Change Your Image
ponchocrazydaze
Studied music in public school from age 8.
Played trombone in the Ambridge High School Marching Band, Symphony Band, Dixieland Band, Jazz Band and Brass Choir.
Nickname "Poncho Joe", Ambridge High School 1968 - 1971
Graduated from Penn State University 1975 and 2010.
Played bass guitar with pop-rock band Iconoclast, Funk-Jazz Fusion band The Seven Eleven Band, blues-pop-original band Firestorm Rock Blues Band, Soul-Funk-R&B band The Young Doctors, and Grateful Dead Cover-Original band Crazy Daze.
Played acoustic guitar as soloist, and with Jambalaya and Temporary Tatto.
Currently lives, writes and plays music in Central PA.
Reviews
Gwoemul (2006)
The Host - (Beware Those Who Present Themselves as Helpful)
I was very reluctant to watch this movie. What could I expect of a horror movie from South Korea about a mutant river monster? When I noticed the movie was 2 hours long I doubted I would make it past the first half hour. I expected the movie to bomb on at least several levels, plot, acting, directing, character development, special effects. After reading a few reviews and being able to watch this film on NetFlix instant view I decided to take a chance and wow, were my preconceptions wrong. I was delightfully surprised on all accounts. What did I know? I had never heard of director Joon-ho Bong. There were some slow moments but I began to realize Bong took such loving care to develop the characters and let the camera, the acting, and the dialog tell the real story. There were also some interesting shots of Korea I had never seen. This movie had drama, action, comedy, tragedy, satire, suspense, a good story line, character development, more than a few scary moments, and a fresh perspective about the potential effects of outside (foreign) involvement in, and disregard for, the affairs of the Korean culture. This was done without preaching, pretense, or dumbing down the story. I found myself really caring about main characters, a rag tag bunch of losers, all members of a dysfunctional family whose only common bond is the young motherless daughter of the eldest and mildly retarded son, (the charismatic and impressive Kang-ho Song). In an early, thrilling, action packed scene, (which remarkably reveals a good, long look at the monster), the child is carried away right before her distraught fathers eyes. The family comes together in grief and then with purpose to find the child, whom only they believe is still alive and in the monsters lair. At times, I even cared about the monster who was almost perfect in both a symbolic and special effect kind of way. As the film progresses, the biggest horror in the film becomes the crooked government administrators, police, military, media and the medical establishment. They take advantage of the crisis situation for their own self important reasons and contribute less to finding and stopping the monster and mayhem and more towards confusing and abusing the population. I found myself delightfully drawn in and interested for the whole movie. I would watch this film again and I recommend it to others. The old man and the little girl are gems (Hie-bong Byeon and Ah-sung Ko), and the entire cast is delightful, even the bit players. I was happy to see, and took this to be a good omen, that Scott Wilson was in the opening scene. (Wilson is an American actor from one of my personal favorite cult movies The Ninth Configuration, and is also impressive in the little known but very good thriller/mockumentary Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon). And for family lovers of horror movies, (if for instance you can watch Jaws or Jurassic Park as a family) this is a PG-13 delight. Watch this film together with the family and enjoy. But be forewarned!!! There are scenes of death, mayhem, gore, and adult situations, (political and emotional not sexual). My rating is 4 out of 5 stars.
Dead Meat (2004)
Creutzfeldt–Jakob anyone?
The plot was an interesting and entertaining twist on zombie outbreaks. I was going to rate this 5 stars due to the low budget production and the occasionally incomprehensible Irish accents. However, I realized there was also some significant directing being done on a shoe string budget. The actors were for the most part better than average. I got the required minimum few scares. The blatant attempts for laughs were down played to a minimum, like the music. And the shots of the low budget effects were not enough to become laughable. I also liked the closing song. And who doesn't love a good cow turned meat eating predator? "What was that?" "That was a cow." "It couldn't be." "Why not?" "They're all dead." ... and then ... the bad news. Bon apetit!
Los cronocrímenes (2007)
You go back, Jack, do it again, wheels turning round and round......
WARNING!! There are no explosions, outstanding special effects, fast paced witty dialog, famous actors or easy to follow plot, although there is brief nudity. The nudity serves to emphasize the director's point of view that if given an opportunity to go back in time and "do things over again" we are more likely than not to complicate things rather than correct them. Because of the time paradox, there should be no satisfying explanations or neat and clean resolutions. The director recognizes this fact and that is what makes this film so remarkable. It is a riddle wrapped in a journey within a journey, without an end, conclusion, or convenient answer. Yet it is one of the most enjoyable time travel films I have seen. The presentation of the puzzle of the paradox is almost perfect. Best described by the grandfather paradox: suppose a man traveled back in time and killed his biological grandfather before the latter met the traveler's grandmother. As a result, one of the traveler's parents (and by extension the traveler himself) would never have been conceived. This would imply that he could not have traveled back in time after all, which in turn implies the grandfather would still be alive, and the traveler WOULD have been conceived allowing him to travel back in time and kill his grandfather. (Does your brain hurt yet?) The movie does not provide an answer to this paradox. It presents the complications in a compelling manner. I was reminded of author Robert Heinlein, (PUPPET MASTERS, STARSHIP TROOPERS), one of the best time travel stories I've read is Heinlein's "BY HIS BOOTSTRAPS". (Also a good analogy since it would be as easy to lift one's self up by the bootstraps as it would be to solve the time travel paradox.) TIMECRIMES, as in Heinlein's story, provides a provocative alternative to an individual experiencing the paradox. If you're in the mood for a pleasing science fiction brain-teaser, this is a good choice.
Ink (2009)
Smeagol's Redemption
The beauty of Indy films is that they can take chances, the rewards of Indy films are the amazement of combined entertainment and enlightenment derived from a well constructed, well paced, well written, well acted, well directed potential film (or film noir) masterpiece. What if Mozart had only a tinker toy piano upon which to express his views.
This is a low budget independent film with few special effects and no sex, drugs or rock and roll, however, that being said, (Thank you Larry David!) it is a drama of life and death, a fantasy of past, present and future, a multiple time line theme that has familiar classical (over and) undertones, and yet possesses a newness that is remarkably compelling in an avant-garde,very indie-film sort of way. It combines a new wave interpretation with a classical or timeless fantasy feel. I think it it does pay homage to and at times mimics remarkable older films such as "Brazil", "Dark City", and Bekmambetov's magnificent and vastly under appreciated "Night Watch" and "Day Watch" films, as well as some older fiction novels such as Dickens' "A Christmas Carole" and Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" (perhaps as a spin off tale might have been written as Smeagol's redemption). Although the film stumbles and falters and occasionally borders in a few places on being pretentious, it does not get close to being preachy, cloying, or soap operatic. In the hands of a lesser director, cast, and crew this could easily have lapsed into a disaster. I found myself enjoying this film more and more as I watched. NOTE: I almost stopped watching after 15-20 minutes. Shame on me! Patience can be it's own reward, but then sometimes, it can be so much more. I was also reminded favorably of the under rated film "What Dreams May Come", (without the tears and production).
Heater (1999)
You need a heater to warm some people's hearts ....
I really love Indie movies. I am ashamed to say that this movie will only appeal to a small audience. But if you watch this movie, and you are patient, it will work its magic and you will be rewarded. I rated it 8 out of 10 because it was watchable, compelling, and who makes movies these days with this kind of under-stated pathos? The movie centers around a big, tall, polite and perceptive, under-achieving (is that a proper or adequate adjective to apply to any human?), native American man and his smaller, excitable pal-for-a-day who seems to possess to varying degrees a case of Tourette's, kleptomania, and one or two other psychological problems. (Yes, I was reminded a bit of Cuckoo's Nest but this film is not the emotional star studded roller coaster ride of Cuckoo's.) Filmed in the cold wintry climes of Canada (Winnipeg, Manitoba) right before the Christmas holiday, HEATER reminds us that the coldest thing around the holidays is often the behavior of humans towards other humans. And the most warming thing is often the gracious, giving, humble, humanity expressed by people, who, I believe, are too often looked upon as worthless, lower class, "under-achieving" parasites. This movie is a surprisingly compelling, sweet, sad, and simple film. And it is a humbling yet hopeful, homeless buddy movie that reveals much about what we in the west call civilization, good and bad. There are two remarkable scenes I want to point out. The first scene shows, (in the background), municipal workers endangering motorists and pedestrians by interrupting the streetlights in order to connect Christmas decorations to the power grid. The second scene is the long closing credits scene of the city streets being cleared of snow by a fleet of expensive state of the art vehicles, both of which spoke a thousand words about what we consider valuable services during the holidays or any other time. I understand, I know, we have to keep the streets clear, the cars moving, the business of business must not be interrupted, regardless of what it does to our humanity, and therefore our civilization. I believe this film should be among the most viewed of Christmas movies. It might help to keep us aware, that regardless of race, creed, religion or color, it could easily be us, or a loved one, out in the freezing cold, looking for shelter, and something to eat. (I was also reminded of the odd couple pairing of Al Pacino and Gene Hackman in the little known 1973 movie SCARECROW).
Spiral (2007)
It happened one Christmas, and then again and again?
*Spoilers*! If you like Indie films and psychological thrillers, without over the top blood, guts and violence, you may like this movie a lot! Co-written, co-directed and starring Joel David Moore, the film builds slowly but compellingly towards a twisted psychotic finale. Fans of the TV show "BONES" will recognize Moore as the tall, geeky, depressingly emo forensic assistant on the rotating guest list.
Moore plays Mason, a painfully shy telemarketer with an obvious talent for and obsession with sketching and painting. He is also obsessed with jazz. (The original sound track is tasty, at times intense and bizarre, but always appropriate to the movie. Written and performed by Todd Caldwell, the music is reminiscent of the late 60's early 70's jazz of Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman.)
Mason has this recurring problem with psychotic episodes. The movie does not detail exactly what happened, but it appears young Mason witnessed something horrible being done to his mother by his father. Apparently this tragic event happened around Christmas sometime in the 70's while jazz played in the background.
Mason also has an extreme fear of elves and there are the running themes of rain and Christmas. (Santa hats in paintings and a surprise date at a local classic film theater showing "It's A Wonderful Life".)
TV's "Chuck", Zachary Levi, in an impressive non-comedic role, plays Berkeley, Mason's long time buddy and only friend. He is Mason's lifeline to reality after experiencing a psychotic episode. He tells Mason to just take his medicine, relax and go back to bed.
After one particularly bizarre episode, Berkeley gives Mason a new sketchpad upon noticing the previous pad has been used up to the last page, which is ripped out.
Mason is later befriended by Amber who works in the same building as he but on a different floor. Played charmingly by Amber Tamblyn she becomes his new sketch model. He paints a series of poses based on sketches in his new sketchpad building up to the "final pose".
One day at Mason's apartment Amber stumbles onto a stash of similar looking sketch pads with different names on each, and the last page ripped out. After a confrontation Amber decides she needs to spend time away from Mason to put things into perspective. At Christmas dinner that night it is implied by Berkeley that Mason does not actually meet the women he sketches and paints, they are figments in his mind. That is why they never show up for dinner.
I'll stop my review here, we never do see that final pose, or get the exact details of what happened that tragic last Christmas between Mason's mom and dad. But the end is creepy and twisty and the whole movie is a delight. It'll stay with you awhile. And you'll want to watch it again, perhaps with an imaginary friend. (^o-)