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

Zoolander 2 (2016) Movie Review

February 12, 2016 Alex Brannan

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.

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 →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Love It, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

Deadpool (2016) Movie Review

February 12, 2016 Alex Brannan

From minute one of Deadpool, it is clear that we are dealing with a wholly unique film. If you didn’t know what you were getting into with this film, the opening credits sequence explains it for your rather efficiently.

Given a film that never Continue reading Deadpool (2016) Movie Review →

Movie News

Super Bowl 2016 Movie Trailer Roundup

February 7, 2016 Alex Brannan

The Super Bowl means one thing. Advertisement. And, you know, sports and such.

With high-profile ad spots comes movie trailers. The Super Bowl is the starting point for many a movie ad campaign, as well as a great place to bolster an already established ad campaign. 2016 is no different. Here are some highlights from the Super Bowl movie trailers.

Deadpool

Deadpool continues its amazing marketing campaign with a pre-Super Bowl spot. Here, we get the superhero’s signature Continue reading Super Bowl 2016 Movie Trailer Roundup →

Movie News

New Captain America: Civil War Trailer is a Super Bowl of its Own

February 7, 2016 Alex Brannan

The new Captain America: Civil War trailer appearing during the Super Bowl is a short, 45 second teaser, but it is packed with enough juicy Marvel goodness to be picked apart.

Most eye grabbing is a gadget strapped onto Tony Stark which blocks a bullet coming from Bucky Barnes gun.

The next Marvel film is set to be exactly what its title promises, an all-out superhero civil war. And, with this trailer, Continue reading New Captain America: Civil War Trailer is a Super Bowl of its Own →

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

Hail Caesar! (2016) Movie Review

February 5, 2016 Alex Brannan

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.

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 →

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

Taxi (2015) Movie Review

February 5, 2016 Alex Brannan

Jafar Panahi’s Taxi begins on an extended POV take of a taxi picking up passengers in Tehran. These passengers engage in a long debate over the ethics of execution as a deterrent of crime. It is a strangely humorous meditation in the poetic form of bickering.

Taxi is a series of vignettes told exclusively from Continue reading Taxi (2015) Movie Review →

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

Over (2015) Short Film Review

February 3, 2016 Alex Brannan

Over, the short film from director Jorn Threlfall, begins quietly. We get static long shots of a suburban street. At 11:45 pm. Then at 7:30 pm. The first two minutes are silence, save for ambient noise, as we see a couple park their car and cross the street, where they see a letter and a bouquet of flowers near the median. They speculate that someone has died there.

The story soon becomes clear. In reverse chronological order, we get to see Continue reading Over (2015) Short Film Review →

2016 Academy Awards

Will Leonardo DiCaprio Finally Win His Oscar?

February 2, 2016 Alex Brannan

It seems that the entire world is on his side. But is the Academy on his side?

Leonardo DiCaprio being “continuously” snubbed from an Oscar win at Best Actor has essentially become a meme at this point. And I’ll be the first to admit that Continue reading Will Leonardo DiCaprio Finally Win His Oscar? →

2016 Academy Awards

Breaking Down the 2016 Oscar Best Picture Race

January 30, 2016 Alex Brannan

2016 is proving to be a hard year to predict the Academy Award Best Picture race. The seeming frontrunners going into the Golden Globes were Spotlight and The Revenant. The Revenant came out of the Globes on top, while also picking up awards for Best Director and Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio (this appears to finally be his year for the Oscar, barring something crazy happening at the SAG awards, but that is an entirely different article).

The first wrench thrown at the Oscar race came during the Producers Guild Awards, where Continue reading Breaking Down the 2016 Oscar Best Picture Race →

2016 Academy Awards, All Movie Reviews, Award Ceremonies, Short Films

2016 Academy Award Nominated Animated Short Films Review

January 29, 2016 Alex Brannan

The five nominated short films in the animated category are diverse in animation style and narrative content, but they all have clear ups and downs. Below are my mini reviews for these five mini movies.

Sanjay’s Super Team

Sanjay’s Super Team, from Pixar, opens on a dichotomy of old and young ideals in an Indian household.

The animation sports the usual Continue reading 2016 Academy Award Nominated Animated Short Films Review →

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