Film Feature: Preview #3 of the 47th Mill Valley Film Festival

We’ve already shared two previews for you (here and here), but at last the day is almost upon us: the 47th Mill Valley Film Festival opens tomorrow, Thursday, October 3rd, and runs until Sunday, October 13, 2024. Screenings take place in Marin County theaters and at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA). For a complete listing of all films and special programming, check out the full Festival program.

Below is our third and final preview of the Festival, highlighting two documentaries and one feature. See you at the Fest! 

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Film Review: “A Different Man”

Identities, social stigmas, and performance art make for bizarrely fun bedfellows in A Different Man

By pure coincidence, two surrealist films about physical appearance are opening in theaters one week apart, The Substance and A Different Man. The two films are vastly different but share overarching thematic similarities. The latter is a dark dreamlike comedy from Aaron Schimberg (Chained for Life). It’s also a performative showcase for its three stars, who are able to fully explore the depths of their characters. A Different Man’s story is small-scale and bizarre, but through the performances and direction, it remains grounded in an off-kilter reality that makes it highly humorous, shocking, and entertaining. Continue reading “Film Review: “A Different Man””

Theater Review: “The Flute”

Does verse have a place in modern theater?

Hannah Gillingham at the flute. Photo by Charlie Thornton, 2024.

Greetings from the UK! Land of the likes of Shakespeare and Marlowe and their iconic plays written in iambic pentameter, a form of verse consisting of ten syllables, alternating between stress and unstressed, like a heartbeat. Since the Elizabethan era it’s fallen off a bit, in favor of more colloquial matters of speech. Naturalism gained momentum at the turn of the last century and it’s still a strong force across various artistic mediums, especially held in high esteem in theatre and film, where both writers and actors are encouraged to create the illusion of reality. In reality, we don’t go around speaking in verse. And the language can prove to be difficult to understand without study. But surely with the ongoing popularity of Shakespeare, there could be a place for verse in the modern theatre? Could verse be done in a way that is accessible to all audiences?

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Film Feature: Preview #2 of the 47th Mill Valley Film Festival

The 47th Mill Valley Film Festival will take place Oct 3 – Oct 13, 2024, with screenings at theaters across the North and East Bay.

For a full view of special awards, spotlights, and centerpiece films, check out the complete festival guide. Tickets can be purchased here. 

Below is a second preview of the festival (read our first preview of six films), featuring brief looks at an additional four films:

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Single of the Week: “All The People” by Daisy The Great

Honestly, the only reason I put on this track was because it was produced by Tony Visconti, best known as the man behind the majority of David Bowie’s esteemed catalog, as well as the person who helped Marc Bolan tap into his inner swagger. “All The People” is a track in the same family as T Rex- blissful orchestral pop with Daisy the Great’s signature head-swimmy harmonies and just enough of an edge kicking in to hit home the supervision of joy.

I’m really excited to hear the rest of this record, which is great because Spectacle: Daisy the Great vs. Tony Visconti is out TODAY! 

Film Review: “In the Summers”

Contemplative film captures joy, pain of growing up

Vicente (René Pérez Jogla) has fun with his two daughters, Violeta (Dreya Renae Castillo, l,) and Eva (Luciana Quinonez).

That In the Summers is being widely released today, just at the start of fall, as long summer days become distant memories, is appropriate. The film is a quietly moving, often profound meditation on the passage of time and the peculiar way it seems to move in slow motion for children, whose awakening to the imperfections of their parents can take years. Colombian-American filmmaker Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio’s remarkable first feature-length film earned her both the Grand Jury Prize and the dramatic directing award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. More awards are sure to come for this affecting, unforgettable film, which is one of the year’s best.

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Festival Review: Bumbershoot 2024

Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival has existed in Seattle since 1971 and has happened every Labor Day weekend with the exception of 2020-2022 due to Covid restrictions. I’ve been a Seattleite my entire life. I was born the weekend before the festival’s 8th anniversary, also its final year of being a free festival. I grew up attending Bumbershoot with friends and family many times over the years up until September 2, 2001, when I saw David Lee Roth perform at Memorial Stadium. Since then, Bumbershoot has changed hands management a few times, and based on my experience this past weekend, the new changes have been a net positive. Back in 2001, Bumbershoot was a four days long, often oversold, crowded, difficult-to-navigate, bloated event that involved wristbands one needed to collect at the beginning of each day to allow you access to the stadium to see each evening’s headliner in the stadium, which served as the Main Stage. I skipped many a year and many an act due to this ridiculous first come, first serve approach to seeing a headliner at a festival. To me, it defeated the entire purpose of what seeing a fest should be. After all, if buying a ticket didn’t allow you access to the main event, then why would anyone humor that flawed system? Continue reading “Festival Review: Bumbershoot 2024”

Show Review: Wand at The Chapel, 9/14/24: A Vertigo-Induced Spell

As someone who prides themselves on devouring the fringes of music—everything from experimental jazz to art-house drone— Wand’s performance at The Chapel on Sept. 14, 2024, felt like falling into a chasm of sound I didn’t know I needed. Wand, a band that had always flown under my radar, shattered my expectations in a way that only those once-in-a-lifetime musical experiences can. My gateway into their world was Vertigo, their stunning 2024 album. I dove deep into that record, immersing myself in it for weeks before the show. Given the intensity and cohesion of Vertigo, I was excited to hear the band tour the album in its entirety, expecting the live performance to reflect the hypnotic, seamless flow of the record.

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Film Feature: Preview #1 of the 47th Mill Valley Film Festival

The 47th Mill Valley Film Festival will take place Oct 3 – Oct 13, 2024, with screenings at theaters across the North and East Bay.

For a full view of special awards, spotlights, and centerpiece films, check out the complete festival guide. Tickets can be purchased here. 

Below is a preview of the festival, featuring brief looks at six films:

1.) MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE
(USA, 2023. 101 min.)

Writer/Director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes’s feature debut is an emotional and thoughtfully comical story about family and the debilitating effects of PTSD. The stellar cast is led by Sonequa Martin-Green (Star Trek: Discovery) and Natalie Morales (Parks & Rec) and supported by silver screen legends Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman. My Dead Friend Zoe was inspired by Hausmann-Stoke’s army experience in Iraq, and he has infused his film with charm, humor, and heartbreak to tell a timely story about the epidemic of suffering among US Military veterans after returning home.

Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sat., Oct. 5th, 7:00pm at the CinéArts Sequoia
– Sun., Oct. 6th, 11:30am at the CinéArts Sequoia

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Film Review: “The Substance”

Bonkers film skewers Hollywood’s obsession with youth and beauty

Elisabeth (Demi Moore) picks up a special package at a mysterious location.

Anyone who thinks Hollywood has no original stories left should immediately go see The Substance. It’s one of the most unique, startling, and unforgettable films you’ll see this year. It also happens to be one of the most insane, visceral, and downright gory pictures in recent memory, so if you’re at all squeamish, this movie isn’t the best choice for your Friday night cinema outing.

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