Most audiences on the planet automatically know that when going into a Pixar film they’ll be wow’d by great visuals and, more importantly, superb storytelling. But of equal and sometimes better quality are their fantastic short films like Partysaurus Rex. Case in point; this year, with Brave, we got the studio’s first Princess story but while it didn’t have quite the impact they regularly offer fans, the short La Luna couldn’t have been better. A wondrous story about a boy, his father and grandfather and their celestially custodial family business La Luna is magical and has the makings of a classic…if you could consider an animated short a classic that is. Today it showed up…
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Max Landis Set to Direct, Not Write, 'Me Him Her'
Well, here’s a cool bit of news from Variety: Max Landis, A.K.A “Son of Landis” and the man behind this year’s sleeper hit Chronicle, is going to step out from behind the keyboard and settle right down into the director’s chair. According to the press release, it looks like he’s going to be at the helm for Big Beach Films’ comedy project Me Him Her. After Chronicle, seeing Landis take on a comedy– particularly a comedy focusing on three twenty-something leads dealing with what sounds like an array of sexual identity crises– may strike a few out there as being somewhat odd at first blush. With a few moments of consideration, though,…
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Sweet Trailer…'Side Effects'
You may have seen this trailer already, given that it hit the web on Friday, but Steven Soderbergh’s films generally tend to be worth getting excited for and talking about. So, basically, forgive me for being late to the party. After the string of wins Soderbergh has had recently (2011’s Contagion, this year’s Haywire and, much more notably, Magic Mike), the chameleonic director doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of softening up or slowing down; the trailer for pharmaceutical drama/thriller Side Effects more or less confirms this while also continuing Soderbergh’s habit of keeping to a consistent roster of actors. See for yourself: That’s right: after appearing in both…
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G-S-T Review…Holy Motors
There’s no easy way to evaluate a film like Holy Motors after a single viewing. That’s why I watched my screener copy twice. Of course, I still feel somewhat behind the eight ball as I try in earnest to write my review, but in my own defense it’s worth noting that I’ve never seen anything like Holy Motors before in my life. (Continuing in that vein: I’d wager that there are more critics who share my position than not.) In fact, the film is so unique, original, and rampantly weird that calling it a new entry in surreal cinema feels like an observation of family resemblance and nothing more. How…
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G-S-T Review…Wreck-It Ralph
Should you manage to see Wreck-It Ralph blind and with no knowledge of its source of origination, you might be inclined to credit the film to Pixar. And while that wouldn’t be an unreasonable guess, you’d be wrong. Ralph has all the bearings of Pixar at its finest, yet Rich Moore’s first feature length effort comes to us from none other than the Mouse House itself. Arriving six months after the release of Brave, Ralph gives weight to the theory that both animation studios are just blurring together more and more in the wake of Pixar’s acquisition by Disney in 2006. If that strikes anyone as a bad sign for creativity, then the news that Wreck-It Ralph happens to…
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G-S-T Review…A Late Quartet
If A Late Quartet, the second feature by Yaron Zilberman and his first film since his 2004 documentary Watermarks, proves anything, it’s that good performances can elevate average movies. To say that Zilberman’s cast saves his picture would be somewhat generous, though. They only distract us from its inadequacies, which are numerous, though perhaps this is a harsher judgment than the film really deserves. A Late Quartet is harmless, airy fluff, small-scale prestige cinema that smartly gathers together a group of very gifted actors in the service of exploring life lessons filtered through the overarching motif of Beethoven’s Opus 131 String Quartet (in C-sharp minor); it’s also painfully undercooked to…
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G-S-T Review…The Sessions
Life deals many of us some pretty crappy hands. The trick to dealing with much of it, as they say, is to have a good attitude. In the case of journalist Mark O’Brien, life handed him a spectacularly bum hand in the form of childhood polio. But you wouldn’t know it to talk to him as his positive outlook far outweighs both the iron lung he sleeps in and the paralyzing affect the disease had on him physically. After an 18 year absence from feature films director Ben Lewin takes the helm for The Sessions; a tender story that retells the time in O’Brien’s life when he researched/wrote one of his most provocative stories. The film doesn’t dance around sensitive…
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Exclusive: Interview…Disney Animator & ‘Paperman’ Director John Kahrs
Editor’s Note: This interview was held following the animated short film sequence back in September at the 2102 Fantastic Fest. We held on to this to coincide with its screening ahead of Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph which opens Friday November 2nd. Part passion project, part experiment, Disney animator John Kahrs‘ short film Paperman is a wonderful combination of traditional 2D animation and CG. This hybrid style (achieved by creating CG animatics and then laying 2D drawings over those polygons) yields something that has the look of traditional hand drawn animation but moves with the fluidly of CG. Sounds simple but apparently it’s a lot of work. However, looking at the end result, it has the potential to be a…
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"The Halloween Monster Mash" Is Over!!
Well friends, “The Halloween Monster Mash” has come to a close. Over the past 4 weeks it’s been a knock down drag-out grudge match to crown the baddest horror monster. The match-ups have yielded some expected advances but also a few upsets here and there. But it’s all in anticipation and appreciation of Halloween so I hope you had some fun. Anyway it was a pretty tremendous turnout so thanks to the many visitors and all those who cast their votes. So without further ado I present the winner of GoSeeTalk’s Halloween Monster Mash… That’s right scare fiends and gore hounds: proving that he’s really the stuff that nightmares are made of, Pinhead, the unholy leader…
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I've Got A Good Feeling About This: Disney Buys LucasFilm, Expect Ep. VII In 2015
There was a prophecy that one would come and bring balance to the Force…and it’s the Mouse House?? Yup, this is straight from the source and you’re not dreaming. Disney has really bought Lucasfilm. Wow, still having trouble believing what I’m writing. To the tune of 4 billion dollars Disney, as well as Kathleen Kennedy, will now be in creative control of the characters from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Here’s the statement from Lucas: “For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see ‘Star Wars’ passed from one generation to the next. It’s now time for me to pass ‘Star Wars’ on…
