Steve McQueen, to put it bluntly, makes bold movies. But really that’s still a gross understatement. In just his third feature film he tackles slavery – not an easy topic in the least. Even well respected and successful directors like Tarantino and Spielberg had nearly a dozen projects/films under their belt before taking on this subject or anything close to it. True, Tarantino’s Django Unchained was more a throwback to Peckinpah’s Westerns than an essay on slavery, but even the masterful Spielberg took some baby steps with films like The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun before tackling both Schindler’s List and Amistad. An up and coming filmmaker, McQueen is already…
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G-S-T Review…The Counselor
There are miraculous things that can happen with film. Perfectly competent directors, writers, and actors can make something that is outrageously better than the sum of their parts. In business that is called synergy. But what happens when the opposite occurs? I think it looks something like The Counselor, a raw, twisted film in need of an editor and a few rewrites. But what do I know? Whatever happened on set and in post-production resulted in a film that simply doesn’t know when to move on and is decidedly crude and cruel. Writer Cormac McCarthy, this being his first produced screenplay—we can debate later about No Country For Old Men—seemingly…
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G-S-T Review…Machete Kills
In the pantheon of Grindhouse revival films, if there ever were such a place, Machete Kills should go down as one of its stupidest but also one of the most fun times you can have in 2013. Now all you Trejo/Rodriguez fans can sheath your machetes, the term stupid is used with immense love and respect for Rodriguez and company…but this film is simply ludicrous. It goes without saying that a film like this makes no effort to be realistic. How can it when it’s a cornucopia of all sorts of genre-themed oddities, including but not limited to ray guns, clones, wacky explosions/violence, Mel Gibson as a Bond-esqe villain and Charlie…
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G-S-T Review…Captain Phillips
Paul Greengrass is known for making some rather hard-hitting films. Regardless of whether those hits land physically (see: his Bourne films) or emotionally (see: United 93) he’s a no nonsense director who tells taut and weighty white-knuckle tales about survival and the potential power of the human spirit. His latest effort Captain Phillips, the adaptation of the autobiographical novel “A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea” written by the actual Captain Richard Phillips is, in short, a tense and involving kidnapping movie. In a way it is very much the maritime counterpart to United 93 which makes Greengrass the right man for the job. We live in a…
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G-S-T Review…Metallica: Through the Never
It’s a kind of weird and awesome experience to grow up listening to band finally getting to see them in concert. Yes, concert, and we say that because Metallica’s new “movie”, a term to be used very loosely in this situation, can only be called a movie because it was 1. filmed by a camera and 2. will be exhibited theatrically. Held together with what generously can be phrased as a flimsy narrative finds Dane DeHaan, the lead in the 2012 surprise hit Chronicle, as a roadie for the iconic thrash metal band sent on an urgent mission during their sold-out concert. Other than than it’s a bona fide concert that becomes…
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G-S-T Review…Ron Howard’s Rush
With so many box-office bombs populating cineplexes, it’s really comforting and refreshing to see another Ron Howard film on the big screen. Does anyone realize that there’s been 6 Fast & Furious movies made between Rush and A Beautiful Mind? Guess you can say it takes time to make a quality product, but it’s not to say Howard hasn’t kept busy since his Oscar win. While Howard’s films haven’t all been great, it’s safe to say he’s never made a bad film (we’re gonna cut him some slack and just forget about The Dilema, ok?). That said, when he’s on, he is on and most of his films – specifically the…
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G-S-T Review…Riddick
Vin Diesel has never seemed more comfortable in a role than he is playing the intergalactic space criminal known as Riddick. His latest in the trilogy, simply titled Riddick, is an effectively dumb and fun film that plays to its strengths and doesn’t get lost in chasing rabbits. There are the familiar tropes throughout, but rarely can I remember three films that feel so different yet similar. I know that last sentence doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but neither does the way the films flow into each other. Pitch Black was effectively a fantasy thriller that put Vin Diesel on the cinematic map before he exploded in The…
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G-S-T Review…Drafthouse Films’ I Declare War
Nearly a century ago J.M. Barrie wrote “Nothing that happens after we are twelve matters very much”. Further, Peter Pan was the literary embodiment of the idea that we all want to stay young. And why wouldn’t we? Being a kid allowed us to do things and live lives free of the pressures, strains, and dangers of the real world. All we had to do was be ourselves…yet the ironic thing was that being ourselves had us imagining what it would be like to be doing grown up things. How naive we were. But what Barrie really hit on was that our imaginations could be our greatest strength – a…
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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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G-S-T Review…You're Next
There’s a pivotal moment in Adam Wingard’s You’re Next where the film upends viewer expectations entirely, not with witty meta twists (though those are valuable), but with the simple plunge of a kitchen knife. Normally, we flock to horror films to observe the wanton butchering of the cast by a brutal, unidentifiable psychopath; in nearly any other movie , the blade would be in the murderer’s hands. Here, though, it’s actually swung by Erin (Sharni Vinson), You’re Next‘s final girl, which comes as almost as much of a surprise to us as to her would-be attacker. Apparently, home invasion victims aren’t as helpless as they used to be. Truthfully, people designated as…
