Genre filmmakers speak to us on a level like no other storytellers. They, most times with a shoe-string budget, show that art through adversity is a cinematic technique that will always gain fans. One such filmmaker is Chilean-born Ernesto Dìaz Espinoza. We first came to know the work of Espinoza while covering Fantastic Fest. It was there in Austin where we were treated to the passion and the precision he brought to Bring Me the Head of Machine Gun Woman (yes, that is a real title). We were hooked and, since then, have followed his career with great interest. This year, he gives us another vigilante-esqe story led by regular…
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G-S-T Review…Scott Adkins Dances With the Devil in ‘Diablo’
Although we’re a couple weeks away from F1: The Movie screaming into theaters, if you want white-knuckle excitement, we’re gonna highly recommend Diablo as one of the best films of the year. It sure is tops in our book. From Chilean director Ernesto Díaz Espinoza comes another gritty action-packed feature full of flying fists and high kicks. Herein, he re-teams with martial arts master and genre phenomenon Marko Zaror (marking their sixth picture together). But when you throw in the absolute adrenaline machine that is Scott Adkins, you get nothing short of fireworks. Whether seen as a genre film or not, Diablo is just an incredible picture. It’s trope heavy,…
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Off the Shelf…Ernesto Díaz Espinoza’s ‘Redeemer’
Genre filmmaking staple, and Fantastic Fest regular, Ernesto Díaz Espinoza has been working with Marco Zaror for years. With each succeeding film, the two have been crafting yarns meant to be a little more serious than their B-Movie homages and send-ups from the glory days of VHS. Even if, like us, you’re a fan of Espinoza (check out our review of Bring Me the Head of Machine Gun Woman here), the Dark Sky trailers that precede this, his fifth feature, don’t give a lot of confidence. Yet one need not worry, this is not the pinnacle of Espinoza’s career. It’s an opportunity to let Marko Zaror be a badass, again. These days,…
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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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2012 Fantastic Fest Recap (Or How I Learned To Manage My Time At Such An Overwhelmingly Awesome Film Fest)
This year was Go,See,Talk’s first time attending Fantastic Fest and I have to say it was everything they said it would be. Since I was only there for 4 days, I missed out on some later week fun like the secret screening of Cloud Atlas (with a supposedly awesome Q&A with the Wachowskis…UGGGG), but there was still lots to see and do and I got a lot of reviews/coverage under my belt. For such a great festival with a huge draw it’s amazing to see how quaint and laid back everything and everyone is. You can easily bump elbows in such small proximity with both filmmakers and actors but also the film…
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[Fantastic Fest Review]…Bring Me the Head of Machine Gun Woman
Yep. That’s really the title and just another reason why this festival has such a large draw and wide appeal, especially for those film fans who want something outside the norm. With Bring Me the Head of Machine Gun Woman, writer/director Ernesto Díaz Espinoza makes a fine addition to the series of Grindhouse films that have popped up in the last decade or so. While some sub-par releases have diluted this fun throwback sub-genre and B-Movie revival, Espinoza, like he has with Mirageman and Mandrill, gives hope for the movement and an example for those who will follow his footsteps. There’s an authenticity that rises above gimmick or fun solely for inebriates, possibly because it’s…
