ZEUS

The Black Dahlia

Directed by Brian De Palma

From IMDB: Two policemen see their personal and professional lives fall apart in the wake of the “Black Dahlia” murder investigation.

Based on a true case, De Palma’s version veers to far into the personal lives of its subjects instead of taking a cold hard look at the case at hand.  Josh Hartnett stars as Dwight “Bucky” Bleichert, a tough-as-nails boxer turned detective, who vies for the love of Scarlett Johansson’s underwhelming Kay Lake, along w/ her current love interest Lee Blanchard, played by Aaron Eckhart.  Thrown in the mix is Hilary Swank’s mysterious bi-sexual Madeleine Linscott.   Swank acts Hartnett and Johansson under the table, and Dahlia’s plot is too convoluted for anyone to care about whodunit by the end.  

The Black Dahlia wasn’t good when I saw it in the theater in 2006, and it wasn’t any better the second time around.  Skip this one.

Watched via Netflix Instant.

Marvin Seth & Stanley

Written & Directed by Stephen Gurewitz

The driving force behind Stephen Gurewitz’s 72 min feature Marvin Seth & Stanley is Alex Karpovsky’s phenomenal turn as Seth, Stanley’s (Gurewitz) semi-successful older brother, who, amidst an impending divorce, is forced to cope with his feelings about his ailing father.

Marvin, played by Gurewitz’s real-life father, a recovering heart attack survivor, takes time off from his secret job to take his two adult sons on a camping trip where past grudges erupt into hilarious family feuding.  

Part of the NoBudge Live Screening Series (May 14th - 24th), Marvin Seth & Stanley made it’s one-night-only online debut May 23rd.  Not only does Karposvsky dominate as the older brother, Gurewitz’s direction and writing shine throughout this comically melancholic look at young adulthood and the struggle to feel comfortable amongst family.  

Gurewitz combines the neurosis of Woody Allen with the terseness of Vincent Gallo for a beautifully comic performance, in which he promises on more than one occasion to take down his older brother with a “leg sweep.”  

Adam Ginsberg’s cinematography lingers just long enough on the subjects and his editing leaves you wanting just a little more.

Shot on a shoestring budget of $5,000, Marvin Seth & Stanley turned out to be more than just a really great indie film; it’s one of my favorite films of 2012 so far.  Watch out for Gurewitz!  He’s going to blow up cinema if he keeps this up!

Tune into NoBudge where Kentucker Audley is curating some important indie shorts and features.  With this Live Screening Series, including live director Q & A’s, he’s also revolutionizing the online film festival.  

If you can find it, watch this film immediately!

Watched via Vimeo’s Roku app!

In anticipation of Moonrise Kingdom, here’s a field guide to Wes Anderson actors.

Insidious

Directed by James Wan

Starring Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, Insidious plays like a really well-crafted version of Paranormal Activity for three quarters of the film and then trails off into a weird hellish dreamscape that isn’t quite scary enough.  

Parts of this film had me hooked, the tension is good, and Lin Shaye is awesome.  The last shot of the film is perfect too!

Watched via Netflix Instant.

The Master

Welp, looks like Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest will likely blow every other film this year out of the water…

Can’t wait to see this!  Check out more information on it at The Master website.

I Melt With You

Written & Directed by Mark Pellington

Starring Thomas Jane, Rob Lowe, Christian McKay (phenomenal), and Jeremy Piven

From IMDB: “When four 40-something college friends meet up for their annual reunion, things start to spiral out of control, and a pact they made as young men is revisited.”

Gorgeous cinematography by Eric Schmidt and masterfully directed by Pellington, I Melt With You surprised me; keeping me on the edge of my seat with tense character-driven drama.  

Absolutely see this film immediately!

Watched via Netflix Instant.

zeusmovie:

Let’s talk about this for a minute… (Taken with instagram)

Red State

Written & Directed by Kevin Smith

Starring Michael Parks, John Goodman, Michael Angarano, & Kerry Bishe.

This could be one of Kevin Smith’s best films, but it’s really…. short.  (Did I just say that a Kevin Smith movie is too short?)  The often long-winded Smith shows restraint with a terse social commentary on a group of religious fundamentalists.  While some of Red State gets a little preachy (Smith hits you over the head w/ some over-the-top dialogue, which is unfortunate because the strength of a few of the performances was good enough to drive the point home in the first place), it gets into the action pretty quickly.  

Yes, I have plenty of beef with the development (or often lack-thereof) of major plot points and characters, but overall I think I really liked this movie.  Moments of this tense thriller shine, especially Michael Parks who gives an unbelievable performance as Abin Cooper, leader of the 5 Points religious fundamentalist group.  If nothing else, watch Red State for his performance.  It’s a pretty fun ride.

Watched via Netflix Instant.

(Untitled)

Directed by Jonathan Parker

Starring Adam Goldberg and Marley Shelton

The punchline is pseudo-art, and unfortunately it hits early in the first act which leaves little for the other two thirds of the film except for cookie-cutter relationship development.  Goldberg and Shelton are good, but the film lacks.

Watched via Netflix Instant.

Face/Off

Directed by John Woo

“Absurd” only begins to describe this action… comedy? starring John “Really Work My Glutes” Travolta and Nicolas “Indiscernible Screams” Cage, each taking on both the roles of Caster Troy and Sean Archer.  

The tagline says it all: “In order to trap him, he must become him.”

I remember going to the theater to see this when it came out in 1997, and I think that is honestly the only other time I’ve seen it.  Is this film crazy?  Yes.  Is it wildly entertaining?  Yes.  Should you spend 2 hours watching it this weekend?  Absolutely.  

Watched via DVD.

Zeus Kickstarter incentives have been mailed!

Listen, I don’t want to turn this into a receipt-measuring contest, but I just mailed a lot of Zeus swag to our Kickstarter supporters!  Thank you to everyone who contributed.  We want to see you w/ your Zeus stuff!  Send us pictures of you watching Zeus, wearing Zeus t-shirts, sticking Buffalo Morose stickers in public places, or holding up your poster!

Thank you!

Happy Birthday, Hunter Stair

One of the greatest dudes of all time.

In the summer of 1998 Hello Nasty hit the racks at The Wall, the record shop in the Olean Center Mall for most of my youth.  I was 16, had no drivers license, and a part time summer job on the paint crew at St. Bonaventure, which afforded me a few extra dollars to blow on the new Beastie Boys album.  I bought the CD, Morgan bought the tape.  The next few months were spent driving around the hills of Hinsdale and the streets of Olean blasting Hello Nasty at top volume out of the speakers of her 1980-something shitbox blue Chrysler.  

Of course I’d listened to the Beasties on and off, License to Ill and the occasional Ill Communication track here or there, but for some reason that summer the Beasties Boys blew my mind and became my favorite band in the world.  To this day as I listen to that album over and over from start to finish, I’m transported back to warm summer nights doing nothing but enjoying the company of good friends and listening to bad ass beats from Ad Rock, Mike D, and MCA.  

I remember I picked up Ill Communication later that summer and wore that CD out during basketball season; every road game the Beasties were in my ears getting me hyped for the main event.  Then I discovered Paul’s Boutique and my mind was blown again.  

Fast forward to 2007, I was residing in Los Angeles at the time, and I got a text: “Friend has Beastie Boys tickets at the Greek. Free, if you want them.”  I was on the phone immediately.  The concert started in 10 mins, and I had to drive across town; yeah right.  I threw some clothes on, drove as fast as LA traffic would let me and got to the Greek halfway through “Brass Monkey.”  I found my seat near the top of the theater and watched three grown men in orange jump suits do a three-man weave on stage as they rapped “Intergalactic.”  It’s one of the best concerts I’ve ever been too.  So much energy, and so many great songs.  

MCA wasn’t just a musician in one of my favorite bands, he was also a humanitarian co-founding the Milarepa Fund, which raised money and awareness for the Tibetan independence movement.  Yauch also founded Oscilloscope Laboratories, which has bought and distributed some of the best independent films of that last decade.

Earlier, with the news of MCA’s passing, someone tweeted: “They were my Beatles.”  Yeah, I get that.  

I’m really bummed out about Adam Yauch’s death.  He was a really creative dude who brought me a lot of joy in the form of music and film.  R.I.P. MCA.

R.I.P. Adam Yauch a.k.a. MCA

Fear Fun by Father John Misty

J. Tillman, former Fleet Foxes drummer, is no stranger to releasing solo work; he’s been doing it since 2003.  Now, as Father John Misty, Tillman explores a more polished (those other solo albums are rough) sound.  

“People who make records are afforded this assumption by the culture that their music is coming from an exclusively personal place, but more often than not what you hear are actually the affectations of an ‘alter-ego’ or a cartoon of an emotionally heightened persona,” Tillman said.  

If you saw his Letterman performance, Father John Misty is all of a cartoon.  Fear Fun is an almost spiritual journey, tracking the rebirth of an emotionally stricken man who’s ready to rise and take a different path in his life.

This album is my favorite thing to listen to right now, and you can listen to it in its entirety over and over thanks to Sub Pop Records and Vimeo!

Jess + Moss

Written & Directed by Clay Jeter

Jess + Moss is a weird movie.  It follows the two adolescent title characters through a series of nostalgic vignettes set against a run-down summer landscape.  By weird, I don’t mean bad.  Clay Jeter and Will Basanta’s cinematography is great.  The most striking element, for me at least, of the film was the use of narration and voice over via instructional “Megamemory Tapes.”  I’m definitely excited to see what Jeter comes up with next.

Watched via Netflix Instant.

Zeus

FREE Screenings this weekend.  We will be selling Zeus DVDs, posters, & t-shirts.  But most importantly, Zeus is screening at a freaking train station!  Come to this!

Friday May 4th at The Depot @ JCC Olean, 9 p.m.

Saturday May 5th at Cutco Theater @ JCC Olean, 9 p.m.

“It’s going to be mental.” ~Michael Scott

Puke.