Inspired by the upcoming film Now You See Me, Summit Entertainment’s magic-themed caper flick that comes out this week, we at G-S-T wanted to take a brief look back at some of our favorite as well as some seminal heist/magic based films. Granted this is a broad genre to try and wrap into a single Quick 5 list, so I’ll say right up front that I know I haven’t covered every base I could. After all, what can you do about a genre as large as the heist film and the smaller magical field? Answer: you do the best you can and scour to fit things into a neat list…
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G-S-T Quick 5 – Favorite Casino Heist Films
Among the many established or iconic locales famous for gambling, the Las Vegas Strip has been a very popular cinematic setting over the years. From films like Warren Beatty’s Bugsy (1991), the Joe Pesci/Robert De Niro classic Casino (1995), hell even Chevy Chase’s Vegas Vacation (1997), there’s something undeniably cool and edgy about “The Strip” (except maybe that National Lampoon one). Yet in the city of sin, or wherever you try and find Lady Luck, when you pony up to the tables sometimes you’re putting more than just some colorful chips on the line. Unfortunately, as one Danny Ocean astutely comments, the underlying rule is that “the house always wins“, but it’s not always the case as…
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G-S-T Quick 5 – Westerns You Should See Before Seeing 'Django Unchained'
Editor’s Note: In anticipation of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (which hits theaters tomorrow), this Quick 5 list comes from our good friend Mark Walters of BigFanBoy.com. Here Mark offers up a sort of “Spaghetti Western 101” to all of us who are a little dusty when it comes to the classic gunslingers. This quick but concise list of required reading will be sure to make Django more enjoyable walking into Quentin Tarantino’s latest live-letter genre film. Director Quentin Tarantino is unleashing DJANGO UNCHAINED in theaters on Christmas Day, which in may ways is his love letter to Hollywood Westerns. Being a fan of that genre, and aware enough to spot some of his more…
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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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G-S-T Quick 5 – Super Easy Last-Minute Halloween Ideas
Halloween is almost upon us, and as Ferris Bueller once said “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Well, the same goes for Halloween. So if you’ve been too busy to work on your costume, don’t worry. Here are 5 quick and easy Halloween costumes for people short on time, and on a budget. The goal here is to use what you’ve got in your closet and keep from spending any money. You don’t even have to buy a prop t-shirt like the header image above (although it is pretty sweet). Depending on the items at your disposal, you…
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G-S-T Quick 5 – Favorite Nora Ephron Films
For our second installment of posts dedicated to great directors, we’ve chosen to highlight the top five films from the late Nora Ephron. Ephron, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2006 and passed away earlier this summer at the age of 71, was a force of nature. Not only did she bring us classic stories like When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, she was also an accomplished journalist, essayist, playwright, producer, director and novelist. So while we want to highlight her work as a director, arguably one of the best female directors of our time, her accomplishments as a writer in so many forms should be highly noted…
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G-S-T Quick 5 – Favorite Chris Messina Films
Last week saw the release of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ‘ highly entertaining ensemble indie comedy Ruby Sparks. While high marks go to the directing duo (who also gave us Little Miss Sunshine) and even higher ones going to star/writer Zoe Kazan, this post is an effort to highlight the unsung hero of that charming and highly original film; one Chris Messina. He’s the likable every-man but also has the chops to pull off any and all roles from “that guy” to a capable leading man. Just a solid staple in every film he’s in, his star is steadily rising but he still hasn’t quite broken out yet. In the film world we’ve seen actors like…
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G-S-T Quick 5 – Best Nolan Batman Moments (Leading To The Dark Knight Rises)
Harvey Dent once said that “The night is darkest just before the dawn.” and tomorrow, so say the trailers, TV spots and WB’s immense marketing campaign, that Knight will rise. So instead of us putting up a CineMagic 8-Ball post since everybody on the planet is going to go see The Dark Knight Rises this weekend, I thought I would give Grady the day off and instead offer up what I think are the 5 Best Nolan Batman Moments in the first two installments of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Enjoy the path to The Dark Knight Rises. ——————————————————————————————————————————————– At some point in life, everyone needs a little push and even though Bruce…
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G-S-T Quick 5 – Favorite Films For Memorial Day
We at G-S-T hope this three day weekend has found you well and wanted to wish everyone a happy Memorial Day. Today is the day America traditionally remembers the fallen heroes that helped pave the road to the freedoms we enjoy everyday. Different from Veteran’s Day (that celebrates veterans both living and deceased) Memorial Day was originally known as “Decoration Day” – the day dedicated to the Civil War dead, when mourners would decorate grave sites as a remembrance. As I’m not big on history I’ll cut to the chase. This list isn’t really about war or an attempt to rank the finest and true to life battle films I’ve decided to…
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G-S-T Quick 5 – Favorite Sylvester Stallone Roles
While I originally had this post in place to allow his latest film to take a spot here, sadly that’s not the case. While it wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t good either (check out my review here). So current blockbuster not withstanding, this is the list of Sly’s best roles. Some you know, some you might remember seeing and some just might have you saying “I thought I repressed that“. Anyway, I just love the guy and am willing to forgive a bad film knowing he’ll make up for it with the next one. Since he has just over 50 films on his resume, this is a look at the five…