TIFF12 REVIEW: Imagine [2013]

“Blind people don’t need canes—unless they have a bad leg” It may be weird to think, but there’s no better medium than film to transport an audience into the world of the blind. A character in Andrzej Jakimowski‘s Imagine says it perfectly: people with sight look without actually seeing. Their eyes illuminate what’s in front of them without instilling the need to delve further into the distance. If what’s beyond their sight sparks interest, they can simply get up, walk over, and see it without struggle. So, when dealing with…

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Posterized Propaganda September 2012: White Space Rules the Month

“Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover” is a proverb whose simple existence proves the fact impressionable souls will do so without fail. This monthly column focuses on the film industry’s willingness to capitalize on this truth, releasing one-sheets to serve as not representations of what audiences are to expect, but as propaganda to fill seats. Oftentimes they fail miserably. When not distracted by the more offbeat, artistically inclined one-sheets for the amazing line-up gracing Toronto screens at TIFF this month, I was surprised to see a few good ones…

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INTERVIEW: Mads Brügger, director/star of The Ambassador

Called the most provocative filmmaker in the world by many, Danish documentarian Mads Brügger has outdone himself with his newest work, The Ambassador. Traversing the corrupt politics of Africa, the journalist finds himself becoming a ‘colonial dandy’ to discover just how easy it is to acquire blood diamonds and befriend the highest of government officials. Speaking with us as part of his press tour through Drafthouse Films, Mads helps explain the dire situation in the landlocked Central African Republic as well as his process transforming into a bona fide diplomat.…

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DESIGN: TZ Granite

Through Buffalo Spree Publishing, Inc., I was asked to design a new corporate identity logo for TZ Granite & Materials LLC in Orchard Park, NY as part of a new ad running in the Fall/Winter 2012 issue of Buffalo Spree Home. Formerly known as Tiede-Zoeller, the company was looking to keep a similar, angular font style but also clean up the length with a concise, attractive “TZ” image that could stand in for the full name. Working off a sans-serif font, I drew the “TZ” in a way that allowed…

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TIFF12 REVIEW: Wir wollten aufs Meer [Shores of Hope] [2012]

“Hope dies last, Schmidt” It’s East Berlin, 1984—an entire nation under the Stasi’s watchful eye. Freedom is near impossible without risk of arrest or bullet courtesy of a botched escape west, the life of a sailor a young man’s one legitimate avenue out. With destination an afterthought, the open sea becomes every lucky appointee’s gateway to the world and a future. But like all oppressive regimes, false hope keeps the unhappy rabble in line. If workers strive to please, the promise of reward succeeds despite its empty, manipulative lie. Unable…

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TIFF12 REVIEW: What Richard Did [2012]

“Failure’s not an option” Jealousy could be the most destructive force in youth culture. With hormones raging to drive a need for companionship to help prevail through high school and ready for the next step in life, the power lust, love, convenience, or whatever it is that takes the wheel possesses is never easily overcome. The darkness of anger boiling over when someone incapable of understanding the intricacies of life will take over and cause actions completely out of character from the role model, compassionate soul you have begun to…

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REVIEW: The Ambassador [2011]

“If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu” Did you ever wonder what a guy like Sacha Baron Cohen could accomplish if his satirical bent towards political upheaval had more than cheap laughs as its goal? What if Borat became a literal representative of Kazakhstan or Brüno a luminary in the fashion world interviewed for expert insight as a real person and not just a fictitious persona tossed aside when public saturation reaches uncontrollable heights? He would need to be a committed journalist with the stomach to both…

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REVIEW: For Ellen [2012]

“She didn’t complain or send the law after me or anything” Looking to reconcile her feelings about being a successful parent, wife, and filmmaker with her child turning two, writer/director So Yong Kim decided to delve into the all too common reality that some only can do so when it is too late. Taking from her own experience growing up fatherless—only having ever seen him once at the age of five—her film For Ellen finds itself attempting to not decipher why someone would leave, but instead show the moment when…

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TIFF12 REVIEW: Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story [2012]

“I’m crushed by my ideas” As easily titled by another of its subject’s mottos—”Expect the Unexpected”—as what documentarian Brad Bernstein chose, Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story re-exposes the world to one of its most influential illustrators/commercial artists. Disappointed by my own ignorance to the name, I looked up his work and discovered nothing but a passing resemblance to other children’s art I had seen before. Only when the late Where the Wild Things Are author Maurice Sendak came onscreen to laud his friend and peer’s bravery…

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REVIEW: The Expendables 2 [2012]

“Can’t beat a classic” And here I thought the buzz was about how much The Expendables 2 made good on the promise set forth and not quite attained by The Expendables. It was going to be chock-full of humorous banter, over-the-top antics, bloody pulpy carnage, and as much fun as one berserker action flick can contain. There would be story, a worthy villain, and a reason for guys like Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jean-Claude Van Damme to come back from the shadows of obscurity. It wasn’t like these guys…

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REVIEW: Sparkle [2012]

“You snuck out of the house for less” I can’t wait for the Director’s Cut. No, not Criterion’s much ballyhooed 216-minute edit of Michael Cimino‘s Heaven’s Gate. I’m talking about Salim Akil‘s Sparkle. I need to try and piece together the gaps leading towards its imploded Motown trio’s back-up singer earning a sold out first ever solo show with full orchestra and gospel choir after barely receiving two minutes of unsolicited time from the record executive who already dropped her once. I don’t care if her voice is like listening…

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