If you stop and think about the impact that Disney has had on all of our lives, it’s simply staggering. It would be almost impossible to find someone you know who has never seen a Disney film or TV show. Disney’s formula for success is often imitated, but there is only one Disney. With The Odd Life of Timothy Green, you have a Mary Poppins tale of sorts. You understand it’s a Disney family film and you suspend disbelief, just long enough to allow yourself to get sucked into the movie. You put the Disney name on a film and it’s almost guaranteed to make a profit. But, does Odd…
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Sweet Trailer…'For Ellen'
We posted a brief announcement about the stirring Paul Dano led film For Ellen a few months back but since it was only popping up on the festival circuit, we kind of forgot about it…until now. Coming off the success of Being Flynn, and the enjoyable comedy Ruby Sparks, Dano’s star is on the rise. For Ellen follows an aspiring rock star who wanted nothing more than to “make it”. In the midst of a low period in his life, he agrees to sign divorce papers with his estranged wife in order to see money from the sale of their home, only to discover that by signing the papers, he will forfeit all custody of…
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Sweet Trailer…'Seven Psychopaths'
It’s been four years since Martin McDonagh directed his first feature-length picture, but the wait between In Bruges and McDonagh’s next project is almost over. Today, Seven Psychopaths gets its first trailer, which should blow away any preconceptions you may have formed about the film in your head based on the title. For me, this is nothing but good news; with one two and a half minute clip, McDonagh’s placed his sophomore effort firmly on my radar for the fall season. Put more simply, Seven Psychopaths looks hilarious and deranged, but what else can you expect from a filmmaker with such a black sense of humor and a cast containing everyone from Walken to Rockwell to…
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Video Interview…’ParaNorman’ Writer/Co-Directors Chris Butler & Sam Fell
In Laika‘s follow-up to their animated hit film Coraline, comes the similarly unique and oddball adventure ParaNorman; the storyabout a boy (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee) who’s able to speak with the dead, and must to save his small town from a centuries-old curse. The brainchild of Chris Butler, he and co-director Sam Fell bring the delightfully dreary and phantasmically funny film ParaNorman to life and in Stereoscopic 3D! Go,See,Talk got the chance to sit with both Butler and Fell to talk about their “stop-frame” film. We discuss its development (a dizzying 16 years in the making), its distinctive look, and more. Enjoy! A misunderstood boy who can speak with the dead, takes on ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save…
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Ohhh, Look…Mondo's 'ParaNorman' Posters
This week we’ll see the release of Laika Animation’s stop-frame film ParaNorman. A mix of John Hughes meets John Carpenter, this 80’s styled throw-back from Chris Butler and Sam Fell is bound to tickle your funny bone if you love all things creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky. One of a couple stop motion animated films left in 2012, this looks highly original all kinds of fun (having seen it, we can vouch for it on both counts). To get us closer to ParaNorman, which hits theaters this weekend, Mondo has released the digital versions of the posters they had printed up a few weeks ago. Here are 3 of the better ones,…
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G-S-T Quick 5 – Favorite Chris Messina Films
Last week saw the release of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ‘ highly entertaining ensemble indie comedy Ruby Sparks. While high marks go to the directing duo (who also gave us Little Miss Sunshine) and even higher ones going to star/writer Zoe Kazan, this post is an effort to highlight the unsung hero of that charming and highly original film; one Chris Messina. He’s the likable every-man but also has the chops to pull off any and all roles from “that guy” to a capable leading man. Just a solid staple in every film he’s in, his star is steadily rising but he still hasn’t quite broken out yet. In the film world we’ve seen actors like…
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Sweet Trailer…'Playing For Keeps'
The trailer for Film District’s pending romantic comedy, Playing For Keeps, tells us one thing right off the bat: Gerard Butler is still firmly interred in rom-com prison. The single most interesting detail here is that for once he’s not being forced to play American, which lets the film have a little fun with little kids and British pejoratives. (Listening to little children scream “wanker”, for various reasons, takes me back to childhood. It’s a long story.) I don’t know if that sells the film to anyone beyond its core audience, but it’s a change of pace. Have a look… Playing to the norms of the genre, Butler plays a has-been…
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G-S-T Review…The Campaign
For a film enjoying its theatrical run as the 2012 presidential election race draws closer and closer to the finish line, The Campaign feels supremely out of date. It’s worth mentioning right away that regardless, the film is frequently hilarious; from little, quiet, unexpectedly odd moments to much grander and more orchestrated fits of pure lunacy, The Campaign works on a strictly comic level. That’s half the battle, of course, maybe more depending on how you like your comedies, but it’s impossible to shake off the frivolity on full display right next to the movie’s prominent absurdities. How does one make a picture about politics in a politically aware era and at…
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G-S-T Review…The Bourne Legacy
We’re at a point in franchising history where three films will no longer do. Series from Die Hard to Indiana Jones have been expanded beyond their trilogy borders to include a fourth entry; meanwhile, the future third film in the Hunger Games saga is already being split into two parts. Traditionally, conventional wisdom marks the third film in a trilogy as the lesser installment of the series, but as three-parters get expanded to four, so too is that adage stretched out– and if The Bourne Legacy has anything to add to the discussion, then the fourth film is the new third. Call it tepid, call it slack, call it pointless;…
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Ohhh, Look…New 'Skyfall' Banner/Posters
It’s only mid-August and sadly, we’ve nearly come to the end of the anticipated Summer season tent-pole releases. While we’ll get to see the new Bourne flick this Friday, many fans are looking forward to a little spy film called Skyfall coming out this Fall. That’s right, the one, the only James Bond is back and to further whet your appetites (beyond that awesome trailer) MGM and Columbia Pictures have released these bold and glossy banner and posters in the UK. Seen at 007.com, these look just as slick the as anything you’d expect from the world of the James Bond…enjoy!! Like that? Well, why wouldn’t you…if it’s Bond, then it’s…
