REVIEW: Being Charlie [2016]

“Most end up chasing it to the grave” After a string of hits in the 80s and 90s, director Rob Reiner has struggled to achieve the same success. Some of his projects post-2000 have made money and some have provided laughs, but none found staying power. It’s not all his fault. The best film during this period didn’t even garner a wide release and it was a real shame because Flipped held a worthwhile kinship to the likes of Stand By Me. So it comes as no shock to discover…

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Summer Fun Film Festivals in WNY

With the dwindling numbers of drive-in theaters across the country, independent theaters finding it difficult to compete with huge chains, and the ever-fluctuating national box office needing too many 3D films to turn a profit, certain cities somehow find a way to keep the medium alive. Buffalo is one of them and always has been since I can remember. My days as a high schooler trying to figure out plans with friends for the weekend always ended up being decided between catch the latest blockbuster or hit up the local…

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REVIEW: Flipped [2010]

“Something in those dazzling eyes” Not until a few hours before checking out a screening of Rob Reiner’s new film Flipped did I know it was based on an award-winning young adult novel by celebrated author Wendelin Van Draanen. The title has double meaning with both the idea of ‘flipping’ over someone the way young lovers tend to do and the structural format of alternating between the complicated duo at its center, Juli Baker and Bryce Loski. Reiner, never subtle, transitions each segment with a top to bottom flip of…

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REVIEW: Rumor Has It [2005]

“They certainly have” Why Rob Reiner, why? I mean I understand there might not be much good material out there these days, but really. I mean you directed Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, A Few Good Men, and This is Spinal Tap. What is up with the drivel nowadays, especially with this horrid attempt at cinematic art, Rumor Has It? I actually thought the premise had promise from the trailer—the real story of The Graduate. Intriguing and a decent cast attached, this should at the least be watchable. Unfortunately…

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REVIEW: 1408 [2007]

“Let’s ‘Encyclopedia Brown’ this” It seems that the best Stephen King films are culled from his short stories (Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me among them). However, those also tend to be the dramatic films with little supernatural scares. So, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the new film 1408. It is a short story, so it would hopefully be concise and to the point, but it was also a thriller/horror which never quite make the jump from book to screen successfully. What works in words at creating…

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