Movie Review: American Buffalo (1996; Samuel Goldwyn/20th Century Fox/MGM/UA/Twilight Time)

...OK, let's get it out on the table, right here and now...though, in all honesty, there'd be little-to-no surprise or disagreement, in the proclamation. With countless notable, significant, and yes, acclaimed roles credit to him, stemming as far back as...well, as far back as however long this reviewer has set foot in life (...uh nope, we don't need to go there; we just have to say, yes, it's that far back)...well, let's just come out and say it: Dustin Hoffman is one of the greatest American actors, if not the greatest American actor of the past half-century. There's very few productions, indelibly etched in Dustin's wide-spectrum of films which, given a specific title, doesn't strike most with a sense of deep affection, familiarity and appreciation...not so much in the film title itself, or even the subject matter depicted, but more so, those which bear Dustin's unique and well-accomplished stamp alone. One of those actors whom has starred in many a film, often good...rarely bad, but despite how good or bad the film might have been, Dustin's performance has, for the most part, has always managed to shine through, and that affect...especially if the particular film wasn't particular good...has at least raised the film up, from what might have been considered 'bad', by definition, to at the very least, significant...

Movie Review: Mississippi Mermaid (1969; MGM/Twilight Time)

...braving the lambast-worthy gauntlet of losing some respectable points as one of many cult film auteurs out there, the respected 'comma, then title' moniker which this reviewer make an unabashed claim to...he...uh, he (...stutter, stutter)...he has to candidly, and...swell, quite shamefully admit, he...uh, he (...stutter, stutter) had never partaken of a film, produced and directed by the great Francois Truffaut...that is, until now. Admittedly, as a very young and budding embracee of cult films, this reviewer had heard of this extraordinarily masterful filmmaker, at least enough to know that his film artistry was, at the very least, something more than noteworthy, and he was even dimly privy to some of Truffaut's early film work (...'fancy-schmancy arthouse' films, I called them back then...and as a youth...well, perhaps it was understandable that I wasn't into 'fancy-schmancy', though indeed, such films were as yet beyond my level of understanding and appreciation, at the time), without actually having seen them...classics like "Fahrenheit 451", "Story of Adele H" and "Shoot the Pianist", amongst others...

...no siree...this reviewer's first exposure to Francois Truffaut wasn't even his prowess at film direction; rather, it was his authoritative, albeit language-hampered performance as Claude Lacombe, in the wonder, instilling 1977, Steven Spielberg-directed sci-fi classic, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". However, even in that enigmatic performance alone, there was an aura of interest and fascination, which shone through...not in the character he played, but in the performer...or rather, the artist himself, the exposition of which could not be denied, nor ignored...

Movie Review: 2 Guns (2013, Universal Pictures)

...in the past few years, a most unique and unconventional phenomenon, akin to recent genre films, has taken...and continues to take place: the acquisition and production of feature films, based upon much more obscure graphic comic book properties, which are considerably lesser-known by the general public, and which go against the grain, as far as typical conventions and standards, normally expected by the devoted masses, in films like these. Coming in below the radar, just beneath the surface, and sometimes, breezing in and out of attention, like a whiff...overshadowed by comic book-themed juggernauts, featuring overly familiar bat-men, spider-men, men of steel and mutants...are the oddities...the curiosities...the misfits, which under the deftly welded hands of writers, producers and directors, have wrought...give or take, the occasional schlocky clunker or two...some rather interesting, embraceable and quite entertaining results. In some cases, wildly imaginative and eclectically conceived...never mind, the now-popular, unconventional staples of "Men in Black" and "Kick-Ass"...we're talking more the blood-spattering, barbarous exploits of "Solomon Kane"...the well-armed, hyperkinetic retirees of "RED"...the supernaturally-driven, humanity-devoted sleuthing of "Dylan Dog" and "R.I.P.D."...these comic book genre 'oddballs' are out to prove that they can garnish a life, and a foothold on the genre, as equally capable as those of the high-flying, dark-cowled, web-spinning, razor-clawed variety. And so, getting much more down to earth...kicking up the dust, with all barrels a-blazin', and verbal quips a-spewin'...with the riotously rollicking force of a Michael Bay/Bruckheimer actioner (...which, in a good number of ways, it resembles), we have the 'new kid on the block' as far as tapping into that obscure graphic comic book well; flying off the drawn & paneled pages, and onto the screen...with dynamically explosive results, no less...it's "2 Guns"...

Movie Review: Sushi Girl (2012, Magnolia)

...before gleefully and dutifully engaging this review, let's start off by saying that this viewer is a sucker for a good movie trailer. Beyond the generated hype & publicity of a movie, the advance viewing & review by critics, the suggested star power & creative hand...both behind & in front of the camera, the leaked footage & behind-the-scenes video commentary...it is a stand-out, well crafted movie trailer that quite literally grabs me by the shirt collar, slams me resoundingly up against the wall, and insistently commands my utmost attention. Granted, as does happen from time to time, some movie trailers DO exclusively feature what is best about a specific movie, with the movie itself, on a whole, proving to be something less than what the trailer promised; that's part of the gamble, I suppose...the nature of the beast...when one gets irresistably and invariably pulled in by the suggested content of the movie trailer, and as the result, committedly lays down one's hard earned samolians for the feature film, itself. However, when a movie carried through on the promise...'walks the walk', rather than merely 'talk the talk', via it's intendedly influential and compelling movie trailer, one cannot help but praise that artfully creative little two-to-two-and-a-half minutes of tease...that eye-and-mind-catching vanguard of great things to come...in the same light as the film itself proves to be...the trailer, being merely a tantilizing taste at the bottom of the shotglass...and the film, harboring the numbing contents of the whole bottle...