End of the world stories, like Penny (Keira Knightley) said in her monologue about vinyl records, aren’t for everyone. Barring the humor and near outlandish situations, disheartening stories like this always end in tears. But even though the audience and the characters know their unavoidable fate, does it have to be the case? In this dramedy from Lorene Scafaria we see how hopeless characters attempt to control the downward spiral, look on the brighter side of life and find a final purpose for their lives. From the opening scene to the final moments we watch two people try to make the most of their time in ways that are awkward, absurd, comical and…
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G-S-T Review…Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
There shouldn’t be any surprises within ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER. The film is either won or lost largely based on its name. So as an audience member, you can quickly judge whether you will balk at the idea of a young Abraham Lincoln fighting vampires with a silver-edged axe. The real grey area is how much of that time spent will live up to what you have in mind. Director Timur Bekmambetov is known for striking visuals and pushing the limits of what you can comprehend. He certainly does both in this film, with quick cuts around blurred action sequences and a set piece that follows Abraham and his vampire…
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G-S-T Review…Brave
Stories of fantasy and high adventure are certain to contain genre stand-bys like magic, kingdoms a far, fair maidens and the like. Yet in Pixar’s latest (and first true period-piece) this “maiden” is not a damsel in distress by any means. Brave‘s Princess Merida actually has more in common with any number of Hayao Miyazaki’s female protagonists than it does the colorful princesses whose posters grace little girls’ walls. It channels some of the more stand-up kind of womanly characters we’ve seen in the last few decades…even if in this case she is defiant to a fault. With a line like “I am Merida, and I’ll be shooting for my own hand”…