Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Maestro and A Star Is Born, both directed and co-written by actor Bradley Cooper, garnered multiple award nominations and wins. Cooper’s third writing/directing project, however, may not be so lucky. Is This Thing On? isn’t nearly as watchable as Cooper’s previous pictures, and proves itself the least interesting of his current filmmaking trio.
Honestly, I can’t believe that it’s nearing the end of 2025. Rock & Roll has existed for around 75 years at this point. Somehow, The Floor Is Not Lava has not been selected as a band name until now. And they deserve to take one of the best names ever. “Lydia” is a dramatic journey, taking the listener on an emotional journey that recalls fellow Seattleites Heart AND Sunny Day Real Estate (at the same time, believe it or not).
The Floor Is Not Lava’s latest release is It’ll Go To My Grave. You can enjoy that and more here! Hoping to convince them to hop in the van and head south! <Fingers Crossed>
James L. Brooks, the writer and director best known for his multiple-Oscar winning and nominated pictures Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News, and As Good as it Gets, returns to cinemas with his first film since 2010’s poorly reviewed How Do You Know? Unfortunately for Brooks, Ella McCay is bound to share the same fate as that forgettable flop rather than achieve the accolades of Brooks’s earlier titles.
Life is weird. I’ve been waiting for Lila Wolfe to follow up “Seafarm” for a really long time. And I had no idea this was specifically in the queue. “The Docks (Bill’s Song)” is hitting hard for me today… I’m not sure the writer’s original intent, but a week and a half out from my mother’s abrupt passing, hearing a heavy song about the complex relationship you can have with someone who is no longer with you?
Phew!
Thank you for gifting this song to me and to the world. Stream this single here. And you can send her encouraging messages to keep her putting out music via Instagram.
Hannah Cohen is a name that I’ve been noticing for a while, but, for one reason or another, I haven’t really given her the listening time. And, yes, my “Single Of The Week” column can sometimes run a bit like personal diary. But I’ve been dealing with an abrupt passing of my mom this week, and I haven’t really been able to focus on anything at all. Then my kid go the flu and everything became messy. I wasn’t even going to do a column this week. But I put the kid down for a nap, and had a moment of silence where I decided to take a look at my inbox and saw this Hannah Cohen email sitting there unread for two weeks. I clicked on the track and listened. I took in a beautiful and bright piece of music and for the first time all week, I was able to feel a sense of peace. So, yeah, thank you Ms Cohen. Thank you, “Summer Sweat.”
“Summer Sweat” is off Hannah Cohen’s latest record, Earthstar Mountain, available now from Congrats Records.
Arabian Nights meets queer feminist fantasy in Julia Jackman’s magical romance 100 Nights of Hero, based on a graphic novel by Isabel Greenberg. The film is drenched in colorful costumes and whimsical folklore in order to engage audiences with a Middle Eastern-inspired medieval tale. The film’s stylings are unique and thorough, but the script leaves us yearning for deeper thematic resonance. Jackman’s confident direction, even as the film struggles to commit to a tone, preserves 100 Nights of Hero’s sincere portrayal of queer feminism and the precious art of storytelling. Continue reading “Film Review: “100 Nights of Hero””
This month sees the stateside return of one of the 21st century’s great independent bands, Public Service Broadcasting. Over the last dozen-or-so years, they’ve been releasing these brilliant storytelling albums, mixing historical audio with music that can be beautiful, exciting, sad, uplifting, and even fit for the dance floor. Their most recent album, The Last Flight debuted at #3 on the UK album chart and its remixed counterpart Night Flight has recently dropped. And here in San Francisco we’re being honored with a rare live performace by the band in the United States, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled that J. Willigoose, Esq, guitarist and founder of the band, got on a call to chat with me about Amelia Earhart, the secretive future of album concepts, writing on commission, the challenges of touring, and so much more.
Spinning Platters: I’m just going to start going to start with Amelia Earhart. So I don’t know if you saw that the US has started declassifying all the Amelia Earhart documents. Have you heard about this? Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: J. Willigoose, Esq. of Public Service Broadcasting”
Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling book Hamnet was a literary sensation, and quickly sparked rumors of an inevitable movie adaptation. When Oscar winner Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) was announced as Hamnet’s director, followed by the casting of Oscar nominees Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter) and Paul Mescal (Aftersun) in the starring roles, expectations shot through the roof. Now that Zhao’s Hamnet is finally arriving in theaters, does it live up to the hype? The answer is a soft ‘yes.’ Through a tremendously powerful performance from Buckley and a deeply emotional script, Hamnet reproduces the story’s inherent drama even as it strips away any narrative complexities. Continue reading “Film Review: “Hamnet””
The day was August 31st, 1995. A group of friends and I made our way to The Warfield in an attempt to catch the final SF Ramones concert. Sadly, the show was sold out. And not a scalper to be found… At least not a scalper our broke teenage wallets could work with. Outside the venue, someone was yelling, “Free Punk Show.” It was a Lookout Records showcase with The Queers, The Potatomen, and the band that blew my teenage mind clear off, a group of Canadian women that called themselves cub. I was transfixed. I used the little cash I had on me to buy their 7″ “The Day I Said Goodbye.” I wore it out. I went deep into the catalog. I sadly never got to see cub again. I missed them opening for They Might Be Giants, but was thrilled that They Might Be Giants covered “New York City.”
I love this band. But I NEVER put on their first two records. Mostly because, um, they released them as 7″ collections instead of long players. This morning, I opened up my email and saw a press release that made me ever so happy… cub’s sophmore record, Come Out Come Out, has been remastered by original guitarist Robynn Iwata (who eventually moved to SF and starting the experimental band i am spoonbender and opened the legendary record store Open Mind Music), and is being pressed as a 12″ record! YOU ONLY HAVE TO FLIP IT ONCE! And she found a bunch of art from the period, and is going all out on a fancy, deluxe reissue from Mint Records. It’s coming out January 15th and can be preordered from cub’s Bandcamp page!
Nine years ago we were introduced to the Oscar-winning world of Zootopia, where our own human society, including social stigmas, cultural taboos, and bureaucratic flaws were mirrored by anthropomorphized animalia. Zootopia was an excellent family film with plenty adult-oriented jokes, references, and themes. Zootopia 2 kicks off right where the first film left off, expanding its geographical scope while delivering an abundance of zany animal characters, clever banter, and endless sight gags. Even moments of apparent “sequelitis,” where an original work feels the pressure to replicate its initial success while making things bigger and better, don’t detract from the pleasure of discovering more of Zootopia’s inner workings. With the original film’s stellar voice cast returning, and adding a few notable new characters into the mix, Zootopia 2 is another pun-filled adventure with tremendous heart. Continue reading “Film Review: “Zootopia 2””
