Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name earned the coveted #1 spot on my Top 10 List back in 2017, but none of his films since then have come close to that level of excellence. While last year’s Challengers was at least decently entertaining, Guadagnino’s newest, After the Hunt, is another disappointment. Continue reading “Film Review: “After the Hunt””
When a line is repeated more than once in a film – especially in a film that is a high stakes political thriller – you know the screenwriter is giving you a clue to the film’s secrets. So when ruthless political lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane (a fierce Jessica Chastain) tells us that “lobbying is about foresight, about anticipating your opponent’s moves, and devising counter measures…. It’s about making sure you surprise them, and they don’t surprise you,” take it to heart as you study the machinations of the dueling lobbyists in Miss Sloane, director John Madden’s smart, absorbing new drama.
Continue reading “Film Review: Miss Sloane“
Perhaps no picture has been more anticipated here in the tech capital of the Bay Area than the Aaron Sorkin-penned and Danny Boyle-directed biopic of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, based on Walter Isaacson’s best-selling 2011 biography of the same name. Sorkin and Boyle, with their similar frenetic writing and directing styles (think The Social Network meets Slumdog Millionaire) prove to be the ideal team to dramatize the life of the Peninsula-raised inventor, entrepreneur, original tech titan, and icon. Indeed, their picture lives up to expectations, succeeding as both a fascinating character study, and as a historical dramatization of seminal events that took place here in the Bay Area, but ultimately touched the entire world.
I am willing to forgive Woody Allen the misstep that was last year’s disappointing and forgettable To Rome With Love, since perhaps he needed to get that rote entry out of his system in order to make one of his finest films in years, Blue Jasmine. Sure to become one of his best known pictures, on par with such perceptive and tightly constructed works as Interiors, Crimes and Misdemeanors, and Match Point, this terrific film will no doubt be a strong contender for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actress at Oscar time. Continue reading “Film Review: Blue Jasmine”
starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement, Emma Thompson
written by: Etan Cohen
directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, and brief suggestive content