Being the Indie lover that I am, I’ve decided to stick to independent titles only for my 2012 Wrap Up. After a fairly disappointing 2011, this year brought us so many amazing films it is difficult to chose only ten to discuss here, and with the limitations of the categories below, I am leaving out so many wonderful films, both studio and independent based, that I probably walked out of thinking it was the best film I’d seen to date. That’s what made picking a favorite film for 2012 so difficult. It seemed that the more I saw, the more favorites I had to add to the list. To name…
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Sweet (Teaser) Trailer…'Foosball'
From Toys to Bugs (or Antz), and from Gnomes to Smurfs and other assorted tiny creatures, computer animated films never fail to bring diminutive worlds to life on the big screen. From director Juan Jose Campanella comes this light-hearted and fun looking adventure into the world of foosball. That’s right, it’s not just for basement recreation or college bars anymore. The 3D animated film is about a young boy named Amadeo who, with the help of the foosball players, shrugs off his shyness and goes mano a mano against the infamous foosballer, the Champ. Enjoy! It’s just a teaser trailer so granted there’s not much to it. Still, with a little luck it looks like…
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Jo-Go In the Running to Guard the Galaxy
Marvel pulled off the finale to their impressive superhero balancing act this year with The Avengers, a trick they look to duplicate with a sequel in 2015. In between now and then, though, the studio– now positioned as one of the film world’s most important blockbusting authorities, at least as far as I’m concerned– looks to unveil a variation on that delicate but bombastic act with Guardians of the Galaxy, which at present boasts a release date of August 1st, 2014. Naturally, that means we know one thing for sure: that there’s very little information for us to go on beyond its title and its projected opening day. True, we…
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Pixar Reveals Concept Art For 3 Years of Releases (Plus: 'Monsters University' Promo)
Nothing says “Happy New Year” like a slew of preview material for Pixar’s release slate leading into 2016! Coming Soon had the good fortune to receive a fold-out card from the animation studio this past Monday, which contained concept art from each of their four pending endeavors– Monsters University, which hits theaters this June, The Good Dinosaur, and their two untitled projects– one that takes place inside the human mind and one which occurs on Día de los Muertos. To no one’s surprise, Pixar sprung a Monsters University promo clip on us yesterday as well, and while it’s pretty short it also completely nails the intended tone. If you’re a…
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G-S-T Year in Review – Marc’s 2012 Wrap Up
Year in and year out, from festivals to multiplexes the world over, film fans brave the dark of the cinema and are treated to what filmmakers have spent months/years crafting. The result? A mixed bag of titles from independent pictures to studio tent poles and with productions that range from shoe-string labor of loves to all out mega-budgeted features. Annually we theater goers witness a slew of hits and misses (sometimes more misses than hits) that light up the silver screen and 2012 was no different. For every half dozen stinkers we get one gleaming reason that kept us heading to the theaters and that’s what makes these year end lists…
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G-S-T Year in Review – Andrew’s 2012 Wrap Up
I’m willing to admit that last year, I talked 2011 a bit more than necessary. Not that my feelings on the year were dishonest; contrary to many, I thought well of 2011, a year that didn’t contain a plethora of lasting classics but still offered a lot of excellent cinema for our viewing pleasure. But to call it a “great” year may have been a stretch, and I’m willing to admit that now in light of the fact that 2012 has, in fact, been a great year. How can you trust me on this one? Simple: I’ve written my top ten list, re-written it, scrapped that, started over from the…
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G-S-T Year in Review – Grady’s 2012 Wrap Up
This year we survived “The End of the World” and some bad movies as well. But, there were some truly amazing movies that were released this year. Sadly I have not seen every major release this year, but I tried my best. With that being said, here are my picks of the best/worst of 2012. ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————- Pure adrenaline rush wrapped in a complex and intriguing plot. Also it features two excellent turns from two of Hollywood’s most effective leading men. ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————- An incredible film, based on an incredible book, which is as immensely heartwarming and funny as it is dysfunctional. The chemistry between Cooper and Lawrence is engaging and very nearly the…
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The Real House-Guests of 'Argo' Weigh In On Affleck's Vision
Argo deserves high praise and admiration for a plethora of different reasons, but one of its greatest strengths happens to be one of the most invisible elements in the entire production: the very real people whose story it captures happen to be ready, willing, and able to bolster the film’s integrity. True, the details of the operation Ben Affleck dramatized in arguably his best movie to date (and certainly one of the best movies of 2012) have been declassified for years, so in making Argo he benefited significantly from the passage of time, but there’s something to be said for not only having documentations of the truth at one’s fingertips,…
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G-S-T Review…Not Fade Away
I left my recollection of David Chase’s Not Fade Away in the theater shortly after walking out during the credits. Maybe that sounds like bad news, and maybe I’m putting myself in a hole by starting off my review on that note, but truthfully, memorability happens to be Not Fade Away‘s biggest Achilles’ heel. Chase hasn’t made a bad film, not by any stretch of the means, but he’s made one that suffers from diminishing returns, one which our connection to slackens and grows hazier the longer that the picture runs. He’s also made a picture about listless, directionless youth; appropriately, Not Fade Away meanders and lazes as much as its…
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Definitely Dead: Summit Shows Off the First Four Minutes of 'Warm Bodies'
More than a few of us have likely wondered at one point or another what goes through a zombie’s head on a daily basis. Do they remember who they were? Can they conjure up any thoughts on what life used to be like before, well, death? Is their only concern finding their next meal? Back in 2011, Isaac Marion sought to answer this question with his YA novel, Warm Bodies, and this coming February Jonathan Levine will follow up the success of 50/50 with an adaptation of Marion’s book. If you’re like me, you’re excited for this and you’re not embarrassed in the slightest; the story is very clearly a descendant of Twilight, but…