You can take the Oscar bait out of the gritty revenge thriller, but you can’t take the gritty revenge thriller out of the Oscar bait. So goes Out of the Furnace, Scott Cooper’s latest film since 2009’s deplorably hackneyed Crazy Heart; in just under two hours of running time, Cooper never makes the effort to determine whether he’s making a sweeping, important piece of arthouse cinema, or a good old fashioned genre picture. Truthfully, that’s by design – he’s very clearly bent on mashing these two pursuits together from the very start, hoping that by adding two and two he’ll come out the other side with a handsome bit of…
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G-S-T Review…Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
Writer/director David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is a simple enough story that speaks volumes. Further, it carries a lot of weight even if nothing particularly dramatic seems to be going on. And that’s the point. It’s part art piece, part love story, and though Lowery’s narrative is understated, it is simply stunning. From the cast, to the story, to the gorgeously simplistic visuals, nothing about this down home picture doesn’t just sing. You may not know the name David Lowery outside the Texas film community, but 2013 has been a big year for both him and his wonderfully crafted throwback film. From Dallas, to Sundance, to Cannes, Saints has made…
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Home Grown Texas Talent Interview Series – Writer/Director David Lowery on ‘Ain’t Them Bodies Saints’
In our last Home Grown Texas Talent interview (HGTT for short) we talked with local writer/director Derek Presley about his work and his latest short film which was screened at the Festival de Cannes. Today we speak with another talented individual whose passion for shorts and a focused narrative has made him an overnight sensation and his latest feature one of the most talked about films of 2013. So if you haven’t caught any of the buzz surrounding his film Ain’t Them Bodies Saints then there’s still time to get on the band wagon. We have a feeling this is going to be a major player come awards season. So…
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G-S-T Review…ParaNorman
In the vein of iconic monster/adventure properties like The Monster Squad, Scooby-Doo even The Iron Giant comes Laika’s follow-up to their hit film Coraline. ParaNorman, is a fantastically intricate stop-motion (or “stop-frame” to you film fans in the UK) animated film that follows Norman, a young boy who is more than a little obsessed with the macabre…he can actually see and communicate with ghosts. He takes it all in stride but is most definitely an outcast but like all great outcasts, he’s destined to save the day because of his eccentricities. It’s a common story but from the mind of Chris Butler, this more or less familiar theme is spun just enough and is ‘wonky’ enough…
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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…
