Category: Movie Reviews

Matthew Rauch: The Man Behind Banshee’s Scary Guy

March 20, 2014March 24, 2014 · 10 Comments ·

“I love the work. I love the people I work with. I hope other people like it. It’s a nice way to make a living.”-Matthew Rauch

One of the perks of my job is talking to actors, directors and the minds behind the creative process of television shows and movies. There are good interviews and then there are ones where something is missing and you just get through it. Two days after the finale of Cinemax’s Banshee, I had a chance to talk to Matthew Rauch, a hard working NYC actor who just so happens to be on our televisions this month on two different shows. NBC’s Believe and Banshee. He plays the scary Clay Burton on Banshee, the right hand man to the Amish gangster in town, Kai Procter. It must be mentioned that I scored this interview simply by talking to Rauch on Twitter. The entire cast of the show is on the social media site, mixing it up with fans and truly connecting. Rauch got on Twitter and quickly coined the nickname, “Bowtie Guy”, something that comes from the outfits Burton wears on the show.

Sometimes, an aspiring writer has to take chances and reach out to actors to get chances. I can count myself lucky because Rauch turned out to be a true first class individual and an actor who is passionate about what he does and wants to connect with his fans while scaring the shit out of them on Friday nights. We talked about the glasses coming off, Ulrich Thomsen’s European star power, Martin Scorsese, training in the theater and getting to play somebody as fearless as Burton.

Me-With the least amount of dialogue on the show out of anybody, you sure do make an impact as Burton.

RAUCH-He’s a scary guy. I have good material to work with and it’s great to watch him grow. It’s been a lot of fun. A funny story is when I got there I didn’t have much to go on with this character. So I talked to anyone I could about who he was and what it meant when suddenly Jonathan Tropper[Writer, Executive Producer] told me, “Look, think about it this way, Burton is the scariest guy on the show. This a scary world and he is the scariest guy.” From there on out I was good.

Where did the taking the glasses off thing with Burton come from?

A combination of a lot of things and I am not sure where it originated from exactly. It was in the script that I auditioned with and Jonathan and Greg[Yaitanes, Showrunner, Executive Producer, Director] had a thing with Burton having this dual nature. Burton is efficient and assistant like when the glasses were on and when the glasses were off he is the scariest guy in the world. I have had some fun with that. I have a feeling we are going to get to see more versions of him in the upcoming season.

I have this scenario in my head where Lucas Hood[Antony Starr] punches Burton, breaks his glasses, and Burton suddenly turns into the Incredible Hulk.

I do remember one of my first days of shooting and Antony and I were working together, which is rare since I usually only get to work with Ulrich[Thomsen} and Lili[Simmons]. I think he was going to arrest Proctor and sort of stepped toward Ulrich and as a natural response I stepped towards him. I think he was taken aback because someone wasn’t afraid him. I thought, man if this show goes long enough him and I are going to go round and round.

Have you gotten noticed around New York now that Banshee has gotten more popular?

Yes. There is this great bagel store around the corner from my house. I walked in and I ordered, and the guy said “Are you on Banshee? Man I love that show”. This guy had a full on tickled moment that he saw this guy who was on Banshee.

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Thank You, Oscars

March 3, 2014 · Leave a comment ·

That was easily the best show in years. Sure, you didn’t have Hugh Jackman dancing around the stage or James Franco looking stoned throughout his hosting duties, but you had a nice pace, a great host and a crowd of performers that loosened up as the telecast went on. There aren’t many hosts that can get Meryl Streep to shake her tail feather at Pharrell Williams as he dances out by the seats during his musical performance. There hasn’t been a host that gets pizza delivered to a starving audience who have jammed themselves into tight fitting dresses for the allure of a camera. Other hosts won’t break Twitter with a selfie shot including at least 6 Oscar winning actors. I am talking about Ellen DeGeneres and her fabulous hosting work last night at the Kodiak Theater. Let’s talk about that and more here.

Ellen knocked it out of the park and did so by delivering a funny and biting opening monologue that didn’t make her crowd uneasy yet made them laugh and set them up for a good night. She did things differently, refusing to be a skeleton on stage or get too insulting. She didn’t try as hard as Seth McFarlane did last year to generate laughs and wasn’t afraid to ask Harvey Weinstein and Brad Pitt for pizza delivery money. She got the crowd to loosen up and that’s not easy. These stars and filmmakers are sitting in theater styled seats hoping to be noticed on camera or win an award for their craft so to see Ellen get Lupita Nyong’o shake it and Amy Adams dance with Pharrell was refreshing. She didn’t do that herself but had the audience so relaxed that those kind of spontaneous things just come around. I tip my tip to the lady who was hosting the awards for the second time yet seemed like she was ready to do it again next Sunday. I was skeptical about her going in last night and she made the show inviting for non movie buffs.
The right people won the major awards. Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto each delivering rousing speeches after they took the prize for Dallas Buyers Club(currently on Redbox, Blu Ray, and DVD for your viewing pleasure). McConaughey talked about letting GOD define his path but did so in a laid back cool and not Tim Tebow like. He didn’t paint his eye lids with her favorite Biblical verse. McConaughey said something really cool and that was his hero is himself but 10 years from now. Ever since he was young, he always said his hero was himself but 10 years down the road, because it gave him something to live for and strive towards. He looked grateful, stunned and honored. And he deserved that trophy. No actor in Hollywood has had a hotter streak these past few years and no one had a better 2013. Leto was more personal and reflective. His single mom raised him and his siblings early on and he pointed to his mother in the crowd. Leto talked about giving all those sexually insecure souls a voice and never forgot about the film’s message. Great work gents.

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Slates For Sarah: A Movement for A Fallen Film Crew Member

March 2, 2014 · Leave a comment ·

Life is a cruel son of a bitch sometimes. This unfair world takes people well before they are supposed to go and we are left lingering in the aftermath wondering why such a thing had to happen. Before her death became a hot news item these past few weeks, I am sure NO ONE knew who Sarah Jones was. I didn’t and now look back at her life as if I should have paid more attention. Last month, Jones was killed while working as a camera assistant on Gregg Allman’s biopic Midnight Rider. The crew was setting up a shot on a train track thinking there weren’t any scheduled locomotives coming through the area during that time. When a train suddenly came down the tracks, most of the crew didn’t have time to react. Jones was struck and killed. She was 27 years old.

Since her death, the film community has came together and tried to raise awareness about the safety hazards for crew members who work on a movie set while getting Jones’ name out there. A group of people have contacted the Oscars to include Jones’ name in the segment “In Memoriam”. There is a facebook page called “Slates For Sarah” that has also gained steam the past week. It’s a proper name since crew members like Jones held the slate at the beginning of each take. Sitting at 62,000 likes and basically including photos, kind words and different things from people around the business who either worked with or knew the woman. I think it is an important stand to take for Hollywood. Why are hard working people like Jones never talked about or given the proper respect? They are a huge part of a film’s production and add the tiny details on a set that often go unnoticed.

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True Detective Spotlight

February 24, 2014February 24, 2014 · Leave a comment ·

When Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey made the deliriously comedic Edtv together in 1999, I would find it hard to imagine they would be tag teaming in HBO’s darkly brilliant 8 hour miniseries True Detective over 13 years later. Then again, each actor had taken chances by then in addition to their well-known comfort zones. Woody didn’t stray too far from his weirdo humor except for random occasions like Natural Born Killers and The People Versus Larry Flynt(both involving a heavy dose of dark humor). McConaughey flirted with his demons in Frailty and Lone Star.

Trust me when I say that each actor is on a completely different level here. Their work on this show tells you how much of a roll they have been on in recent years. Playing a pair of detectives investigating a gruesome crime in 1995 while they tell modern investigators about their methods in present day, the two actors are spellbindingly flawless in their roles.

Creator and writer Nick Pizzalatto frames the 8 hours around these two cops and their personal lives. Martin Hart (Harrelson) is a deeply flawed man with a wife and kids yet is slowly crumbling under the weight of infidelity and nerves that are nearly fried. McConaughey’s Rust Cohle is the polar opposite, a spiritual outcast who gives new meaning to the word eccentric and practices methods other detectives find creepy and uncomfortable.

Watching these two work with each other and get lost inside these deeply layered roles, a viewer is taken aback at what they are watching. Are these the same guys who wasted a decent part of their career playing softball instead of spending more time in the A List pro class? It’s a marvel to partake in every single hour.

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THE LEGO MOVIE Works for Adults

February 10, 2014February 10, 2014 · Leave a comment ·

How are we doing? Here, I bring you a review of the LEGO movie. I saw this on Friday with my wife and found it to be a good time and a refreshing surprise. I’ll tell you why.

Quick Plot-An ordinary LEGO minifigure, mistakenly thought to be the extraordinary MasterBuilder, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil LEGO tyrant from gluing the universe together.

My Take-I know what you are thinking. Is Buffa really coming here to tell me that I should see a movie about Lego toys? Well, the answer is yes. And I have a few reasons. This isn’t a sappy joyless experience for adults. This is a laugh out loud comedy that includes hat tips to other movies, makes fun of classics like Star Wars, Batman Begins and has a title straight out of the Matrix. The argument can be made that Chris Pratt’s Emmett has more personality than Keanu Reeves’ Neo and the former is basically a toy. Look, this movie isn’t mind blowing but it’s a refreshing blend of nostalgia and sharp comedy.

The cast voice work is amazing and perfect. Morgan Freeman provides a voice here as a noble mentor and seems to be having fun and playing with his image at the same time. Elizabeth Banks supplies one of the sexiest and coolest female lines every about 20 minutes in, “Come with me if you want to not die”. Will Arnett is a blast as the voice of a very very serious Batman, who thinks he is awesome. An argument can be made for him voicing Ben Affleck’s Batman in 2016. There is an obvious riff going on here with Christian Bale’s ultra serious tone of voice in the Christopher Nolan films and I think even the Welsh actor would get a kick out of Arnett’s work here. Liam Neeson’s two faced cop is also cool and spins the bottle on over the top cop roles in films. Will Ferrell has a couple roles here and is very good.

This is an animated(for the most part) film about one completely regular and inept man saving the world and it’s all done with the filmmakers winking at you. Nothing is played straight here and it’s a fun time. When I first saw the preview I was a little hesitant to give this any excitement but after watching the trailer again and taking it in the other night I can tell you this movie is as much for adults as it is for kids. It is the most unlikely comedy breakout of the year and maybe even the past couple years. What seems like a terrible idea at first and something directed more at kids comes off as a production that worked quite well.

You can tell when the actors even phone in voice work and here that is not the case. Neeson and Freeman are having a great time giving their kids a movie to watch and also one their colleagues can appreciate as well. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller walked a fine line here in coming up with punch lines, jokes and ways to make this movie cool without losing either audience. What they did was make a fine endorsement for the toys yet give the adults a funny flick to enjoy.

This movie may cause parents to interact and built Lego’s with their kids a little more in the future. They will do this and hope well known actors make them come to life and start speaking. What they will get is good family time. Hollywood didn’t just make a good comedy here. They made Lego’s cool again.

Philip Seymour Hoffman 1967-2014

February 5, 2014February 5, 2014 · Leave a comment ·

**I wrote this for http://www.film-addict.com on Sunday night after he passed, and I thought it was worth sharing here.**

Philip Seymour Hoffman has died at the age of 46. He was found dead in his Greenwich Village apartment of an apparent drug overdose. Dan Buffa takes a brief look at his acting career.

Since we get so caught up in their ability to create, perform and dazzle us with their ability, moviegoers forget that the men and women who have the ability to transform are not invincible. Sports fans fall under the same spell, forgetting the larger than life athletes can fall prey to the same addictions and hazards that befall many people every year. Philip Seymour Hoffman had a serious drug and alcohol addiction over 23 years ago in college, and was able to kick the habit before he entered the world of film. Today, he fell prey to the deadly habit of heroin use and was found dead, hypodermic needle in his arm and fully clothed, in his Manhattan apartment. He was 46 years old.

Recent film fans remember him guiding young Katniss Everdeen in November’s Catching Fire. He had finished filming the next installment, Mockingjay: Part 1, but was in the midst of filming Part 2. Hoffman won an Oscar for Capote in 2005 and was nominated for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master last year. More than the awards though, Hoffman was a chameleon. He slipped into comedy roles early on in his career before becoming a tour de force dramatic actor. In Sidney Lumet’s Before The Devil Knows You Are Dead, he was the older brother of Ethan Hawke who had to wrangle out of the most deadliest web of deceit and murder. When I think of his acting prowness, I think of Hoffman’s conniving brother plotting an escape from hell and vocally slapping around Hawke’s inept brother.

Hoffman convinced you he was a gambler, a cheat, a murderer, a Tornado chaser, a bad basketball player, a musician and a famous writer. That’s what the greatest actors do. They convince you they can be completely different people and do it sometimes up to 3 times a year. In The Master(admittedly a hard film to love), Hoffman played a man condemned by his own religious beliefs and seemed to hit a high that the rest of the film could never reach. Hoffman could dominate a troubled film, elevate a bad movie and brighten up an already strong film. He was part of an all star cast including Christopher Walken and Catherine Keener in 2012’s A Late Quartet and gave a heartbreaking performance as a musician stuck in a career trap. It was another great performance and something we came to expect from the actor.

Look at his small yet pivotal role in Almost Famous as Lester Bangs. Playing the old rock journalist guiding our young William along his path to not being “uncool”. Speaking the majority of his part over the phone with Patrick Fugit, Hoffman conveyed a soulful yet preachy older poet, making a last minute attempt to tutor a young mad soul about the depths of which music will drag you down.

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“Her” Is A Romantic Mind Trip

January 31, 2014 · Leave a comment ·

Ladies and gents, here is my Dose of Buffa movie review special. Since Landon Burris reviewed this film for my site, film-addict.com, I come here with my take on the film. I watched it at The Moolah last night and came away impressed, dazed, confused and looking at my IPhone a bit differently. As always this will be quick and blunt. First, let’s provide you with a setup.

PLOT-Theodore is a love letter writer in the near future and while his warm words liven up plenty of lives around the world, he is full of grief, regret and sadness. When he acquires a new operating system with a female voice, everything in his life starts to change. What kind of effect can a piece of software have on our lives if it were developed specifically for human interaction? Spike Jonze’s tale dives straight into that.

MY TAKE-This film presents you with quite the experience. Think of a world where the Siri on your IPhone suddenly developed into something much more. Think about a world where Siri became your secretary, best friend and lover all at the same time. That is what writer/director Spike Jonze is pointing at with his latest film, Her.

Without the effortless grace of Joaquin Phoenix, who play broken hearted better than any actor alive, this film would fall apart. He is our moral compass and the character who serves as our point of view for the entire film. His Theodore is a great writer of love letters(personalized Hallmark cards) but a man who is still suffering from the bluntness of a divorce and working his way into a world where connection is starting to be done via computer and person instead of face to face. Thank goodness Phoenix’s rapper detour was a hoax because the man is a gifted actor. The most subtle line readings and quirks in Theodore are flushed alive by the same man who once played Johnny Cash so well.

Jonze’s future is an interesting one. You no longer type on computers. Everything is voice activated. You command a standard operating system to read your emails, texts and news instead of scanning for them. Phones have gotten smaller and look like a small pocket book. Video games are played like an advanced version of Wii. People rarely stop to talk in public. Everyone seems to be talking to themselves. At first, it’s weird and doesn’t sit straight. Eventually, the familiarity of LA’s skyline(given a futuristic wipe here) and the new fashion styles and way of life encompass your world as if it was there all along.

Scarlett Johansson is the voice operating system called Samantha, and she becomes not only a part of Theodore’s life but connects to him in a way that we have always wanted our computers to do yet couldn’t find the way to execute it. She arranges his documents, emails and schedule. She gets him up in the morning and also wants to hear about his life. At first, the coupling is pleasant and serves as the perfect ally or wingman in the world. Your personal adviser inside your earlobe.

Then, Samantha wants to know more, want more, and is curious about the physical parts of Theodore’s world. I will be honest and admit. The sex scenes and erotic nature of this film produce laughs and intimacy within the audience and frames the idea of Jonze’s direct/indirect design of the world.

Johansson is amazing using only her voice and making you crave the rest. Voice work is no easy task when you have to go through the gauntlet of emotions inside a serious film. Scarlett does great work here creating this OS that seems to be so real yet is something we can’t touch yet…want to. Amy Adams gives a more introspective, soulful and more impressive performance(gasp!) here than she does in her Oscar nominated work in American Hustle. Her scenes with Phoenix are the lone bit of real human connection here that seems familiar and seemed at the same time. Rooney Mara and Chris Pratt give fine supporting performances in key roles.

All in all, this film works as a romantic drama that doesn’t forget to make you laugh. There is one episode of early phone sex that will have you laughing loudly(let’s just say pregnant nude photos mixed with sexy kittens). I like the fact that Jonze keeps you off balance with the injections of different genres and plot developments. We are never too comfortable with Samantha or her relationship with Theodore and that is the point. Separating artificial intelligence from real human interaction while appreciating the value of both and using it to wake yourself up. When we first me our Theo, he is smiling yet lost and hollow. By the end, he has traveled a bit and we have seen that transformation. Jonze doesn’t forget to enrich the journey while tripping your mind with different ideas.

Her is unpredictable, earnest, impressively acted and presents a brave new world to us while filling our eyes with candy. I highly recommend it.

An Interview With Author Joyce Maynard

January 29, 2014 · Leave a comment ·

My Film-Addict connections presented me with a chance to interview author Joyce Maynard a couple of weeks ago and I jumped at the chance. Her book, Labor Day, is being made into a film and without giving away too much, I can recommend the film. Maynard is a celebrated author, known to some folks for her long list of novels and for her memoir chronicling her time with J.D. Salinger decades ago. In person, she is quite exquisite and wonderful. A free speaker and a proud woman who can bake a fine peach pie, write a decent love story and holds a conversation well. I posted this film-addict piece last week and wanted to share it here with my Dose subscribers and readers. This wasn’t my normal interview. I brought the kid with me and Joyce got a kick out of it. The conversation last 30 minutes and touched on a lot of things.

“If you choose to be a cynic, there are lots of things you can pick at (with Labor Day). I choose to go on this journey. I’m a romantic.”- Joyce Maynard

I’d like to say I am built out of equal parts in my beliefs and perspectives. There are areas of life where I maintain a cynical outlook on the world and others where I have more emotional views. However, when it comes to love and matters of the heart, I am 100 percent old school romance. I am not alone in that area. Joyce Maynard, celebrated author of Labor Day, spares nothing with her words and wears her heart on her sleeve when she writes her novels.

Labor Day was adapted for the screen and directed by Jason Reitman, and on a press tour stop, I had a chance to sit down and talk to Maynard. The story is about a mother and son who take in a mysterious man who has just escaped from prison. What starts out as a hostage situation takes a very unpredictable turn and springs many surprises on the reader. The same effect happened with my interview assignment. What started out as an interview assignment quickly turned into a passionate comfortable conversation about life, choices and of course, the book’s story and characters.

“This is not a cynical movie. It’s an unconventional love story. Do we really want to see how life goes? I like to imagine the way it would go. It’s not perfect. I wasn’t going to make some Nicholas Sparks happily after fairy tale. This is a believable love story for mature people.”

The interview was on Thursday in downtown St. Louis, a day after the evening screening I took in at The Tivoli. Maynard held a Q & A after that event, and I was the lucky one who was sitting behind her at the screening. When the lights went up and before she could make it way to the front of the theater, I had the chance to introduce myself and ask her what she thought of the film. This is where a lot of celebs would brush you off and proceed on. Maynard instead leaned in and poignantly said, “It’s such a beautiful film”. Once you get a chance to talk to this lovely woman, you see that she doesn’t waste any encounter in life and takes her fans as seriously as they take her stories. In the entertainment business, it’s a two way street and fortunately for this writer, Maynard lives on it.

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Top 10 Films of 2013 + Extras

January 16, 2014 · 2 Comments ·

In 2013, I saw 86 films. Picking out my top ten can feel like selecting the 10 kids from that monstrous pack of creation that stuck with me the longest or were just superbly produced. As the months go by, the list grows and sometimes an early hit wonder of mine (Quartet) can fall off the list due to a wonderful Hollywood finish. Once again, my top film of 2013 probably won’t be nominated for any main Oscar categories. That’s not the point when a critic selects his list. The most important thing is to pick a film that hit you the hardest, made you reflect on it the longest and had you holding every other film against it. Without further delay, let me unveil my top 10 list of movies in 2013. Agree or not, this is my list and I am sticking to it.

Dan Buffa’s Top 10 Films of 2013

10.) Captain Phillips

Tom Hanks anchored this true story of the Maersk Alabama freighter being taken over by Somali Pirates. Director Paul Greengrass laced this film with an unusual tension that kept you hidden from the details of how this story unfolded. Hats off to Hanks for blowing me away again with a final scene that saw his character finally come undone and the brilliant thespian bared every ounce of emotion a performer could inside one scene.

9.) Gravity

Credit Alfonso Cuaron and his son Jonas with redefining the horrors of space with their nail biting masterpiece. Sandra Bullock proves The Blind Side was only a warm-up round for her skill set as she anchored this 90 minute pulse pounding story of a pair of astronauts being stranded in the worst possible place. George Clooney offered assured support but this movie belonged to Bullock.

8.) The Place Beyond The Pines

The first film of 2013 to officially knock me on my ass was Derek Cianfrance’s powerful ode to fathers and sons. Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper split up the running time and a powerful supporting cast including Ray Liotta, Eva Mendes and Dana Dehaan made every bit of detail sting our nerves as this epic drama drew to its conclusion. If there is a dark horse for directing this year in the Oscars, it’s writer/director Cianfrance, a filmmaker who makes movies that move him and aim to floor us. Well done, sir.

7.) The Spectacular Now

Director James Ponsoldt rightfully let his two stars, Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley, take control of Scott Neustadter’s script and the result was a coming of age wallop akin to the effect left by last year’s Perks of Being A Wallflower. Teller and Woodley were soulfully vulnerable and made us crawl into the large funnel tube that is teenage angst. The quiet moments in this film were its best, where it dared to step outside the bounds of a usual young romance film. Keep an eye on Teller.

6.) The Wolf of Wall Street

Martin Scorsese’s intoxicating and detailed riff on Wall Street gangsters in the 1990’s was given the proper jolt of swagger by leading man/Marty muse Leonardo DiCaprio(no actor dominated a film more so this year) and a solid supporting cast. Terrence Winter’s script spared little in Jordan Belfort’s drug fueled sex packed rage endowed fall from grace and DiCaprio was like a bull rider, dragging us through the final few moments of this 3 hour epic dance through the devil’s lobby of temptation. Stop complaining about Scorsese giving the stage to this real life mad man and just bow at his ability to make you care about him in the end.

5.) The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The most involved and relatable film of 2013 and probably the past few years, Ben Stiller’s adaptation of James Thurber’s short story was just about perfectly rendered. A regular man who escapes via daydreaming finally gets to live one of those wild tales out in real life. Sean Penn, Shirley Maclaine, and Kristen Wiig offered occasional grace, but Stiller is the virtuoso at work here, warming out hearts with this unlikely hero and making us laugh at the same time. This film had a heart of gold.

4.) 12 Years A Slave

We all know about the horrors of slavery, but director Steve McQueen and leading star and sure fire Best Actor candidate Chiwetel Ejiofor tell you the whole story here and it feels like a band aide being ripped off your skin about one of the darkest spot’s in this nations history. Michael Fassbender astounds as a pure evil slave owner and Lupita Nyong’o(like Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips) opened our eyes on a brand new talent. This film will win a lot of Oscars and deserves just about every one of them.

3.) Prisoners

This film just beat me up in the same manner Zero Dark Thirty did, in a good way of course. Intense, powerful, thought provoking and overly personal for this father. If Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal aren’t nominated for their career best work here, something is wrong with the academy. You will never see the final third coming, at least not all the details. Director Denis Villeneuve immerses us in the process of a missing child’s case and stages things perfectly while screenwriter Aaron Guzikowski doesn’t pull any punches with these painfully real characters. Prisoners rocked me.

2.) Fruitvale Station

The best film I didn’t see coming was Ryan Coogler’s take on the sad story of Oscar Grant, played with award worthy authority by Michael B. Jordan. Together, these two brave men present us with the raw angry good hearted man with a criminal past and violent tendency who had the encounter of a lifetime on New Year’s Eve in 2008. This movie made me take a long walk after seeing it before I could get in my car and go home. Tightly wound and brilliantly conceived.

1.) Lone Survivor

Peter Berg was born to direct this brutally heroic true story of a Navy Seal mission gone wrong that led to a David VS. Goliath styled shootout in the mountains of Afghanistan. Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster and Emile Hirsch are the four man crew sent to gather intelligence on a Taliban that are ambushed and find themselves in a one sided battle. Berg makes sure you feel every bone crunch and skin tear, and the actors(especially Wahlberg) give a fearless heart to these real life heroes. This movie demands your attention even though it won’t win any major awards because of its relentless display of violence that actually happened. The best war movie since Saving Private Ryan; this movie hits you like a bullet to the chest.

Random Categories-

Best Sequel-The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Man of Steel was heavy and thick. Iron Man 3 was very light at times. Wolverine was better than the last Logan mission but not great. Catching Fire, anchored by the hottest actress in Hollywood Jennifer Lawrence and an excellent supporting cast, was equal parts action packed, dramatically involved and all together thrilling. I saw it twice and would see it again. There wasn’t a minute wasted there.

Most Fun At The Movies-Fast & Furious 6

Bittersweet entertainment in a way with the death of co-star Paul Walker in November, the sixth entry in the street racing family saga had a special kind of flavor to it with The Rock joining forces with Diesel and company. Everything was perfectly over the top and the stunts were amazing and once again underrated throughout Hollywood who dismissed the action film as stupidity. Well, it’s called a summer blockbuster for a reason. Popcorn blast! The Rock and Diesel tag teaming a monstrous Russian or the ultimate girlfight between Gina Carano and Michelle Rodriguez or the plane/runaway car chase. Name a scene in this flick and it gets the blood flowing quick. Please don’t confuse furious with Oscar here folks. It’s all cool in the gang. And we can’t forget the greatest use of a post credits sequence, with the arrival of the one and only British badass Jason Statham to the mix in round 7 as the bad guy. 2015 can’t come soon enough if you ask me.

Biggest Disappointment-Inside Llewyn Davis

This looked like a wonderful combination of music, drama, and acting but in the end only the performance of Oscar Isaac stuck with me. Easy and smooth. The Coen Brothers will be adored for their work again but to me it was an uneven film with a nagging storytelling method and a result that felt incomplete. The filmmakers always make films that are called magnificent that fail to register with me as anything other than good or decent. I thought the infusion of folk songs would push this one further up but in the end the murky directing and storytelling left me filling unfulfilled.

Best Overall Performer-Matthew McConaughey

There isn’t a hotter actor in the game right now than the Texan who redefined our expectations when seeing him headline a film. On a roll in more ways than one, McConaughey gave three Oscar worthy performances in 2013. In Dallas Buyers Club, he was a renegade electrician who used the AIDS disease to regenerate his hunger to live. In Mud, he was a wanted man living in the woods pining for his lost love who connects with a pair of kids instead. In The Wolf of Wall Street, he had three scenes and owned every one of them as Mark Hanna, the original wolf who teaches Belfort how to hunt. McConaughey’s story continues in 2014 with HBO’s True Detective and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.

Best Acting in a Single Scene-Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips

With barely any dialogue and a load of internal combustion, nerves showing and all, Hanks reminds you why he is one of the best in the business and constantly surprising us.

That’s all I got. Come back for Doses of Buffa this month as the reviews and analysis continue.

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Dan Buffa is the co-creator, administrator and writer for the movie website, film-addict.com. He also contributes to United Cardinal Bloggers, Arch City Sports, Aaron Miles Fastball, Voicesfilm.com and writes for his personal blog, www.doseofbuffa.com. He is also a published writer for the Yahoo Contributor Network. Dan is a St. Louis, Missouri born and raised writer with a need to inform and the ability to pound out 1,000-1,500 word pieces with ease. When he isn’t writing or drinking coffee, he is spending time with his wife and son in South City. Follow him at @buffa82 on Twitter and reach him for thoughts, comments and general feedback at buffa82@gmail.com.

Lone Survivor: The Best I Saw in 2013

January 11, 2014January 12, 2014 · Leave a comment ·

I’ll be honest. Peter Berg’s tribute to Marcus Luttrell, who was a part of a mission gone wrong in 2005 called Operation Red Wing, is as powerful as it gets and deserves every set of eyes this month as it gets released wide. I saw it in November and was knocked on my ass immediately. Here is my take and why it is the best thing I saw in 2013.

Quick Setup-Mark Wahlberg stars as Marcus Luttrell, the author of the first-person memoir “Lone Survivor,” whose book has become a motivational resource for its lessons on how the power of the human spirit is tested when we are pushed beyond our mental and physical limits. Starring alongside Wahlberg as the other members of the SEAL team are Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch and Ben Foster.

My Take-Peter Berg was born to bring the story of Marcus Luttrell and his fallen brothers to the big screen. If there is one director capable of visceral action, high stakes drama and a real world compass, it’s the filmmaker who gave us Friday Night Lights and The Kingdom. Remember 2012’s alien action flick Battleship with Taylor Kitsch? Berg made that movie so Universal Pictures would let him make this passionately intense and highly brutal true story of a failed Navy Seal operation. Recruiting his longtime muse Kitsch, Berg has made one of the best movies I have seen all year and the most powerful war film since Saving Private Ryan.

In a cast anchored by the performance of Mark Wahlberg, Berg sets his sights on Operation Red Wing, a recon mission where four Seals were supposed to gather intelligence on a Taliban leader for a possible capture/kill. Instead, they were spotted by locals and had to literally shoot their way towards survival. Berg got the full consent of all the men’s families and those include Luttrell, Mike Axelson(Ben Foster), Mike Murphy(Kitsch) and Dan Dietz(Emile Hirsch). More than anything, this film is a dedication to the men and women who sacrifice themselves to keep us safe and it’s a direct salute to the dangerous waters and terrain that Navy Seals deal with every time they step foot on a mission.

In the opening credits, we get a glimpse of the vicious training they are put through. These men are truly built to become machines and defend the honor of the United States. While the movie’s overall tone is drenched in imminent dread and sadness, a raw heroism is at the center of the story (crafted by Berg). Luttrell(who has a small cameo in the film) and several other Navy Seals participated in the production and you feel it throughout the film. The story isn’t dipped in Hollywood melodrama and instead delivered like a bullet to the chest.

A true physical director, Berg spares you nothing in the carnage department. I credit his bravura filmmaking here, unleashing the mayhem at full power. Once these guys hit the dirt and try to escape, the action gets intense very quick. Limbs breaks, bullet wounds, and bombs feel like they land in the seat next to you. This film contains the longest and most visceral action sequence since Saving Private Ryan’s opening scene on D-Day.

The cast is perfectly assembled. Wahlberg got to know Luttrell and the actor brings the dramatic chops and professionalism to a bittersweet role. His outburst at a recent awards show came straight from the heart and the fact that he is playing a man who literally walked through hell on earth. Kitsch is strong and shows his badass ability in playing the leader of the group, Murphy. Foster adds a heroic flavor to his usual complex menace and Hirsch is the reliably earnest young man simply trying to survive. Eric Bana lends a fine supporting hand as the Lieutenant Commander Erik S. Kristensen. Berg handpicked these guys and they grow into fully fleshed out roles. By the time they hit the battle field, they feel like a person and not a caricature.

At the end of the film, real footage of the men is put on display to the sounds of Peter Gabriel’s cover of “Heroes” and the fantastic instrumental band Explosions in the Sky(a Berg favorite). This is where you see where Berg’s heart is located and why this film matters so much to the families and to people who value the sacrifice made by these soldiers in the worst of times. Sometimes movies only wish to show the victorious battles of our history. Lone Survivor dares to unveil a dark hour in our Navy’s history and through the blood and loss, the rust and bone of heroism shows its true soul. Thanks to a courageously electric filmmaker willing to go to the depths of hell to tell a hard-nosed story and a flawless cast, this film is one of the best I’ve seen all year and has a spot on my top 10 films of 2013. You will walk away feeling happy to be under Marcus Luttrell’s watch.

***Dan Buffa is the co-creator, administrator and writer for the movie website, film-addict.com. He also contributes to United Cardinal Bloggers, Arch City Sports, Aaron Miles Fastball, Voicesfilm.com and writes for his personal blog, www.doseofbuffa.com. He is also a published writer for the Yahoo Contributor Network. Dan is a St. Louis, Missouri born and raised writer with a need to inform and the ability to pound out 1,000-1,500 word pieces with ease. When he isn’t writing or drinking coffee, he is spending time with his wife and son in South City. Follow him at @buffa82 on Twitter and reach him for thoughts, comments and general feedback at buffa82@gmail.com.