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 Quick 5 – 2012's Underseen Gems
For critics, bloggers, and all-around cineastes, the end of the calendar year marks a time to look back and reflect on the best offerings of the last three hundred and sixty five days (and sometimes even the worst). This is when we talk about the There Will Be Bloods and the Hurt Lockers, the Slumdog Millionaires and the Yi Yis; it’s when we decry the dreck that fills the spaces in between the better releases, the Battlefield Earths and the Giglis, the Pearl Harbors and the The Number 23s. (And I realize that this collection of titles represents only a microcosm of the cinema that makes its way to theaters…
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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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G-S-T Quick 5 – Favorite Casino Heist Films
Among the many established or iconic locales famous for gambling, the Las Vegas Strip has been a very popular cinematic setting over the years. From films like Warren Beatty’s Bugsy (1991), the Joe Pesci/Robert De Niro classic Casino (1995), hell even Chevy Chase’s Vegas Vacation (1997), there’s something undeniably cool and edgy about “The Strip” (except maybe that National Lampoon one). Yet in the city of sin, or wherever you try and find Lady Luck, when you pony up to the tables sometimes you’re putting more than just some colorful chips on the line. Unfortunately, as one Danny Ocean astutely comments, the underlying rule is that “the house always wins“, but it’s not always the case as…
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G-S-T Quick 5 – Westerns You Should See Before Seeing 'Django Unchained'
Editor’s Note: In anticipation of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (which hits theaters tomorrow), this Quick 5 list comes from our good friend Mark Walters of BigFanBoy.com. Here Mark offers up a sort of “Spaghetti Western 101” to all of us who are a little dusty when it comes to the classic gunslingers. This quick but concise list of required reading will be sure to make Django more enjoyable walking into Quentin Tarantino’s latest live-letter genre film. Director Quentin Tarantino is unleashing DJANGO UNCHAINED in theaters on Christmas Day, which in may ways is his love letter to Hollywood Westerns. Being a fan of that genre, and aware enough to spot some of his more…
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G-S-T Quick 5 – Favorite Vigilante Films
vig·i·lan·te: any person who takes the law into his or her own hands, as by avenging a crime. A mainstay in the film world for decades, vigilantes come in all shapes in sizes and work their special brand of street justice for a variety of reasons. In some cases they operate just outside the law and work in secret. But then again there are those who work with the law and are not so secret about their bone-crunching ways. I guess you can say that vigilantes are like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get…except the outcome which finds baddies getting what they deserve. Now there are…
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G-S-T Top 10 – Movies Off The Beaten Path – Round 4
After a two-month hiatus, we’re back with the next installment of “Movies off the Beaten Path”. Movies, and the entertainment business, can be highly hit or miss because of ranging tastes in film and how people approach the medium. Sometimes, for whatever reason, you hear about a movie and have no desire to see it and don’t. You may even avoid it at all costs. In other cases you have no idea the film exists until someone points it out to you, years after its original release. The following entries in our series of Top 10 lists are films I happened to stumble upon or that were recommended to me. Whether…
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G-S-T Quick 5 – Super Easy Last-Minute Halloween Ideas
Halloween is almost upon us, and as Ferris Bueller once said “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Well, the same goes for Halloween. So if you’ve been too busy to work on your costume, don’t worry. Here are 5 quick and easy Halloween costumes for people short on time, and on a budget. The goal here is to use what you’ve got in your closet and keep from spending any money. You don’t even have to buy a prop t-shirt like the header image above (although it is pretty sweet). Depending on the items at your disposal, you…
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G-S-T Top 10 – Movies Off The Beaten Path…Round 3
Going just a bit deeper in to my movie memory and scanning GoSeeTalk’s “Sacred Shelves” and Netflix Instant for some recommendations I’ve lined up 10 more films you may have overlooked. Keep in mind that these aren’t snubbed Oscar winners, but they all have something we think makes them worth watching at least once. Hope you find a few unexpected winners in this batch. Continuing the series, I give you the 3rd Round of “Movies Off the Beaten Path“… —————————————————————————————————————————————– The Way of the Gun – More like the under-appreciated little brother of the The Usual Suspects, this Christopher McQuarrie penned film should derive more attention than it gets. Gun was highly overlooked probably because…