REVIEW: First Blood [1982]

“We’re not hunting him, he’s hunting us” If I’m going to see the fourth installment of a film franchise, I should at least check out the one that started it all. That fact brings me to finally seeing the 80’s classic First Blood. It wears its decade on its sleeve with the acting, broad humor at times, and cheesy credit song “It’s a Long Road.” Despite all that, though, the movie lives up to the hype and fires on all cylinders. I had no clue that the story pitted one…

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REVIEW: Le scaphandre et le papillon [The Diving Bell and the Butterfly] [2007]

“We are all children” The tale of Jean-Dominique Bauby and his harrowing ordeal of being locked-in his own body after a debilitating stroke is devastating. I can’t wait to finally start reading it—it’s a bit down the queue, but has gone up a few spots after seeing the film—however, after watching the film version, I can’t help but commend director Julian Schnabel. The man is the go to guy when it comes to artistic biopics. From the magnificent portrayal of Jean-Michel Basquiat in his first foray with the media (much…

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REVIEW: The Stranger [1946]

“I watched them, here like God, looking at little ants” With a plot that contains a Nazi war criminal hiding out in New England with his past erased, playing the role of school teacher and marrying the judge’s daughter, all while being on the hunt by an Allied Commission man, you’d think some good things could happen. Then you see that it stars and is directed by Orson Welles … you can’t lose. Unfortunately, absolutes are too misleading because Welles proves here that he is not infallible. In a heavy-handed…

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Top 25 Films of 2007

(short and sweet and to the point; culled from watching 114 releases. constantly updated as i catch up to those i missed. click poster for review if applicable) #25: Away From Her directed by Sarah Polley . #24: Cassandra’s Dream directed by Woody Allen . #23: The Cake Eaters directed by Mary Stuart Masterson #22: Grindhouse directed by Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez #21: Stardust directed by Matthew Vaughn . . #20: Reign Over Me directed by Mike Binder . . #19: El Orfanato [The Orphanage] directed by J.A. Bayona…

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REVIEW: Cloverfield [2008]

“Good luck tonight Travis” Cloverfield is a damn good time at the movies—something that one can’t say very often in January, the month usually utilized to dump films while Oscar-bait from the previous year gets released. Seeing the first teaser attached to Transformers in July literally gave me goosebumps at the potential for what it could be. I will admit that while the hype was high, the past couple months saw it wane. The gimmick started getting a tad stale and the tv spots began to ruin the momentum it…

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REVIEW: There Will Be Blood [2007]

“I will bury you underground” There Will Be Blood is a staggering work of genius. Paul Thomas Anderson has, if he hadn’t already, cemented himself as the director of the present and future. While his previous work compared to the great Robert Altman, this entry is by all accounts his Kubrick picture. At every turn I could think of nothing else but comparisons to Stanley Kubrick’s body of work. The cold, detached artistry of it, the gorgeous visuals bolstered by powerhouse performances, and the patience with which to allow a…

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DESIGN: Studio Arena Theatre 2007 Season

2007 Studio Arena Theatre 2007 Season, published by Buffalo Spree Publishing, Inc. After the theatre supplied imagery for each performance of the season, I designed a cover that would allow for a cohesive style and maintain the images’ unique graphics. The inside pages were then laid out with a simple header and footer bar containing the show’s color and the theatre’s logo.

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REVIEW: Maurice Richard [The Rocket] [2007]

“9 pounds?” The DVD box has a quote calling The Rocket, “the Gladiator of Hockey Movies.” I’m not sure I can agree with this, but that is not a bad thing. I’ll admit to not being blown away by Gladiator like most people are. Instead, if I were to compare this film, about French Canadian superstar Maurice “Rocket” Richard, to anything, I’d say it is the Cinderella Man of hockey movies. There are many comparisons that could be made between Braddock and Richard as far as uniting a nation against…

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REVIEW: El Orfanato [The Orphanage] [2007]

“One, two, three, knock on the wall” There is something to the marketing of foreign films and the way Hollywood tries its hardest to fool the public into thinking it is an English language movie. By not allowing any characters to speak in the trailers, giving away their secret with subtitles, someone like me, knowing it’s foreign, is able to get a glimpse at the style and tone without really learning anything about the plot to ruin my surprise upon sitting in the theatre. This aspect worked perfectly for Guillermo…

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REVIEW: The Brave One [2007]

“It’s not cream, it’s vanilla” It appears all the critical response I read was true when it came to Neil Jordan’s The Brave One. Derivative, predictable, repetitive, and slow are all words that can be used to describe it. I remember hearing that Jordan himself was never too enthused about the movie either, pretty much saying that it wasn’t his, he was just a hired hand to get it all on screen. Well, it sure felt that way as there is no originality or flair at all, just a very…

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REVIEW: Terms of Endearment [1983]

“Medium esteem” I’m not quite sure what I think about James L. Brooks’ Terms of Endearment. Here is a film that won best picture at the 1984 Oscars, beating out a favorite of mine, The Big Chill. Everyone I talk to says they love it and here I am feeling a tad lukewarm on the whole spectacle. At first glance, I can’t really comprehend what I saw exactly. Truthfully, the whole thing seems as though it was a device to get us to the end, the one sequence of time…

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