Amherst Lane

Bush builds Nazi death camps

Tony — Thu, 31 May 2007 20:10:50 +0000

All my friends think that I’m a “conspiracy theorist”. I actually view myself as realist. I hope after reading this news article, that your eyes are as open as mine.

I’m thinking that when the elections roll around, some “incident” is going to happen. Bush will declare martial law and stay in office. Once they have absolute control over our nation, anyone that protests will get put in the detention centers. Hmmm…..sounds so familiar.

Bush hires Haliburton to build Nazi death camps

Happily Never After/ Crappily Never After

Tony — Thu, 31 May 2007 20:02:47 +0000

Michael and I wanted to watch a guilty pleasure movie because we were bored. I have to say that we rolled snake eyes on this animated pile of #$$#@. Don’t get me wrong. The animation itself is amazing. My hat is off to the animators. Those guys must have been pulling their hair out after sitting in front of a monitor with the worst script ever written. Even Sigourney Weaver’s voice acting couldn’t bring this thing to life. It was boring, predictable, and not even funny in the slightest sense. The only way to make this movie enjoyable is to turn the volume off and replace it with either Russian overdubbing, or Death Metal.

Spiderman 3

Tony — Wed, 09 May 2007 14:03:40 +0000

What can I say, Spiderman 3 wasn’t quite what I expected. After the first two this sequel was kind of a let down. I can sum up exactly what’s wrong with this movie in one phrase, too many characters.

Spiderman 3 was a chance to show the darker side of Spiderman and more importantly the concepts of redemption and forgiveness. In this movie everything is finally going right for Peter parker. Everyone loves Spiderman, and he is going to ask Mary Jane to marry him. And as always things start to fall apart, starting with the introduction of three villains.

This movie is a crowwwwwded house. Having three villains in Spiderman 3 (get it…3) and two love interests, was probably the first mistake they made. I won’t blame this one on the director Sam Raimi. He’s done an awesome job with the last two, and probably had less to say about this than the producers did. Having three antagonists made this movie feel rushed. Two of the villains had to be introduced, which took a lot away from the character development. It also made the movie feel rushed in places. Although I think Raimi did his best with all three, I think two should have been the limit on this one. Also, I think adding Gwen Stacy was a nice touch, but once again, too many people.

Also, this movie could have done without the “buddy” scene at the end. Harry Osbourne and Spiderman team up to battle the sandman and Venom. It’s directed like some cheesy 80’s movie, complete with lots of buddy banter. There is even a sequence where Spiderman is riding Harry’s Goblin board with him. This just became too over the top at the end.

I will have to say that visually, Spiderman 3 was an amazing movie. I know a lot of people didn’t like the use of the Venom character in this movie, but I loved it. The CG effects were tastefully done and not overused. The best part is early in the movie when Venom is introduced. He lands on Earth in a meteorite and attaches itself to Peter’s bike. The symbiote creeps around like a gooey spider that is very convincing. Also, the scene in the bell tower is nicely done.

Overall it wasn’t a bad movie, but not what I was expecting. Don’t waste your money at the theatre, wait for it to hit video.

Cinemechanica @ Monkey Wrench Books - SXSW

Tony — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 17:22:03 +0000

Rene and I showed up at 10 am to check out Cinemechanica, and a few other bands playing that day. Cinemechanica actually drove all the way to Austin from Atlanta Georgia to do one show at Monkey Wrench Books. After four bands and five hours, Cinemechanica went on. The only thing I can say is, it was worth the wait.

I have rarely seen such a powerful presence from a band. These guys are like a math rock band, with a rock a aesthetic. They are loud and heavy without losing their melodic drive. The current lineup sports two drummers, and after hearing them live, you know why. The drumming is tight and complex with out being overly flashy. Like a concrete backbone, the rhythm section kept everything moving forward at a furious pace. It almost reminded of the auditory assault one gets while watching the drum corp in a marching band. After seeing their thirty minute set at Monkey Wrench, I was practically speechless.

As usual, talking about music is like dancing about architecture. Just go to the link and check them out. Make sure that you watch the video.- Tony

cinemechanica

Wolf Creek- Greg McLean

Tony — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 19:14:42 +0000

So, my new woman is “forcing” me to watch a whole bunch of horror movies I haven’t seen yet. Needless to say, I’m getting a kick out of it. We watched Wolf Creek the other day. Now, it’s not the best movie I’ve ever seen, but it is definitely worth watching.

Wolf Creek is about three friends in Australia who go on a road trip. they end up getting stranded at Wolf Creek. They are “saved” by an old Aussie named Mick Taylor. Afer Mick tows them back to his garage, madness ensues a la Texas Chainsaw Massacre style. The three friends find themselves being tortured and brutalized by the sadistic Aussie.

As far as horror films go, I’ve seen more inventive storys. But, with that said, the real draw to Wolf Creek is it’s realism. The concept of the film is based on trying to decide what it would really be like to be in the middle of nowhere, in the hands of a psychopath. The script is gritty, and the acting superb. Definitely watch this one if you don’t have anything better to do.
I give this one a “Check your backseat at night, and don’t let strangers tow you anywhere….mate.” -Tony

Joanna Newsom

Tony — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 09:39:24 +0000

It’s so rare that I come across someone who intrigues me so much with their presence, and sound. Joanna is an excellent harp player with a child-like voice that at first was a little disturbing, but is always engaging.
Joanna Newsome has a childlike quality to her sound that reminds me of what it is like to create music without judgement or self-criticism. She is an old soul with a sound of pure creativity. If you haven’t checked out “The Milk-Eyed Mender” or “Ys” You’re missing out.
Here’s a link to “The Book of Right On.” -Tony Joanna Newsom

Zoom

Tony — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 20:02:05 +0000

Ok, so I’m a nerd. I love anything that has to do with super powers and comic books…except this movie. Zoom is a movie about a jaded ex-superhero who is hired by the government to train a group of super-powered kids. It sounds like a great idea on paper. (Hell, I loved Sky High), but the problem with this movie is cheese. I guess maybe I went into this one expecting something that everyone could like. I mean Peter Dewitt did “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey”. Unfortunately, this movie is targeted only at kids. Zoom is definitely for the Nickelodeon crowd. Don’t get me wrong, There were some decent performances by Tim Allen (aka Zoom), Courtney Cox, and if you can believe it, Chevy Chase, but they don’t help the movie that much. It’s funny that they chose Chevy to play the government scientist in this movie. The entire feel of the movie was that of a National Lampoon film. In fact, there is even one scene where the kids lock Chevy in a room that simulates weather. They spend several minutes of the movie torturing him Lampoon style. This felt like a guilty pleasure for the director and made for one of the most pointless scenes . The special effects were ok, and the acting was fair, which didn’t make this movie a total bust. But, the character development was predictable and one-dimensional. Of course, this is a kids movie after all. I give this movie a definite “Don’t waste your time unless you’re baby-sitting your eight year old brother.”- Tony

New storyboards

Tony — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 01:44:52 +0000

I have new storyboards up in the Gallery section. Thanks to my brother Michael for taking over the coloring for me. Wonder Twin powers activate!!
These are for our upcoming short film “Under Observation”. -Tony

Comic Mayhem Mashup

Rhett — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 20:27:36 +0000

The Amherst Lane crew is at it again with another podcast investigating the history of the comic book movie. Relive the memories as we dissect the success and failures of these two colliding monolithic genres.

length: 10 min. 14 sec.

Tony’s Top Movies of 2006

Tony — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 07:51:49 +0000

I didn’t watch as many movies as I would have liked this year. I’m sure some really amazing pieces of cinema didn’t make on my list. Here are my top fifteen movies without the five best. Just as Rene said in his post, you’ll have to wait for the podcast for those. And, since I’m a punk, I’m going to one-up Rene. I’m adding a little comment of why these movies are on my list.

6. Beerfest-
The funniest movie I’ve seen in a long time. (I love you Broken Lizard)

7.V for Vendetta-
It’s easy these days to miss the message of a story when you we have such amazing special effects. This one got it right. (Even if Alan Moore hates everything about Hollywood, it doesn’t stop him from letting them make the movies.)

8. Little miss sunshine-
Just watch this one. That little girl is precious.

9. Lady in the Water-
Not M. Night’s best movie, but it still made my top 15

10. Slither
Nathan Fillion is my new Bruce Campbell.

11. Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny
THE D !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

12. The Descent
Rene and I cringed through half of this movie together. One of the only scary movies I enjoyed last year.

13. Nacho Libre
I can’t get enough Jack Black in stretchy pants!!

14. superman returns
Everyone who knows me, knows I’m an Uber Dork for superhero movies. X-3 made me want to cry. At least Bryan Singer brought back our beloved boy in blue. Superman was not the best superhero movie I’ve seen, but I definitely see good things in the future for this franchise.

15. An Inconveniant Truth
I’m not sure how scientifically proven Al’s information is, but he throws one hell of a slide show. I guess politics sucks all the fun out of the room, because he’s actually kind of funny in this movie.

-Tony-