All posts by Alex Brannan

All Movie Reviews, Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Sci-Fi/Fantasy

The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) Movie Review

The Cloverfield franchise continued its adept surprise-marketing technique during Super Bowl LII. With a brief teaser trailer dropping for The Cloverfield Paradox (once entitled God Particle), the Netflix-acquired film from Bad Robot announced that the film would be coming very soon. Opening up the Netflix app revealed further that the film would be available to stream immediately following the big game.

the-cloverfield-paradox-movie-review-2018-super-bowl-netflix

This essentially unprecedented marketing move is sure to pay big dividends for Netflix, at least in the film’s first Continue reading The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) Movie Review →

2018 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Foreign Language Film

The biggest conversation in the Best Foreign Language Film category this year is what is not nominated. With the unexpected Golden Globe winner In the Fade out of the race, it shakes up the Oscar conversation.

loveless-2017-movie-review-tiff-andrey-zvyagintsev

The Nominees:

Continue reading 2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Foreign Language Film →

All Movie Reviews, Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Winchester (2018) Movie Review

Sarah Winchester (Helen Mirren), owner of the Winchester repeating rifle company, lives in an elaborate, labyrinthine mansion of an estate. “There are almost 100 rooms in the house,” Sarah Snook’s character says early in the film. “It is easy to get lost.”

winchester-haunting-movie-review-2018-horror-film

She says this to doctor Eric Price (Jason Clarke), who is called on to judge the state of Sarah Winchester’s mental health. This is due to concern that other Winchester stock holders have over Sarah’s obsession with the idea that her house is haunted by Continue reading Winchester (2018) Movie Review →

2018 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Animated Short Film

Ah, the short film categories. Categories that I tend to predict before seeing the majority of the nominees, then I forget to come back and re-write the articles once I’ve seen them all. This year will be no different, no doubt, so keep that in mind.

That said, the animated short category is never all that hard to parse.

best-animated-short-film-2018-kobe-bryant

The Nominees:

Continue reading 2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Animated Short Film →

2018 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Production Design

In 2018, the five nominees for Best Production Design are exceedingly diverse. None of these films have sets that look like the rest. Kinda makes my job a little harder, huh?

Oh well, no one asked me to do this in the first place.

shape-of-water-2017-movie-review-guillermo-del-toro

The Nominees:

Continue reading 2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Production Design →

2018 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Editing

Editing. It is a fundamental component to the film form. Without it…oh man, I’m getting sick of writing the preambles in these articles. Best Editing is an Oscar category. We all know this. Let’s get into it.

dunkirk-movie-Summer-2017-christopher-nolan

The Nominees:

Continue reading 2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Editing →

2018 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Visual Effects

Best Visual Effects is a fun Oscar category. Historically speaking, at least. I googled this award for like two minutes and was delighted at what I found. Just the growth of the award as technical capabilities have excelled. It’s fascinating. Just a little over a decade ago, the category only held three nominees. In some years, the category wasn’t even a competition; they just gave it to a film.

More about this in a bit. For now, let’s look at the nominees.

war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-movie-review-2017

The Nominees:

Continue reading 2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Visual Effects →

All Movie Reviews, Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Leatherface (2017) Movie Review

Now, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise has never been the stuff of legends, not like its antagonist-turned-protagonist-turned-antagonist-etcetera, Leatherface. (Well, maybe not protagonist, but it seems like every other sequel wants to make us sympathize with the chainsaw-wielding serial killer). None of the sequels have received positive reception (although I hear the Viggo Mortensen-starring third film is underrated).

slasher-movie-2017-review-leatherface-texas-chainsaw-massacre

Why, then, should we bother with the 2017 prequel, Leatherface? It is directed by Continue reading Leatherface (2017) Movie Review →

2018 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Costume Design

Best Costume Design is never the hardest category to predict. In general, the most ornate or baroque costuming lends itself to a winning film. Most years, there are only one or two clear front-runners to choose from.

This year is not entirely different, but there are a few different scenarios in which this category could go.

beauty-and-the-beast-2017

The Nominees:

Continue reading 2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Costume Design →