“You better know so Wonderbread” Between the serious faces portrayed on the poster and the heist gone wrong plot synopsis, I had no idea Hot Tamale was going to be as much of a comedy as it is. Beginning with the bizarre death of lead Harlan Woodriff’s father, the kooky family is huddled around the frozen corpse while the son stays in the background wondering if he’d ended up in the wrong family. It all has an air of drama—besides the inclusion of actors Harland Williams and Beth Grant—as we…
Read MoreDay: April 24, 2010
BNFF10 REVIEW: The Crimson Mask [2010]
“Puppets don’t have the strength to pull their own strings” Originally conceived as two short stories, one about a boxer and the other a banker, writer/director Elias Plagianos decided to combine both tales into The Crimson Mask, making its Western New York debut at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival. After realizing short films have little to no chance of making back the money put forth, he saw how the two ideas rested on the same general Faustian principle of selling one’s soul for a hastily thought out scheme for success.…
Read MoreBNFF10 REVIEW: A Touch of Grey [2010]
“I felt like a pedophile Suzy Homemaker” When first contacted by writer/director Sandra Feldman about her film A Touch of Grey screening at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, I was somewhat taken aback by her being a family physician. To me, it was an interesting career change from the medical field to filmmaker, but after seeing a few credits to her name as a stunt double and the film’s own message about crossroads and picking a direction, I fully understand the decision. She said how the film has been described…
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