Attention: CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. All winners have been notified. Thanks for your interest in MACHETE KILLS. ———————————————————————————————————————————— Robert Rodriguez’ Machete Kills hits Blu-Ray shelves this week and holy frijoles have we got something for you Grindhouse fans! Aside from insane action, physics defying stunts, gritty and over-the-top characters, Robert Rodriguez’ films have one other staple worth noting – a rocking soundtrack. Prior to its theatrical release last fall we got to speak with award-winning composer, frequent RR collaborator and Chingon band member Carl Thiel. He gave us an idea of what to expect from the film and his music (read Part I and Part II here) and per usual we were blown…
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G-S-T Review…Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
As an exercise in brand resuscitation, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit could be worse; the film does what films of its sort must, building its titular protagonist from the ground up and establishing a potential new franchise for the character going forward. Should the stars align (literally), we could see a Jack Ryan continuance in just a couple of years’ time, assuming Chris Pine can wriggle free from Star Trek‘s grasp and Kevin Costner isn’t busy playing the wise mentor figure to another young buck trying to figure out how to be a hero. This is malleable filmmaking. It necessitates very little by way of continuity. Of course, that particular element…
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Full List of Nominations for the 86th Annual Academy Awards
Nominations for the 86th Academy Awards were announced this morning and the interweb is all a buzz either cheering or sneering at the nominees. 2013 was a strong year for film and those lucky/good enough to warrant an invite to Hollywood’s glitziest night are some truly deserving pictures and personalities. But just like film and our opinions of them, the nominations are all subjective. Most of the nominees in this the crop of Oscar hopefuls have been making waves for a while (even as far back as their respective festival runs) but some, like Lone Survivor, managed to grab a last minute nod(s) of recognition Sony’s American Hustle and Warner Bros’…
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Ohhh, Look…Images and Poster for Elijah Wood’s 'Cooties'
Let’s have a round of applause for Elijah Wood. He could have ridden out his Lord of the Rings fame and lived a healthy retired life on the paychecks/royalties from Peter Jackson’s massive adaptions…but he didn’t. Taking post Middle-Earth films like Green Street Hooligans (which is quite good – check it out), horror/thriller flicks like the remake of Maniac, absurd but successful TV projects like Wilfred, risky and against-type films like Grand Piano and Nacho Vigalondo’s Open Windows and this little late night flick are all shaping him to be a fine adult actor. Now the man’s everywhere and you’ll hear no complaints from us. So whether or not you’re heading to…
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FourScore Match-Up #19: “It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got Them Strings”
This week Kenneth Branagh’s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit hits theaters and marks the 11th time he and that smiling Scottsman composer Patrick Doyle have worked together in the last 25 years. The film features an amazing arrangement of strings with such diversity and complexity it’s easily some of the best pensive spy music since David Arnold’s work scoring the Bond series. And seriously, no matter what country you’re from the stellar track “Ryan, Mr. President” may be the most swellingly patriotic theme you’ll ever hear. Doyle’s works have such dense richness that they give each film an almost mythical atmosphere. One thing is for sure, he just knows how to…
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Ohhh, Look…The Simpsons' Tribute to Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli
They say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery and by that token Hayao Miyazaki (and his little animation house Studio Ghibli) must be chuckling at the cleverly placed Ghibli-themed elements in this weekend’s episode of The Simpsons (where Comic Book Guy gets married to a Japanese girl). In this segment of ‘Married to the Blob’ Homer’s drunken night on the town with CBG’s future father-in-law starts to wear on them when the snake wine they drank begins to transform Springfield into a cornucopia of references to numerous classic movies in the famous Ghibli library. If you’re a fan of all things Miyazaki, you have to see this…
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Full List of Nominations for The 67th Annual BAFTA Awards
The BAFTAs, better known as the Oscars before the Oscars, take place on Sunday February 16th at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. The very UK-centric awards ceremony has been expanding over the years to recognize talent from across the pond which makes it a slightly better preview of the Academy Awards than the Golden Globes. But it’s award season and sometimes you just never know what surprises (and snubs) will make waves this time of year. To no one’s surprise, the really critically and commercially lauded films like Gravity, 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle lead the pack (receiving 11, 12 and 10 nominations respectively). Captain Phillips…
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G-S-T Year In Review – Marc’s 2013 Wrap Up
Now that the holly, jolly dust of the December release barrage has settled, and we are actually able to ponder all the films that have come down the pike, 2013 might not eclipse that golden zenith in cinema – the legendary year of ’84 – but I sure had some fun. Stock in Steve McQueen and Spike Jonze skyrocketed (possibly future-proofing their status as infallible filmmakers from here on in), lots of stellar films with white-hot buzz came unexpectedly out of the blue (Fruitvale Station, Short Term 12), lots of docs wowed audiences and and share stories ranging from inspiring to devastating (A Band Called Death, Blackfish) even Disney was able…
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G-S-T Year In Review – Jessica's 2013 Wrap Up
Last year, my wrap up consisted only of Independent films, so in keeping with that tradition I’ve mostly limited my list of films for the 2013 Wrap Up to indie titles as well. 2013 was not only a good year for award worthy narrative features – 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle and Fruitvale Station, to name a few – but also for documentaries. This year was arguably one of the best for both the quality and quantity of docs that gained mainstream attention including Blackfish, The Act of Killing, and Stories We Tell. It should also probably be noted that 2013 was a great year for women in film, in part due to the increased…
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G-S-T Year In Review – Grady’s 2013 Wrap Up
Every year there are seasons of movies that have certain expectations tied to them. During the summer we have big budget blockbuster hits that make hundreds of millions of dollars. Over the holiday season, November/December, we see a lot of Oscar contenders as well as family friendly films. In January we see movies that usually can’t compete with the summer blockbusters or holiday season movies. The point is, we as moviegoers have certain expectations and this year it feels as though we had less movie choices or maybe just less movies that were actually good. Don’t get me wrong, there were some great movies, but there didn’t seem to be…
