Tag Archives: 2016

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

The Witch (2016) Movie Review

February 18, 2016 Alex Brannan

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.

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

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 →

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 →

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 →

Movie News

Suicide Squad (2016) Trailer 2 Review

January 20, 2016 Alex Brannan

Recently, the new Suicide Squad trailer dropped. And, I have some thoughts.

To begin, I’ll say that the first Suicide Squad trailer, which came out of Comic Con, didn’t do it for me. I simply was not excited to see this movie from the trailer alone.

This new trailer changed that. I did a Continue reading Suicide Squad (2016) Trailer 2 Review →

2016 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies, Movie News

2016 Academy Award Predictions: All Categories

January 17, 2016 Alex Brannan

Below are my predictions for who I believe will win the Academy Award in each of the 24 Oscar categories.

Note: This list will be updated as articles for each category get published. Those articles also may be updated if the odds within the individual category change.

Continue reading 2016 Academy Award Predictions: All Categories →

2016 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2016 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Visual Effects

January 17, 2016 Alex Brannan

Star Wars vs. Mad Max. The action franchise duel of the year. Who will win? Do any other film stand a chance?

In response to the latter, probably not. Some are pulling for Ex Machina, and, although the film is beautiful, it is a long long shot that it will pick up the award in this category. And The Revenant may pull an upset, but the real battle remains between Continue reading 2016 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Visual Effects →