Category Archives: Drama

Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more

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

Southpaw (2015) Movie Review

July 25, 2015 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Billy “The Great” Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a mumbling undefeated light heavyweight boxing champion. Adopted into the world of boxing from a life of juvenile delinquency and living in an orphanage, fighting is his sole catharsis for his aggression. He hits hard and moves recklessly in the ring, refusing even to block a punch. He lumbers around, spitting blood and screaming intimidating exclamations. His career is one of pride and success, and he is well on the way to becoming one of the best in the sport.

Then, everything goes south. You can sense it in the Continue reading Southpaw (2015) Movie Review →

Faults (2014) Movie Review

July 23, 2015 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Faults begins with a cold open in a diner, where Ansel Roth (Leland Orser), a washed up expert on de-programming former cult members, is furiously eating a meal that he is unable to pay for. After a sparsely attended seminar in a hotel, a couple approaches Ansel about their daughter Claire’s (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) involvement in a cult called Faults. Ansel, struggling with financial problems, agrees to kidnap Claire in order to counteract the brainwashing Faults has placed on her.

Claire responds to her kidnapping in a partly normal, partly eccentric way. She doesn’t sleep, opting instead to stare at a television set of static through the first night of her capture. She holds back threats of Continue reading Faults (2014) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Lists, Romance

The Best of 2015 in Movies (So Far)

July 11, 2015 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

We’re about half-way through 2015 and, as such, have been presented with plenty of films. Early-year diamonds in the rough and breakout summer blockbusters have surfaced. Here are my favorite movies of 2015 as of June 21 (in order of their respective release dates).

Continue reading The Best of 2015 in Movies (So Far) →

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

Irreversible (2002) Movie Review

April 26, 2015 Alex Brannan 4 Comments

Caution: Minor Plot Spoilers Ahead.

Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible is not easy to watch. Midway through the film, the camera remains a static, unflinching observer to Monica Bellucci’s Alex as she is violently raped in a stark blood-red tunnel by a stranger (Jo Prestia). The camera, and thus the viewer by proxy, is a voyeur, a peeping tom viewing the proceedings of the night with cold nihilism.

Viewing the film in this way, it is understandable why someone could Continue reading Irreversible (2002) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Drama, Indie Films, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Me & Earl & the Dying Girl (2015) Movie Review

April 15, 2015 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

In Me & Earl & the Dying Girl, self-deprecating loner teen Greg (Thomas Mann) begrudgingly befriends Rachel (Olivia Cooke), a classmate who has been recently diagnosed with stage four leukemia. Throughout the course of his senior year, the somewhat selfish and self-absorbed youth grows to care for the titular dying girl.

The film, coming off the heels of last year’s The Fault In Our Stars, Me & Earl & the Dying Girl is cashing in on the young-adult terminal-illness tearjerker novel adaptation genre. It also utilizes Continue reading Me & Earl & the Dying Girl (2015) Movie Review →

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

[Quickie]: Felt (2015) Movie Review

April 12, 2015 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Felt is an independent romance-horror-drama from filmmaker Jason Banker. In it, Amy (Amy Everson), an artist who has experienced an unknown sexual assault trauma, hides her identity in her artistic creations. She is distant and reluctant to connect with people.

I will be brief with this review only because I have not let it sink in to the point where I can elaborate on many of my reactions with adequate conviction. What I can say is that Continue reading [Quickie]: Felt (2015) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Lists

Lists — Ranking the Quentin Tarantino Filmography

March 17, 2015 Alex Brannan 2 Comments

Quentin Tarantino is a master of his craft, and my favorite director working in Hollywood today. Tarantino has created some of the most original, well thought out, wonderfully scripted films in recent memory. He pulls me into his films in a way that no other director can, and he is my screenwriting idol. With each new film from him, I am expecting a flop, simply because I am surprised that he has never let me down. He is the only filmmaker that has impressed me with every single film in his filmography.

Below is my list of Tarantino’s films from worst (yet still enjoyable) to best.

Continue reading Lists — Ranking the Quentin Tarantino Filmography →

CineFiles Movie Reviews