Category Archives: Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) Movie Review

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice begins in medias res of The Man Steel climax, showing in this case the perspective of Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne. As he runs headfirst into the rubble of a crushed Wayne Enterprises building, he has a number of save the cat moments. This, despite the later scenes in which he brands criminals with the bat-symbol, which pretty much nullifies this initial scene.

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18 months later, an alien artifact from the battle of Metropolis washes up on shore somewhere in the Indian Ocean and Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is working with the CIA to catch a suspected terrorist. As Superman (Henry Cavill) flies in to save Lois, he is Continue reading Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) Movie Review

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) Movie Review

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), in the process of leaving her boyfriend, suddenly becomes party to a car wreck. She awakens in a concrete room chained to the wall. An effectively desperate Winstead struggles just to reach her phone in a tense scene that culminates in the menacing introduction of Michelle’s captor Howard (John Goodman).

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This early standoff between Winstead and Goodman is fascinating, although it would have played better with Continue reading 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) Movie Review

Tell Me Sweet Something (2015) Movie Review

Tell Me Sweet Something follows young author Moratiwa (Nomzamo Mbatha) through the trials of artistry and romance.

Mbatha holds down the fort at the head of the film well. Her character the most well-rounded of the lot, she is given a lot more to work with. But, all the same, she embodies the character well.

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Fulfilling the obligatory role of comedic relief male sidekick is Thomas Gumede as Gordon. Albeit a tired character, Continue reading Tell Me Sweet Something (2015) Movie Review

The Witch (2016) Movie Review

The Witch follows the trials of a 17th century New England family banished from society to a home on the outskirts of a threatening woods. They struggle to survive: the crops die, the hunting traps bear no food, the chicken’s eggs bear stillborn chicks. But what is to blame for the family’s misfortune? For the Puritanical family, their misfortune becomes a hysteria over religious heathenism.

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The film is marked by quiet. At the film’s outset, we get a flurry of Continue reading The Witch (2016) Movie Review

Zoolander 2 (2016) Movie Review

Sequels can be many things. They can be good…sometimes. Or they can be superficial rehashes. Or they can be pure nostalgia pieces. Or they can be re-imaginings with topical insertions to try and bring an old property into the present day, where these insertions take the place of original comedy.

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Zoolander 2 falls mostly into the latter category. Justin Beiber, Uber, and Susan Boyle are featured in early gags, in moments meant to hook the viewer in. These “topical” moments (Susan Boyle = topical?) feel Continue reading Zoolander 2 (2016) Movie Review

Hail Caesar! (2016) Movie Review

In Hail Caesar!, the latest from the Coen Brothers, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is an actor during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He is introduced on-screen in a meta framing—a screening within a screening—portraying a Roman leader in a historical epic a la Spartacus. During filming of this movie, Whitlock is drugged and kidnapped.

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Hail Caesar! is the Coen Brothers’ love letter to classical Hollywood cinema. The standard genres of the period are represented: Westerns, historical epics, Broadway musical adaptations, bourgeois romance, etc.

The structural issue of this love letter is that Continue reading Hail Caesar! (2016) Movie Review

Anomalisa (2015) Movie Review

Anomalisa begins on chatter over a black screen. This chatter is clearly multiple people, but the voices are distinctly similar to each other. This fades in on a lush cloudscape with an airplane emerging out of the grey. Inside the plane is Michael Stone (David Thewlis), a man famous for writing a book about good customer service.

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Michael lives in a world of isolation. On a trip to give a self-help speech, he is completely Continue reading Anomalisa (2015) Movie Review

The Revenant (2015) Movie Review

The Revenant has the viscera of a Braveheart or a Gangs of New York, with the now familiar touch of director Alejandro G. Inarritu. His style shows through with an even stronger flourish than that of his previous film Birdman, as it links itself more naturally with the thematic elements that are in play in the film.

The film centers on Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), a hunter on a fur trading expedition who seeks vengeance after becoming severely wounded and left for dead in the 19th century wilderness.

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The only true way to describe this film is to call it  Continue reading The Revenant (2015) Movie Review

Your Sister’s Sister (2011) Movie Review

As far as mumblecore goes–a genre defined by its hyper-naturalism–Your Sister’s Sister comes off as one of the most natural.

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Unmotivated and perhaps alcohol dependent Jack (Mark Duplass) has just spent a year without his late brother Tom. He has no Continue reading Your Sister’s Sister (2011) Movie Review

The Loft (2015) Movie Review

The Loft begins with distracting shots: intentional blurring and tightly framed, hyper-wide angles. These grotesque wide angles return frequently throughout the length of the film.

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A groveling Karl Urban tepidly growls his lines as Vincent Stevens, a man being interrogated by police after a woman is found dead Continue reading The Loft (2015) Movie Review