Category Archives: Leave it

Movies I wish I had skipped. This could be for any number of reasons: the film was made sloppily, the narrative didn’t engage me, or I simply could not connect with the film in any way for whatever reason.

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

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) Movie Review

December 2, 2015 Alex Brannan

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is adapted from the book of the same name, and it is exactly what you think. Jane Austen’s famous characters return to the big screen, only now they aren’t combating class and gender barriers, they are samurai fighting zombies.

The film, understanding that the audience is likely already familiar with the Austen classic, begins with some heavy handed exposition revolving around the nature of the narrative’s zombie outbreak. This opening scene involves an interesting point of view shot that comes from a unique perspective, to say the least. Unfortunately, Continue reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Horror, Leave it, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) Movie Review

November 20, 2015 Alex Brannan

The 1995 Halloween sequel The Curse of Michael Myers is a non-canon plot revolving around cults and a survivor of a previous Myers’ massacre. Teenage Jamie (J.C. Brandy) gives birth to a boy on the eve of Halloween, but the child is abducted. Then, she gets the child back and escapes from the candle-lit void of a soundstage that she is resting in before Myers can get to her. Myers, all the while, is searching for the baby, and killing everyone who gets in his way.

The opening of the film is a confusing mash-up of quick cuts and a voiceover that is easy to ignore. Even later, when Jamie is on the run, the film cuts away from action and uses misplaced ellipsis to makes sure the Continue reading Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) Movie Review →

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

Love (2015) Movie Review

November 15, 2015 Alex Brannan

Gaspar Noe’s Love opens on an intimate sex scene. The couple is splayed on a bed, engaged in fervent foreplay. It is a single, long take of the two. They do not move. They do not speak. They just do. All the while, orchestral music rises and falls to the tempo of their rhythm.

We cut to the man, Murphy (Karl Glusman), waking, the soundtrack a voiceover narration lamenting his current life and the choices that got him there. He was high the night before. He is worried that Continue reading Love (2015) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Halloween Horror, Indie Films, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Circle (2015) Movie Review

October 29, 2015 Alex Brannan

Following an alien invasion, a diverse group of 50 people are sucked up into a black void space that is meant to be a spaceship. Each person is forced to stand on a red circle, or they’ll be struck by a killer lightning bolt. Touch one of the other people. Killer lightning. Do nothing for too long. Killer lightning. Turns out, each person gets a vote as to who gets killed every few minutes. It’s like some perverted democracy.

And that’s where the ethical questioning begins.

As the ensemble tries to logically break down the situation at hand, they bicker about Continue reading Circle (2015) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Halloween Horror, Horror, Indie Films, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015) Movie Review

October 22, 2015 Alex Brannan

Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse opens on Blake Anderson from Workaholics (here simply Ron the Janitor) dancing to an Iggy Azalea trap beat. Marvelous. Ron then single-handedly starts the zombie apocalypse. Double marvelous. The dramatic irony and use of space in this opening is great. It might be the best scene in the entire movie comedy-wise.

We then see a dated-looking boy scout recruitment tape led by the comedic styling of David Koechner. Scout Leader Rogers’ (Koechner) Boy Scout Troop 264 is comprised of three archetypal scouts: the brown-nosing overachiever Augie (Joey Morgan), the apathetic burnout Carter (Logan Miller), and the reluctant leader Ben (Tye Sheridan).

When Ben and Carter decide to ditch Augie for a rave that appears to take place in a warehouse (although it is labeled as a rec center, but this is all besides the point), the two boys stumble upon Continue reading Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015) Movie Review →

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

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014) Movie Review

October 16, 2015 Alex Brannan

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is the fifth installment of the Paranormal Activity franchise, although it is not a direct sequel. It is a spin-off of the franchise, its characters not directly involved with the rest of the series. As such, it is not to be confused with the upcoming Paranormal Activity 5: The Ghost Dimension.

In The Marked Ones, recent high school graduate Jesse (Andrew Jacobs) and his friend Hector (Jorge Diaz) start filming their day-to-day encounters. After his neighbor dies inexplicably, Jesse and Hector break into her apartment to investigate. They come across Continue reading Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014) Movie Review →

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

Steve Jobs (2015) Movie Review

October 14, 2015 Alex Brannan

Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs depicts the life of the computer innovator through three separate product launches, all depictions taking place seemingly moments before the show is set to begin.

When we first see Jobs (Michael Fassbender), it is with immediacy. Immediately frustrated. Immediately aggressive. Immediately demanding. All of this surrounding a simple issue: Continue reading Steve Jobs (2015) Movie Review →

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

Willow Creek (2014) Movie Review

September 24, 2015 Alex Brannan

Caution: minor plot spoilers ahead

Indie found footage horror flick Willow Creek cold opens on nothing. Darkness all around as the camera sits idle in a patch of grass blowing lazily in the breeze. We sit in this moment for a tad too long, then the sound crescendos into the title card.

Next, we are in a car with a couple. Jim (Bryce Johnson) is testing out the sound equipment, goading his girlfriend Kelly (Alexie Gilmore) to speak into the microphone while she drives. She recites lines from a feminine hygiene product commercial that she failed to book. They joke about the Continue reading Willow Creek (2014) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Horror, Indie Films, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Cheap Thrills (2014) Movie Review

August 26, 2015 Alex Brannan

Craig Daniels (Pat Healy) is a mechanic and a family man. At least, he was a mechanic. Then he got fired. On the same day that he received an eviction notice. As he scrubs his grimy hands at the end of his short last day, a closeup reveals the wedding ring on his finger. A finger that is tensely tapping against the sink with the knowledge that its owner has fallen into dire straits.

Enter Vince (Ethan Embry), the sleazy but well meaning high school friend of Craig. Vince is a debt collector. The off-the-books type of debt collector. Then enter Colin (David Koechner), a seemingly well-off stranger who just wants some drinking company on his wife Violet’s (Sara Paxton) birthday. As per the genre’s usual tropes, something seems off about Colin and Violet. Colin is uncharacteristically charismatic and friendly. Violet is uninterested in almost everything.

As the night moves on and the drinks start flowing, Colin starts engaging Craig and Vince in a series of bets. They are innocent bets, but they come with tempting Continue reading Cheap Thrills (2014) Movie Review →

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

Fantastic Four (2015) Movie Review

August 9, 2015 Alex Brannan

Reed Richards (Miles Teller) is a child with a dream: to create a teleportation device and change the world for the better. After his prototype device is disqualified from his high school science fair, scientist Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) hires him to work on a government funded device of the same ilk for the sake of accessing a nondescript alternate dimension dubbed “Zero.”

From there, Fantastic Four is a haphazard jumble of plot points inserted abruptly with no sense of pacing or flow. The opening sequence with Continue reading Fantastic Four (2015) Movie Review →

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