Tuesday, July 30, 2013

OPENING THIS WEEK: 7/31/2013 - 8/2/2013



It's a light week around the multiplex (a weak weak as well too) - with two new art house movies opening at Eastern Hills, and the Sundance NEXT winner This is Martin Bonner bowing at the Screening Room for a brief run.

What are you going to see? Connect with us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/buffalo.movieblog


@ The Art House


I'm So Excited - Coming off of 2011's heavy gender bending revenge thriller The Skin I Live In (which is amazing and hilarious, if you have a warped mind) - Pedro Almodovar is back with a much lighter comedy about the crew and first class cabin of a doomed trans-Atlantic flight - we're pretty excited about this one too......

Screening: Dipson Amherst, Dipson Eastern Hills


Byzantium - Neil Jordan is also back, last time he graced Buffalo's cinema screens with his mermaid drama Ondine, this time the Interview with the Vampire director revisits the genre, tackling a mother-daughter vampire duo. Staring Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Arterton and Johnny Lee Miller. 

Screening: Dipson Eastern Hills 



This is Martin Bonner - I'm glad the title is so definitive, I'm not sure what this movie is about but it has my interest - winner of the best of Sundance's low budget NEXT category.

Screening: The Screening Room


@ The Multiplex

(Opening 7/31)
Smurfs 2 - I didn't realize the first Smurfs was a big hit - it was (let's not go there). This one looks (well you can see for yourself).....

Screening: Dipson Market Arcade, Dipson Flix, Regal Elmwood, AMC Maple Ridge, Regal Quaker Crossing, Regal Transit, Regal Hollywood 12


(Opening 8/2)
Two Guns - Contraband (and Jar City) director Baltasar Kormakur is back with what looks like a fairly fun action comedy staring Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, and (Mrs. Robin Thicke) Paula Patton.

Screening: Dipson Market Arcade, Dipson Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker Crossing, Regal Transit, Regal Hollywood 12


Continuing

Red 2 (7/10)
The Heat (4/10)





[REVIEW: In Theaters] FRUITVALE STATION (7/10)


The first feature filmy by Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station captures a day in the life of Oscar Grant (played by Michael B Jordan) and his girlfriend/baby-moms Sophina (Melonie Diaz). It’s no secret why what we are watching is significant: even if you were to enter the theater cold, Coogler shows us one of the infamous cell phone videos taken on New Years 2009 first, before the narrative proper. This device perhaps eliminates the power the reminder of the film has (while giving it a hook).

The film to its credit is very good, almost so it doesn’t need a hook – perhaps without foreshadowing its ending (although inspired by a true story – strangely though it doesn’t name Grant’s killer – uh- manslaughter-er  – Johannes Mehserle). Perhaps it does fudge the facts – as debunked in this Forbes magazine op ed: but its still a compelling film building sympathy for Grant who is at the very least a flawed character (is he turning his life around as the film suggests, perhaps, or more so perhaps he has the ability to be redeemed).

Films above all simplify: this is the function of filmmaking – if you were to follow all the actions one undertakes it would be very boring (if you don’t believe me then watch Hoop Dreams – I still have no idea why this is widely considered a great film, it’s one to watch when Ambien just isn’t enough to put you to sleep).

Fruitvale Station follows Grant, 22, as he struggles to get his life in order: he’s made up with his mom – played by an always stellar Octavia Spencer, who almost vowed to disown him while he was in prison (told in flashback). Grant also tires to get back his job, tires to save a dog from dying (debunked in Forbes) and leads a New Years Eve countdown on the BART when the train is delayed reaching its destination. Oh fiction!

I’m not sure if (although I suspect it would) be more effective if the film was a true day in the life, in the Italian neo-realism style: instead the film takes the form of British social realism (although its far too scripted for Mike Leigh and Ken Loach). There is a certain amount of power and Coogler; a relatively young voice evokes some of cinema’s masters. As a first film, Fruitvale Station is a promise of great things to come – its observant, if not at times little flawed (although no more so than say Zero Dark Thirty which was filled with too many coincidences that took me out of the story). The performances are engaging and above all Fruitvale Station engages in a conversation about race and more importantly police work that ought to occur: should the cops be given a pass for anything and everything?

What happened in Fruitvale Station is no doubt a tragedy and Mehserle has not won an appeal (he only served 9-months of a two year sentence). I agree the story does drum up sympathy for Grant (although the film plays fair, it appears he was resisting the arrest). It’s a complicated subject to tackle: it pours the emotions on thick, and that is apt given the story is based on a true story and Oscar Grant really was killed – and really did have a family that loved him in spite of his flaws. Coogler’s camera is restrained while the film remains cinematic above all: Fruitvale Station if anything engages us in a conversation that few films is willing to do so. The wrapper it comes in isn’t quite perfect – but then again neither is most entertainment films – it is worth seeing as a bold, new cinematic work.

Screening: Dipson Amherst, Regal Transit, Regal Quaker, Regal Elmwood, Regal Hollywood 12, Regal Walden



Saturday, July 27, 2013

[REVIEW: In Theaters] KINGS OF SUMMER (7/10)


Called a film for the YouTube generation (according to some critic in the film’s trailer), Kings of Summer from Jordan Vogt-Roberts does feel as if it’s cobbled together from several web videos – from the film’s opening (in which all three boys create a symphony on a refinery pipe that cuts through the forest) to individual glimpse into their domestic life (both inside the domestic situation they create and their real home life). The boys Joe (Nick Robinson), Pat (Gabriel Brasso) and Biaggio (Moses Arias) decide to spend a summer in the wild – they dumpster dive to create a sort of tree house in the wild. Thankfully this doesn’t turn as violent as Lord of the Flies,

and is, despite the crushes and heartaches that feel worse when you’re younger, generally good-natured.

Pat busts free from his obnoxious parents (played by Megan Mullally and Marc Evan Jackson) who think they are building character while driving him nuts. In contrast, Joe doesn’t have it much easier – he lives with his overly critical father (played by the one and only Nick Offerman in the kind of role he’s born to do: the jerk who either doesn’t know just how much he hurt others or doesn’t care). Offerman also has some funnier moments once the boys go missing and he’s forced into a character arch.

The Kings of Summer is in general about a bunch of nice kids, its not refined, mature or at times as coherent as it ought to be but what I admire is that its episodic structure allows it to achieve a lot (and also a very little). Based on the film’s stronger elements including its performances and individual scenes, which arrive with an awful lot of painful insight I’m inclined to give it a thumbs up.

Opening directly at MovieLand 8, you didn’t have the opportunity to blow the price of a first run movie ticket on this film and that’s okay. For $4 you could do a lot worse and Kings of Summer is a little bit of a retread of summer movies past, but still, if you are looking for the kind of movie that this is (summer fun) it succeeds and does a little more. Where it misses, there are characters that are supposed to be a little more lovable than they are. Perhaps it’s a testament to Nick Offerman that his character is much less a sketch than a fully formed human, while I’m unsure of Moses Arias’ Biaggio, who just happens to be there.

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival as Toy’s House.

Screening: MovieLand 8

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

OPENING THIS WEEK: 7/26/2013

Queen City screens are graced with four new films this weekend - including Kings of Summer which has its Buffalo debut in the cheap seats (over at MovieLand 8). Rather fitting for the race debate currently happening in the country, Fruitvale Station opens wide (although not at Market Arcade?!?) - and of course the two big national releases (Wolverine and The To Do List).

@ The Multiplex


Fruitvale Station - From first time director Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan stars in the true story of Oscar Grant, who was killed in 2008 by a BART police officer who allegedy was reaching for his taser (he had the dude pinned, why did he need a taser?). Despite cell phone video that widely circulated of the incident the officer, Johannes Mehserle was given a lenient two year sentence. Fruitvale Station looks like an electric day in the life drama....

Screening: Dipson Amherst, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker Crossing, Regal Galleria, Regal Hollywood 12, Regal Transit Center


The To Do List - An all alt-comic cast star in a comedy about Brandy (played by Aubrey Plaza) an over achiever who make it a goal to lose her virginity to a lifeguard - this one looks hilarious. Co-staring Bill Hader, Alia Shawkat, Rachel Bilson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Andy Samberg and Clark Gregg and written & directed by Funny or Die director Maggie Carey.

Screening: Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker Crossing, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria




The Wolverine - I'm not sure this needs an introduction, directed by James Mangold - Hugh Jackman returns as The Wolverine - following his origin story X-Man Origins: Wolverine from 2009. This time the action is in 3D.

Screening: Dipson Market Arcade, Dipson Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Walden Galleria, AMC Maple Ridge, Regal Transit, Regal Quaker Crossing, Regal Hollywood, Transit Drive In, Aurora Theatre



in the Cheap Seats

Kings of Summer - From another online helmer, Jordan Vogt-Robert's The Kings of Summer is a comedy about a group of kids who rebel aginst the adults and return to the wild, building their own home and starting a new life. This Sundance hit was originally titled Toy's House - and stars Nick Robinson, Nick Offerman, Gabriel Basso, Erin Moriarity, Megan Mullally and Moises Arias.

Screening: MovieLand 8



Reparatory Screenings


The Godfather - Screening Room

Continuing

The Heat (4/10)
Red 2 (7/10)


Monday, July 22, 2013

[REVIEW: In Theaters] GIRL MOST LIKELY (6/10)


Girl Most Likely (which premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival as Imogene) is a near miss of a film – on one hand you get a hilariously neurotic performance by Kristen Wiig (hilarious neurotic could be her middle name) as the (former) title character Imogene – and Annette Bening as her mom with a gambling (and perhaps sex) addiction. By all means this should be a winning combo but something about it just doesn’t quite come together – comedy is made often in editing (as any film is, really), and here things seem structurally off.

Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (Pulcini is also the film’s editor), it’s slightly out of touch – Wiig plays a failed New York playwright who is granted admission into an exclusive uptown world via a playwriting grant (and she fails to produce work for it), when her life is turned upside down she resorts to suicide. An over crowding problem at the hospital forces Imogene into the care of Zelder (her mom), who lives down the shore outside of Atlantic City with a CIA operative known as George Bousche (Matt Dillon). Christopher Fitzgerald plays Ralph, the geeky brother (also living at home) – who builds a human replica of an exoskeleton.

The film captures two paces of life without the interest to really explore just how hard Imogene has fallen: it’s a shame, I think this is where the richness of this material can be found (and thus more humor can be unlocked). This isn’t to say Girl Most Likely is a dumb movie, but it suffers the same fate the last two theatrically released films from this duo have (The Nanny Diaries and The Extra Man) they are out of touch without being critical of those that are out of touch. Their first narrative (and doc hybrid) American Splendor was about life at ground level. Luckily this is more interesting and accessible than The Extra Man, but still A Girl Most Likely seems to lack the ambition to pull off what it really should.
With that said, the performances are fine (not their best, but fine), with a few laughs and surprises, it’s not without sequences that drag a little too much and inevitable plot points that you wish it would have the ambition to avoid (including Wiig’s new love interest, which I have said nothing about because its rather predicable). There are lots of better (and worse) films out right now at both your art house and multiplex. And despite the title no one in the film is transgendered.  

Screening: Regal Quaker Crossing, Dipson Amherst


Sunday, July 21, 2013

[REVIEW: In Theaters] RED 2 (7/10)


Beyond mild enjoyment, I don’t remember much of Red; the 2010 film featuring retired CIA (and MI 5) operatives that made Helen Mirren an action star. Move on Vin and The Rock (for the record I’d love if she appeared in Fast 7). Red 2 is also mildly amusing – it’s got some genuine laughs, some good action set pieces and actors we like goofing with each other – so it’s got that going for it.

Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) has now retired into a comfortable life with partner Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) when they run into Marvin (John Malkovich) at Costco – after which Marvin’s car blows up in the parking lot and Frank is detained. He’s unfortunately a man who knows too much already setting up an international man hunt/chase/what have you. Two folks have been hired to take out the group – including their pal Victoria (Mirren) – a former MI 5 operative, and Korean killer Han Jo-bae (Lee Byung-hun) who adds a kung-fu flavor to the action.

The films McGuffin is linked to the brilliant Edward Bailey (Anthony Hopkins) a physicist who created a virtually undetectable bomb everyone is after (everyone has to be after something, I’m sorry for the spoiler). Oh, what to say about Red Two: lot of things explode, there’s a few laughs along the way, and some nice action sequences. It’s not essential summer viewing but it’s not half bad either: in fact it’s an enjoyable spectacle of sorts.

Director Dean Pariscot (known for quirky comedies – including Home Fries and Galaxy Quest) proves he’s a capable director of action comedies working with a first rate cast (although sometimes first rate casts don’t gel as well as they do here). The film has some great special guest appearances including Brian Cox as a Russian operative Ivan Simanov, and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Frank’s former fling Kayta – another firey Russian. David Thewis also co-stars as The Frog, a man who knows too much.

So do you have to see Red 2? That depends: it’s not bad counter programming, it’s a manageable length (in that it doesn’t take up for you whole evening or afternoon like The Lone Ranger did) – and its fun. Take that for what it is – it doesn’t break new ground but if you’re a fan of Helen Mirren’s unexpected turn as action star, you’ll enjoy yourself. 

Screening: Dipson Market Arcade, AMC Maple Ridge, Dipson Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker Crossing, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria, Regal Hollywood 12, Transit Drive In

Saturday, July 20, 2013

[REVIEW: In Theaters] THE CONJURING (7/10)


All right, this is what a horror movie should be – The Conjuring is a genuinely scary psychological thriller from James Wan (who proves he’s got skill and even, dare I say, restraint). Legend (or marketing hype) has it that The Conjuring (which in terms of violence is tame) was originally targeting a PG-13 rating, when the MPAA slapped it with an R, when the studio asked what they could cut to secure the teen friendly rating the MPAA said, “It’s too scary”. And the studio ran with it.

A rare summer horror film that’s smart, it chronicles two families – the Connecticut based paranormal investigators The Warrens (played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) and the Perrons, a family that moves into a Rhode Island farmhouse they recently got a deal on (Lili Taylor and Ron Livingston). The Perrons notice things that go bump in the night, including a mysterious basement they didn’t know they had (and of course explore late one night). The house is just as bad as one you’d find on the East Side of Buffalo – poorly insolated and reeking out foul meat the family is at wits end when they seek out Ed and Lorraine Warren.

The Warrens often investigate things for which there are logical conclusions (pipes over heating causing creeks and noises in the middle of the night for example) but are challenged by what they find at the Perrons. They bring in external help to document the situation with the hope of convincing the Catholic Church to provide an exorcism that is until things become life or death.

The Conjuring is so skillful at what it does (and what it doesn’t do) – there’s never a boring moment in the film. I think why it is so successful is that it takes itself seriously and puts drama above those jump scenes (don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of those too). Simply put there are many smart directing choices made here including how the action is framed (often in longer restrained takes). The film puts psychological fear above all with a first rate cast that nails this material – this is an effective, engaging, and fun movie.

Screening: Dipson Market Arcade, Dipson Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker Crossing, AMC Maple Ridge, Regal Transit, Transit Drive-In

Friday, July 19, 2013

[REVIEW: In Theaters] THE WAY WAY BACK (8/10)


The Way Way Back is a unique summer fun movie – there have been films about wayward kids working in amusement parks (Adventureland) or water parks before (Middle of Nowhere), but The Way Way Back, unlike Grown Ups 2 is a uniquely insightful comedy. Written and directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (who co-star as employees at the Water Wizz park), the film follows Duncan (Liam Jones), an introverted teen who is challenged to come into his own by Trent (Steve Carell), the boyfriend of his single mom (Tony Collette). In the opening scene Trent asks Duncan, on a scale of 1-10 what he is, telling the boy he’s a 3 – encouraging him to open up. For Duncan, who never really had a strong, present, father figure – he’s not ready for male bonding and harsh criticism at this fragile state in his development.

Cut the beach house – a lot of day drinking (and weed smoking) occurs as the adults treat this few week retreat as spring break. Duncan is witnesses a world he can’t quite comprehend and retreats into himself – riding around all day by himself. He meets Owen (Sam Rockwell) who takes him under his wing, offering him a job at Water Wizz.

The Way Way Back has a lot of familiar beats, but ultimately is winning, good natured, upbeat and realistic. Here even the bad guys (the adults) are sympathetic: they don’t have all of the answers; they are average, ordinary flawed beings. Carell is as perfect as usual playing, like his legendary Michael Scott, a character who is unaware of the gravity of what he’s doing and saying. Toni Collette’s Pam is also well drawn, hardworking women who needs a vacation and time around adults, we sense she’s given up a great deal for Duncan.


Rounding out the cast, Amanda Peet and Rob Corddry star as friends of Trent: again, they play realistic drinking buddies, summer friends that share the good times (before they get dark, as they do periodically) and AnnaSophia Robb as Duncan’s required love interest (it’s a sweet story thread, I’ll forgive it). Faxon and Rash have crafted a delightful summer comedy that preserves a strange, awkward and funny summer for Duncan – a good kid who could use a mentor like Owen. Sure you could see Grown Ups 2, but The Way Way Back is a more fulfilling experience on pretty much every level.

Screening: Dipson Amherst, Dipson Eastern Hills

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

OPENING THIS WEEK: 7/17/2013 & 7/19/2013

Two new art house flicks that opened last week won't be sticking around to make room for some new digital files uploading (see we can't say unspooling anymore with the Market Arcade and Movieland 8 as our only 35MM houses in town)...including count em' four new flicks in the multiplex and two new ones (although one ought to cross over soon enough - - they've been screening it multiple times in town) art house flicks. The aforementioned Way Way Back we've seen and its delightful summer fun.

@ The Art House (Friday)


The Way Way Back - Nat Faxon and Jim Rash's delightful summer comedy/drama follows young Duncan (Liam Jones) through a memorable summer at a Massachusetts resort town as he fights for attention from his mom (Toni Collette) at her new boyfriend's (Steve Carell) beach house. The Sundance hit co-stars Allison Janney, AnnaSophia Robb, Maya Rudolph and Sam Rockwell as an operations manager at a local water park who shows Duncan the ropes.

Screening: Dipson Amherst, Dipson Eastern Hills



Girl Most Likely - From Shari Spriner Berman & Robert Pulcini, Kristin Wiig stars as a failed New York playwright who after a manic episode ends up in the care of her mom (Annette Bening) and some how at the Jersey Shore, the trailer made me laugh -

Screening: Regal Quaker Crossing, Dipson Amherst



@ The Multiplex (Wednesday)

Turbo - Looks like another recycled kids movie, Ryan Reynolds (big week for this guy) voices Turbo, a snail that, after a freak accident is now fast as lightening. I think we've seen this movie a few times (and will be seeing it again with Planes before the summer is over). 

Screening: Dipson Market Arcade, Dipson Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Transit, Regal Walden, Regal Hollywood 12, Regal Quaker Crossing, Transit Drive In, Palace Hamburg



(Thursday night)

The Conjuring - from James Wan, this one chronicling the real life Paranormal investigators, The Warrens (played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) allegedly was so scary the MPAA wouldn't grant it a PG-13 rating... Wan has my interest for sure.

Screening: Dipson Market Arcade, Dipson Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Transit, Regal Walden, Regal Hollywood 12, Regal Quaker Crossing, Transit Drive In, AMC Maple Ridge



R.I.P.D. - Oh it's a cheap shot to say R.I.P.D. looks D.O.A. - I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, it has Jeff Bridges....right...right... (also staring Ryan Reynolds, again in 3D)

Screening: Dipson Market Arcade, Dipson Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Transit, Regal Walden, Regal Hollywood 12, Regal Quaker Crossing, Transit Drive In



R.E.D. 2 - Alright, another sequel no one asked for! Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren and Anthony Hopkins are back as Retired, Extremely Dangerous - - if Unfinished Song is too tame for you - here's your flick.

Screening: Dipson Market Arcade, Dipson Flix, Regal Elmwood, Regal Transit, Regal Walden, Regal Hollywood 12, Regal Quaker Crossing, AMC Maple Ridge




Reparatory Programing

The Godfather - a newly restored digital print is being showcased at The Screening Room this weekend.


The Cheap Seats

The East (8/10) - MovieLand 8

Continuing (our reviews)

The Heat (4/10)

Saturday, July 13, 2013

[REVIEW: In Theaters] An Unfinished Song (7/10)

I originally approached Paul Andrew Williams' Unfinished Song (originally titled Song for Marion) with some skepticism: granted this isn't a bloated summer action film but the art house was now putting out a "product" that didn't seem entirely original: like an explosion of ideas geared towards the senior citizen audience: I thought about films such as Quartet, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and How About You (and countless others) - musical seniors, seniors learning to live again, and a pretty young women that enters their lives: yes, Unfinished Song is that.

Where it diverts from the formula is in, in what it's really about it: it has lighter moments but several darker ones as well - consider our lead, Arthur (Terrance Stamp) - he's a crusty old pensioner from a middle class neighborhood. His wife Marion (Vanessa Redgrave) has to remind him to smile every morning: she's joined the neighborhood choir run by a pretty young women who volunteers her time, perhaps seeking wisdom (Gemma Arterton). After Marion passes away Arthur's relationship with his son (played by Christopher Eccleson) becomes more fractured. Sure this story goes exactly where you think its going (senior art house films are almost as predicable as big summer movies - luckily without the 3 hour running time, because life is too short).

I enjoyed Unfinished Song because it is about a growing old while remaining independent and stubborn: it has lighter moments but there's something dark under the hood - a lot of pain and suffering for which there's little explanation (perhaps they men forget why they're mad at each other in the first place, they only know they're suppose to remain this way). It's not as riveting a work of social realism, like say, a film by Mike Leigh - but it has its moments.


Screening: Dipson Amherst

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

[Local Screenings: NEWS] BUFFALO FILM SEMINARS - Fall 2013

Announced via email today, Bruce Jackson and Diane Christian made their final list available for this fall semester's Buffalo Film Seminars. Taking place Tuesdays (also half price popcorn and soda day at Dipson Theaters) at the Dipson Market Arcade at 7PM (although frequent fliers will know the movies usually start around 7:30 following Bruce and Diane's intro). There's also a talk back following the show that the general public is invited to join in on.

There is no word on if Pina and The Great Gatsby will be shown in 3D as of yet (as of last Friday night the Market Arcade was still a 35MM house with the majority of the Buffalo Film Seminars shown in Theater #1 via BluRay DVD). The list contains several countless masterpieces - mixing classics (although this time starting with one of the first sound films - this year there's not a silent picture in the bunch) and progressing towards modern classics including Almodovar best film of recent memory, Talk to Her (you should clear your November 5th right now).



BUFFALO FILM SEMINARS


August 27 Alan Crosland, The Jazz Singer, 1927

September 3 Frank Capra, It Happened One Night 1934


September 10 Jean Renoir, The Grand Illusion 1937

September  17 Billy Wilder, Double Indemnity 1944

September 24 Delmer Daves, 3:10 to Yuma, 1957

October 1 Kon Ichikawa, Fires on the Plain, 1959

October 8 Peter Bogdonovich, The Last Picture Show 1971

October  15 Sidney Lumet, Network, 1976

October  22 Bruce Jackson & Diane Christian, Death Row, 1979

October 29 Jim Jarmusch Dead Man 1995

November 5 Pedro Almodóvar, Talk to Her 2001

Novermber 12 Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York, 2008

November  19 Wim Wenders, Pina 2011

November 26 Baz Luhrman, The Great Gatsby 2013


Which film are you most looking forward to at BFS Fall 2013?

[Local Trailers] Scarlet Samurai: Incarnation

Local trailers showcases locally produced films in post-production or those that are about to screen. To share you trailer send us a link at BuffaloMovieBlog@gmail.com.

The Scarlet Samurai series, (formerly Terminal Descent) was brought to our attention by crew member Michael Jensen who tells us he grew up next to and has always had interest in Buffalo's Central Terminal - which plays a key part in Scarlet Samurai: Incarnation (teaser trailer below), which looks like it has some solid professional action set pieces. Unfortunately some of the weaker elements in this trailer are the non-action sequences (the performances and compositions, and sound mix) - the later, I learn from the film's official facebook page they're currently working on.

From Facebook:
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Scarlet Samurai: Incarnation is the second super hero movie from the twisted fantasies of Tara Cardinal. Produced by Hollywood martial artist Sean Wyn and New York horror guru David Williams, it's a new Asian-inspired horror/action feature..

Five reckless college kids on an urban archaeological expedition uncover a preternatural evil, and discover only a legend can fight a myth..

Almost a century ago, the Buffalo Central Terminal was cursed. Eighty years (and 922 missing persons) later, we find Ikari trying to follow in her (missing) father's archaeological footsteps. But Ikari--a part Chinese, part Japanese, half Jewish lesbian--has problems. She's suicidal, her girlfriend dumped her, she's failing her classes, she's about to lose her scholarship, her twin sister Feng is a samurai with supernatural abilities, and, on top of it all, she still lives with her Jewish mother (Maria Olsen).

To keep Ikari and his other students from failing, Professor Harrison sends them on a quick "in and out" field expedition to the Terminal. Along for what should be a fast and fun exploration are Ikari's best friend and gay fashion photographer Michael, goth martial artist Tavy, mild-mannered T.A. Lindsey, and Ikari's recently estranged ex-girlfriend Becks. But Ikari has other ideas... obsessed with her father's research and trying desperately, if not comically, to get her blonde, beautiful, and cold ex-girlfriend back, she unknowingly leads the team deeper and deeper into the ominous 17-story building...

...and right into the lair of the Jiang Shi.

Considered by Western Culture to be a myth, the zombie-like Jiang Shi is an undead demon that sucks Chi (the life force) from its victims while torturing, raping, and paralyzing them with its venomous claws. And now it is after them.

Samurai-in-training Feng, psychically linked to her twin sister Ikari, races to the Terminal to save Ikari and her friends from the Jiang Shi and its endless horde of undead minions. To defeat the mythical creature Ikari and Feng will have to join forces to become a legend. Because it takes a Legend to fight a Myth.








[Hot Vod - REVIEW] Some Girl(s) (7/10)

HOT VOD is a new occasional feature where we chronicle what we're watching on Video on Demand. Our goal is to cover new movies released on VOD that will likely not grace Buffalo cinema screens. As always your feedback is appreciated either by commenting below or at BuffaloMovieBlog@gmail.com.

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Directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer (whom I learn from IMDB has been working in TV as of late, her last feature film was 2002’s The Guru), Some Girl(s) is an adaptation of Neil Labute’s play – and how vintage Labute it is. Downsizing after his turn in commercial films (including the disastrous Nick Cage outing The Wickerman, and two effective films – the racial thriller Lakeview Terrance and the smart comedy remake Death at a Funeral) he’s gone back to his roots – small character driven films including his Some Velvet Morning (which received some mixed reviews at Tribeca). Some Girl(s) adapted from a play has barely been opened up despite a few insert shots of its lead in transit: from one girl to the next, in cabs, trains, plains, airports, hotel lobbies.

Adam Brody plays the “Man” – an unnamed writer who travels cross country reconnecting with his former exes including Sam, his high school sweetheart (played by Jennifer Morrison). She’s turned out exactly as he predicted in a painful opening scene (the film takes place entirely in luxury hotel rooms). Brody then reconnects with Tyler (Mia Maestro) a free spirit whom was just enough phase in his life – then its onwards back to Boston for the most heartbreaking encounter, Lindsay (Emily Watson). Lindsay and our lead were once young college professors together: our lead was in over his head – teaching graduate literature courses without the proper life experience to really grasp it all, he was book smart but lacked life experience. He and Lindsay had a tryst – almost causing her divorce and she arrives back to the scene of the crime to make him pay for the stupid mistakes of inexperience.

Cut back to Settle and Reggie (played by Zoe Kazan) – a stupid mistake made when he was 16 she’s hell-bent on making her feelings felt – the point of view he can never have in his writing. He finds some redemption with Bobbi (Kristen Bell) – or at least closure to his journey – and this is where it becomes difficult to talk about a Neil Labute script – to review it is to reveal spoilers.

Some Girl(s) is now on Vimeo on Demand and its worth checking out: each scene is well written and stands on its own, while on the whole its limited in what it can do. The performances are all uniformly excellent as is the direction by Daisy von Scherler Mayer which makes very good use out of the limited space, the film is psychologically cruel and contained (as a Neil Labute movie should be!).


Some Girls is available for rental on Vimeo on Demand.


Monday, July 8, 2013

OPENING THIS WEEKEND: 7/12/2013


This week we get six, count em' six new movies hitting the B. Lo - including an all new line up at the Amherst Theater (thanks Dipson Theaters!) - it's going to be a very busy weekend for us at Buffawood.... (we'll do our best to keep up)

@ The Art House

Dirty Wars - at Dipson Amherst

This looks like one very powerful look and timely look about the reporting of whistleblower Jeramy Scahill - inspired by his book Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield; although this does look like the kind of documentary that, if you've been closely following the news, you already know the story.



Unfinished Song - at Dipson Amherst

The art house appears to be taking a hint from Hollywood - Unfinished Song looks an awful lot like TWC's Quartet - this time around with Terrance Stamp. Gemma  co-stars in the film directed by Paul Andrew Williams (known best for his very gritty 2006 film London to Brighton). It looks like a pleasant enough alternative to Pacific Rim.


Fill the Void - at Dipson Amherst

The buzz has been solid for this elegant-looking Israeli drama about a young women that declares her independence from her ultra Orthodox Hasidic community - this award winner has garnered comparisons to Jane Austin. 





20 Ft. From Stardom at Dipson Eastern Hills

Also on VOD, 20 Ft from Stardom chronicles the life of a few behind-the-lead singers - the pain and the joys. Directed by seasoned music documentarian Morgan Neville.


@ The Multiplex  (*early screenings on Thursday night in select theaters)


Grown Ups 2 at Dipson Market Arcade, Regal Quaker Crossing, Regal Elmwood, Regal Walden Galleria, Regal Quaker Crossing, Dipson Flix, Regal Transit Center, Regal Hollywood

I genuinely enjoyed the first Grown Ups outing, Grown Up 2 looks like more of the same, but again no complaints from me. It looks like a fun enough summer comedy that should tide you over until the excellent The Way Way Back arrives in Buffalo theaters. Since everybody from the first one is back, I'm looking forward to some 90s SNL nostalgia.



Pacific Rim at Dipson Market Arcade, Regal Quaker Crossing, Regal Elmwood, Regal Walden Galleria, Regal Quaker Crossing, Dipson Flix, Regal Transit Center, Regal Hollywood

Michael Bay took a break this year, directing the (low budget for him) Pain and Gain, leaving Guillermo del Toro (who makes this one worth looking forward to) to helm what essentially looks like a transformers movie. The early reviews haven't been kind - but I'm sure the movie will offer some fun.



@ The Cheap Seats (our reviews)

The East  (8/10)

Continuing (our reviews)

The Heat (4/10)

Sunday, July 7, 2013

[In Theaters: REVIEW] MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN (8/10)


Midnight’s Children, which was paired down from a 466-page book to a 146-minute film is structurally an excellent, accessible and ambitious work that maybe bites off a little more than it can chew. Spanning three generations in the history of colonial and post-colonial India (and the further fragmentation of the country into Pakistan and Bangladesh) - the film is vibrant, colorful and fascinating.

Central to the narrative is the family of Saleem Sinai (Satya Bhabha) – one of “midnight’s children”, he’s born just as India gains independence, haunted by the voices of the other children of midnight. The novel's author, Salman Rushdie serves as the story’s narrator. Directed by Deepa Mehta, a noted critic of Indian society and norms (including her powerful trilogy Fire, Earth and Water), her work also examines the role of Indians in Canadian society including Heaven on Earth and her light Toronto-set comedy Bollywood/Hollywood. Rushdie is an apt colloborators, in a story that seems less critique and really more magical realism: tracing the childhood and coming of age of Saleem – who was switched at birth. Actually the son of peasants, he’s switch at birth with Shiva – who is sent into a life of poverty, when the truth is revealed Saleem is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Pakistan – witnessing the birth of a nation by military rule. His mother (played by Shahana Goswami) struggles with her own sexual issues including her own liberation causing a rift in her marriage (especially as we’ve seen the origin of this marriage earlier in the film).

The film is an awfully complex weaving of themes as fragmented, complex and ripe with contradictions as the nation it chronicles. Critics have accused it as a “mythification” – and perhaps it is a film intended for a Western audience (a good chunk of the film is spoken in English after all). Perhaps compressing the novel into a film that does race over key moments in history is doing the novel a disservice, but this is cinema: Midnight’s Children might have made for a more effective mini-series. While Slumdog Millionaire chronicled deep contradictions (that would allow for slums next to high rise office and residential towers), Midnight’s Children plays as a prequel of sorts. The film is far from perfect, epic in scope and overflowing with ideas - - in a summer filled with over bloated mindless entertainment this is a refreshing art house outing as imperfect as it is.

It goes without saying the film is beautifully shot and technically rather astounding: it suffers from, although that is the point, a mandate. The children of independence are also with a mixed candidate inspired by the baggage of the colonial era – the moral of the story is one cannot escape the complexities of history, both personal and national – even as they make history. 

Screening: Dipson Amherst Theatre