I saw Gattaca for the first time some weeks ago. The one thing that I really liked about that movie was that even though it’s a quasi futuristic tale, it all had a very nostalgic and 1940s film noir feel to it. Kinda cool since I really admire the look of that era. Anyway, once I got past the green tint dominating the entire film (very popular in sci-fi movies at the end of the 90’s) I was very impressed with the story and how ambiguous the entire plot was. The ending was a bit of a let down since the main plot device kept intensely building to what one…
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Random Film Thought of the Day…12.21.09
I was reviewing the Screen Rant preview of movies coming out in 2010 and it got me thinking. Paul Bettany is in 2 movies next year. Interstingly enough they are both tied to religion in some way. Then I started thinking further. Didn’t he play a priest in The Reckoning? Wasn’t he play a Silas the ‘albino’ monk in The Davinci Code? Is he deeply spiritual? Will he be the next Kirk Cameron?…only time will tell, but I thought it was worth posting this coincidence. Take a look at the photo below… Kind of an evolution of Paul Bettany…can someone say typecast?:P
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Flickchart, Flickfights and yours truly…
Hello World, Marc Here: Last week I had the awesome privilege of recording a Flickfight podcast which is the official podcast of the uber-addictive site Flickchart. I have been fond of (and yes, addicted to) the site since the ‘beta testing’. Soon after going live on 09.09.09, Flickchart launched their wildly entertaining podcast which is headed up by two hilarious movie afficinados/filmmakers, Travis Betz and Devin Barry. On behalf of G-S-T, I was so happy to be part of the show and just had a blast debating, praising, and bashing whatever movies Flickchart gave us. For those of you interested have a listen to the fun 65 minute movie romp. Click this link to hear…
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Novel Adaptations: Or How I Stopped Worrying About Getting Everything On Screen…
I just picked up Angels & Demons on Blu Ray yesterday and reminded me of my experience reading this fascinating page turner and then seeing the movie some months later. The movie was a much better adaptation than The DaVinci Code, but it still left me wanting. This post goes out to all the fans of the “novel” out there – I sympathize with your plight. Just like both of Dan Brown’s brilliant novels, there are countless cases where, for instance, movies based on books suffer the unavoidable fate of having their source material, namely key elements, omitted or worse changed and in the end the fans can be pretty…
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Random Film Thought of the Day…11.17.09
The Family Guy ‘Empire’ spoof I wrote a few days ago has got me thinking about something I’ve been pondering for years but just now felt like writing about it. I guess I just needed some inspiration…or a segue. Now, I don’t think there’s but a handful of people on the Earth that don’t know about Star Wars. It’s a cultural phenomenon and Mr. Lucas is the mad genius who started it all. Well, things have changed since old George began with Episode IV and as a fan, (and I know I’m not alone on this) I believe there’s a great number of us who find fault after fault with the…
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TV Life, Real Life and the Huge Gap Inbetween…
You know, TV and movies are many things to many people. They can be entertainment (sometimes mindless), they can be moving and emotional life lessons, they can be day-care for our children or they can teach us about worlds we will never get to experience. The list can go on and on but there’s something I’ve been thinking about recently, and it is about how movies and TV try to give us examples of how we should live life, carry ourselves and treat others. Well, not today of course with movies like Hostel, TV shows like those mind numbing Kardashians and pretty much every piece of crap show on MTV…
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Growing Up Watching Films and the Lasting Impressions They Leave
Last night, I was watching Animal House, which I sadly admit, for the first time in a while. As I laughed at the same jokes and recited the same lines which I have for years, it really got me thinking about this and other films I was pretty much raised on. As a child I would watch this movie with my dad and when it was physical humor that I pretty much understood it made me laugh. Other times, I remember looking at my dad and trying to figure out why he laughed at different lines, that obviously contained humor which I, at the time, couldn’t comprehend. While watching this…
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The Film Feed: Episode 26
Fellow movie lovers Sean Hunter, Clark Lamson, and Will Schiffelbein over at Firstshowing.net have a long running podcast they call “The Film Feed“. If you haven’t taken a listen to any of their casts, you really should. These guys are smart, funny and well versed in most films. They offered me a special guest host opportunity and on behalf of G-S-T, I overwhelmingly accepted. This episode is a ‘double feature‘ with a review of District 9 with guest host Jay Runham and yours truly chiming in via Skype for the review of G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra. Please excuse the poor connection and sadly a lot of my contributions…
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Why Aren't Movie Theaters Respected Venues Anymore???
Thinking about this post and how to compose it, I guess I’ll start by stating my opinion that like anything that includes the masses, things dispersed on a wide level for the general public just aren’t special or elite anymore – aviation, fine spirits, fancy cars, etc. One thing that is most definitely dumded down to include the masses is American Cinema and the movie house venues where they are shown. I don’t know why more people don’t treat movies like they’re special anymore. I think people take for granted how special a film should be – it should be an appreciation of art that took the work of hundreds…
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Does ‘Nostalgia’ Make a Movie Better Than It Is?
After seeing Blade Runner for the first time about 6 years ago, I have been wondering ever since “why the world is infatuated with Blade Runner?” I’ll admit it looks cool but I don’t think it’s that great a movie. Sure, it gets high points for style and imagery but the ending alone killed it for me. Such an interesting story and all that build up for what…an unimpressive ending that just ends like they couldn’t think of anything better. That’s my personal opinion but still I wonder, and more to the point of my post – Do people like it now just because they saw it as a kid?? Where…
