REVIEW: 色, 戒 [Lust, Caution] [2007]

“I have a mission” I can’t stand American film distributors and how they handle foreign films. With their money-scheming minds, they give us movie trailers without any dialogue, trying their best to disguise the fact that the work is not in English. If they don’t let us hear a strange language or show a single subtitle, people may just think that it was a minimal piece meant to strike our senses. Unfortunately, for someone like me, I know before seeing the trailer that it is a foreign film—I’ve probably been…

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REVIEW: The Darjeeling Limited [2007]

“We haven’t located us yet” The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is not my favorite Wes Anderson movie by any means. I had such high hopes for it after viewing his previous three films as a crescendo of precision and quality. Zissou ended up being more pretension and aimless drivel then something worth writing home about. Now, I didn’t hate the film, there is a lot to applaud him for, however, it slightly tarnished his do-no-wrong clout with me. In the years between then and now, though, we were given…

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REVIEW: 30 Days of Night [2007]

“Where’s my phone?” Here is the next chapter in the graphic novels cum film movement that has been taking over the industry. The ingredients seem pretty foolproof: a revisionist vampire tale screenwritten by the novel’s authors, a setting without the sun for thirty days, a hard-r rating, a good cast, and visionary music video director David Slade fresh off his debut feature Hard Candy. 30 Days of Night is a brutal look into a world where the monsters reign supreme with little in their way to slow them down. With…

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REVIEW: Gone Baby Gone [2007]

“Be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove” Real life is not known for its happy endings. Author Dennis Lehane seems to understand this fact and is not afraid to tell his stories with that mentality. The last novel of his to be given the film treatment was Mystic River. A great movie from Clint Eastwood was the result, showing the deep bonds between family and friends in Boston amidst horrifying tragedy. While the story and acting were top-notch there, something about the recent adaptation of Gone Baby…

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REVIEW: Shakes the Clown [1991]

“Saddle up Chuck!” Quite the interesting film from the warped mind of Bobcat Goldthwait. Shakes the Clown is his debut as a writer/director and tells the story about an alcoholic clown who, while passed out drunk, is framed for the murder of his boss and mentor. From the catch phrase “Loved by children. Desired by woman. Adored by bartenders everywhere” I was expecting something a little more perverse and out there. Instead, we are given a pretty run of the mill, mediocre comedy where the bumbling hero and misfit friends…

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REVIEW: Elizabeth: The Golden Age [2007]

“I will live right until the end” Whereas Elizabeth told a tale of royalty and the politics underlying every action to gain power, Elizabeth: The Golden Age weaves the story of how that strength survives. Michael Hirst gets help this time from the capable William Nicholson to explain what happens once the queen has proven her worth. The country has accepted her, yet many Catholic dissenters hide behind Mary Stuart, looking for an overthrow. Outside her kingdom sees Spain reviling her crown, standing against the God they hold dear. King…

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REVIEW: Elizabeth [1998]

“The Virgin Queen” Not being a fan of the biopic, I must say that Elizabeth leaves an impression. With outstanding performances, lush settings and costumes, as well as a well-crafted story, this film does exactly what is needed for a biography to succeed—and it sticks to a specific period of a legend’s life, without trying to tell eighty years in two hours. Hers is a tale that many know, at least a trifle bit, about. From our introduction, writer Michael Hirst, (a scholar at the subject if I’m to be…

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DESIGN: Streets of Allentown Program 2007

2007 Streets of Allentown Program 2007, published by Buffalo Spree Publishing, Inc. While Secrets of Allentown took a year off, the idea to have a new event called Streets of Allentown was hatched, allowing people to view the outsides of properties and learn about their history. I was tasked to create a new logo and then program book, starting with the cover and continuing the look of that throughout the interior. Write-ups and photos vary between full page and two page spreads depending on the property being shown.

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REVIEW: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford [2007]

“Recapitulating the act of betrayal” The man, the myth, the legend, and the movie title. In what could be my favorite film name of all-time, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is much more than its superfluous moniker. From its bloated runtime to its slow, methodical pace, Andrew Dominik’s epic tale contains an inner beauty that allows for all the pretensions one seems to associate with it. Dominik is unrelenting on his quest to tell the story the way he wants it told, never compromising by…

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REVIEW: Michael Clayton [2007]

“Is that the answer to the multiple choice question of me?” The man behind the scripts for the Bourne trilogy (and The Cutting Edge) has decided to step into the director’s chair for his new film Michael Clayton. Along with an A-list producing crew (Sydney Pollack, Steven Soderbergh, Anthony Minghella) Tony Gilroy has assembled a brilliant cast of big names and familiar faces. After the action-packed Matt Damon-starrers he decided to go more psychological in the thriller category. It would be tough for a first-time director to choreograph extended fight…

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Henry Rollins is Provoked

Tuesday night saw the return of Henry Rollins to Buffalo. I missed my opportunity to check out his ranting last year, but made sure to see the show this time around. As he said during the marathon 3 hours, (without even taking a drink of water), he is the enemy of Fox News’ conservatism. Sure there is a major liberal slant to his diatribe, and yes the audience claps and cheers at every stab towards Bush and the government, but he isn’t too bleeding heart that he doesn’t understand the…

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