David Cronenberg…it’s likely you know the name, and if you do then you know what it means. Synonymous with weird, wild and WTF, his films (Scanners, The Fly, Naked Lunch) are incredibly well-crafted, albeit tough to understand at times. Sometimes, in the case of something like Videodrome, his message can be unsettlingly prophetic. But now there’s a new kid in town carrying the wonky torch for the family, oneBrandon Cronenberg and if you’ve seen his film Antiviral (check out our review!) then you know the apple doesn’t fall far from that creatively warped tree. Brandon makes his feature film debut as both writer and director. His film, Antiviral, is a dark and eerie satire on society’s obsession with celebrity that…
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G-S-T Review…Looper
At a glance, Looper almost feels like an outlier in Rian Johnson’s minute body of work. Unlike Johnson’s flawless debut, Brick, or his disappointing sophomore effort, The Brothers Bloom, Looper operates within a grand, wide-spanning scope that reaches across time; the central story here is intimate, just as in his other films, but it’s set against a backdrop of classical science fiction world-building and the machinations of time travel. We’re not in high school, Montenegro, or Prague anymore, but rather a dystopic vision of the future which we experience at two very different points in history, both populated with hover bikes, mafia button men, rampant poverty, and telekinetic mutations. Robbed…
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G-S-T Review…Side By Side
For over 100 years photo chemical film has been the gold standard in the film industry. But in the last two decades the advent and advances in digital technology have offered filmmakers a cheaper, easier and sometimes better alternative as a means to capture images and tell stories. In Side by Side, Keanu Reeves and writer/director Chris Kenneally put their finger on the pulse film world and explore the levels to which digital capture technology has created a paradigm shift across the world. From directors, to colorists, to editors etc, no trade is unaffected by this change in the medium. Is this the end of film? Well, it’s not a clear cut answer…
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G-S-T Review…Hotel Transylvania
These days all major studios have an animation department that competes in the realm of animated films. While Disney/Pixar dominates the animated film scene, what about the other studios that are bringing different types of animated films to the table? Not everyone wants to see the same Disney boilerplate template over and over again; they want some variety. Some studios have made it a point to push the boundaries of a PG rated animated film, poking fun at Disney classics and children’s tales. Sony Pictures Animation does not go that far, but they certainly have taken their films in another direction. Hotel Transylvania is a film that may have the…