I remember sitting the a crowded ballroom during the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con and listening to the panelists talk at length about the effort they put into the history of After Earth. They even went so far as describing a “bible” they created, so that they could put down any answers to various questions of who did what and why. Some 1,000 years into the future is when After Earth begins, where an elite military force known as the Rangers are the trailblazers after we left Earth. Ravaged, the planet was no longer inhabitable by our self-destructing human race so we fled and found a new planet to live on.…
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G-S-T Review…EPIC
What do you see when you walk through the forest? Most likely a serene cornucopia of flora and fauna. But what makes the leaves rustle and the animals scurry? No it’s not just the wind or your presence that startles the animals. If you look closely there’s a battle raging for the fate of the very same forest you might find yourself passing through and that, in a nutshell, is the very simple premise of Blue Sky Studios’ Epic. It’s an imaginative tale that tries to get adults, and kids, back to the days when wonder, intrigue and the sense of discovery that was found seeking adventure right in our own…
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G-S-T Review…Iron Man 3
While we film fans, die hard comic aficionados and non, can thank Jon Favreau (and Robert Downey Jr.) for bringing Iron Man to life in an entirely fulfilling and believable way. That said, there were more than a few problems with its formulaic sequel. So, sometimes, it’s necessary to bring some fresh legs into the game to help the series go out with a win. For those of you not sure who Shane Black is, check out Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Monster Squad, The Last Boy Scout and of course Lethal Weapon…we’ll wait. There’s a common set of themes running though all his movies and without sounding like it’s…
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G-S-T Review…Drafthouse Films’ Graceland
Writer/director Ron Morales gives us a new spin on a familiar kidnapping yarn but tells a story that’s so believable and grounded you’d think it was a documentary. A superbly paced and intense flick, this is the kind of film we don’t get to see every day but would wish there were more of. In a world where we have films like Ransom and Taken, people walking out of Gracelandmight likely comment that Morales’ film is taken, er, taking its sweet time because this is a slow film. Yet that’s the point, it’s not about wiretaps, SWAT teams, a Tony Scott style of camera work, or an adrenaline-fueled rescue. Not at all. The focus of Morales’ film…
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G-S-T Review…The Place Beyond the Pines
Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines is a viscerally pensive film and an enthralling multi-generational drama. As equally well-crafted as his highly received Blue Valentine, Pines is a complex and engrossing film that takes a look at legacies and what we leave behind for our kids. Further it shows us that those legacies, whether we want them or not, can sometimes make life choices for us without our say in the matter. It’s an ever-escalating, multilayered, emotionally bold familial drama that has all the makings of an instant classic. Cianfrance’s sophomore effort tells a sobering story about love and family and further one that despite the best of intentions may all end in a dismal trail of…
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G-S-T Review…Drafthouse Films’ WRONG
It doesn’t matter what side of the bed you wake up on when the alarm clock gets you up at 7:60 every morning. In Quentin Dupieux’s Wrong, everything in the main character Dolph Springer’s world is just that, and further a bizzare journey into the absurd. At nearly every corner of this dreamlike film there is a story line and likable characters somewhat reminiscent of the very off-kilter nature of Wristcutters: A Love Story and Dog Tooth topped off with Terry Gilliam’s surreal shooting style and sense of humor. Wrong is more than a bit askew but also funny, easily more accessible than Dupieux’s Rubber and is best described as being an odd delight. There’s an aloofness and complacency to the absurdity that…
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G-S-T Review…G.I. JOE: Retaliation
We at GoSeeTalk are but some of the few out there who really enjoyed Stephen Sommers’ G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra (read our review from way back); even if it was a mess it was still a lot of fun. In this highly anticipated follow up Jon M. Chu, known for his strong visual style and over-the-top action, ups the ante and makes G.I. JOE: Retaliation bigger and a little more believable than its comic origins. The sequel (penned by Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick) embraces the JOE namesake yet only finds a few characters/plotlines returning from Sommers’ popcorn fueled romp. Retaliation embodies some of the more cartoon elements but goes about telling its story…
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G-S-T Review…The Host
Stephenie Meyer’s post-Twilight film The Host is a highly ambitious sci-fi yarn. It’s the tale of an alien invasion, a benign one at that, and as much as there is the potential to be a great story about rebellion and survival it’s really about life in the aftermath of said invasion. In short, they’ve won so what story is there to tell? It has a complex set-up/backstory, one with fantastically grand world-building yet we only see a very small portion of it. So how can that be engaging? Enter Andrew Niccol, director of equally simple sci-fi films like Gattaca and In Time. Here he lends his visually simple but elegant creative muscle to Meyer’s story and…
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G-S-T Review…Stoker
You owe yourself to give a film a chance beyond the first few minutes. Whether it is finding its own rhythm or for you to allow it to weave its web, the opening experience isn’t always going to be the best foot forward. That’s exactly how I felt while watching Stoker, Park Chan-wook’s English-language debut. In fact, I was caught by the mixed emotions I had felt towards the film afterwards. Somehow I had gone from gently laughing at the film to joining in on its zaniness about half way and downright enjoying myself by the end. In just under 100 minutes, Stoker grew on me by leaps and bounds.…
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G-S-T Review…Oz the Great and Powerful
Who wouldn’t want to travel to the wondrous and imaginative worlds we’ve seen grace the silver screen? Chief among the most magical candidates has to be the Land of Oz. In this prequel to the 1939 classic, Sam Raimi shows us how the “Wizard of Oz” became so Great and Powerful. Usually it’s with extreme hesitation that one would chose to add to the mythology of property as legendary as The Wizard of Oz. Others smartly leave well enough alone. After all, the sequel and TV spin offs have yielded results paling in comparison to Victor Fleming’s film. Since going back has been done before the only place to go is back to the beginning, right? How very contemporary. The film…
