Tag: Willem Dafoe

Film Review: “Poor Things”

Poor Things dives headfirst into a strange, beautiful, and horny world

Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos has divided audiences as long as he’s been making movies. To help you resurface some opinionated rage and confusion, or delight,  his films include Dogtooth, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and The Favourite. His films bend surrealism together with absurdism, glittered with idiosyncratic dialogue and characters. They also don’t shy away from weirdness and sex, or weird sex, even. Lanthimos implores you to face brutal honesty and vulnerability, and Poor Things is no different. Cradled within a vibrantly designed world in which to explore themes of sexual freedom and liberation, Poor Things is a masterpiece of creative ambitions.

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Film Review: “The Northman”

Unbelievable physical detail can’t overcome blocky storytelling and a mawkish core

The Northmen doing their thing
The Northmen doing their thing.

In the new Robert Eggers film The Northman, a young prince in proto-Europe’s far north swears vengeance for his father’s murder, is driven mad by revenge, and faces his rival in a climactic battle. Sound familiar? Continue reading “Film Review: “The Northman””

Film Review: “The French Dispatch”

Anderson’s French Dispatch is precious and pretty, with an emotional punch

The French Dispatch
(From L-R): Tilda Swinton, Lois Smith, Adrien Brody, Henry Winkler and Bob Balaban in the film THE FRENCH DISPATCH. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

Fox Searchlight has finally released Wes Anderson’s very long-awaited new film The French Dispatch, and this sentence pretty much sums it up: “Leutenant Nescaffier is emphatically celebrated among cooks, cops and capitaines, not to mention swindlers, stoolies and snitches, as the great exemplar of police cooking.”

If that sentence – with its very sneaky verb, its obviously overbalanced serial commas, its all too visible use of French terms, and finally, its curious “police cooking”- makes you smile, laugh, giggle, catch your breath, or even tingle, then this is your film. If not, then there’s nothing I, or this review, can do for you.

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Film Review: “The Card Counter”

The closer we get, the farther away we slip

La Linda (Tiffany Haddish) tries to connect with Bill (Oscar Isaac).

In Paul Schrader’s new offering The Card Counter, the venerable writer/director proves that exploring the question of why humans can never quite find real connection will always make for worthwhile, if somewhat challenging viewing. Continue reading “Film Review: “The Card Counter””

Film Feature: Carrie and Chris Pick the 2019 Oscars

Film critics Carrie and Chris on who will – and who should – win the 91st Academy Awards

The 91st Academy Awards air this Sunday, February 24th, on ABC at 5:00 pm PST (with the requisite pre-show fashion assessments starting hours before). As they did last year, Spinning Platters film critics Carrie Kahn and Chris Piper share their predictions – and hopes – for the major categories.  Guild awards – often harbingers of Oscars to come – have been all over the map this year, so there may actually be some genuine surprises. Tune in on Sunday to see how things play out, and to find out if we correctly read the minds of Academy voters.

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Film Review: Aquaman

Porpoise-less fish tale drowns in mediocrity 

Aquaman (Jason Momoa) strikes one of his favorite poses.

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.
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Film Feature: Carrie and Chris Pick the 2018 Oscars

Film critics Carrie and Chris on who will – and who should – win the 90th Academy Awards

The 90th Academy Awards air this Sunday, March 4th on ABC at 5:00 pm PST (pre-show festivities start well before, if you want to weigh in on Oscar fashions). Spinning Platters film critics Carrie Kahn and Chris Piper share their predictions – and hopes – for the major categories, and discuss their reasoning for six of the biggest categories in the podcast below. Will there be another Moonlight/La La Land fiasco? Tune in on Sunday to find out – and to see how we – and you – do on the big night! 

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Film Review: The Great Wall

White male hero leads dumpster fire movie to a forgettable fate.

Do we LOOK like we’re having fun?

I chose the above picture for very specific reasons. I could’ve chosen a more beautiful shot of a heroic looking Matt Damon atop The Great Wall of China. But no, I preferred this one for the way it captures the feeling one has while watching The Great Wall — the feeling of trudging through the sewer, acting unfazed while knowing deep down that the journey will result in nothing but a sh*tty mess. If you were considering watching The Great Wall as a fun activity this weekend (or at some point), let me save you the two hours you’d never get back. First, The Great Wall is offensive for its white savior narrative. Second, it’s poorly shot and edited. And third, it features cartoonish special effects and thus can’t even manage to string together two minutes of respectable cinema without an embarrassing element restarting the clock.

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SF Sketchfest Review: Fishing With John at The Castro Theater, 1/8/15

fishing-with-john

A good critic thoroughly researches his or her subject well ahead of the event they are reviewing. They learn about the subject, the history of the producer, and a bit about the fans. I did not do this. I liked the name “Fishing with John.” And when I saw that Parker Posey was interviewing the creator of this thing, I decided that this was likely to be interesting. Also, I was in the neighborhood and heard rumor of transit delays, it was raining, and I just wanted to hide in a theater for a couple of hours while the storm passed. Continue reading “SF Sketchfest Review: Fishing With John at The Castro Theater, 1/8/15”

Film Review: Nymphomaniac: Vol. II

Now on the beaten path.

"Thank you Sir, can I have another!?"
“Thank you sir, can I have another!?”

(Warning: ‘Volume I’ spoilers immediately ahead.)

Last we left Joe, she had just been broken down with the tragic realization that she couldn’t feel anything.  Her years of sexual escapades and experimentation had left her suddenly numb, cold, distant, and depressed…and this is the new Joe that we get to follow in Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac: Volume II, the second half of his sexual cinematic odyssey.  Needless to say, this sequel of sorts doesn’t live up to the emotional gravitas and observational humor of Volume I, instead settling for a few interesting thoughts but mostly von Trier’s penchant for gratuitous sexual violence and plenty of shock value.

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