Movie Review: “The Social Network”

Like it or not, Facebook has become one of the greatest innovations so far in the 21^st Century. The reason why it’s so influential is because it was able to transform the way we socialize by bringing the complete experience online. Since its foundation in early 2004, the site has grown into a household name along with producing the youngest billionaire in the world (Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder). However, the story of how Facebook came to be is quite an interesting tale. With brand recognition like Facebook along with a unique story, it was only a matter of time until Hollywood got a hold of it and made it into a film. Almost six years later, we finally get to witness the story on film.

Tags: Andrew Garfield, David Fincher, Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, Max Minghella, Movie Review, October 2010, Rashida Jones, The Social Network

Movie Review: “Machete”

Back in April 2007, film directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez collaborated on a film called Grindhouse. The film was essentially two small feature films and in between the films were fake movie trailers. One of those fake trailers was for a film called Machete. It caught everyone’s attention with its over-the-top violence and humor. Ever since then, fans of Grindhouse pleaded to Rodriguez to actually make the trailer into an actual feature film. After a long three and a half years, Rodriguez finally got the opportunity in his schedule to direct the feature film with the help of first-time co-director, Ethan Maniquis.

Tags: Danny Trejo, Ethan Maniquis, Machete, Movie Review, Robert De Niro, Robert Rodriguez, September 2010

Public Service Announcement #3

On October 19^th, 2010, Lionsgate will release two versions of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now on Blu-Ray. If you may or may not know from my reflection piece on the film (which can be found here), I am a huge fan of the film and it’s exciting to see it finally come to the high-definition format. Both Blu-Ray versions will contain the 1979 theatrical cut and the 2001 Redux cut. According to IGN, both cuts will be presented in their original theatrical aspect ratios for the first time on home video. For more details on the upcoming release, you can check out here.

Tags: Apocalypse Now, Blu-Ray, July 2010, Public Service Announcement

Community: “Gulf of Mexico Relief Auctions”

As I mentioned in my Live SModcast write-up, I received a free comic book at the end of the night that was signed by Kevin Smith. Instead of holding onto it, I decided to sell it on eBay with all of the profits going to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, which is helping out with the oil disaster that’s affecting the Gulf of Mexico region. Along with the comic book, I am also going to sell/donate my DVD copy of Little Miss Sunshine. I realize that both items are not worth much, but every cent can make a difference. My goal is to raise at least five dollars for the two items. If you feel like contributing to the cause, just e-mail me at wherethebuffaloroamblog@gmail.com and I’ll throw a link up in this post. Make the jump to find the two auctions.

Tags: Community, Gulf of Mexico Relief, July 2010

Movie Review: “Inception”

One of the most talked about films this year is without a doubt Christopher Nolan’s Inception. Nolan’s last film, The Dark Knight, was a humongous success when it came out two years ago and built a lot of pressure and anticipation for his eventual follow-up. Instead of going right into a sequel to The Dark Knight, he decided to roll the dice and pursue an original project that he was working on for the past decade. With a 160 million dollar budget, Nolan was able to attract an ensemble cast and shoot at various locations around the globe to finally bring his dream project to the screen. Did Christopher Nolan ultimately succeed in his vision? Make the jump to find out!

Tags: Christopher Nolan, Ellen Page, Inception, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, July 2010, Marion Cotillard, Movie Review, Tom Hardy

Adventure: “Live SModcast: Philadelphia, PA”

On June 21^st, 2010, I had the great opportunity to watch Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier perform a live SModcast performance at the World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, PA. The Philadelphia show was part of the Live Nude SMod 2: The Wee, Wee Tour that spanned across the United States. For those who may not know, Kevin Smith is a film director and Scott Mosier is his long-time producer. Since 2007, they have been doing a weekly comedy podcast at Kevin Smith’s house discussing current events and off-the-wall topics.

Tags: Adventure, July 2010, Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier, Smodcast, World Cafe Live

Movie Review: “Knight and Day”

Let’s be honest with ourselves for a moment, the 2010 summer film season has been underwhelming so far both critically and financially. James Mangold’s Knight and Day is one of last remaining summer blockbusters that people have high expectations for. With Tom Cruise returning back to his action roots and with an amazing supporting cast, it can do no wrong…right? Make the jump to find out!

Tags: Cameron Diaz, James Mangold, July 2010, Knight and Day, Movie Review, Paul Dano, Peter Sarsgaard, Tom Cruise

Reflection: “Apocalypse Now”

With so many problems that happened from principal photography to post-production of Apocalypse Now, it is a miracle that the final cut came out so critically well done.  The acting in Apocalypse Now had it’s problems at first, but in the end it was completely jaw-dropping. One of the few editing techniques that worked very well in the film was the use of parallel editing, point-of-view editing, and the shot/reverse shot. The sound in Apocalypse Now was also considered revolutionary in the late seventies due to its natural diegetic sound, unique internal sounds, and the soundtrack. Apocalypse Now was able to overcome every obstacle and was able to focus much attention to the acting, editing, and sound that many films to this very day are still trying to imitate.

Tags: Apocalypse Now, Dennis Hopper, Francis Ford Coppola, June 2010, Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen, Reflection

Movie Review: “Toy Story 3″

During the past fifteen years, Pixar Animation Studios changed the way we view animation films. With each film they released, the bar was raised in terms of storytelling. After ten films, they have yet to fail critically or financially. This summer, Pixar released Lee Unkrich’s Toy Story 3 with much anticipation from fans of the Toy Story series. Like many threequels in the past, they have the tendency to fail to live up to the expectations from the public. Was Toy Story 3 able to successfully tell a great story and end the series on a high-note? Make the jump to find out!

Tags: June 2010, Lee Unkrich, Movie Review, Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, Toy Story 3

Community: “The Versatile Blogger Award”

I was recently tagged by rtm at FlixChatter for the Versatile Blogger Award. Out of the thousands of movie blogs that are on the internet, she chose me along with fourteen other awesome movie blogs. I would also like to take this time to give my congratulations again on her 1^st anniversary of FlixChatter. It takes time and dedication to provide a consistent flow of quality content and she was able to do it for 365 days (and counting). Without a further a due, here are the rules to this award.

Tags: Community, June 2010, Versatile Blogger Award