Tag Archives: 2015

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

The Hateful Eight (2015) Movie Review

December 31, 2015 Alex Brannan

The “Roadshow” 70mm exhibition of Quentin Tarantino’s eighth film, The Hateful Eight, begins with a three minute overture. It is a haunting piano, string, and xylophone melody that plays over a red splash screen. This overture, and the films full score, are handled by master film composer Ennio Morricone.

Morricone’s career spans decades, and his work has included iconic scores in Sergio Leone Westerns. It is thus apropos that he tackles this films soundtrack, which is at times the dominant attraction, crescendoing into Hellish tremolos from thunderous strings. It is a brilliant score that mixes Western and Gothic motifs.

Tarantino begins The Hateful Eight by Continue reading The Hateful Eight (2015) Movie Review →

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

Sisters (2015) Movie Review

December 21, 2015 Alex Brannan

In Sisters, the eponymous sisters Maura (Amy Poehler) and Kate (Tina Fey) are misguided and somewhat juvenile. The two travel to their parent’s house in Orlando, which they find sold and emptied. They protest the loss of their childhood home, and ultimately decide to throw one last party in the house in an attempt to return to their glory days.

The film totes the expected cavalcade of SNL alum. At the head are Fey and Poehler, both of whom Continue reading Sisters (2015) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Star Wars Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015) Movie Review

December 17, 2015 Alex Brannan

Note: I’ve tried to make this review as spoiler free as possible. That said, one person’s reaction is another person’s spoiler. I can’t make this 100% devoid of spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.

Star Wars – The Force Awakens is directed by J.J. Abrams, and it is the first new Star Wars film in 10 years. Easily the most anticipated movie of the year, The Force Awakens could have been the biggest disappointment since, well, The Phantom Menace. Thankfully, this is not the case.

This part is unavoidable, but it must be mentioned. Continue reading Star Wars Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015) Movie Review →

2016 Academy Awards, All Movie Reviews, Drama, Indie Films, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Love It, Short Films

Alles Wird Gut (Everything Will Be Okay) Short Film Review

December 17, 2015 Alex Brannan

In Patrick Vollrath’s Alles Wird Gut, a divorcee picks his daughter Lea (Julia Pointner) up for a day at the fair. Only, something is tonally disjointed from this, what should be a lighthearted affair.

We begin by seeing the father Michael (Simon Schwarz) waiting anxiously at the gate of Continue reading Alles Wird Gut (Everything Will Be Okay) Short Film Review →

2016 Golden Globes, Award Ceremonies, Movie News

Initial Reactions to the 2016 Golden Globe Nominations

December 10, 2015 Alex Brannan

The nominations for the 2016 Golden Globes were announced today. The GGs is generally looked at as the award ceremony that kicks off award season proper and a precursor for what films will be tapped for Academy Award nominations.

Here are my initial reactions after reading the nominee list. Continue reading Initial Reactions to the 2016 Golden Globe Nominations →

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

Creed (2015) Movie Review

December 4, 2015 Alex Brannan

Creed is essentially a re-boot of the Rocky franchise showcasing fresher, younger hands.

The film centers around the trials of son of legendary fighter Apollo Creed, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan). Creed grows up in a juvenile corrections facility and in and out of group homes until Apollo Creed’s wife (but not Adonis’ biological mother) Mary Ann (Phylicia Rashad) takes him in.

18 years later, Creed is following in his father’s footsteps as a pro boxer in Tijuana. By day, he is a desk jockey in Los Angeles, but he knows that it is not the life for him. We see him Continue reading Creed (2015) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Indie Films, Like It, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

Cold Deck (2015) Movie Review

December 4, 2015 Alex Brannan

Cold Deck opens with a jazzy soundtrack and a warmly-lit montage of poker tables being played. The film zooms in on one particular table, where the players engage in emasculating ball-busting, each jab met with the same uproarious laughter.

One player, Bobby (Stefano Gallo), loses out to the clubs owner, Chips (Paul Sorvino), who takes sympathy on him and lends him some cash.

Bobby works in a factory, but his conversations are all on gambling. It is his lifestyle. Strapped for cash, barely able to Continue reading Cold Deck (2015) Movie Review →

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

Brooklyn (2015) Movie Review

November 28, 2015 Alex Brannan

Brooklyn is a film starring Saoirse Ronan as a young Irish emigre, Eilis, who moves to New York in the early 1950s to find work, leaving behind a mother and sister as a result. In Brooklyn, she stays at a boarding house with four other women of differing personality, works at a department store (but takes night classes to become a bookkeeper), and falls for a young Italian man named Tony (Emory Cohen).

The film makes a marked transition from Eilis’s process of immigration and settling into her new world to her Continue reading Brooklyn (2015) Movie Review →

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

Goodnight Mommy (2015) Movie Review

November 25, 2015 Alex Brannan

The main diegesis of Goodnight Mommy begins with two twin brothers being children. They play tag in a corn field and frolic through the woods. They cautiously enter through a dark void of a passageway, referring back to the viewers themselves, who are choosing to do the same by watching this film.

The film opens with an immediate sense of stillness. But there is Continue reading Goodnight Mommy (2015) Movie Review →

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

Room (2015) Movie Review

November 24, 2015 Alex Brannan

In Room, a mother (Brie Larson) and son Jack (Jacob Tremblay) are held captive in a tool shed that they call Room. The mother has been there for seven years. Jack is five years old, and he has never set foot outside of Room in his entire life.

Room is a story of resilience and undying familial love. It is about a woman coping with stress under extreme trauma while also having to successfully raise a child. It is also Continue reading Room (2015) Movie Review →