World-renowned composer Hans Zimmer recently came to Texas with Hans Zimmer Live (or, simpler, HZL) and their stop in Ft. Worth rocked the house. Zimmer’s music is magical, soul touching and earthshaking. As one of the most powerful and influential figures in music, his band’s talent is eclipsed only by their diversity. It’s safe to say that their live show is like nothing else, and you can never truly capture the sound of the experience through headphones or a turntable. It bears repeating, but HZL is a one-of-a-kind concert, and one which runs the gamut of crowd-pleasing favorites, notable pop culture hits, and themes/tunes which truly mean a lot to…
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G-S-T Review…’Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ is Gravely Funny
People complain about sequels, but let’s get this out of the way. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is good. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice works. And that’s because the story works. It’s a semi-charming set up – replete with familiar Burton oddities – about a bio exorcist who is less than charming. The story by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar cleverly weaves older characters back into the sequel, and the best thing the team does is that they don’t try to explain too much. The ghost with the most has endured because he is mysterious. What are his powers, why and how does he do what he does? Unclear. Do we care? Not really. The point…
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G-S-T Review…’Alien: Romulus’ Is A Triumph
“In space, no one can hear you scream.” Those words have echoed in film and pop culture circles for decades. And rightly so. Space is the perfect setting for high stakes stories with little hope for safety or rescue. Read: the ultimate pit of despair. But does it have to be? Well, in the Alien universe, the answer is always yes! To add comic insult to xenomorph injury, there’s another quote that resounds just as well (albeit from a more lighthearted sci-fi film), “this will all end in tears.” And coming from Fede Alvarez, that couldn’t be more true. With Alien: Romulus, Alvarez and co-writer Royo Sayagues have done fans…
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G-S-T Review…’The Watchers’ Is A Tame Night Debut
From the novel by A. M. Shine (we aren’t even going to pretend we’ve read, or even heard about this before the film), this story blends a good amount of quasi mythological elements with horror tropes. It consistently builds in ways you don’t see coming. And twists? Yeah there are a few…so the source material certainly sounds ripe for Blinding Edge Pictures to do their thing. And off we go. Forget all you know, or think you know. Going into The Watchers, you might need to take a step back. Sure, this is a “Shyamalan” film, but Ishana’s, not M. Night. Strip away all pretense, and familial ties, and this…
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G-S-T Review…’A Million Miles Away’
In the past ten or so years, one of the more resonant film quotes that I hope rings out to young children across the globe is from Disney’s Zootopia. You have to love that inspiring and simple phrase, “anyone can be anything!” Well, when it comes to movies, especially fanciful children’s yarns, not everybody gets to live out their dream, find the treasure, or have an ambitiously emotional dance number to save the farm. But whoever says dreams don’t come true has never heard of one Jose Hernandez – the astronaut and real life hero highlighted in Prime Video’s A Million Miles Away. The words “unforgettable” and “inspirational” get thrown…
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G-S-T Review…’Tonic’
In Derek Presley’s latest film, Tonic, we follow the ups and downs of a barfly jazz pianist. In this down home story – told over one exhaustive night – Sebastian Poe (played by Billy Blair) is a man out of options who constantly weighs his pressured offer to commit murder in exchange for his drug debt to a crooked cop. A no-win “what would you do?” scenario if ever there was one. But let’s clear some things right up front. There is no Liam Neeson, no flashy cuts and edits, or heroic music. In fact, there is no music at all (save for needle drops and source music which was done live) just the…
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[Fantastic Fest Review]…’The Banshees of Inisherin’
For those needing a change of pace, and prefer something with subtlety and substance, The Banshees of Inisherin is your cup of tea. Tea? Feck tea! In Ireland, they drink something stronger. So serve up a pint and prepare to enjoy every last drop of this hoppy, foamy, and delicious slice of cinema from Martin McDonagh. Set just about 100 years ago, on a fictional island just off Ireland’s west coast, we jump to the end of two characters’ lives – who never really had much going on – when one decides that the banality of life is just not enough. As time is slipping away for all of us,…
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G-S-T Review…’The Innocents’
In The Innocents, a group of children face something extraordinary about themselves. Something that in another film would be used for spectacle and wonder, and a more commercial agenda. In another film, those kids would be superheroes facing a vile monster threatening to exterminate us as a species. But The Innocents takes place in a Norwegian building complex that reeks of the mundane and limits associated with low-class families. The kids play in a sandy park that’s full of rust. Ida, a young girl, is sick of having to help her autistic sister Anna. Anna doesn’t speak. When Ida pinches her, she doesn’t cry for help. Ida simply watches as…
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G-S-T Review…’Bullet Train’
Going to the movies should give you all the feels you’re looking for. When seated in a darkened theater, it should be exciting, and a source of entertainment you can’t get anywhere else. These days, with new content at your fingertips any day of the week, a narrative really needs to move the mercury to grab your attention. Well, look no further than David Leitch’s Bullet Train. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Kōtarō Isaka tells a story of a group of assassins who find themselves on the titular locomotive. Little by little (and dead body after dead body) we find out the who, the why and the WTF. The movie, having heavy doses of action and hand-to-hand combat, is a surefire knockout, and the…
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‘Toy Story’ in Concert with The Dallas Symphony Orchestra
In a symphony setting usually known to perform the works of Ravel, Stravinsky, and Bach, who would’ve thought seeing Toy Story in concert would be so enthralling? Well, film fans for one. But actually, what Randy Newman did for that very ambitious animated property (which Pixar debuted in 1995) has gone on to delight people all over the world. So, like the film itself, his music is a huge draw. People are likely more familiar with “You’ve Got a Friend In Me” and “I Will Go Sailing No More” than the score for the film, but through the Pixar in Concert series, symphony halls have been showcasing the tremendous effort…
