Tag: Dakota Goyo

DARK SKIES: CFQ Spotlight Podcast 4:08

Posted on by Dan Persons

Close Encounters of the Familiar Kind: Keri Russell (left), Josh Hamilton (second from right) and Kadan Rockett endure an alien attack in DARK SKIES.
Close Encounters of the Familiar Kind: Keri Russell (left), Josh Hamilton (second from right) and Kadan Rockett endure an alien attack in DARK SKIES.

If there’s one thing we know about a Blumhouse film, it’s that the producers of the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY franchise are convinced the American family just isn’t safe at home. In the case of DARK SKIES, the entities bedeviling a married couple (Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton) and their two young sons (Dakota Goyo and Kadan Rockett) aren’t restless spirits, but malevolent aliens, determined to put the suburbanites through the wringer for reasons unclear, even to alien expert J.K. Simmons.
Cinefantastique Online’s Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French and Dan Persons get together to see if spooky stuff is spookier with a science fiction twist, and how exactly a typically overextended, middle-class family manages to afford a comprehensive home security system and room-to-room video surveillance. (Possible explanation: selling the footage to Blumhouse Productions.) Plus: What’s coming to theaters this Friday.

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Real Steel: Cinefantastique Spotlight Podcast 2:39

Posted on by Dan Persons

Bots that Box: Hugh Jackman (right), Evangeline Lilly (center) and Dakota Goyo say hello to a new contender in REAL STEEL.
Bots that Box: Hugh Jackman (right), Evangeline Lilly (behind bench) and Dakota Goyo say hello to a new contender in REAL STEEL.

The official Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots movie is still in the planning stages, but until then, we have REAL STEEL, the Disney/DreamWorks family-friendly take on a world in which the squared circle has been commandeered by mechanical pugilists while the humans stay safely in their seats. Wrapped in the redemptive tale of an absentee father (Hugh Jackman) bonding with his son (Dakota Goyo) in order to rescue a hang-dog sparring robot from the junkyard and turn it into a populist sensation in the ring, the film features director Shawn Levy’s assured way with top-level special effects, not the least being Jackman’s formidable physique. Join Cinefantastique Online’s Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and Dan Persons as they discuss whether the project goes the distance, or should just retire and open up a night club in Florida (strained boxing analogy ahoy!).
Also: The gang offers an appreciation of Steve Jobs and discusses the recent spate of announced projects taking on the Frankenstein legend; and Dan gets all sloppy over the deliciously bizarre J-Horror film, THE SYLVIAN EXPERIMENTS. Plus: what’s coming in theatrical and home video releases.

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