REVIEW: Miller’s Crossing [1990]

I’ll think about it. The mob is a business like any other. Leadership must be strong and decisive, employees must be loyal to a fault, and every once in a while you have to cut someone you like loose in order to not anger someone you might like less but definitely need more. Despite everything we learn as kids that ends up being useless, the concept of “choosing the lesser of two evils” will forever prove as useful as breathing and yet we have trouble reconciling such dilemmas due to…

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TIFF13 REVIEW: Parkland [2013]

“It’s my story too” We all know the story of President John F Kennedy’s assassination. It’s an event that has been ingrained into our culture, spawned a myriad of conspiracy theories, and remains a hotly contested moment in time that changed the fabric of an entire nation. But what about the people this tragedy affected on a personal level beyond victim and perpetrator? What about the trauma surgeons and nurses who watched as the president’s heartbeat flat-lined? What about the giddy business owner excitedly filming the motorcade on his lunch…

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REVIEW: Whip It [2009]

“Cause shoes are a gateway drug” Bravo Drew Barrymore, who thought you had it in you? I am a self-proclaimed hater of this former child actress turned mediocre adult actress/producer. I did love Donnie Darko, though, and she did play a part in getting it made, but her role was atrocious. So, one may infer where my head was upon sitting down at the screening for Whip It—complete with Buffalo’s own roller derby girls in attendance—to see if she could pull an Affleck, (which isn’t fair since I think he’s…

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REVIEW: The Mist [2007]

“You’re all right Big Bill” I always say to people that Frank Darabont is the only man who can truly make a great Stephen King adaptation. I’m not so sure I have the credentials to state that as fact, but I do anyways. I love The Shawshank Redemption, but never read Rita Hayworth… and I read The Green Mile, but still have yet to watch the film. So, I can’t quite compare his work with that of the author, however, that did little to temper my anticipation for his first…

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REVIEW: The Dead Girl [2006]

“12:13” It is that time of the year where all the Golden Globes and Oscar hype hit the airwaves, DVD screeners are sent to voters, and Buffalo gets just the top few contenders. With all the critical acclaim of some films, it is a real shame we don’t get to see them all on the big screen (still can’t fathom how Little Children has not come to theatres here, maybe the Golden Globe nom will get the ball rolling). Karen Moncrieff’s sophomore effort The Dead Girl falls into the category…

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