On paper, a career in the movie trailer voiceover business doesn’t suggest much by way of glamor, and in truth, In a World…, the feature directing, writing, and producing debut of the multifaceted Lake Bell, doesn’t little to shake that perception. Instead, Bell’s film builds a lived-in and authentic world where people ruthlessly vie for coveted gigs which appear so minor from a distance that their ability to inspire cutthroat competition is almost puzzling; it also happens to absurdly engaging and very, very funny, but the punchlines feel natural, unfussy, and not at all dependent on getting the audience to laugh at the misery and humiliation of the characters on…
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G-S-T Review…jOBS
Joshua Michael Stern’s Jobs has one question to answer, and one question only: can the towering genius of the late Steve Jobs be adequately embodied by Michael Kelso on the big screen? Every critic reviewing the film will inevitably struggle to utter, “yes”, if only because no one wants to risk their credibility by going to bat for an Ashton Kutcher performance. But, miracle of miracles, he’s actually pretty good, good enough at least to warrant real praise instead of yawning skepticism or begrudging acceptance, but not necessarily good enough to raise Jobs above the sub-standard, thoroughly muddled biopic Stern crafts around his lead’s portrayal of Apple’s driven, visionary, and utterly ruthless…
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G-S-T Review…The Attack
Connecting with The Attack presents a challenge: do we dare compare the handful of terrorist attacks on American soil to the pervasive, daily threat of death that’s part of living in the Middle East? Following the horrific suicide bombing that drives his film’s momentum, Ziad Doueiri, formerly one of Quentin Tarantino’s camera assistant and director of the 1998 Cannes winner West Beirut, we may tentatively respond in the negative. If the violent explosion – which Doueiri chooses not to show – echoes with personal familiarity, its context remains wholly foreign to us no matter how much we see reflections of our own homes and lives in the streets of Tel…
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Second Wave of Film Programming Announced for Fantastic Fest 2013
Fantastic Fest is one of the most fun film festivals you will ever attend. Full stop. Sure it’s not as high profile or sophisticated as say Cannes or Sundance but it’s something extra special. If you like zombies, crazy robot violence, irreverent foreign films, serial killing aliens or absurd animation then you are most certainly a fan of genre films and Fantastic Fest is calling your name. If you’ve been there, you know what to expect. If not, read through of our coverage and experiences from last year, then get off your ass, head down to Austin, Texas next month (September 19-26 at the Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline) and prepare to have your world…
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Ohhh, Look…Stallone and De Niro In 'Grudge Match'
They say that “you can’t keep a good man down” and on that note, the same can be said of the stars of Peter Segal‘s pugilist themed film Grudge Match. In the upcoming film Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro play two bitter boxing rivals who are coaxed back into the ring for a grudge match 50 years after they fought for the title. Today we get a look at the headlining stars as well as Kevin Hart who plays the duo’s fight promoter. It’s a goofy enough premise for a film, one that prompts a hearty “why?“, but the idea of seeing getting to see Rocky Balboa and Jake LaMotta (the…
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G-S-T TV: Low Winter Sun (S1, Pilot)
Continuing with a hit streak that is very near white-hot, on Sunday AMC debuted the pilot for their new crime drama Low Winter Sun. Starring Mark Strong and Lennie James, two big league players in the British film community, this story of detectives walking a line between shady and legit is gritty, concentrated, and very much in line with the likes of Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. Similar to Netflix’s House of Cards, this is a remake/extrapolation of a previously released series. In this case Low Winter Sun was a TV movie released in 2006 and this AMC revival finds Strong reprising the role of Frank. We at GoSeeTalk are huge fans of Mark…
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“What’s New on Blu?” – Week of 08/12/13
Whether you rent or buy movies, Blu-ray offers the ultimate in sight and sound. Streaming is convenient, but if you plan on watching the movie more than once, you need Blu. So, What’s New On Blu? you ask. Well, good, bad or indifferent, Go,See,Talk offers up a trio of titles that are being released each week. Check out what’s hitting the shelves this Tuesday… ——————————————————————————————————————————— When the White House (Secret Service Code: “Olympus”) is captured by a terrorist mastermind and the President is kidnapped, disgraced former Presidential guard Mike Banning finds himself trapped within the building. As our national security team scrambles to respond, they are forced to rely on…
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G-S-T TV: ‘Orange Is the New Black’ Is Your New Obsession
(We’re trying something new here at Go, See, Talk!: we’re talking about TV now. GST will remain a primarily movie-oriented outlet, but we’re expanding our brand and slowly starting coverage on the television shows that we’re interested in the most.) I’m not going to pretend that I don’t have a tiny bias in favor of Orange Is the New Black‘s continued success as the seventh Netflix original series; I love Weeds, half of it anyways, and I have a completely random personal connection to Jenji Kohan’s latest endeavor to boot*. But when have I ever allowed my biases to keep me from singing the praises of the movies and television…
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G-S-T Review…Elysium
A visual feast for the eyes, Elysium manages to keep its head above water despite a sparse story. I think it’s fair to say that writer/director Neill Blomkamp’s first feature, District 9, gave a lot of filmmakers pause. Here was a fresh story by a new filmmaker told brilliantly. This was blockbuster science fiction on a dime’s budget that wowed audiences and critics alike. So I was eagerly awaiting his sophomore effort, Elysium, and went in expecting anything and everything. I had avoided most of the trailers and details about the film. I wanted a fresh experience, just like District 9, and I’m glad I did. Blomkamp wants to break the…
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G-S-T Review…Planes
There’s no doubt that Disney is a marketing juggernaut. It’s almost impossible to imagine a world without Mickey Mouse and his friends. That being said, not every Disney movie is a huge box office hit. Disney capitalizes on successful films by making follow-on films as direct-to-disc movies. It’s hard to know the criteria that is used to determine if a film should be direct-to-disc, but you typically know one when you see one. Whatever the case may be, Disney has all corners of the market covered. The latest entry in the Disney collection, Planes, almost went direct-to-disc as well. With that in mind, how will Planes fair with moviegoers? Keep…
