Gavin Spoors
Bio
Screenwriter and MA Moving Image and Sound graduate.
Here you will find me musing on film, animation, gaming and dead philosophers.
Stories (8/0)
The Retrospective Series: 'The Guest'
With a few projects under their belt now, writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard have distinguished themselves as filmmakers who like to subvert the horror genre. With their fifth partnership, however, they didn't just tackle a different genre, but rather mash horror, thriller, comedy, action, and more. Miraculously, The Guest is more than a coherent piece of filmmaking, but a bloody entertaining one.
By Gavin Spoors5 years ago in Geeks
The Retrospective Series: 'Attack the Block'
It started out as a nice idea to focus on Joe Cornish's debut feature as his latest film, The Kid Who Would Be King, hits US cinemas. Unfortunately, it seems the two are destined to share the same fate as The Kid Who Would Be King grossed $10.8 million worldwide... from a $59 million budget. Back in 2011, Attack the Block earned half of its $8 million budget. Cornish has the talent, directing two critically-acclaimed features and penning Adventures of Tintin and Ant-Man, but he can't seem to get the audience he deserves. Are the masses conditioned to only pay attention to franchises and event movies? People cry for originality in cinema, yet here we have a filmmaker creating original films only to lose money.
By Gavin Spoors5 years ago in Futurism
The Retrospective Series: 'How to Train Your Dragon 2'
With the final installment hitting our screens soon, I of course had to revisit the previous How to Train Your Dragon films. I may be in the minority here in that my mind always casts back to the sequel and not Hiccup's first outing. The first film was great and introduced a pair of love-able protagonists, however How to Train Your Dragon 2 is not just a better film but a lesson in how to produce a sequel.
By Gavin Spoors5 years ago in Geeks
Opinion: Why Gillette's 'We Believe: The Best Men Can Be' Film Is Greatly Needed
Traditionally, shaving as a male has always been a rite of passage, the first step towards manhood. I remember, as a young lad myself, wanting to be able to shave so I could tell myself and others that I was a man. Raised in the early 90s by working class parents this young lad was brash, liked the colour blue, played contact sports and fancied girls. We were also told that we didn't necessarily have to work hard for what we wanted—as men. In We Believe: The Best a Man Can Get, the company providing us the tools to become men were telling us we simply get the best. Even though Gillette sells men's and women's products it was clear who their target audience were.
By Gavin Spoors5 years ago in Viva
The Retrospective Series—'Looper'
When it comes to films deemed 'unloved,' there are worse cases than Looper. It was universally praised by critics and it did surprisingly well at the box office, especially considering the film's modest $30 million budget. In conversation, however, no one seems to have even heard of Looper. When talking about Rian Johnson the only topic on hand is obviously that space opera everyone loves to argue about.
By Gavin Spoors5 years ago in Futurism