All posts by Alex Brannan

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Leave it

Chips (2017) Movie Review

CHiPs. California Highway Patrol. Also, an ’80s television show starring Erik Estrada that is no longer culturally relevant.

There is not much to say about CHiPs, so I will try and keep this short. For a silly reboot comedy, this film about two motorcycle police officers goes dark in weird atonal ways. Heroin, sex addiction, and suicide are all introduced as plot devices within the first 10 minutes of the film.

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As a comedy, the film is, by and large, serviceable. Continue reading Chips (2017) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Power Rangers (2017) Movie Review

After a practical joke goes wrong, Jason Scott (Dacre Montgomery) has to come to detention every Saturday in order to graduate. There, he meets a prep-turned-punk Kimberly (Naomi Scott) and an “on the spectrum” nerd Billy (RJ Cyler).

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When Billy helps Jason with his house arrest bracelet problem, Jason agrees to drive Billy to an abandoned quarry, which happens to be the site of Continue reading Power Rangers (2017) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Leave it, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

Fast & Furious (2009) Movie Review

In this fourth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise, quite confusingly entitled Fast & Furious, the old crew is up to the same old tricks. Dom (Vin Diesel), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), and Han (Sung Kang) rob a moving fuel truck in the Dominican Republic. They take their cut and split ways to lay low.

When Letty is murdered, the crew reunites to avenge her death. Wrapped up in this via FBI investigation is Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), who now works for the bureau.

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With this premise comes the narrative intrigue of Continue reading Fast & Furious (2009) Movie Review →

Box Office Predictions, Movie News

Weekend Box Office Predictions: 3/24-3/26

Last weekend saw the record-breaking opening of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, which raked in a phenomenal $174 million. The film broke the record for best March opening weekend and the best opening for a PG-rated film, beating out last year’s Finding Dory by almost $40 million.

Beast‘s lack of competition guaranteed it this large opening. This weekend, we see the release of four wide release films, according to Box Office Mojo. The biggest of these four is Saban and Lionsgate’s Power Rangers, which has received a sizable marketing campaign to rival Disney’s.

Other releases include the sports pic Slamma Jamma, the comedy ChiPs, and the space thriller Life, all three of which are opening in less theaters than Power Rangers and Beauty and the Beast.

With the large quantity of competition, how far will Beauty and the Beast drop?

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Box Office Predictions: Weekend of 3/24

Continue reading Weekend Box Office Predictions: 3/24-3/26 →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) Movie Review

In anticipation of April’s release of The Fate of the Furious, the eighth installment in the The Fast and the Furious franchise, CineFiles is taking a retrospective look back on all of the series’ films. In this edition, we look at the third entry into the series (but the sixth film chronologically?), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

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The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is widely considered the black sheep of the now incredibly successful Fast & Furious franchise. This is due mainly to the film’s tangential narrative from what has essentially become a testosterone-infused soap opera.

But let’s not judge a book by its preconceived notions.

Tokyo Drift opens on a car race over the ownership of a woman. So…it’s not looking good so far. Unlike the previous two Fast & Furious films, however, this opening race Continue reading The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Horror, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Lights Out (2016) Movie Review

At CineFiles, we like to stay current. We try our very best to see the big new releases right as they come out, so that we can get reviews out to you lovely readers in a timely manner. This task is not always easy, especially given that our choice of pronoun can be deceiving in terms of number agreement.

So, yeah, we didn’t see Lights Out last Summer. What’s it to you?

All joking aside, Lights Out is the number one genre movie that I regret not seeing last year. As such, I’m back almost a year later to pick up the slack. I watched Lights Out (thanks, Cinemax), so let’s talk about it.

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Lights Out is the feature length film from David F. Sandberg adapted from the short film by David F. Sandberg. The short film is an intriguing game of Continue reading Lights Out (2016) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Like It, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Beauty and the Beast (2017) Movie Review

Beauty and the Beast is the Disney live action remake of the 1991 animated hit. The tale as old as time is one of ostracism and romance. A sorceress condemns the arrogant Prince (Dan Stevens) to the realm of beast until he learns to love, and it will take the only other literate person in miles (Emma Watson) to break this spell (because, really, the only thing Belle and the Beast really connect on is their shared ability to read).

The 2017 Beast is a faithful adaptation, its added flourishes coming in the form of Continue reading Beauty and the Beast (2017) Movie Review →

Box Office Predictions, Movie News

Weekend Box Office Predictions: 3/17-3/19

This weekend sees the release of yet another Disney juggernaut, Beauty and the Beast. Next to that is a much smaller new release in Blumhouse Tilt’s The Belko Experiment.

Vying for attention outside of the new kids on the block are a number of healthy box office contenders. Kong: Skull Island and Logan are two big box office draws still looking good in their second and third weekends. And Get Out remains strong as the genre engine that could.

How will the two newcomers fare in this market? Well…let’s just plop of photo here to break up the text before we get to the answer to that question…

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Box Office Predictions: Weekend of 3/17

Continue reading Weekend Box Office Predictions: 3/17-3/19 →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Horror, Leave it

The Belko Experiment (2017) Movie Review

In Bogota, Colombia, a white collar NPO that helps Americans get hired in South America is up to the normal day. Save for the heightened, armed gate security.

Midway through the morning, the office is interrupted by an intercom voice informing them that every employee needs to kill two of their coworkers to prevent further ramifications. The building is subsequently locked down with a seemingly impenetrable metal wall. When no one responds to the request of the mysterious voice of god: people’s heads start exploding.

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And…begin a psychological mind games thriller a la Circle, 13 Sins, Cube, Cube 2: Hypercube, Cube Zero, Exam, Buried, Brake, Compliance, 9 Dead, Saw 1, Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, Saw VII, Cheap Thrills, The Perfect Host, The Invitation, Shutter Island, The Cure for Wellness, etc. etc.

James Gunn’s script is the ethical dilemma of the man on the trolley tracks—do you Continue reading The Belko Experiment (2017) Movie Review →