• Quick 5/Top 10

    G-S-T Quick 5 – 2013’s Underseen Gems

    Well, well – we’re back here again, are we? The biggest difference between that post and the one you’re about to read, though, is that 2013 has been nothing but gravy through and through, boasting an absolutely absurd number of high quality films of all makes and models; if the early going was slow, things picked up in a big way in late Spring, and that momentum stuck for pretty much the rest of the year following that. Whether you were hitting the big multiplexes or your local arthouse establishment, 2013 had a slew of wonderful movies worth your patronage. Inevitably that means some of them fell through the cracks;…

  • Editorials,  Features

    Halftime Report: G-S-T’s 10 Best Movies Of 2013 (So Far!)

    What’s good in 2013? If you’d asked me the same question three months ago, I’d have had very few titles worth recommending. This year has been marked by a glacial start, with decent B-movie pulp- Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, The Last Stand– appearing sporadically from January onward, but it took March for 2013 to really start showing off the gems waiting patiently on its release slate. From Stoker to Beyond the Hills to Ginger & Rosa, March showed a turnaround in quality for this cinematic season, and things have picked up from there considerably. Where we’ll end up in December is another question entirely, but if the remainder of the ride…

  • Interviews

    Interview…’Gimme the Loot’ Writer/Director Adam Leon

    So, I kinda really liked the graffiti/coming-of-age street yarn, Gimme the Loot, and you can check out my review here if you don’t believe me. As it happens, I also recently had the opportunity to chat with director Adam Leon about the film- what inspired and influenced it, how the production came together, the process and preparation that went into it, and the importance of maintaining cultural authenticity. Read on to absorb his insights into the movie: Go, See, Talk!: The first thing that I have to ask, as a fan of hip hop: I’m really curious about the title. Is that something you all came up with while you were shooting, or is that…

  • Movies/Entertainment,  Reviews

    G-S-T Review…Gimme the Loot

    Who knew a street-centered narrative could be so sweetly buoyant as Adam Leon’s Gimme the Loot? Modern storytelling tends to look only at one side of a life lived in the hood, wading through the mud to capture and romanticize the difficulties inherent to an existence where simply getting by day to day proves to be a Herculean feat. Gimme the Loot almost feels like a response to those cliches, except that Leon actively chooses not to follow the polar opposite tract by indulging in straight-up fantasy about the world his protagonists, Malcolm (Ty Hickson) and Sofia (Tashiana Washington), inhabit; he instead aims for balance, harmony between exuberance and struggle…