OPENING THIS WEEK: 10/4/2013

In addition to the Buffalo International Film Festival, the Queen City welcomes six new titles - including two sports documentaries, three films with all-star casts and a Bollywood title. An awful lot to see - including the expansion of Metallica: Through the Never seeding its IMAX screen and heading down the hall to a standard theater in Real D 3D.

at the Art House

Ballin' at the Graveyard - Not sure about this one, a pick-up basketball documentary hitting Dipson Amherst (which would seem more fitting down at Market Arcade) - hopefully its better than its trailer suggestions - the filmmakers will be in attendance on Friday night.

Screening: Dipson Amherst

Parkland - An all star cast including Zac Effron, James Badge Dale and Paul Giamatti start in a docu-drama that bowed last month in Toronto. Centered around the Parkland hospital moments after JFK's assassination and shot with what looks like period-accurate 16MM.

Screening: Dipson Eastern Hills

at the Multiplex

Gravity - Another title with significant buzz out of TIFF this year, Alfonso Cuaron's thrilling (looking) space saga has been called by Forbes a movie that can save the multiplex experience. Hitting IMAX 3D (probably where it should be seen) this looks amazing.

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

Runner Runner - What looks like a classic kind of B-Movie thriller with Timberlake, Affleck, and (I hate to admit this - someone I've got a crush on) Gemma Arterton centered around an off-shore gambling racket. It could be fun.

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

Generation Iron - From the producers of Pumping Iron comes a new look at body building - will director Vlad Yudin ask the hard questions and catch someone injecting horse seman into their ass? Who knows.

Screening: Regal Quaker Crossing, Regal Walden Galleria

Bollywood in Buffawood

Besharam - A comedy about a street smart mechanic in love - oh Bollywood - you're often just as original as Hollywood.

Screening: Regal Elmwood

A Guide to the BUFFALO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

The 7th annual Buffalo International Film Festival reaches screens in Amherst and Buffalo with four nights of films - including several local works including the features Brandonwood and Buffalo Boys making their WNY debuts. Also local are several shorts - screened throughout the festival and in a shorts block on Friday at 4PM, two local documentary including one about Allentown's Theater of Youth and another about climate change.

There is something for everybody including the festivals' most intriguing film - The Thief and the Cobbler - Recobbled Cut which attempts to complete a never completed epic.

The Galas

While maybe not as glamorous as a TIFF outting at Roy Thompson Hall - the festival none the less features an opening and closing night Gala including a little scene film from French filmmaker Luc Besson (director of The Family)  - The Extraordinary Adventures of D'Adele Blanc-Sec and the Theater of Youth documentary Long Live TOY: Defending Children's Theater in the Nickel City.

Trailer for Defending TOY on Vimeo

The Locals

Brandonwood and Buffalo Boys show Friday and Saturday night at 9PM respectively. Buffalo Boys by Raymond Guarnieri has screened at Indie Gathering at the Manhattan Film Festival where it took home several honors. Brandonwood by John J. Fink, will have its world premiere at BIFF after revealing its trailer earlier last month. Both look like strong works - with Buffalo Boys selling out several days in advance - the festival announcing a rush line for those without tickets. Local shorts play before both shows.

Docs

The festival has a strong line up of documentaries including the kid friendly Magic Camp, the Long Bike Back from Buffalo born filmmaker Julia Wrona, the story of a Reverend Gary Davis - a rag time singer in Harlem Street Singer, and Dear Mr. Watterson, an exploration of comic strip Calvin and Hobbs by Joel Allen Schroeder. Comfort Zone: The WNY Climate Change Movie also aims to shine a light on several important air quality issues - gee - thanks Tonawanda! 

A block of Made in Buffalo documentaries also screens on Sunday at 4:30PM.

World Cinema

Earning its title as an INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - let us not forget several titles the festival is showcasing that otherwise would slip through the cracks (not that Squeaky Wheel and Dipson aren't trying their hardest). Amongst those include the Bollywood dance flick (luckily without the Bollywood running time, the festival quotes it at a lean 95 minutes) - Aayna Ka Bayna, the Chinese sex shop comedy Red Light Revolution - which looks hilarious, and the controversial Turkish film When Darin Falls. 

Also don't forget to check out Casa De Arte (on Elmwood Avenue in Allentown) which will be home to the festival's tribute to Mexican actress Maria Felix, featuring a different Felix film Friday-Sunday at 8PM. Admission to the Felix tribute is free.

The festival offers various ticketing options with general adult admission $10 - with discounts for students, seniors, children and members of the Buffalo Film Society. All tickets on sale at www.buffalofilmfestival.com. 

[Local Trailers] BRANDONWOOD (+ 3 films by John Fink)

Local filmmaker John Fink premiers his first feature film, Brandonwood at Buffalo International Film Festival, one of three local features along with Buffalo Boys and the documentary Comfort Zone: A Western New York Climate Change Movie. (Local shorts will be featured in front of select features and in their own sidebar). Looking at the trailer the film looks like a poetic, romantic and heartbreaking - with some good performances.

From the filmmaker:

A romantic thriller following four years in the life of a young couple - from the reckless highs of new love to the lows of circumstances they cannot change on the periphery. Natalie (Kathleen Denecke) a college freshman, begins a relationship with Brandon (Kyle Perry) - an employee of their town's public works department. Keeping him a secret at first, she alienates her friends and family in the process, the comfort of the relationship morphs into dysfunction as they each come into their own.

Starring Kathleen Denecke, Kyle Perry, Gerry Maher, Eric Mowery, Kelly Krose, Mike Sarcneli, Travis Hedland, Megan Deanna Smith, Darryl Hart, Andre Colon, Michael Moral and Tilke Hill

Three Films by John Fink:

Additionally John Fink has three films on YouTube he's pointed out to us including Analog staring Tilke Hill (co-star and co-producer of Brandonwood) and filmed in Buffalo - while a tad slow Analog, like his film Hollow Spaces have a slow build - things aren't quite what they seem. Working in documentary he made Reclamation in conjucntion with the Resurrection Village Ministry on Buffalo's East Side (produced by Squeaky Wheel as part of their Channels Documentary Program).

Hollow Spaces (2010)

Analog (2011)

Reclamation (2011)

Brandonwood screens on October 4th at 9PM at the Screening Room in Amherst. Tickets for Brandonwood and all festival program are now on sale at the Buffalo International Film Festival.