SFFILM Festival Spotlights #1

(Films #1-#10 of Chad’s goal of seeing 60 films to commemorate SF Film Festival’s 60th anniversary! #60for60th)

The SF Film Festival is back and celebrating its 60th year! It’ll be taking place at venues in San Francisco and the East Bay from April 5-19. Once again, Spinning Platters is thrilled to provide you extensive coverage of the films, special events, and award ceremonies. Check back here frequently, or follow along at our Facebook page and on Twitter (or follow film critics Carrie Kahn- @CKCinephile / Chad Liffmann- @chadcarsten). Without further ado, let’s take a look at ten titles:

A Date for Mad Mary
(Ireland 2016, 82 min; in English)

Tara Lee and Seána Kerslake in Darren Thornton’s A DATE FOR MAD MARY, playing at the 60th San Francisco International Film Festival, April 5 – April 19, 2017.

I loved A Date for Mad Mary! It’s a funny, heartfelt, coming-of-age comedy filled with real characters and even realer interactions. Adapted from a stage play, the script by Darren Thornton and his brother Colin is clever and well-balanced, dealing with serious subject matters (bullying, prison, sexual identity) while also poking fun at classic comedy targets like dating, weddings, and sex. Throughout the story, complex emotions are expressed in subtle and delightfully informal ways. The cast is a powerhouse of strong Irish actresses, led by Seána Kerslake in a star making turn as the ostracized Mary. Bring a date to see A Date for Mad Mary, since it’s destined to be the feel-good sleeper hit of the year.

Screenings:
(click here for tickets)

  • Sunday, April 9th, 6:00 pm, BAMPFA
  • Saturday, April 15th, 7:00 pm, Alamo Drafthouse

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Show Review: A Night at the Oscars with the SF Symphony

A classy evening, complete with film classics.

As God is my witness, I’ll never listen to film score the same way again!

On Saturday, Feb. 15th, just two weeks before the 86th Academy Awards, the San Francisco Symphony hosted a night that celebrated a handful of iconic scenes from some of the very first, and most beloved, best musical score Oscar winners and nominees.  Showcasing films as early as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) to as late as Ben-Hur (1959), the packed audience at Davies Symphony Hall marveled at fully restored 35 mm prints from six classics of cinema, including Gone with the Wind (1939), Citizen Kane (1941), An American in Paris (1951), and finally, The Wizard of Oz (1939), all the while enjoying the talented San Francisco orchestra drive through the scenes with scores ranging from bombastic to haunting to whimsical.

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