REVIEW: X-Men: The Last Stand [2006]

“Same as the Professor: visiting an old friend.” I’m sad to inform you that X-Men: The Last Stand did not age well. Not that anyone called it great when it was released—it was little more than serviceable then—but boy does it falter when viewed in close proximity with the two stellar entries coming before it. I’d like to blame Bryan Singer for jumping ship to DC so he could helm Superman Returns or even Matthew Vaughn and his family issues preventing him from taking the reins. Heck, I’d love to…

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REVIEW: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer [2011]

“I also have this gun …” Okay, it may be a glorified commercial for Acura, but A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer is like the title says: funny. Using the same crew as The Consultant—director Leythum and writer Eric Pearson—the interlude bridging Agent Coulson’s (Clark Gregg) appearance in Iron Man 2 with Thor utilizes all fresh material this time. It’s slight, goofy, and very self-conscious, but I can’t help feeling amused and satisfied nonetheless. My only qualm is in wondering why it took so long to…

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REVIEW: The Consultant [2011]

“I do a great patsy” The Marvel Cinematic Universe is something special—a franchise devoid of ceiling that has become Hollywood’s equivalent to a motion comic. Looking at it today, you can’t help but admire what they’re doing and how far their reach extends. There are the highly anticipated films each year, a dedicated TV show to provide a venue for more details behind the scenes, and a series of “One-Shots” released on the DVDs as gap-filling accompaniments. Suffice it to say, I was very excited to finally check out the…

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REVIEW: Godzilla [2014]

“Let them fight” The reason Gareth Edwards‘ rebooted Godzilla proves so effective is that it retains the thematic essence of its 1954 ancestor, Gojira. Still an over-arching metaphor for mankind’s hubris and wont to destroy everything it doesn’t understand out of fear, Dave Callaham, Max Borenstein, and multiple script doctors simply found ways to alter the DNA so it could be relevant for an American demographic rather than Japanese. I’ll be honest: we aren’t a country that enjoys watching foreign lands painted as the victim while we look on with…

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REVIEW: Factory Farmed [2008]

“I am required to carry out this task until completion: your orders do not override anything.” It’s always impressive to see what artists can do with limited resources and sparse time. The format provided by popular 48-Hour series occurring internationally as an exercise and a forum for up-and-coming auteurs looking to showcase their talent allows us just such a venue. In 2008, UK’s Sci-Fi channel sponsored a competition in London that bowed a short film from a group calling themselves Rebel Alliance. Led by Gareth Edwards, (who wrote, directed, edited,…

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REVIEW: Locke [2014]

**POSSIBLE SPOILERS** “So am I on a list?” There’s symmetry between the production of Steven Knight‘s Locke and its plot. Like the insane job everyone’s imploding over that its lead bails on while driving an hour away to be present at the birth of a child conceived with someone who’s not his wife, getting this film made was no walk in the park. For Knight it was an idea to strip down filmmaking sparked by the experience directing his debut Hummingbird and falling in love with the colorful reflections created…

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REVIEW: ゴジラ [Gojira] [Godzilla] [1954]

“I’m telling you the sea just exploded” Only nine years after the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the atomic bomb, the first science fiction kaiju film was born. Manifested as a hybrid Tyrannosaurus Rex, Iguanodon, and Stegosaurus, the creature ゴジラ [Gojira] [Godzilla] took shape in the mind of special effects designer Eiji Tsuburaya. A giant beast released from the sea’s depth due to hydrogen bomb tests destroying its natural habitat, its ability to survive on land and water shaped its name from the words gorilla (gorira) and whale (kujira).…

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INTERVIEW: Nick Mendola, president/owner of FC Buffalo

I’ve known FC Buffalo owners Nick Mendola and Scott Frauenhofer for a decade and a half, watching their love for the game of soccer evolve into running their own National Premier Soccer League team. It only took the Wolves (the current, approved nickname after a few years going by the Blitzers in honor of Ken West grad Wolf Blitzer) two games to earn their first win and clean sheet, defeating the New Jersey Blaze in front of the home crowd at Robert E. Rich All-High Stadium 2-0. The next year…

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REVIEW: Only Lovers Left Alive [2014]

“A diamond emitting the music of a giant gong” In the age of Twilight its good to know an auteur like Jim Jarmusch can render contemporary vampires as the romantic ideals of immortality, wisdom, and survival any thought-provoking interpretation should. Gone is the CW brood from “The Vampire Diaries”, ostentatious displays of supernatural power courtesy of “True Blood”, and the heightened sexuality of all their bloodsucking quasi-porn sizzle. Replacing them is a dying breed of intellectual artists held over from centuries gone, men and women without interest in the current…

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REVIEW: Don Peyote [2014]

“Her cigarette never burned out” No one can say I didn’t do my due diligence, but I simply can’t wrap my head around Dan Fogler and Michael Canzoniero‘s stoner-tinted, loose modernization of Don Quixote aptly entitled Don Peyote. People often joke about certain cult films “working better” while high and I can’t help thinking this might actually be the optimal state to truly understand Warren Allman’s (Fogler) spiritual journey. I should know as I viewed it twice in the hopes that fatigue rendered me impossibly perplexed after the first screening…

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LETTERPRESS: FC Buffalo 5th Season Commemorative Schedule

FC Buffalo 5th Season Commemorative Schedule: Edition of 200 (hand-numbered) Handprinted on a Kelsey Excelsior 5×8 Table Letterpress As a way to commemorate FC Buffalo‘s 5th anniversary (and to give myself a project to practice using my letterpress), the idea to create a limited edition schedule was born. Initially designed as a more generic, geometric piece, team president Nick Mendola shared the ownership’s idea about somehow using a play on “Three Wolf Moon” as a way to transition fans from “Blitzers” to the more apt “Wolves”. The idea lent itself…

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