All posts by Alex Brannan

All Movie Reviews, Love It, Short Films

Mindenki (Sing) (2016) Short Film Review

Zsofi (Gasparfalvi Dorka) is a new student at school, and her experience is less than comfortable. The hall monitors hover over class authoritatively. The teacher barely stops to introduce Zsofi. And the teacher of Zsofi’s favorite subject, choir class, pulls her aside and tells her to mime the words instead of sing them.

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Mindenki is a film about the simple cruelty of childhood, coming mainly in the form of a choir teacher. Rarely does cinema capture Continue reading Mindenki (Sing) (2016) Short Film Review →

All Movie Reviews, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Love It, Romance

La La Land (2016) Movie Review

The opening number of La La Land, the new musical from Whiplash director Damien Chazelle, is the appropriate first impression of Los Angeles: a gridlocked freeway of cars sitting idle. Only, instead of the frustration and cynicism that would arise from this situation, people burst into hopeful song and dance among the stalled cars. In a rush of agile choreography, a rainbow color scheme, and immense depth staging, a flurry of people dance on hoods and sing of the wonder of Hollywood sunshine.

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At the culmination of this tune, we are introduced to Mia (Emma Stone), another hopeful going over audition sides in her car as she waits, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), who honks aggressively at her when she refuses to move once the congestion breaks up.

With the first few scenes, La La Land presents itself as a

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All Movie Reviews, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) Movie Review

In 1977, the groundbreaking science fiction film Star Wars was released, featuring an opening text crawl describing a period of civil war in which a Galactic Rebellion has won their first victory. “During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the Death Star.”

In 2016, Disney and director Gareth Edwards give us a visual representation of this event, the inception of the Galactic Civil War. Jyn Urso (Felicity Jones), the daughter of a reluctant Imperial engineer (Mads Mikkelsen) who is forced into the creation of the Death Star, is sprung from Imperial prison by the Rebellion. Jyn and an unlikely band of anti-Empire figures are tasked with finding Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), which leads them on the trail of the Death Star plans that jump-started the original Star Wars trilogy.

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Rogue One is the first “non-saga” Star Wars film, and it does feel distinctly Continue reading Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) Movie Review →

2017 Golden Globes, Award Ceremonies, Movie News

2017 Golden Globes Predictions – Best Foreign Language Picture

Full disclosure: I have not seen any of these films yet. I’ll update this article as I do, but until then, let’s just look at the trends. They still count for something.

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Best Foreign Language Picture

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2017 Golden Globes, Award Ceremonies, Movie News

2017 Golden Globes Predictions – Best Original Score

Scores are the under-appreciated backbone of tone in cinema. Composers control the emotional arcs of scenes. They reinforce important motifs. Music makes some films feel more full. A composer has to know what is at the heart of any script in order to properly do his/her job. The composers on these films understand this process. Let’s take a look at the nominees for Best Original Score.

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Best Original Score

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2017 Golden Globes, Award Ceremonies, Movie News

2017 Golden Globe Awards Predictions

Golden Globe nominations are out, and that can only mean one thing: extremely early predictions. We’re about a month out from the ceremony, so anything could happen between now and then. For now, though, let’s crack into these categories and see who will win, who could win, and who could come from behind and surprise everybody. Continue reading 2017 Golden Globe Awards Predictions →

All Movie Reviews

2017 Golden Globes Predictions – Best Animated Motion Picture

I have never heard of a film called My Life as a Zucchini, although I’m sure it’s good. Let’s look at the nominees for the 2017 Golden Globes – Best Animated Motion Picture.

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Best Animated Feature

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2017 Golden Globes, Award Ceremonies, Movie News

2017 Golden Globes Predictions – Best Original Song

If there is any film category at this year’s Golden Globes where money is safe picking the upset, it is Best Original Song. This category has a lot of musical talent behind it—Justin Timberlake, Danger Mouse and Iggy Pop, Stevie Wonder, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Best Original Song award nominees usually run the gamut, with songs that break into mainstream radio play, songs that are featured in musicals, and songs that supplement animated films. This year is no different. Let’s take a look at who could win this year.

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Best Original Song

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2017 Golden Globes, Award Ceremonies, Movie News

2017 Golden Globes Predictions – Best Screenplay

The five films nominated for Best Screenplay at the 2017 Golden Globes are all beautifully written pieces. Makes my job harder. But I think we can whittle this down to at least a three horse race, if not a head-to-head matchup.

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Best Screenplay

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2017 Golden Globes, Award Ceremonies, Movie News

2017 Golden Globe Predictions – Best Director

How do you judge the merits of a director? Is it the attention to visual compositions, or is that something you look for in a director of photography? Is it the quality of the acting performances, or does that rest on the cast’s shoulders? Is it the creation of a beautiful story, or is that the screenwriter’s business?

It’s the overall vision, whatever that means. Predicting Best Director sometimes feels like predicting Best Picture, and that is why the two awards often (but not always) go to the same film. So what do we do with an awards ceremony that honors two films and nominates five directors? Well, let’s see…

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Best Director

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