amazing.
You can find Blondshell’s debut everywhere TODAY! This record is fantastic. Do your ears and your heart a favor and pop it on today!
Film Review: “Air”
Affleck’s basketball shoe tale is a slam dunk
If you love basketball and you want to see an in depth movie about Michael Jordan, watch Netflix’s The Last Dance. But if you love stories about high-stakes gambling, go see Ben Affleck’s Air. What Affleck gives us here isn’t a sports story. It’s a tale about business, and a wonderfully juicy one at that. Air tells the story of how Jordan’s contract with Nike nearly single-handedly transformed the middling Oregon-based company into the world’s greatest apparel empire, thanks to the story’s main characters placing big bets: on Jordan by Sonny Vaccaro, a then little-known Nike marketing executive; on Vacarro by his boss, Nike founder Phil Knight, and on Nike by Jordan’s family, particularly his mother Deloris.