For those of you needing a classically clever whodunnit to add to your cinematic plate this holiday session, look no further than Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion. The next installment in Benoit Blanc mystery series is whip smart, hilarious, exquisite and layered…you know, like an onion. Herein, Johnson and company outdo everything in their last detective yarn. Bigger stakes, bigger laughs, bigger onions – it’s an exceptional outing! Every element just sings, and again Rian enlists his cousin Nathan Johnson to write a fitting score to accompany the masterful story. While subsequent yarns in the series are meant to be stand-alone events, the further adventures of the Kentucky-fried character required Johnson…
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Interview…Nathan Johnson on the Lush Orchestral Score to ‘Knives Out’
One of our favorite composers, and one we’ve been fortunate enough to speak with several times over the years, is Nathan Johnson. With each film score, he’s continually gained an audience with a signature and stylistic approach to his work. That’s partly because he and his cousin are a package deal. Nathan and long time collaborator, Rian Johnson, go way back…even before Brick. The two grew up on the East Coast bringing their stories to life any way they could, hoping to one day break into the biz. Well, they did, and in a very big way. Thanks to titles like Looper, The Last Jedi, and now Knives Out, the…
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Sweet Trailer…Rian Johnson’s ‘Knives Out’
Rian Johnson has had one very impressive career. Going from Brick to The Brothers Bloom to Looper is a feat in itself. Then you throw in his work on some episodes of Breaking Bad which all lead to him landing a Star Wars film. So, yeah, The Last Jedi was divisive, but before he begins his own SW trilogy (one can only imagine what we can expect with that), he’s got a pretty slick looking murder mystery. We’ll say one thing: he’s as diversified as he is talented. Knives Out is a witty and stylish whodunit guaranteed to keep audiences guessing until the very end. Have a look at the…
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Exclusive: Interview…Nathan Johnson Talks Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rian Johnson and the Musical Mojo of ‘Don Jon’
A gifted musician in his own right, film composer Nathan Johnson creates such unique musical soundscapes for every movie, short film and project to which he’s attached. This year he composed the score to Don Jon, which is Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s modernized interpretation of the iconic thief of hearts. With a sound and style that’s so varied and diverse, Johnson’s scores have given such a unique atmosphere to films like Brick and Looper. We got to chat with Nathan about his work on Don Jon, his process working with different directors and so much more. Below are the highlights of our time with him. ——————————————————————————————————————————— – An interesting take on the fabled Don Juan DeMarco, Don Jon…
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G-S-T Year in Review – Andrew’s 2012 Wrap Up
I’m willing to admit that last year, I talked 2011 a bit more than necessary. Not that my feelings on the year were dishonest; contrary to many, I thought well of 2011, a year that didn’t contain a plethora of lasting classics but still offered a lot of excellent cinema for our viewing pleasure. But to call it a “great” year may have been a stretch, and I’m willing to admit that now in light of the fact that 2012 has, in fact, been a great year. How can you trust me on this one? Simple: I’ve written my top ten list, re-written it, scrapped that, started over from the…
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Oscar's Make-Up Shortlist Might Throw You For a Loop
Well, here’s some cool news– especially if you liked Rian Johnson’s Looper anywhere near as much as we did. The AMPAS released the last seven films still in competition for this year’s “Best Makeup” category, and while I can think of a lot of other areas where Looper deserves recognition (and in which it might still receive said recognition, for all I know), it’s still nice to see Johnson’s film competing with giants like Spielberg and Jackson. On that note, I’m probably not the only person who finds the absence of Cloud Atlas to be more than a little startling. If that picture– which we also liked–seemed like it had…
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The Gun in Your Hand: Looper's Cycles of Violence
(Foreword: Looper began its theatrical run last Friday, and at this point I presume most of you have seen it or are going to see it. That said, if you have not seen the film, steer clear of this essay; it is spoiler-heavy by the third paragraph. I also don’t rehash plot points in detail. Read at your own risk if you want to see the film blind.) Like many other films of its kind, Rian Johnson’s Looper is a time travel yarn that isn’t actually at all about time travel. One might argue that Johnson’s just letting himself off the hook by leaving the mechanics of such technology go unexplained, but truthfully the decision…
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G-S-T Review…Looper
At a glance, Looper almost feels like an outlier in Rian Johnson’s minute body of work. Unlike Johnson’s flawless debut, Brick, or his disappointing sophomore effort, The Brothers Bloom, Looper operates within a grand, wide-spanning scope that reaches across time; the central story here is intimate, just as in his other films, but it’s set against a backdrop of classical science fiction world-building and the machinations of time travel. We’re not in high school, Montenegro, or Prague anymore, but rather a dystopic vision of the future which we experience at two very different points in history, both populated with hover bikes, mafia button men, rampant poverty, and telekinetic mutations. Robbed…
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Ohhh, Look…Superb Viral Trailer 'Looper the Movie the 8-Bit Game'
With September right around the corner, fans excited for Rian Johnson’s awesome looking sci-fi thriller Looper don’t have to wait too much longer (it hits theaters on Sept 28th btw). But to hold you over until next month comes this clever viral 8-bit video for Looper the Movie the 8-Bit Game. More than just a series of pics from the trailer digitized in classic 8-bit visuals (well 16-bit would be a little more accurate), this inspired creation really calls back to the classic days of the NES (or SNES) replete with music and all. So don’t let me ruin the throwback fun to be had…enjoy this neat video if you…
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FANTASTIC FEST Announces Second Wave of Film Programming Including 'Looper' and 'Sinister'
If you are at all familiar with the Austin cinema scene, the Alamo Draft House is a mecca to say the least. Home to a handful of film festivals (SXSW being one of the biggest) the more eclectic but equally high profile event is one Fantastic Fest; also known as the largest genre festival in the US. A melting pot of chills, spill, and kills, this Fest brings out the gore-hounds, midnight movie junkies and foreign film fans alike for 8 days of cinematic awesomeness. So while the fest can feature the likes of The Rza, Elijah Wood, and Nacho Vigalondo singing karaoke (yeah, that actually happened) it’s a pretty big draw for a pretty small Fest. This year…
