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tompetrocelli
Reviews
Bflo Pnk 1.0 (2010)
A Deep Dive into the Buffalo Punk Scene
This is the type of film usually made about CBGBs and NYC in the late 1970s. In this case it's about the amazing scene in Buffalo New York, centered around The Continental and McVans in the late 70s and early 80s. If you weren't in Buffalo at that time, most of these bands will bee unknown to you. That doesn't matter. It not only captures the Buffalo scene but the zeitgeist of the Punk scene.
There is some amazing archival footage - the video of the Fems at the Continental was a huge throwback to my freshman year in college - and wonderful interviews. One of the true gems is the interview with the late Mark Freeland of Electroman.
Is it nostalgic? You bet. Does it open a window on an interesting time in music and culture? Certainly.
Don't expect much technically, though. This is not a slick, high budget production. That's okay though. It fits the DIY nature of the Punk scene and Buffalo at that time. It may not be pretty but it's awesome.
Most Likely (2015)
How can anyone rate this more than 1 star?!
This is an abysmally bad movie. I've seen high school one-acts that are far superior. Where to start?
How about the acting. To say it's wooden would be an understatement. It's as if they are making up the dialog as they go along and need time to think about it... while filming. That would make sense because the dialog is ridiculous. You just can't care about the characters because they are one dimensional stereotypes of millennials only without a firm command of the English language. For a 2015 film, it is so full of anachronisms (does anyone actually download TV seasons even in 2015) that it seems like it's from 2005.
The technical quality is poor, if I'm being charitable. Did the sound guy have to catch every random background noise or was it just that couldn't afford to rent a decent mic? It looks like there was only one camera; There are a host of strange shots designed to get the whole scene in frame for a single camera.
It's like an update of the Big Chill, made as a high school film class project that got a D. The only way this film should have more than a 1 star rating is if the cast, crew, and their friends were the only ones to leave a rating. Even so, a 10 star rating can only be the result of those same people getting very high, convincing themselves this was better than they knew it to be, only to wake up the next day soaked in tears of regret.