Category Archives: Genres

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

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) Movie Review

August 2, 2015 Alex Brannan

In the opening scene of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Tom Cruise’s franchise spy Ethan Hunt is seen hanging from the side of a plane as it takes off of from a private runway in Minsk. On board is a massive amount of nerve gas able to take out a large city worth of people. Hunt grapples against the hull of the plane as tech expert Benji (Simon Pegg) struggles to open the door for him remotely from a nearby grass plain.

Finally, the door releases and Hunt is pitched into the cargo hold of the plane. Holding tightly to the pallet of nerve gas, he gives a guard a Continue reading Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Documentary, Love It, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

[Quickie] See This Movie: The Wolfpack (2015) Movie Review

July 30, 2015 Alex Brannan

Fascinating. A case study of isolation. And a case study of cinephilia that is utterly unparalleled. The power of cinema as a means of connection to the outside world and as a former of identity has never been exemplified on film in such a way as The Wolfpack presents it.

With essentially nothing else to place the Angulo siblings into society and an alcoholic, domineering man as a father, the boys are Continue reading [Quickie] See This Movie: The Wolfpack (2015) Movie Review →

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

Southpaw (2015) Movie Review

July 25, 2015 Alex Brannan

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 →

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

Pixels (2015) Movie Review

July 25, 2015 Alex Brannan

In 1982, savant children battle for the fame of becoming an arcade game champion, an event being filmed for the sake of a time capsule that will be shot into space. Brenner (Adam Sandler), the savant-iest of savant gamers, gets a tie score with hot shot Eddie (Peter Dinklage) and must face off against him in a round of Donkey Kong. Brenner loses by a nose, which seemingly demoralizes him into leading a washed up life of attending Mississippi Institute of Technology and becoming an electronics installer.

Meanwhile, Brenner’s dopey friend “Chewy” Cooper (Kevin James) is President of the United States. That’s right, Continue reading Pixels (2015) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Horror, Indie Films, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Love It

Creep (2015) Movie Review

July 23, 2015 Alex Brannan

Creep is an independent horror film starring Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass. Brice also doubles as the director and triples as co-writer with Duplass. In it, Duplass plays Josef, a man suffering from inoperable brain cancer who has hired freelance videographer Aaron (Brice) to film what could be his final days for the sake of his unborn child.

The film begins with heartfelt scenes of Josef optimistically narrating fun activities that he would like his son to experience once he is gone. These scenes are also accompanied by innocent jump scares. In one, Continue reading Creep (2015) Movie Review →

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

Faults (2014) Movie Review

July 23, 2015 Alex Brannan

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, Comedy, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Ant-Man (2015) Movie Review

July 21, 2015 Alex Brannan

What do you get when you put a comedy A-lister in the middle of swarms of CG ants and a goatee-toting Michael Douglas? Marvel Studios’ most recent addition to their already overblown universe.

Ant-Man was at one time a project that appeared like it would never get off the ground. The film was originally headed by the talented Edgar Wright. He left the project after Continue reading Ant-Man (2015) Movie Review →

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

Trainwreck (2015) Movie Review

July 20, 2015 Alex Brannan

Trainwreck is written by comedian Amy Schumer and directed by comedy melodrama behemoth Judd Apatow. In it, Schumer plays Amy Townsend, a promiscuous journalist who has adopted a lifestyle similar to her alcoholic father (Colin Quinn). When she is assigned to write a piece on Aaron Conners (Bill Hader), a surgeon for athletes, they become romantically involved, but Amy’s lack of faith in monogamy threatens to ruin their potential future together.

The film brings Schumer’s familiar raunchy brand of comedy to the big screen. It is a sexually charged style of humor that could Continue reading Trainwreck (2015) 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

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) →

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

As Above, So Below (2014) Movie Review

July 5, 2015 Alex Brannan

And now, a dramatic interpretation of a how a hypothetical pitch meeting for the As Above, So Below script might have started:

“It’s The Descent meets [REC] meets Grave Encounters meets Buried meets National Treasure.”

“Love it. I bet we can get that guy from Cloverfield for the male lead.”

“But we can still terrorize the sole black character by putting him in the most danger early on, right?”

“Of course! What else are horror movies for!?”

“Huzzah! Let’s make movies!”

All right, so I have no idea how pitch meetings actually work. Nonetheless, that’s a fairly accurate description of As Above, So Below. The movie wraps a plot largely reminiscent of Continue reading As Above, So Below (2014) Movie Review →

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