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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 2015)
The MOVIE MAN Are you hunting for well-worded film reviews? Look no further than Astoria’s Video Horizons I browsed the aisles of new releases at Vid- eo Horizons in Astoria. Behind me, a dot matrix printer chugged out a receipt, a soothing tac- tile sound in a world gone dig- ital untouchable mad. A yellow sticky note with some handwrit- ing in ink caught my eye. It was a review — a 50-word review of a Sean Penn action thriller totally unknown to me, “The Gunman.” I started reading it: “I’ve always been a sucker for action movies. Cheap ones. Expensive ones. Good and bad alike…” Hey, me too! I thought. I had to see this ¿lm, but not today I wasn’t in the mood for violence. I kept browsing. Another re- view. I read that one too: for a Western I’d never heard about, “The Salvation.” I love West- erns! I miss Westerns! Shane come back! The review opened with this zinger: “Part Leone, part Eastwood, a dash of Tarantino, and a couple of shakes of Chuck Norris. Pure awesome.” What a great description! I thought. I’ll see this ¿lm too, but later. I wanted something a bit more quiet, introspective. I kept moving, more browsing, more reviews. I read them all and quickly recognized I was reading a master terse movie reviewer. In longhand! You can say a lot in 50 words if you know how to write and care about the subject. These reviews were living proof of that axiom. His byline read “Wayne.” Who was this fantastic reviewer? This Wayne, The Movie Man? Submitted photo “The Gunman,” a film starring Sean Penn, is another pick by Wayne. Submitted photo “The Salvation” is a Western pick by Wayne. I had to know, so I went up to Neal Cummings, owner of Vid- eo Horizons, and asked about Wayne. Neal told me that a while back he asked his employees to sit down and write a review of a new release on an index card. In short time, Wayne emerged as a prolif- ic reviewer. “Wayne is by far the best,” said Neal. “Many people ask who Wayne is, and they fol- low his work. You’re not the only one.” Wayne used to work Sundays at Video Horizons but had to quit after getting more hours at his other job in Seaside. That didn’t curtail his passion for movies, however. Wayne wanted to keep seeing new releases, so he now picks out a few when they arrive on Thursday and has until Tues- day when the new release hit the shelves to turn in two or three re- views. He’s a writer with a dead- line, and he always delivers. After browsing for 20 min- utes, I settled on “Rudderless,” the story of a father whose mu- sician son is killed in a college campus shooting. The father falls apart after the murder but slow- ly puts himself back together through playing his son’s songs solo, and then later, with a band. Wayne opened his review of “Rudderless” with this, “I didn’t see this movie coming.” Neither did I. “Rudderless” was one of the best understated ¿lms I’ve seen in a long, long time, and a hand- written review sold me on it. You don’t get that from an algorithm off NetÀix or Amazon and never will. Thank you Wayne. By the way, in all the reviews I read, I didn’t encounter a single grammatical error or typo. As an English teacher, I appreciate that. It makes me trust Wayne’s opin- ions all that much more. Matt Love lives in Astoria and is the author/editor of 14 books about Oregon, including “A Nice Piece of Astoria: A Narrative Guide” and “The Great Birthright: An Oregon Novel.” They are available at coastal bookstores and through www.nestuccaspitpress.com. You can say a lot in 50 words if you know how to write and care about the subject. These reviews were living proof of that axiom. Photo by Matt Love While browsing movie options at Video Horizons in Astoria, Coast Weekend contributor Matt Love sumbled upon “Rudderless” — and a hand-written review by Wayne that reads, “I didn’t see this movie coming. That’s a good thing. The story, acting, music and direction all come together seamlessly to create one beautiful film. Congrats, William H. Macy on a superb directorial debut. Watch it. You’re welcome.” the arts VISUAL ARTS • LITERATURE • THEATER • MUSIC & MORE Story by MATT LOVE September 10, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 9