Film Review: “The French Dispatch”

Anderson’s French Dispatch is precious and pretty, with an emotional punch

The French Dispatch
(From L-R): Tilda Swinton, Lois Smith, Adrien Brody, Henry Winkler and Bob Balaban in the film THE FRENCH DISPATCH. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

Fox Searchlight has finally released Wes Anderson’s very long-awaited new film The French Dispatch, and this sentence pretty much sums it up: “Leutenant Nescaffier is emphatically celebrated among cooks, cops and capitaines, not to mention swindlers, stoolies and snitches, as the great exemplar of police cooking.”

If that sentence – with its very sneaky verb, its obviously overbalanced serial commas, its all too visible use of French terms, and finally, its curious “police cooking”- makes you smile, laugh, giggle, catch your breath, or even tingle, then this is your film. If not, then there’s nothing I, or this review, can do for you.

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Single Of The Week: “Golden State” by Andrew St James

I’ve read a LOT about Andrew St James over the past few years… He generated a bit of a following over the pandemic through his “delivery” shows, doing socially distanced, outdoor concerts in front of people’s homes, parks, and any place else he could. Now that life has returned, so has his semi-regular local music showcase/part, Fast Times. He’s also got a new record coming 11/12 called light after darkness. That record will be the home of our Single Of The Week, “Golden State.” It is a classic, Dylan-inspired country number. It’s the perfect accompaniment for a lazy weekend indoors during what will hopefully be a damp weekend in California. So fix yourself a hot toddy and watch the rain come down while streaming “Golden State” on whatever service you choose. 

Top 10 from the Bottom Half of the Outside Lands 2021 Poster

I honestly wasn’t sure I’d get to post a “Top 10 From The Bottom Half Of The Outside Lands Poster” post this year. Delta hit shortly after 2021 was announced, and I started getting scared. However, after Lollapalooza gave excellent data about music festival infections, and the Bottlerock showed EVEN BETTER DATA, I’m feeling pretty confident that SF’s premier music festival is going to be a safe and fun affair. So here are my personal picks for the Outside Lands undercard. The full line-up is here, as well as the schedule, so you can start making the hard decisions about who you are going to see. The fest runs from October 29th-31st. Continue reading “Top 10 from the Bottom Half of the Outside Lands 2021 Poster”

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Season 3, Episode 2 with Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” is available almost everywhere you enjoy podcasts. You can find us and subscribe here!
 
Alexis Krauss is the lead singer of the popular band Sleigh Bells. Their noisy blend of grindcore guitars and pop beats may not be the most suited for casual radio listening, but it feels me and many others with great joy. I got to speak to Krauss about her time with the pop group RubyBlue, working on a TV show as a young teen, working as a session musician, and how a fateful meeting at a restaurant brought Krauss back to playing in a band.
 

Sleigh Bells’ latest release, Texis, is available for you to enjoy NOW! The band is currently at the tail end of a North American tour, and will be kicking off another round of dates in early 2022. You can find an up-to-date schedule here. Bay Area folks can catch them TWICE this weekend: October 23rd at The New Parish and October 24th at Rickshaw Stop. Please remember to vaxx up and mask up at these shows for the safety of the band and your fellow fans!

Film Review: “The Rescue”

Mission Possible: Terrific new doc recounts harrowing Thai soccer team rescue

A cave diver prepares to go under.

Husband and wife filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi have made two of my all-time favorite films in the past six years: 2015’s Meru and 2018’s Best Documentary Oscar winner Free Solo. They return today with The Rescue, which chronicles the recovery of a Thai boys’ soccer team from a flooded cave back in 2018, an event that transfixed the world. Chin and Vasarhelyi’s new documentary is just as engrossing as the original story, and with this picture the duo continues their streak of producing absolutely must-watch, enthralling films.

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Single Of The Week: “Las Panteras: by Los Bitchos

London’s Los Bitchos is an instrumental quartet that blends together surf, psych, funk along with the music of Uruguay and Turkey, creating a deliciously groovy sound reminiscent of Khruangbin. Only if Khruangbin decided not to take themselves quite so seriously… “Las Panteras” is their latest single, and not only is the song quite the jam, but the video is the best movie I’ve seen all year. 

“Las Panteras” can be streamed in all the usual places. Their debut album, Let The Festivities Begin!, is heading your way on February 4th, 2022 and you can do that preorder/presave thing starting, well, now!

Single Of The Week: “Midnight Snacks” by Kelis

Did you know that Kelis’ “Milkshake” is 20 years old? It made me feel pretty ancient. Luckily Kelis isn’t very interested in wallowing in the demise of youth and instead embracing maturity. That’s where “Midnight Snacks” comes into play… It’s the spiritual sequel to “Milkshake,” still embracing the food metaphor, but a song that’s much more intimate, much more profound, much sexier than “Milkshake.” The groove is solid and sticks with you, right down to the intense, processed guitar solo that either winds you down or hypes you up, depending on what you need it to do. 

You can enjoy “Midnight Snacks” in all the usual places. And if you want to take the song literally or need something to eat after taking the track for its symbolic meaning, Kelis is partnering with Bounty & Full to send you your own box of Midnight Snacks. And for those of you heading to Outside Lands, Kelis was *just* added, and she’s playing The House by Heineken on Saturday, October 30th. Yes, the same day as Lizzo. 

Film Review: “No Time To Die”

All the Bond we love and don’t love, shaken, not stirred

Looking back, Bond considers his life choices.

Nearly fifteen years ago, the world was introduced to Daniel Craig as James Bond in Casino Royale, the sixth actor to portray the iconic British secret agent (I’m not counting David Niven). Casino Royale portrayed Bond as a gritty, brutish, and most importantly, emotional character. It was a product of the time, a post 9/11 world where terrorism was no quipping manner and audiences desired “realism” over campiness, hence the popularity of the Bourne movies leading up to Royale. And now, the Daniel Craig era comes to a close with No Time To Die, his fifth film as Bond. No Time To Die is the perfectly fitting end in just about every manner, tying in all the familiar role-players from the previous films while finally bridging Craig’s emotional brutality with the campy, spy game action of previous Bond films. The opposing sensibilities don’t always gel. So the question is — will all audiences enjoy the precarious balancing act that director Cary Joji Fukunaga squeezes within a bloated 2 hours 45 minutes? No, definitely not. Like me, many will leave the theater entertained but also confusingly disappointed. However, No Time To Die’s value will appreciate over time. Even a week after viewing it, my acceptance and understanding of the film has grown.

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Single Of The Week: “Somewhere They Cant Find Us” by Habibi

The literally ONLY good this to happen this decade so far is that New York’s Habibi has become one of the most prolific bands in rock.  Just last week they gifted us with a covers EP, and this week they dropped a brand new original song, “Somewhere They Cant Find Us.” This one is a full-on booty shaker with some of the best skittering drums I’ve heard in a long time. This one is perfect for house parties, or when you need something to perk you up to get things done. It’s another piece of solid joy from one of the best-kept secrets in rock. 

“Somewhere They Cant Find Us” is available now in all the usual spots. A physical 7″ is coming your way on October 29th, and you can preorder from Kill Rock Stars your choice of a pink (limited to 91 copies) or gold (limited to 500 copies) 7″ record! 

 

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” Season 3, Episode 1 with Rhian Teasdale of Wet Leg + US TOUR DATES AND A NEW SINGLE!

Spinning Platters presents “How Did I Get Here?” is available almost everywhere you enjoy podcasts. You can find us and subscribe here!

Most episodes of this show are with someone that has had a long and storied career. I mean, that’s the premise of the show. However, the opportunity to bring Rhian Teasdale of the great Wet Leg, the best thing to come out of the Isle of Wight since The Who’s best live album, onto the podcast was too good to pass up. We talked about deciding to pivot from your academic studies to studying rock n roll. We talked about becoming a headlining act on the strength of a single, absolutely killer song. We talked about becoming the next big thing in the middle of a pandemic. And, most importantly, we talked about the difference between American and British names for a frozen, whipped dairy treat. 
 

Life moves quickly for a young rock n roll band. Since we recorded this interview, not only has the band released their second single, “Wet Dream,” which I can assure you has more blush-worthy lyrics than “Chaise Longue,” but might even be more danceable. And you should get your dancing shoes ready because Wet Leg is coming to the US for THREE SHOWS!!
 
Dec. 8th Brooklyn, NY Baby’s All Right
Dec. 14th Los Angeles, CA The Moroccan Lounge
Dec. 15th San Francisco, CA Popscene at Rickshaw Shop