FILM MARATHON: Julia Roberts #2 – Sleeping with the Enemy [1991]

“The broken lights in the darkness would show the way” Oh, the power of the moustache. That patch of hair can make even the most affable man appear the villain, but when you cue the horror music and light his face so it’s in chiaroscuro, the effect is amplified exponentially. No matter how idyllic director Joseph Ruben attempted to shoot the beginning of Sleeping with the Enemy, you can’t help but see through Martin Burney’s smile and calming tonal speech. Julia Roberts’ Laura might sway your belief in the existence…

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FILM MARATHON: Julia Roberts #1 – Pretty Woman [1990]

“Well color me happy, there’s a sofa in here for two” And just like that, 1990s America fell in love with a hooker. A hooker named Julia Roberts. She had already arrived to many film-viewing women with a oft-mentioned scene in Steel Magnolias, but it was Pretty Woman that officially vaulted her to A-list status and onto the Oscar-winning trajectory to come. I’ve always avoided watching it due to the fact I’ve never been much of a Roberts fan and because, honestly, I’m a twenty-something male. I don’t wake up…

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FILM MARATHON #1: Julia Roberts – The Mouthful of Teeth Marathon

In order to add some new content to the site, as well as give me an excuse to watch films I’ve missed thus far in life, the marathon series has begun. What is the first subject to be delved into you ask? Yes, that’s right, Julia Roberts. Admittedly, I’ve never been a huge fan of hers as an actress, and thus haven’t seen many of her major works. The fact of the matter is, I only have one review of a movie including her in the cast list—Valentine’s Day, where…

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REVIEW: Harry Brown [2009]

“You should of called an ambulance for the girl” When you have nothing to lose, how far are you willing to go for a vengeance ignored by the police? Harry Brown delves into this vigilantism, depicting a pensioner in England and his inability to hide in the shadows mourning anymore. After having his wife, daughter, and best friend all murdered in cold-blood by the young hoodlums ruling the streets and turning the neighborhood into a warzone of guns and drugs, Brown falls into a deep depression of hopelessness, knowing that…

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REVIEW: Nathalie … [2003]

“I think you’d appeal to my husband” If you found out your spouse was cheating on you and realized how numb you were to the fact so that instead of being angry or vengeful you ask what it is the other lover does to make your husband/wife happy, how would you react when they reply with silence? In Nathalie …, Bernard is confronted by his wife Catherine after she listens to a voicemail on his phone from a girl thanking him for the sex they had the night before, a…

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REVIEW: Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage [2010]

“Props to the nose” I don’t have any idea what made me buy Rush’s two-disc greatest hits Chronicles many years ago, but it definitely changed my outlook on music. Popping it in my CD player, the sound flooded over me, playing songs that either I had heard and never aligned with the band or just had that intrinsic feel of greatness and familiarity. My parents had a few LPs when I was growing up and, once CDs came into being, I do recall listening to Roll the Bones often—still admittedly…

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REVIEW: Please Give [2010]

“You gonna go see the leaves?” I’ve never seen a film by writer/director Nicole Holofcener, although each has struck my fancy to keep on the shortlist at the back of my mind for future reference. So, when the opportunity came about to view her newest work, Please Give, I knew I had to take it. Everything about the movie seemed to be right up my alley from its being a talkie drama tinged with comedic elements to the stellar ensemble cast culled together. I was ready to experience what has…

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REVIEW: Get Him to the Greek [2010]

“Please press seven for fellatio” The glory that is Russell Brand’s character Aldous Snow in Forgetting Sarah Marshall stems from two words: supporting role. On paper, expanding the obnoxious and vain sexual deviant’s background part to head up his own vehicle seems like a slamdunk—and it is to some respect. Although it underperformed at the box office opening weekend, Get Him to the Greek appeals to its audience and makes them laugh hard. But does humor alone create a success? I’m undecided on whether I laughed or looked towards my…

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ARTWORK: Buffalo, Consumerized – FC Buffalo

Continuing the Buffalo, Consumerized series, this entry is the first with a landscape orientation and also to include a logo that is actually in use. The previous four entries portrayed architectural institutions within the city (BECHS, Central Terminal, Richardson Towers, and North Park Theatre), this one expands upon the concept with the depiction of what hopes to be a static fixture in Buffalo’s sports world, FC Buffalo. Due to the horizontal nature of a sport played on a field laterally, going landscape was a no-brainer, (especially since almost all my…

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PHOTOGRAPHY: FC Buffalo’s First Franchise Victory

June 6, 2010 is the day that the FC Buffalo Blitzers soccer team broke free, scored their first goal, added a second, and put up a clean sheet for the first ever victory in franchise history over NJ Blaze. The match was lopsided in Buffalo’s favor right from the get-go, out-shooting and out-playing their opponents. Tied 0-0 going into the half, Andy Tiedt scored in the 64th minute and then Scott Zorn put it away with a strike in the second minute of extra time, cementing the win—the first of…

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DESIGN: Dave & Adam’s Card World [spec]

Looking to get away from their hard to decipher at small sizes Earth wrapped in ribbon logo, a friend at Dave & Adam’s Card World asked me to try and come up with a modern alternative to show his bosses. Trying to simplify the icon into a representation of the ownership by reducing it to their initials much like the hobby store’s website does, I found myself combining the “D” and “A” together into one. It’s the ampersand via white space that separates the two letters, also creating the platform…

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