“I’m not just your therapist, I’m your friend” There’s nothing like a good throwback to the old 70s thriller. Not only does Christopher R. Witherspoon’s movie beg for comparisons to Steven Spielberg’s Duel, but it also contains two characters in an auto shop discussing that very film. What makes a good suspenseful mind trip is a simple yet taut storyline that relies heavily on reaction and the unknown. I was more riveted with RAGE than any horror film coming out the past decade because it refuses to use blood and…
Read MoreDay: April 19, 2010
BNFF10 REVIEW: The Beneficiary [2008]
“Go to bed darling” You never know who is watching or recording your daily moves. Theodore Mali’s The Beneficiary, a short film screened at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, expresses this idea both in its storyline and visual flair. While we watch the characters move along through the days this movie spans, the screen regularly cuts to different surveillance cameras showing another vantage point, recording common activities that seem like nothing, but could be hiding a crime when pieced together. The entire plot hinges on such an electronic record of…
Read MoreBNFF10 REVIEW: Stuck Like Chuck [2010]
“I guess I like threesomes” With the inundation of paint-by-number romantic comedies these days, sometimes checking out an ultra low-budget Indie can be a breath of fresh air—even if said movie knows it. Jerry Cavallaro’s Stuck Like Chuck is a tale of collegiate love and missed signals that can be related to by anyone who’s ever grown up on the fringes of high school popularity. But the story of Charlie’s lust for his film class compatriot Juliet is only the vehicle for the writer/director to poke fun at Hollywood and…
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