I went into Couples Retreat wanting to enjoy the allure, the fun and the humor advertised in the trailer. What I got was a disappointment which mirrored the on-screen let down that the characters of this film experienced when arriving at Eden Resort. I usually have a pretty good track record when it comes to judging the outcome of a movie based solely on the trailer. If the trailer seems too good to be true, then the film is probably going to be a let down. I thought for sure with the likes of Bateman, Bell, Vaughn & Favreau (also writing) and an appearance from Jean Reno, this movie would…
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G-S-T Review…Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino, of such great character films like Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill has completely re-written the Enzo G. Castellari story of the U.S. soldiers in WWII occupied France for his remake of the 1978 cult classic The Inglorious Bastards. Having little to do with the events of the original, QT wove one very well written and directed film that I have to say right off impressed me thoroughly. PREMISE: Brad Pitt leads a team of Jewish American soldiers in France to carry out one simple order: spread fear throughout the Third Reich by ” killin’ Nazis”. Teaming with members of the French resistance, they prepare to execute a secret…
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G-S-T Review…G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra
Out of all the animated series that made the 80’s one of the funnest times to be a kid, G.I JOE is the “real American Hero” and thanks to the efforts of Mr.Camp himself (Stephen Sommers) we are treated to a wild, live-action adaptation of Hasbro’s classic and beloved franchise. I think it was a globally understood fact that this film was just going to be a “check your brain at the door” Summer pop-corn flick. That said, along those lines, and aside from definite missteps and problems, I will say that the film still delivered the goods.
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G-S-T Review…Funny People
Judd Apatow and the gang just released Funny People starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen. I tried to avoid reading any early reviews posted from viewers of midnight screening and the like so I could go into this knowing only the basics. I’ll say I was impressed and here’s why: PREMISE: Adam Sandler plays stand-up comic turned professional comedy actor George Simmons. When George learns that he is diagnosed with a rare blood disease he tries to make the most out of the time he has left. Over the course of the movie he gets back to his roots in stand-up comedy and attempts to reach out to people to…
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G-S-T Review…Public Enemies
It was with high expectations that I set out to see how Michael Mann (of Thief, HEAT and Collateral fame) would tell the tale of ‘Public Enemy’ John Dillinger and his would be captor Melvin Purvis. Due to the impressive outcomes of his previous efforts, I’ve come to like Mann’s style and was anxious to see this film, but I did have some doubts based solely on the look of the trailer. My fiance and I walked into the theater expecting to be astounded…and the result was as follows: PREMISE: Great Depression era bank robber John Dillinger is pursued by J. Edgar Hoover and special agent Melvin Purvis (recently celebrated…
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G-S-T Review…Up
PREMISE: Left moderately bitter, and ultimately alone, after his wife’s passing, Carl Fredricksen is now pressured to sell his house in the face of urban development, but he’s not moving one inch. After a slight altercation with the contractors waiting outside his door, he’s being forced out of his home and into an assisted living facility for the elderly. Just before he’s set to be taken away, he unleashes thousands of balloons (that he filled in the middle of the night) tied to his house and is now going to lift the house and take it with him to the one destination he and his late wife never got to go to. …
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G-S-T Review…Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
In a country known to be fairly late on getting the new movies, Japan has scored a coup this time around with being the first country to show the new Transformers movie. Scheduled for June 20th, they even decided to move that up a day to the 19th. And you bet I was there to be one of the first in the world to see it. PREMISE: In the highly-anticipated sequel, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) again joins with the Autobots against their sworn enemies, the Decepticons. Decepticon forces return to Earth on a mission to take Sam Witwicky prisoner, after the young hero learns the truth about the ancient origins…
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G-S-T Review…The Hangover
This movie has been one that G-C-T (and most everyone I know actually) have been waiting for since the day the teaser came out. Coming from Todd Phillips (Old School, Road Trip) you could just tell that it was going to be insanely funny, with a little dumb humor, but an all out laugh-a-thon none the less. I went with two of my good friends and funny enough, we all had just got back from one of their bachelor parties in Vegas so this felt more like a flashback than a movie. Simply put, The Hangover was completely hilarious and had me crying it was so funny. So without giving…
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G-S-T Review…Angels & Demons
For the past few months I written about Angels & Demons, but the content of my posts were intended to be more about my expectations rather than say casting news or production development. Before stepping into the theater, I really wanted this film to work in two ways. The first was my hope that this would be a more compelling film adaptation than the DaVinci Code. The second was if there would be a little more emotion to Tom Hanks’ “Langdon” (who was criticized last time for being lifeless and miscast). But, having read both books, I found this the more complex and action packed story of the two, so stepping into…
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G-S-T Review…X-Men Origins: Wolverine
May 1 is officially in the Springtime but this movie was supposed to be jump-start on the great Summer movies of 2009. Well fortunately for the timing of this year, this film (despite any success in the coming weeks) fits in a category I call a ‘Spring Fling’ (a film you watch on a whim and is easily forgotten) rather than being a ‘Summer Blockbuster’ (you know, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Transformers, etc.). I’ll simply say that I was disappointed with this film. It just never grabbed my full attention like the other X-Men films did. I even started to doze off but I’ll get into more detail below.…