Chris Powell (Ike Barinholtz, center) and his wife Kai (Tiffany Haddish, top r.) preside over a very tense family Thanksgiving.
Comedian Ike Barinholtz (best known as Nurse Morgan on The Mindy Project) makes his big screen writing and directing debut with The Oath, a very timely, very funny, yet very dark comedy in which he also stars. A razor sharp take on today’s charged political climate, Barinholtz’s pointed comedy resembles Jordan Peele’s (a producer here) Get Out in terms of its satiric edge. While some viewers may find the satire a little too grim, Barinholtz has definitely made a think piece worth talking about, and for that reason, his film is worth a look. Continue reading “Film Review: The Oath“
The 60th San Francisco International Film Festival wraps up this week, but there’s still time to catch a few screenings before closing day on Thursday; you can browse the schedule and buy tickets here. Stay tuned to Spinning Platters for our final spotlight posts to help finish up the Fest: we’ve got five more here (and you can read Chad’s previous posts here, here, here, and here).
1.) Maudie and Ethan Hawke Tribute (Canada/Ireland 2016, 115 min. Awards and Tributes)
Everett (Ethan Hawke) and Maud (Sally Hawkins) on their wedding day.
In a true coup for cinephiles, SFFilm presented a tribute to actor Ethan Hawke at the YBCA Theater on April 8th. Following a delightful clip reel of Hawke’s career highlights, Michael Almereyda, Hawke’s director in 2000’s Hamlet, interviewed the actor. Hawke came across as smart, charming, modest, and immensely likable. In a conversation that ranged from Hawke’s start in high school plays to his embodiment of Gen X angst in 1994’s Reality Bites (“It’s a strange feeling to touch the zeitgeist,” he told us), Hawke gamely opened up on topics both professional and personal. His distaste for violence in films drew a round of applause. “It’s very hard to have a career in professional movies and not kill people,” he said, mentioning that Roger Ebert once toasted him for not killing anyone on screen until Hamlet. Movies that deal with connecting with other people are what he’s most drawn to, he told us, which helps explain his continuing collaboration with Richard Linklater, who memorably cast Hawke in the critically acclaimed Before Sunrise trilogy and Boyhood.
