Director Jeff Nichols has been on an impressive streak of memorable dramatic films that directly or indirectly involve the culture of middle-America, including Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter, Mud, and Loving. The Bikeriders is his latest dramatic piece of cinematic Americana (or, “Ameridrama”, to coin a phrase), stradling the median between mainstream drama and niche historical fiction. The Bikeriders is a surprisingly charming piece of old-school storytelling, buoyed by an impressive script and strong performances.Continue reading “Film Review: “The Bikeriders””
Whoa! This is my 12th Nerd’s Guide to SF Sketchfest! And after 14 long years (including two really, really long years not too long ago) of writing these, I can declare that SF Sketchfest has finally done it! They’ve booked the holy trinity of surreal sketch comedy! Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame), Kids In The Hall, and The State are all appearing! These three are the unifying forces that brought together both the stoners and the kids afraid of weed. AND I AM HERE FOR IT! Honestly, this year’s SF Sketchfest, which I believe is the 21st edition of the event, is probably the most bonkers year yet. I have barely started to figure out what gigs I’m seeing… I need to write this almost for myself as much as for you, my loyal reader.
A complete schedule and links to tickets can be found here!
Fading assassins looking to complete the latest job. Low-level criminals looking for a clean exit from the life. Under-loved princesses looking to deal with daddy once and for all. Others looking for nothing more than cold, hard revenge. And in the middle of it all is bucket-hat Brad Pitt. In his latest, Bullet Train (or: Bucket-Hat Brad with a Bullet), Pitt romps, skips, hops, twirls, guffaws, and even sings his way through an overly-complicated, needlessly-sprawling, yet more than semi-entertaining roller coaster.Continue reading “Film Review: “Bullet Train””
Knockin’ me out with those American lights: AC/DC conflict energizes, despite few flaws
Rivals George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon, l.) and Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) run into each other at the Chicago World’s Fair.
I don’t blame you if you’re confused by the phrase “Director’s Cut” above. A director’s cut of a film usually implies that an earlier, theatrically released version preceded it. But, in the case of The Current War, no, you didn’t miss a first release of this picture. It was, however, shown at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival, and picked up for distribution by Harvey Weinstein’s infamous Weinstein Company. When the company folded because of Weinstein’s sexual harassment allegations, many projects were tabled and sold off. When 101 Studios eventually took hold of this title, director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon was granted permission by Martin Scorsese, the film’s executive producer, to make some changes before the film’s theatrical release. So what is opening today is a revised version of what Toronto fans saw two years ago. This version is, thankfully, shorter than the Fest original (why are films this season so long!?), and contains some reshoots. With such a complicated history behind the picture’s theatrical release, the question of course becomes: after all that, is the film worth seeing? My answer is: well, sure, although a few minor flaws keep that “sure” from being a resounding, exclamatory “Yes!!”
The Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18th to 28th this year; over 120 films were shown in ten days. For the fourth year in a row, I was on the (often snowy) ground, knocking out almost 20 films in five days in order to bring you the Best of the Fest. I present here the ten best films I saw – five features, four documentaries, and one special screening. Keep your eyes out for these during the coming year, as they are well worth your time and money. And if you’d like to know all the films that took home awards this year, you can see the winners here.
TOP FIVE FEATURE FILMS
1.) Search (USA 2017, 101 min. Directed by Aneesh Chaganty. Category: Next)
Worried father David Kim (John Cho) uses the Internet to search for his missing daughter.
The word innovative doesn’t even come close to doing filmmaker Aneesh Chaganty’s first feature film justice. Using a narrative that unfolds completely on a computer screen (via video chats, texts, emails, Internet searches, and news videos), Chaganty immerses us in the story of recently widowed dad David (John Cho, excellent as always) and his desperate search for his missing teenage daughter Margot (Michelle La). Debra Messing, cast against type, is terrific as the San Jose police detective heading the investigation. Filled with red herrings and twists and turns you’ll never see coming, Chaganty and co-writer Sev Ohanian’s South Bay-set mystery is as imaginative as their method of telling it. Both a celebration and a critique of our increasing reliance on technology, the brilliantly executed Search is my hands-down favorite film of the Festival. Sony Pictures acquired the picture for five million dollars in one of the Festival’s biggest buys, so a wide release will be forthcoming. The film also deservedly won both an audience award and the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize. Don’t miss this one. Continue reading “Film Feature: The Best of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival”
Spinning Platters film critics present their top 10 films of 2016
Spinning Platters film critics Carrie Kahn and Chad Liffmann each share their ten favorite films of 2016. Here is Carrie’s list, presented, unlike last year’s alphabetized list, in descending rank order. And you can check out Chad’s list here to see which one of us you agree with more!
10.) Nocturnal Animals
Tony (Jake Gyllenhaal, middle) arrives at a possible crime scene with lawman Bobby Andes (Michael Shannon, r.).
Sometimes the story-within-the-story convention can be confusing or feel gimmicky, but in this visually stunning picture from fashion designer turned filmmaker Tom Ford, the technique works to terrific effect. Amy Adams, as a woman haunted by a decision she made years ago, reads a manuscript sent to her by her ex-husband Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal), and that story comes alive on screen in the form of family man Tony (Gyllenhaal again) and his confrontation with some dangerous, deranged miscreants. Ford’s keen aesthetic vision and sharp performances by Adams, Gyllenhaal, and Michael Shannon as a tenacious lawman combine to make this brutally poetic but utterly captivating film one of the year’s most definitively unusual. (You can also read my full-length review here.)
West Texas ne’er-do-well Ray Marcus (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, middle) warily answers questions from lawman Bobby Andes (Michael Shannon, l.) and crime victim Tony (Jake Gyllenhaal, r.).
Tom Ford, the American fashion designer turned filmmaker who first garnered accolades for his cinematic talents back in 2009 with his Colin Firth-helmed picture A Single Man, finally returns seven years later with his follow up, another film inspired by a novel. With Nocturnal Animals, based on Austin Wright’s 1993 novel Tony and Susan, Ford again both directs and writes the screenplay, and proves that his first success was no fluke. Ford’s patient fans have been rewarded for their long wait with another visually stunning, captivating picture. Continue reading “Film Review: Nocturnal Animals“
Spinning Platters continues its preview coverage of the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, which opens tomorrow, Thursday, April 21st. Information and tickets are available here.
To whet your Fest appetite, here we spotlight two of the Festival’s features and two documentaries.
Five Nights in Maine (USA, 2015, 82 min, Marquee Presentations)
Sherwin (David Oyelowo) and his mother-in-law Lucinda (Dianne Wiest) share a moment at her Maine house.
When an adult dies unexpectedly, whose grief is greater – the surviving spouse, or the surviving parent? Are such comparisons even fair? Such are the heady questions that writer/director Maris Curran explores here, in a picture thematically similar to the recently released Demolition. After his wife Fiona (Hani Furstenberg) dies suddenly in a car crash, city-dweller Sherwin (David Oyelowo) visits Fiona’s terminally ill mother Lucinda (Dianne Wiest) at her isolated house in rural Maine. Though both try to maintain a polite façade with each other as they process their loss, issues of blame, recrimination, and bitterness slowly rise to the surface, forcing the two to confront past and present emotional wounds. A pas de deux between two of today’s best actors set against a stunning backdrop of fall light and foliage, Curran’s film is a flawlessly executed meditation on how we deal with life, loss, and love.
Roy (Michael Shannon, l.) will do anything to protect his very special son Alton (Jaeden Lieberher).
Writer/director Jeff Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter, Shotgun Stories) continues his collaboration with the terrific actor Michael Shannon to great effect in his utterly engaging new science fiction film Midnight Special. Unlike another film by a well known writer/director that opened today, Nichols’s film grips you from its opening minute and keeps you enraptured for its nearly two hour run time. A film that pays homage to others of its genre while still managing to be totally unique, Midnight Special is well worth your box office dollars. Continue reading “Film Review: Midnight Special”
With this third and final post, Spinning Platters completes its coverage of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, which ended on Jan. 30th. All the winners can be found here (and our other two posts about this year’s Festival can be found here and here).
