It’s been a while since a Ridley Scott film has graced the silver screen. However it’s been even longer said screen has shown with a story that audiences have taken to as much as the films from his glory days. His ‘period piece’ films seem to be more miss than hit these days but the man can handle an epic that’s for sure. In fact we’ll even go so far as to defend Kingdom of Heaven (though the Director’s Cut is by far the superior effort) as one of Scott’s best works. In his latest film, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Scott puts his spin on the story of Moses as he…
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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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Exclusive: Interview (Part II)…Film Composer Harry Gregson-Williams Talks Tony Scott, Hans Zimmer and His Career
A veteran of the film music world Harry Gregson-Williams has composed scores for more than 50 films including The Town, the Shrek series, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many, many others (including the Metal Gear Solid video game series), in addition to a slew of Tony and Ridley Scott films which make up a large portion of his career. In Part I of our exclusive interview we talked about his recent film The East and learned that the success and bulk of the score was less to do with him and more his assistant Halli Cauthery getting his big break on an amazing film. Harry was extremely open to this interview and touched…
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G-S-T Review…The East
Hot off the success of Sound of My Voice Zal Batmanglij and his partner in crime Brit Marling take their focused engaging narrative/shooting style and apply it to The East, a throwback to the classic 70’s style thrillers. The East follows Sarah (Brit Marling), an operative for an elite private intelligence firm whose first assignment is to infiltrate this eco-terrorism cell known as “The East”. Their plan is to attack guilty parties (companies who are responsible for oil spills, selling untested pharmaceuticals, toxic dumping, etc.) and their latest string of “jams” is to give these high and mighty CEO’s a taste of their bad medicine by bringing these crimes to light. Over the…
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Ohhh, Look…Anatomy of Famous Movie Monsters
Sure, some, if not most, of the best movie monsters are nothing more than latex, foam, animatronics and heaps of prosthetics all of which are made famous by thankless performers sweating it out on movie sets. But what if those feared and memorable cinematic critters were living breathing creatures? Well in a fun series of anatomical illustrations we see how artist Brad McGinty sees these iconic film heavies. Thanks to Geekologie for the tip! So have a look at these awesome 80’s era diagrams…only don’t ask us to translate. Enjoy! Whatcha think? 100% dope are they not? Don’t these seem like the kind of bonus card you’d find in a pack of Garbage Pail Kids trading cards?…
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Tony Scott, Director of 'Top Gun' Dead At 68 – UPDATED
It’s never a pleasant thing to report on the death of anyone but today the film world weeps as the news of Tony Scott’s departure spreads across the web. Brother of Ridley, half of their Scott Free Production company and director of some of the most beloved and iconic films in the last few decades, Scott has reportedly taken his own life at 68. The maverick director took us to the Danger Zone, showed us what True Romance is and put us in the shoes of a Beverly Hills (well Detroit really) Cop in addition to helming multiple pulse-pounding films for Jerry Bruckheimer. What is perhaps a little more difficult to swallow is the reason behind…
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Awesome WETA 'Prometheus' Intro VFX Breakdown
If you’ve seen Sir Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, whether or not you’re on board with the ambiguous/not entirely satisfying (or thought out) plot, you no doubt have marveled at how astoundingly beautiful his return to sci-fi looked. Well, Academy Award-winning visual effects house WETA Digital crafted the scene using a combination of cutting-edge tech and practical techniques. This video below shows they pulled off the effects. It’s short but worth a look. Enjoy!! In the film’s opening sequence, a lone humanoid figure crosses a cliff top, disrobes and drinks from a small container. Within moments, his body begins to break apart with horrifying force. The dissolving Engineer pitches forward into a waterfall, his genetic material seeding what…
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G-S-T Review…Prometheus
Prometheus, industrious and monstrously ambitious, deserves to be seen divorced from hype and hubris. Admittedly, that’s scarcely a small feat. Few films released in 2012 carry with them the massive weight of expectations which Prometheus bears on its shoulders. That’s just how things go for any production intent on serving as the precursor to cinematic iconography; in the case of Prometheus, that’s Alien, Ridley Scott’s 1979 science fiction/horror masterpiece. How does even a master like Scott top one of his best works more than thirty years after the fact? Put simply, he doesn’t have to, pedigree or not. His film only need exist on its individual merits, and happily Prometheus, a beautiful and thoughtful and flawed creation story, very…
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“The CineMagic 8-Ball” – In Theaters 6/08/12
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… ——————————————————————————————————————————————- PROMETHEUS A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race. Ridley…
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Sweet Trailer…'Prometheus'
We don’t usually post on the weekend but as this is a trailer for one of G-S-T’s three most anticipated films of 2012 (and from SIR Ridley Scott no less) we are happy to bend the rules just a little. For your viewing pleasure, behold, the first FULL trailer for the quasi-Alien prequel Prometheus… When it was first reported that Ridely would be returning to this universe it provoked both cheers and jitters from fans the world over. Most everyone on the planet would undoubtedly love to see the series righted after the recent disappointing and insulting installments. However, going back to the beginning is always worrisome because there’s a chance that, even with Ridely on board,…
