First off "The Last War" was written, produced, and directed by a gentlemen by the name of Amodio Giordano. I met him at the advertising agency I worked. We both loved George Romero, and were a fan of the his work. My credits on this film were the cinematography, the editing, and sound mix, and I'm billed as associate producer. Amodio and I were a two man crew, and we acquired our equipment from Staten Island Community television. Amodio is a great graphic artist, and he even made a poster for it which hangs on my wall in my office at home. Another man who should be credited is also my friend Andy, also named maxruehl on YouTube. Andy helped in the mix, and I believe it is his moan that we hear in the Church sequence. We slowed it down, and filtered it.
The sound mix is credited to Charlie Banner & Nick Devito which was in reality Amodio and I. We mixed the entire film in one Saturday at the agency. It took about 8 to 10 hours, and it came out really well for the equipment we were using. The original soundtrack was by a man named Ron Granger, and our recording engineer was Roger Bartlett. Ron had toured with Patti Labelle, and Roger was responsible for some of the music in "Urban Cowboy". Both Amodio and I visited his home studio in NYC, and were amazed to see two Gold records on his wall. It was my first brush with some great artists, and I never forgot it.
The video was edited on an old A/B editor that could do dissolves. We edited the film over two week-ends I think, but I'm not to sure. We even took out shooting permits, which came in handy when a highway officer stopped us while we were filming on a Staten Island road way. We showed the officer the permit and he smiled and said have a good day.
The film was shot over two week-ends I believe. One day Amodio and I had over slept, and we had to boogie out the door to the shoot. I stayed overnight with Amodio and his family, and it was a very communal feeling. I liked that. We were doing what we loved, and I was getting some great shots. Everything looked good, and even though we weren't shooting film I really loved the images we got. Later Amodio would decide to put the images in Black & white, and keep the past footage in color. We had discussed the possibility of doing this throughout the shoot, so I shot accordingly. It was a good choice and one that helps the film.
The film even won in two categories in the Nova film festival. It won best video in health & environment, and best original teleplay. Amodio deserves the credit for this neat little film, and I cannot help express my appreciation to our star Noel Catti, who was a real trooper throughout the shoot. Amodio and I eventually helped him with his video project which was a Christmas musical. Another BIG thanks goes to our voice. The incomparable Geordie McNeil. Geordie was the agencies resident voice. He has done commercial voice over work, and he is a great editor & producer.
The film was shot in 1990, so its old, but the work still stands out, and it's a good film. I had hoped that we would carry this working relationship into making a feature, but that all collapsed, and never was. Like all things it was great working on it, and it was a lot of hard work, and passion. I thought it deserved to be put on-line and viewed.
When one has children, and they're home on winter break one needs to do something that the kids like to do. One solution was to take them to the movies. For entertainment for children this movie hits all the right buttons. For me it was a bit more slapstick then I cared for, but the kids loved it. The plot is lame, and the story is weak, but that's not the point in this movie. It's all about the site gags, and the funny situations our three main characters get into. Even I at times enjoyed the movie. Especially when I heard my two boys laugh at the antics on the screen. If you have little ones you can't miss with this. I even heard the wife laugh a couple of times at some jokes, so it does appeal to a wide variety of people. Even I wasn't immune to the sophomore jokes ad antics. It's fun for the family, and the kids will like it too. So I won't go into detail about the movie because there isn't much to say about the film. It's meant to be a distrac
I know, I know. Long time, but I'm back and the first movie I review is a kids film. Having children of my own they have grown up with Alvin, Theodore and Simon, so when this film hit the theaters you know I had to go. This is the third. Yes the third film in the series of the chipmunk movies. Each one is cute and interesting, but they are defiantly geared to the children. In this film Dave and the boys along with the chipettes go on cruise. Yes you remember them from the second movie don't you? Anyhow the chipmunks get shipwrecked on an island after disobeying Dave ( Jason Lee ). Dave and Uncle Ian ( David Cross ) also get shipwrecked on an island, and need to find the chipmunks. That is of course if this is the same island as where the chipmunks are, and if you're thinking it isn't then I have a bridge to sell to you in Brooklyn. The movie is a bit of slapstick, and moral lesson for the kids. Sure we laugh when the chipmunks cause havoc on the cruis
The film Megan is a sci-fi/horror film with a lot of dark humor, which makes the movie so interesting to watch. I had to say this was not on my radar to see. I thought maybe one day on cable or streaming, but my youngest wanted to see it and so I was game. I'm glad I did see this and I was pleasantly surprised how good it was. I should also say seeing this at he movies was a treat. The direction, the cinematography, and the whole feel of the film gave me an appreciation of this film that I would not have gotten otherwise. To label this a horror film would be a mistake. It has horror elements in it but it's science fiction more than anything else with a dash of horror. I do like that the film takes the old Frankenstein myth and updates it to the digital era. I think because of this the film is a better for it. The graphic violence is played off screen which works. If you're a gore hound you will be disappointed, but it does not subtract from the film plot. In fact
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