buzz

Photo Courtesy of Fleece Youtube Since he was a kid, Matt Rogers had wanted to be a musician, he said. “It’s one of the only things that comes really naturally to me and makes me feel really good, and I like making other people feel good by playing,” Rogers said. For Megan Ennenberg, music was a staple of her childhood. She said her mom brought music into the house all the time.

Director Robert Mandel is what some may call a one-hit-wonder. While having a rather successful career as a director of off-Broadway plays and several television programs, his one hit was the suspenseful thriller “F/X” (1986). This chilling tale, which starred generally little-known leads, concerns a Hollywood special effects expert who is hired to assist in a fake mob-killing for a witness protection scheme, but he quickly finds his life is in horrible danger.

The end of summer is a beautiful yet bittersweet sensation of emotions – a time to bang out those last-minute summer adventures with friends and family while the sun is still out. It’s a time where the incoming stressors of life and school can be ignored for just a blissful few days more, and you can frolic in the setting sun with the people you love in pure, wholesome fun. Then you grow up and have to work all year round, summer and all, really deflating the whole fun factor.

Filmmakers of the so-called New Hollywood era of the late 1960s and 1970s frequently made their work more difficult in their attempts to work against conventions of the popular established genres and film styles of the previous eras. Take the famed screenwriter/director Robert Benton’s 1977 contemporary crime film, “The Late Show.” This film pays homage to the classic detective-crime thriller, but it used several iconic comedic television actors, like Art Carney and Lily Tomlin, as its leads.

When buzz staff writers decided to start a radio show in 2019, they had no idea it would still be going strong years later and end up being one of the buzz staff’s favorite parts of being a buzz writer. “What’s the buzz?” is an entertainment radio talk show hosted by buzz writers that takes place on WPGU 107.1 every Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. Topics range from pop culture, local happenings and music, and each show features a playlist carefully crafted by the “What’s the buzz?” team.

Throughout Robert De Niro’s more than 50 years in the film industry, his career has been marked with many memorable performances, including his eight Oscar nominations and two Oscar-winning roles. It seems some filmgoers have tended to overlook one of his most stunning performances as prizefighter Jake La Motta in Martin Scorsese’s stunning black-and-white “Raging Bull” (1980).

In the waning days of summer with endless Target back-to-school ads ramble across the airwaves and last-minute trips to Mexico crowd airports, I take this time to play games that are short, comfort-food experiences. Something to enjoy before the stresses of college gain full force. Of course, what a more fitting setting for this relaxing gaming experience than the horrors of WWII.

One of my favorite films of the last decade and a half is Jason Reitman’s hilarious satire “Juno” (2007). This quirky tale of teenager Juno Mac Guff’s unexpected pregnancy was the Oscar-winning best original screenplay by Diablo Cody. Its wonderful ensemble cast included Elliot Page, then known as “Ellen,” Michael Cera, Allison Janney and J. K. Simmons. When Reitman and Cody reunited in 2011 with “Young Adult,” somehow the magic was missing.

This summer I set out to binge the early-era titles of Rockstar Games, the blockbuster studio behind the Grand Theft Auto series. Well, my plan was attacked on two fronts. The first being the old-era titles being the source of a rumored remaster in the fall of 2021. The PlayStation 2 classics are now reportedly in the rating phase of being released on modern hardware according to multiple news outlets like Kotaku.

Leon Bridges fans have been waiting patiently for his newest album that was released in late July. “Gold-Diggers Sound” amplifies Leon’s smooth vocals and has a more alt-rock sound compared to his last album, “Good Thing,” which was more acoustic-based. “Gold-Diggers Sound” features 11 unique tracks, each with the original classy Leon Bridges’ tone.