After a two-month hiatus, we’re back with the next installment of “Movies off the Beaten Path”. Movies, and the entertainment business, can be highly hit or miss because of ranging tastes in film and how people approach the medium. Sometimes, for whatever reason, you hear about a movie and have no desire to see it and don’t. You may even avoid it at all costs. In other cases you have no idea the film exists until someone points it out to you, years after its original release. The following entries in our series of Top 10 lists are films I happened to stumble upon or that were recommended to me. Whether…
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G-S-T Review…Playing for Keeps
Technology is evolving at such an exponential rate that movies are now made in a matter of weeks, rather than months. Obviously there are some exceptions like Avatar and other heavy CG films. Technology hasn’t just shortened the time it takes to produce movies, it has increased the sheer volume of movies exponentially. In 2011 there were over 200 movies released to the theaters. That doesn’t count straight to video movies. In 2001 there were only 150 movies released to theaters. Keep in mind, these stats are only for the United States. The point is…with so many movies being released each week how do the studios keep coming up with…
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G-S-T Review…Hyde Park On Hudson
Hyde Park on Hudson recounts the royal visit of King George VI (who you may remember from Colin Firth’s portrayal in The Kings Speech, depicted here by actor Samuel West), and Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) to Hyde Park from the perspective of Daisy Suckley (Laura Linney), who at this time has recently become FDR’s (Bill Murry) mistress. Unbeknownst to Daisy, she’s not the only secret Roosevelt is keeping. The screenplay is based on actual events discussed in diary entries and letters that belonged to Daisy. The correspondence was found after her death, and the affair she had kept a secret for most of her life was finally revealed. The royal visit begins with…
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“The CineMagic 8-Ball” – In Theaters 12/07/12
When so many movies are released each weekend and trailers often seem better than the movie itself, what should one do? In this precarious situation, we consult the The CineMagic 8-Ball (TM) to help us see through the nebulous marketing haze. Doing so just might save us all a disheartening trip to the cinema and spare us unnecessarily springing for $7 popcorn. See what the 8-Ball says about this week’s releases… ——————————————————————————————————————————————- PLAYING FOR KEEPS A charming, down-on-his luck former soccer star returns home to put his life back together. Looking for a way to rebuild his relationship with his son, he gets roped into coaching the boy’s soccer team.…
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Sweet (Announcement) Trailer…'Star Trek Into Darkness'
In case you weren’t aware, J.J. Abrams knocked his reboot of the Star Trek franchise out of the park. Suffice to say he had some mighty big expectations for a follow up. Admittedly a number of film fans (Star Trek or otherwise) weren’t too impressed with the poster that was released earlier this week, but have faith in that Bad Robot dear friends because this intro teaser trailer will blow you away with a capital Bwuuuuuum! With Abrams again at the helm, he brings back he fantastic cast of the Starship Enterprise which includes Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin and John Cho. So fire up this bad boy, fyi…
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Sweet Trailer…'A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III'
Yes, I know this trailer is a few days old. Still, better late than never I’m told, and besides, any new Charlie Sheen projects are probably worth covering just for pure shock value. A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, frankly, looks like it’ll either end up being sheer wacky genius or a glorious, stylized mess, without much room for flexibility; I’m not going to lie, the first trailer gives me high hopes: Were anyone other than Charlie Sheen cast in the lead role, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III would just look like a quirky, precious cribbing of everything Wes Anderson has ever done…
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Sweet Trailer…'Upstream Color'
Since his debut feature, Primer, hit theaters eight years ago, Shane Carruth has been a quiet presence in the world of cinema– threatening to make new pictures, always backing away from them due to lack of funding. Turns out he’s been making a movie behind our backs: last week he announced that he’d be showing his next film, Upstream Color, at Sundance this January. Exciting! Of course, we’re talking about the man behind Primer, which is to say that the film we get will be complex, layered, and demanding. The trailer, which premiered today, seems to support this suspicion: Honestly? I have no idea what to make of this. I think it looks…
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Ohhh, Look…Awesome Super Hero Silhouette Artwork
This week we see the Blu-Ray release of the final chapter in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. 2012 has been a really great year for comics/super hero films. While The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises won over fans worldwide and joined the billionaire’s club, that Marvel reboot of questionable necessity (aka The Amazing Spider-Man) was no slouch either. So now that the box office battle is over, we fans can return to waiting for the next installment of our favorite franchises (sorry Nolan Batman fans, doesn’t look like we’ll see Bale take up the cowl again) and, if it suits your fancy, dressing up like your favorite heroes. Well even if you don’t do the latter, the kid…
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Off the Shelf…’Finding Nemo 3D’
Finding Nemo is essentially a family drama combined with a new spin on an Abbott & Costello road movie. It’s also deep, affecting and a story about a father getting to know his son, and vice versa (even though they are apart for the whole movie). As Pixar religiously puts story ahead of the effects, what’s on display here is a very touching family element that proves more impacting with each viewing. Sure everyone gets emotionally invested in these characters but it’s chalked up to three factors; lovable design, top notch voice acting and finally Thomas Newman’s brilliant score. Newman (who would work together with Stanton again on WALL-E) creates a theme that is so finely tailored and…
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Off the Shelf…’The Odd Life of Timothy Green’
If you stop and think about the impact that Disney has had on all of our lives, it’s simply staggering. It would be almost impossible to find someone you know who has never seen a Disney film or TV show. Disney’s formula for success is often imitated, but there is only one Disney. With The Odd Life of Timothy Green, you have a Mary Poppins tale of sorts. You understand it’s a Disney family film and you suspend disbelief, just long enough to allow yourself to get sucked into the movie. You put the Disney name on a film and it’s almost guaranteed to make a profit. But, does Odd Life this compare to the…