REVIEW: Killing Them Softly [2012]

“America’s not a country. It’s just a business.” Now I know why writer/director Andrew Dominik changed his film’s name to Killing Me Softly. It’s not because star Brad Pitt uses the phrase to describe his preferred method of murder; that just supplied the words. I’d like to believe he did so because he knew how different a beast it was from the novel by George V. Higgins on which it’s based, Cogan’s Trade. Written in 1974, the book obviously couldn’t have had our recent global recession in mind let alone…

Read More

REVIEW: Shut Up and Play the Hits [2012]

“If I can see all my friends tonight” The end of LCD Soundsystem was a seminal moment in rock and roll music history. I’m not even a fan of the band and I know this to be true. Frontman James Murphy created something that spoke to the college crowd with a mix of electronic dance beats and wittily poignant lyrics on his way to becoming a rock God/philosopher. And then he decided to call it quits after a decade. Stopping on his own terms to continue the life he led…

Read More

REVIEW: Compliance [2012]

“Let’s just get this over with” Films like Craig Zobel‘s Compliance make you question humanity. It’s easy to say, “How could so many people be so stupid?” but at the same time hard not to view those duped into becoming predators as victims too. What happened to Louise Ogborn on April 9, 2004 in a Kentucky McDonald’s is the tragic culmination of our American culture gradually dismantling its desire to possess a voice. Gone are the days of innocent until proven guilty when a universal trend towards self-preservation usurps the…

Read More

REVIEW: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 [2012]

“Should I start calling you Dad?” **contains spoilers as far as its major difference from the book** I’m going to applaud The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 for two reasons. One, it signals what we can hope and pray will be the last adventure inside Stephenie Meyer‘s angst-ridden, melodramatic world of supernaturals—until the planned off-shoots/reboots being bandied about, of course. Two, it rather unsurprisingly proves to be the best of the series after three bloated, over-wrought filler films ruined the tiny bit of promise the original Twilight provided. But…

Read More

REVIEW: Белый тигр [White Tiger] [2012]

“Even I’m not old enough to know what happened” It’s a unique treat any time a film depicting World War II doesn’t center on the Holocaust or American forces storming the beaches of Normandy. Honestly, these are the two subjects we in the United States learn during our public school education because we frankly don’t need more detail unless delving deeper into the war becomes our dissertation in college. So the fact Karen Shakhnazarov‘s Белый тигр [White Tiger] concerns Western Europe’s Great Patriotic War between Russia and Germany makes it…

Read More

REVIEW: Sinister [2012]

“Even I’m not old enough to know what happened” I like me a good horror film generally because their filmmakers find a freedom from the genre to create imaginative aesthetics. Rarely does one end up disturbing me to the point where I inch up to the edge of my seat and literally beg for more, though. Even knowing what’s going to happen—I guessed Sinister‘s ending as soon as the first breadcrumb dropped to foreshadow the method to the madness—my interest sometimes refuses to wane simply because I need the gruesome…

Read More

REVIEW: California Solo [2012]

“Oh, you Googled me did you?” In a case of mistaken identity, Marshall Lewy‘s sophomore effort as writer/director is much more than its cliché-riddled trailer shows. A 2012 Sundance Film Festival selection, California Solo is the kind of character study that allows its plot to unfold naturally with minimal contrivances. Every preconception inferring things will turn out alright because star Robert Carlyle smiles in marketing materials with a light, optimistic bent will probably be proven wrong due to ex-rocker Lachlan MacAldonich’s infinite guilt preventing cheery results. On the brink of…

Read More

REVIEW: Beware of Mr. Baker [2012]

“Go on with the interview. Stop trying to be an intellectual dickhead.” My first thought when researching the documentary Beware of Mr. Baker was acknowledging I really don’t know anything about music. Facts about this legendary, unpredictable, and difficult drummer—Ginger Baker—being in Cream surprised me since I always associated the band with Eric Clapton. Not only was the group’s guitar virtuoso not the main singer, though, he wasn’t even a credited songwriter as bassist Jack Bruce and lyricist Pete Brown held the honor. Even more, it was actually Baker who…

Read More

REVIEW: Rise of the Guardians [2012]

“Merry Christmas! Happy Easter! Don’t forget to floss!” It was only a matter of time before someone turned our favorite holiday-bound mythical creatures into superheroes. Unsurprisingly it’s William Joyce who did. By no means a household name, he isn’t a stranger to the world of youthful fantasy with credited work as a conceptual artist (Toy Story and A Bug’s Life), television show creator (“Rolie Polie Olie”), and author of cinematic adaptations earning box office success (Meet the Robinsons inspiration A Day with Wilbur Robinson). His latest project coined The Guardians…

Read More

DESIGN: City & Regional Magazine Association [spec]

An interesting design project came through the offices of Buffalo Spree Publishing, Inc. this October. As a member of the City & Regional Magazine Association and Media Partners (CRMA), every graphic designer at Buffalo Spree was allowed to submit logo entries to be judged by the association in order for a winner to be selected as their new identity. Sadly I did not make the shortlist. I do, however, really enjoy the three designs I created—each one evolving from the geometrically symmetrical Sforzinda. Imagined by Filarete (Antonio di Pietro Averlino)…

Read More

REVIEW: The Man with the Iron Fists [2012]

“When it comes to money, things get funny” Far from anything resembling a Kung Fu aficionado, I entered into RZA‘s directorial debut The Man with the Iron Fists with a lesser of many evils mentality. The theatre was to be my safe haven while my car got its oil change and of the two or three flicks I hadn’t yet seen, the potential sideshow of Jungle Village seemed the best way to spend ninety minutes. The Tarantino seal of approval and co-writing credit to Eli Roth did little to temper…

Read More