Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
If you loved Mark Ruffalo in HBO’s terrific miniseries Task, you need to go see Crime 101 immediately. I’m not sure when Crime 101 was made, but if Brett Layton, its writer/director, didn’t watch Task first, I’d be surprised. Ruffalo’s engrossing turn here as another rumpled but wise detective with a sad personal life is just one reason to see Crime 101, a highly entertaining and utterly absorbing heist thriller.
The end of the year of course means Top 10 lists! Here are my ten favorite films of 2024 (and four honorable mentions). Oscar nominations follow in just a few weeks, on Friday, January 17th. Stay tuned to see if Oscar voters share my thinking. And be sure to also check out fellow SP Film Critic Chad’s Top 20 list here. In the meantime–see you back in the cinema in 2025!
Continue reading “Film Feature: Carrie’s Top 10 Films of 2024”
Writer/director James Mangold is no stranger to a music biopic. In 2006, Reese Witherspoon won a Best Actress Oscar for playing June Cash in Mangold’s Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. The movie garnered four other nominations, including a nomination for Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of Cash. Now, 18 years later, don’t be surprised if A Complete Unknown, Mangold’s dramatization of Bob Dylan’s rise to fame, yields similar awards for its exceptional cast.