Reviews of albums, films, concerts, and more from the Bay Area Music and Movie Nerds
Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ARPhotoSF
In 1994, a simple blue cover adorned the release of the debut album of the then relatively unknown band Weezer. Three decades later, the Blue Album, as it has long been commonly known, was the central theme of their Voyage to the Blue Planet tour, which was to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
Continue reading “Show Review: Weezer + The Flaming Lips @ Chase Center, 10/09/2024”
Photos and review by: Alan Ralph @ARPhotoSF
Oracle Park, home to the San Francisco Giants, historically does not host many concerts outside of the regular baseball season (and certainly not the post-season lately either!). Since 2013, there has been an average of six concerts per year, and a few of them are usually tied to corporations like the annual Genentech Gives Back or convention attendee parties for Salesforce.com’s DreamForce and Oracle’s OpenWorld. In fact, the last concert to be held here was 21 months ago for DreamForce (UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital benefit). Leave it to East Bay’s own Green Day to stage the first Hella Mega sized concert at Oracle Park since the world shut down early last year!
Now is a great time to go to the movies (assuming you’ve had at least one, and ideally both, vaccine jabs). The long hiatus from theater-going means that even the most mediocre films will benefit greatly from being seen on a large screen, blasting through surround sound systems, and riding the energy of an exuberant audience. The third installation of The Conjuring movies, not including the Conjuring universe spin-offs Annabelle, The Nun, and La Llorona, is not mediocre by any means.
Continue reading “Film Review: “The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It””
Yes, I know that headline is a real groaner, but so is the movie that inspired it, so fair is fair. Aquaman is the latest DC Comics superhero to headline his own picture, and, unfortunately, this idea is one that never should have floated to the surface. Australian director James Wan (of the Fast and Furious and Saw franchises) throws in a bit of everything with Aquaman, but ends up with a whole lot of spectacle, and — if you’ll forgive me another water pun — not a lot of depth.
Continue reading “Film Review: Aquaman“
On Wednesday we chatted with Patton Oswalt about his scene-stealing turn in Young Adult, the unnerving black comedy opening in San Francisco today. And now we’ll check in with its director, Jason Reitman. In the six years since his beloved feature debut, Thank You For Smoking, Reitman has become one of the most celebrated and in-demand directors in the film industry. In addition to earning back-to-back Best Director Oscar nominations for his second and third features, Juno and Up in the Air, he has established himself as one of the few filmmakers who can create acclaimed character-based films that also resonate with mainstream audiences at the box office. But with Young Adult, his second collaboration with Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody, he is taking a bold and risky step away from the accessibly charming and likable protagonists of his earlier films.
Continue reading “Spinning Platters Interview: Jason Reitman on “Young Adult””
