A sincere question for my readers: is it worse for a movie to be derivative or lifeless? The Watch, the second feature by The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaeffer, borrows liberally from science fiction cinema classics like Invasion of the Body Snatchers (take your pick between the ’56 and ’78 versions) as well as contemporary greats like last year’s excellent Attack the Block, but the film’s worst transgression isn’t its unapologetic mimicry. Calling on decades-old genre traditions is one thing; turning out an embarrassingly brainless, thoroughly bland, and criminally unfunny attempt at sci-fi comedy is another entirely. The Watch shows as little interest in its aliens as its punchlines. Not to mention its characters. Like the best…
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“The CineMagic 8-Ball” – In Theaters 7/27/12
When so many movies are released each weekend and trailers often seem better than the movie itself, what should one do? In this precarious situation, we consult the The CineMagic 8-Ball (TM) to help us see through the nebulous marketing haze. Doing so just might save us all a disheartening trip to the cinema and spare us unnecessarily springing for $7 popcorn. See what the 8-Ball says about this week’s releases… ——————————————————————————————————————————————- Step Up: Revolution Emily arrives in Miami with aspirations of becoming a professional dancer and soon falls in love with Sean a young man who leads a dance crew in elaborate, cutting-edge flash mobs, called “The Mob.” When…
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“What’s New on Blu?” – Week of 06/25/12
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 week… ——————————————————————————————————————————— A pair of underachieving cops are sent back to a local high school to blend in and bring down a synthetic drug ring. 21 Jump Street comes highly recommended by all of us at Go,See,Talk. This movie will be added to my collection the day…
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G-S-T Review…21 Jump Street
Phil Lord’s and Chris Miller’s 21 Jump Street shouldn’t be as brilliant as it is. In fact, on paper, it’s a film that seems ripe for evisceration at the hands of critics and cineastes for whom kvetching about Hollywood’s modern culture of property recycling has become as much a pastime as actually watching movies. Maybe 21 Jump Street is an easy target; its premise is so hopelessly cheesy that it could only be a product of the late 80s, while Jonah Hill’s comedic stock has been wavering since 2010’s Get Him to the Greek. Tack Channing Tatum on and you have a project that reads like a fake film-within-a-film from Entourage. Who gave a…
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Sweet (Extended Red Band) Trailer…'21 Jump Street'
Next week we’ll see the big screen adaptation of 21 Jump Street. Sorry Johnny Depp fans, save for the name, it shares next to nothing in common with the 80’s TV show. We’ve seen a slew of trailers and TV spots but this extended Red Band trailer (thanks MTV) just might put them all to shame. There’s also some new footage that is really funny albeit NSFW. Doesn’t tread a lot of new ground as far as buddy cop/odd couple films go but it looks insane and personally, against my better judgement, I can’t wait. For those interested have a look… Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog Directed by Phil Lord and…
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Sweet (Teaser) Trailer…'Neighborhood Watch'
Here’s a little something to help you finish up your day. The video below is a teaser trailer for the new comedy Neighborhood Watch starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and Richard Ayoade. It’s not great but it has enough humor to possibly get a chuckle out of you. Have a look… It does seem ho-hum even for a teaser, but I wouldn’t write it off yet as this is directed by Akiva Schaffer and written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Sure you might think it has a sort of a Dodgeball meets Wild Hogs aging hipster vibe but the teaser is a bit misleading. FOr some clarification,…
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G-S-T Review…Moneyball
moneyball [muhn-ee bawl] noun 1. A derisive name for a sport (especially baseball) in which skill and fans seem secondary to money, esp. a sport in which teams, hoping to secure winning seasons and the resulting broadcasting and merchandising incomes, negotiate expensive contracts with desirable players. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it right? Well in 2001/02 Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane didn’t believe in that old adage. In charge of the one of the MLB’s most under funded ball clubs he was tired of getting beat; not just by the team on the field but by the big dollars behind the team and that’s the game in which Beane could never compete. So, it’s not…
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G-S-T Review…Get Him to the Greek
In this loose “follow-up” to Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek focuses on wild and eccentric Brit rocker Aldous Snow. Weird thing is, although the movie hints at being a continuation of the prior movie (including a cute TV commercial of “Sarah Marshall’s” newest prime-time show) Jonah Hill doesn’t play the infatuated Aldous/Infant Sorrow fan he did in FSM. Weird I know. However, that minor inconsistency didn’t keep me from enjoying the hell out of this movie. While FSM really surprised me, this was equally as entertaining. As this is, in part, a Judd Apatow film, the story came replete with tons of heart. Further, as expected, the raunchy humor was set…
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G-S-T Top 10 – Favorite High School/College Films
Let me just say that you’re not going to find any classic John Hughes movies here. I tried to stay away from that simply because John Hughes movies should have their own category. Also the American Pie films will not be found either as I think they really are too exaggerated and therefore stupid so they don’t meet the same level of comic (and also raunchy) genius these films attain. That may be both biased and hypocritical when you take a look at the Top 10 below. That said, here are the films we love to watch whenever we start to miss College or think about how rough of a…