REVIEW: Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Way of the Tosser [2007]

“Awesome Timbuktu, awesome” Initially, seeing directors/writers/actors Tim Doiron and April Mullen at the 2009 FaneXpo in Toronto dressed and acting silly as their filmic personas from Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Way of the Tosser, I was not getting my hopes up for the screening to occur two days later. The aesthetic, both in their actions and characters as well as the marketing materials on display, had a very Napoleon Dynamite-like bent to them, a film I am not a big fan of. These two were just so enthusiastic, though, signing…

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FaneXpo 2009: Day Three Recap

“My crotch has become a character all to itself” – Gary Brewer Quote of the day, and possibly of the weekend is that gem from Tim Doiron, regarding his cutoff shorts as he stayed in character for the duration of the festival. Both he and April Mullen had been standing outside the room that would screen their feature debut Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Way of the Tosser the entire time, passing out postcards, signing posters, and posing for photos as their alter-egos Gary and Holly Brewer. A quick look at…

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FaneXpo 2009: Day Two Recap

“Maybe your family tree didn’t fork” – Bruce Campbell Ah, Day Two at Toronto’s FaneXpo was a little easier to assimilate having gone through the initiation of the previous day. Arrival at 9:45—doors were at 10:00—threw us for a loop somewhat as the line weaving in and out of itself was massive. Could this be the line to see Leonard Nimoy, our first stop on the day? I will admit to being more than a little frightened at this hypothesis, but all was well upon realizing the massive queue was…

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REVIEW: Gake no ue no Ponyo [Ponyo] [2008]

“Is he an evil wizard?” Being in Toronto for a convention that deals with anime meant I couldn’t leave the city without actually seeing an anime film, right? Lucky for us, the new Hayao Miyazaki film Gake no ue no Ponyo was playing at the local multiplex just minutes from our hotel. Distributed like his previous few films in the United States by Disney, from its Japanese Studio Ghibli origins, Ponyo ports the vision of its creator in beautiful animation and color with the inclusion of new Hollywood actors to…

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FaneXpo 2009: Day One Recap

“What, do I moderate myself?” – James Kyson Lee Oh, the amusement I get from watching grown adults dress up like characters from their favorite anime/movie/game/etc. Surprisingly, I thought there would be more cosplaying, (I learned a new term), but thankfully I wasn’t alone in my lack of imaginative wardrobe. I did however pimp my Thor tee, so give me some credit. What was first a somewhat subdued looking scene—a scattering of people waiting outside lecture rooms for whatever person/screening was about to start—soon became mayhem once entering the actual…

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REVIEW: Inglourious Basterds [2009]

“F*ck a duck!” I like to think that the sheer fact Inglourious Basterds got made means that Quentin Tarantino isn’t all talk. Maybe, just maybe, that Whole Bloody Affair DVD compilation of the Kill Bills will come out. For now though, we should all be happy QT is back to form after his, in my opinion, misstep with Death Proof. As with his previous feature films, Basterds is above genres, mixing so much cinematic history and style to become a beast all its own. Parts WWII drama, parts comedy of…

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DESIGN: Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts Program 2009

2009 Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts Program 2009, published by Buffalo Spree Publishing, Inc. With a supplied poster for look, I reshaped it for the program cover and designed the layout of the book based on its motifs, color, and fonts. Information includes sponsors, supporters, artist photos and work, schedules, etc.

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REVIEW: Sex and the City [2008]

“The last single girl” I learn something new everyday. Here I thought the feature adaptation of the immensely popular HBO show “Sex and the City” was written and directed by its creator Michael Patrick King. After a little research, I come to find that King was only a producer on the show, with only 31 writing credits as opposed to the full 94 for real creator Darren Star and literary basis Candace Bushnell. Despite this, though, it would seem that King is now the driving force behind Carrie Bradshaw and…

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REVIEW: Adam [2009]

“You are a part of me” **Spoilers Included** Right from the get-go, I knew that Adam was going to be an enjoyable, smartly told tale of love despite humanity’s predilection for preconceptions. Just the fact that the film was about a young man with Asperger Syndrome who meets a young girl across the hall of his apartment complex tells you that this won’t be your run-of-the-mill rom-com. You have to believe that filmmaker Max Mayer will treat the material with compassion and intelligence; this is not a laugh-out-loud vehicle to…

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REVIEW: District 9 [2009]

“There’s many secrets in District 9” Can we all agree that the demise of Halo the movie could possibly be one of Hollywood’s greatest moves in the past two years? Sure, Peter Jackson was behind the scenes and his handpicked, first-time director Neill Blomkamp was crafting some pretty nifty test footage, but would the studio machine have left their vision intact? I’m hard-pressed to say yes. Instead, however, that failure led to Jackson’s funding of an original screenplay for his new buddy Neil, titled District 9, that would eventually take…

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REVIEW: O’ Horten [2007]

“There’s a man smoking a pipe in the middle of the taxiway” There is no more appropriate a name for the lead role in Bent Hamer’s film O’ Horten then Odd Horten. For a man of modesty, generally hiding in the corners of life to avoid much interaction or attention, he finds himself in the middle of some very odd happenings, all in a matter of a few days following his retirement. After 40 some years as a locomotive engineer in Norway, his age has hit the year for a…

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