Category Archives: All Movie Reviews

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

Love (2015) Movie Review

 

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.

 

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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 →

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Indie Films, Like It

Respire (Breathe) (2015) Movie Review

 

Charlie (Josephine Japy) lives in a household demarcated by fighting parents. She hears her mother sob at night. At school, she becomes quietly fascinated by new student Sarah (Lou de Laage). Sarah is more impulsive, more charismatic than Charlie. They are foils, and yet their chemistry is instantaneous.

 

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Their relationship grows when they vacation together, but it grows toward the realm of the complicated. Lines are grayed. And all the while, Continue reading Respire (Breathe) (2015) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Horror, Indie Films, Like It, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

Dude Bro Party Massacre III (2015) Movie Review

 

After two mass murders in frat houses—recounted in an almost imperceptible montage of brutal murders at the hands of a burn victim serial killer and her daughter “Motherface”—there is a third mass murder of a group of frat bros.

 

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Dude Bro Party Massacre III is a take on B-movie slasher flicks of the 1980s. Filmed in “glorious VHS quality,” the film is Continue reading Dude Bro Party Massacre III (2015) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Indie Films, Like It, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

I Believe in Unicorns (2015) Movie Review

 

I Believe in Unicorns is a bildunsroman of a seemingly average order. A teenage outcast–one who is childlike in a way that she shouldn’t be, but somehow it makes perfect sense–falls for a rebellious skater/punk with long hair and unnatural charisma.

 

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The two, Davina (Natalia Dyer) and Sterling (Peter Vack), have a love story. Davina is virginal and naive, yet her voiceover narration (seemingly looking back on the events) is very grounded in the reality of the situation.

 

Davina and Sterling run away together to start an exciting and spontaneous life on their own. Davina abandons her Continue reading I Believe in Unicorns (2015) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Indie Films, Like It, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

Mistress America (2015) Movie Review

 

Noah Baumbach’s Mistress America follows alienated college freshman Tracy (Lola Kirke). Tracy is a writer wanting to be part of the Mobius Literary Society, but, when she is rejected, ends up on her own.

 

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Enter Brooke (Greta Gerwig, who also co-wrote the film). Brooke is Tracy’s sister to be, as their parents are scheduled to marry in the near future. Brooke takes Tracy under her wing, taking her around New York City and making her feel welcome.

 

Brooke is undergoing a major business venture: trying to open a niche restaurant. Tracy initially idolizes Brooke, but soon comes to realize that Continue reading Mistress America (2015) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Indie Films, Like It

Manson Family Vacation (2015) Movie Review

 

Manson Family Vacation opens on interview footage of notorious criminal Charles Manson addressing why he thinks he receives so many letters from teenagers each year. “I am those kids,” Manson says. “I never lived in your society.” He then engages in some interpretive dance, and the film takes off on that sentiment.

 

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We see cross-cut events depicting very different lives. One, Conrad, a mangy tramp (Linas Phillips) sticking his thumb out on the highway for Continue reading Manson Family Vacation (2015) Movie Review →

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

Spectre (2015) Movie Review

 

In the new outing for James Bond (Daniel Craig), we open on a gun barrel sequence. The classic gun barrel sequence, which we haven’t seen up front in a Daniel Craig Bond film until now. Signifying a return to classic Bond form, perhaps?

 

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In Mexico City on Dia de Los Muertos, Bond stalks through a parade in a skeleton mask. He is on an off-book mission to assassinate a series of targets before they Continue reading Spectre (2015) Movie Review →

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

Bridge of Spies (2015) Movie Review

 

Bridge of Spies is a Cold War espionage drama from Steven Spielberg. The FBI infiltrates a hotel room held by a man they address as Colonel. Calmly, the man, Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), continues about his business as the FBI agents strip his room looking for signs of espionage. All the while, the man destroys the signs of espionage.

 

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James Donovan (Tom Hanks), an insurance lawyer with a history in the Nuremberg Trials, is assigned to defend Continue reading Bridge of Spies (2015) Movie Review →

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

Skyfall (2012) Movie Review

 

Skyfall opens on an extended foot and car chase, which is choreographed beautifully. It also ends with the apparent death of James Bond (Daniel Craig), shot and left for dead in the sea as Adele’s thunderous theme kicks in. Of course, Bond survives, but MI6 doesn’t know this. M (Judi Dench) must write his obituary. Her job is also threatened for her reckless actions with her agents in the field.

 

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Following this, MI6’s computers are hacked and their headquarters are destroyed. Bond returns to help remedy the situation, but he’s Continue reading Skyfall (2012) Movie Review →

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

Quantum of Solace (2008) Movie Review

 

The cold open to Quantum of Solace depicts shadowy shots of cars riding through the Italian countryside. Then, the scene kicks into gear and we get a brutal, tight-traffic car chase. Stunt choreography is intricate and editing is tight. It is the way a Bond film should start.

 

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Secret agent James Bond (Daniel Craig) escapes his pursuers and rides into the city of Siena. Out of eyesight, he parks his heavily damaged Aston Martin and pops the trunk to reveal Continue reading Quantum of Solace (2008) Movie Review →