Who doesn’t just love the Muppets? With delivery and material geared for kids and adults they have such universal appeal exemplified by they fact that they’re so honest direct and friendly. The Muppet movies are known for their original humor and lovable characters but The Muppet Christmas Carol treads new ground though a lot of the tones and structure here just seem an odd fit. The film is an important distinctive film in the Henson legacy for reasons outside of the on-screen antics. First off, it is the company’s first outright adaptation. Second, and more importantly, it’s the first Muppet film following the passing if the legendary Muppet founder Jim Henson. As such this adaptation, very…
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G-S-T Review…This Is 40
Judd Apatow’s This Is 40 puts a hysterical spin on the fact that everyone gets old. In fact, the comedy is so refreshing that it must have taken a lesson or two from his 2009 film Funny People; if you’re gonna make a movie with somewhat depressing subject matter, put some humor in it (especially if the word funny is in the title!). Just because you’re dealing with some very heavy emotions and situations doesn’t mean the audience doesn’t need to laugh. You may know this by now but Apatow doesn’t make rom-com fluff. Instead he gets to the heart of the matter and focuses on relatively down-to-earth people (foul-mouthed though they…
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G-S-T Quick 5 – Favorite Vigilante Films
vig·i·lan·te: any person who takes the law into his or her own hands, as by avenging a crime. A mainstay in the film world for decades, vigilantes come in all shapes in sizes and work their special brand of street justice for a variety of reasons. In some cases they operate just outside the law and work in secret. But then again there are those who work with the law and are not so secret about their bone-crunching ways. I guess you can say that vigilantes are like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get…except the outcome which finds baddies getting what they deserve. Now there are…
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Off the Shelf…Drafthouse Films’ ‘Trailer War’
From the deepest darkest pit of forgotten film reels comes Drafthouse Films’ latest time capsule feature. Trailer War is simply a collection of off-beat, hokey and trailers for some of the film world’s oddest flicks. Although cast off, they are not trash. After all, films like these are what have influenced scores of filmmakers, most notably Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, for decades. War is a patchwork of advertisements for films the likes of which have seen by only a handful of modern day film audiences or people from the time of the film’s release. But this presentation isn’t just a brainless compilation of trailers lined up end to end for 110 minutes. No, there’s a little more to…
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Soundworks Collection Profile: Michael Giacchino
Now that the announcement and full teaser trailer for Star Trek Into Darkness have been released, lots of questions have been raised about J.J. Abrams’ sequel. Questions like who is Benedict Cumberbatch‘s character John Harrison? and recently “Are You the 1701?“. But no question is more important to us film score geeks at G-S-T than “What will Michael Giacchino bring to the table for the next Star Trek film?“. Granted Michael already provided the score for the 9-minute prologue (which plays before The Hobbit), but even he admits that that theme may in fact change for the final product. Why? Well because J.J. and the team at Bad Robot are deep in post-production…
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First Official Look At The Wolfpack in 'The Hangover Part III'
The second at bat for Todd Phillips and his fictional band of brothers was not a favorable one. The Hangover II was just a lifeless rehash of Phillips’s unexpected but meteorically successful first Hangover film. Fans and critics alike were amazed (not to mention disappointed) how following the formula to a T could have resulted in such a boring second outing. Well now The Wolfpack is back and the boys are gearing up for their next and supposedly final trip. So did Phillips and company learn from their mistake? We hope so. As of right now, The Hangover Part III is (mostly) planning on going back to where it all started…
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Ohhh, Look…Teaser Posters For Studio Ghibli's Upcoming Features
It’s no secret that we at G-S-T adore the famous animation powerhouse that Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki built. In fact, I should say ジブリさん愛. Anyway if you, like us, can’t get enough from those animation Gods, then we have FANTASTIC news for you. Both Miyazaki-san and Takahata-san are at the helm for the two upcoming features from Studio Ghibli. I thought 2013 was going to be awesome enough and now we get a pair of Ghibli features too?? The only thing that could make this better is if Joe Hisaishi will again be scoring…*gets handed a small post-it note from the producer*…what’s this? *reads with wide eyes* Good news everyone! Hisaishi will be…
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Sweet Trailer…'G.I. Joe Retailiation'
Channing, Channing, Channing…just look at all the trouble you’ve caused. Sure you can dance, sure you can fight, sure you can play an emotional sap when the script calls for it. But this, this is something else. Your presence and influence on Hollywood (specifically box office draw/return) exceeded anything anyone could have expected. So much so that you not being in a movie can cause the entire stuido to tap the brakes just so you could be in the movie. In case I’m not making any sense, I’ll go back a bit. Roughly one month before the Summer release of G.I. Joe Retaliation (and with ad campaigns in full swing and toys heading to store shelves)…
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Sweet Trailer…Zack Snyder's 'Man of Steel'
Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look! Up in the sky! Who is it?…you know full well who I’m talking about right? But this isn’t your father’s Superman. Earlier this year two brief teasers for Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot Man of Steel were released and they got started quite a buzz. Starring an impressive cast let by Henry Cavill as the titular MoS, Snyder looks to take us up up and away to a Superman story right for the times and to please scores of comics fans. This looks like it’s gonna rock…enjoy! Zack Snyder is at…
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Off the Shelf…Drafthouse Films’ ‘Miami Connection’
Story has it that one afternoon in 2009, a curator from Austin, TX’s Alamo Drafthouse Cinema stumbled across an eBay listing for a 35mm print of something called “Miami Connection.” The Alamo bought Connection unseen and just as blindly added the print to their film archive. Like opening a time capsule that no one (including the people involved with the film) hoped would ever be found came a film that most likely would be a dud. Well luck favored the Alamo that day as Miami Connection was not a bad investment. Quite the opposite in fact as this deliciously wretched B-Movie has been wonderfully accepted at off-beat festivals and movie houses across…
