Tag Archives: 2017

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

Let the Corpses Tan (2018) Movie Review

April 12, 2018 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

A band of robbers hide away in a hamlet in the Mediterranean desert after stowing 250 kilos worth of gold bars in the trunk of their car and picking up a family of hitchhikers on their way back from the heist. Two police officers show up, and the whole thing devolves into a shootout.

It is an exceedingly simple premise to a film, one that reeks of a cliched action-crime genre re-hash. But Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s Let the Corpses Tan is anything but simple, and Continue reading Let the Corpses Tan (2018) Movie Review →

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

Watu Wote (All of Us) (2017) Short Film Review

February 7, 2018 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Watu Wote from director Katja Benrath is one of five films nominated for the 2018 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film

Watu Wote is a beautifully-captured film. Shot mostly at night with low-light lighting schemes, the short nevertheless captures the streets of Kenya wonderfully.

Much of the action of the short, however, takes place inside Continue reading Watu Wote (All of Us) (2017) Short Film Review →

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

Leatherface (2017) Movie Review

January 24, 2018 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Now, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise has never been the stuff of legends, not like its antagonist-turned-protagonist-turned-antagonist-etcetera, Leatherface. (Well, maybe not protagonist, but it seems like every other sequel wants to make us sympathize with the chainsaw-wielding serial killer). None of the sequels have received positive reception (although I hear the Viggo Mortensen-starring third film is underrated).

Why, then, should we bother with the 2017 prequel, Leatherface? It is directed by Continue reading Leatherface (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Animation, Like It

Mary and the Witch’s Flower (2017) Movie Review

January 21, 2018 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Mary and the Witch’s Flower is the first feature film from Studio Ponoc, a company made up of several former creators from the famed Studio Ghibli. It tells a story that is essentially Harry Potter adjacent, in which a young girl named Mary (Ruby Barnhill, in the English-language dub) stumbles upon a special flower, an engraved broomstick, and, ultimately, magical powers.

I say Harry Potter adjacent because Mary is whisked away on broomstick to an Continue reading Mary and the Witch’s Flower (2017) Movie Review →

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

Phantom Thread (2017) Movie Review

January 20, 2018 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a famed couture designer in post-war London. He is quite idiosyncratic, very particular. He has eyes for a waitress named Alma (Vicky Krieps), whom he places in his house and sizes her up for a dress.

This scene, where Day-Lewis’ Woodcock measures Alma, is the beginning of an intensely fraught yet surprisingly understated romantic relationship. And it is a Continue reading Phantom Thread (2017) Movie Review →

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

The Post (2017) Movie Review

January 14, 2018 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

One could look at The Post, the latest from veteran director Steven Spielberg, and see a current and scathing indictment of executive authority to undermine freedom of speech vis a vis journalism, a critique of modern political decorum by way of an examination of the past.

Ignoring the politicization of this message, the grand-standing done in the final 30 minutes of this film, in which Continue reading The Post (2017) Movie Review →

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

I, Tonya (2017) Movie Review

January 6, 2018 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

There is one word that describes every facet of the film I, Tonya. Energy. From the acting performances, to the editing, to the camera work, to the dialogue, to the framing device, to the soundtrack there is a constant and consistent energy. There is never a wasted or dull moment. It is a two-hour movie that breezes by.

Beneath this energy, which is spear-headed by dark comedy, is a surprising amount of empathy that the film drums up around the figure of Tonya Harding (portrayed here by Margot Robbie). The highly publicized story of Harding plays out in the film in a Continue reading I, Tonya (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Like It, Short Films

DeKalb Elementary (2017) Short Film Review

January 5, 2018 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

DeKalb Elementary from director Reed Van Dyk is one of five films nominated for the 2018 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film

The entirety of the short film DeKalb Elementary takes place inside of an administrative office of the eponymous elementary school. A man (Bo Mitchell) walks in and calmly proceeds to take out a semi-automatic rifle. Holding a woman (Tarra Riggs) hostage, he waits for the police to arrive.

The calmness of the characters involved may at first appear anachronistic to the plot that is unfolding, but the short plays out in what feels like a realistic way. This is accomplished through Continue reading DeKalb Elementary (2017) Short Film Review →

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

Call Me By Your Name (2017) Movie Review

December 30, 2017 Alex Brannan 1 Comment

Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name is a film that takes its time yet never wastes a moment. It may seem at first that it is slow to startup, but this humdrum beginning that meanders almost lazily through this formative summer of Elio’s (Timothee Chalamet) is used as a basis from which the film’s central relationship can form. From the point at which this relationship comes to be, the film becomes an intensely emotional and sensual experience.

Certainly, this lengthy and deliberate film will lose some viewers. The simplicity of the plotting does not help in that regard. But beyond mere plot is a film that captures Continue reading Call Me By Your Name (2017) Movie Review →

A Movies, All Movie Reviews, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Love It, Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

The Shape of Water (2017) Movie Review

December 29, 2017 Alex Brannan 1 Comment

Guillermo del Toro, with his latest The Shape of Water, weaves, in effect, a fairy tale monster movie. Imbued with the shadowy lighting and terse patriotism of the Cold War 1950s, in which nationalistic patsies are led by men in trench coats who speak in passwords, the film sets itself in an industrial government building that hides away U.S. military secrets.

Working in this industrial warehouse, underneath the shadowy government officials and their shills and patsies, is the mute Elisa (Sally Hawkins). With the camaraderie of Zelda (Octavia Spencer), who fills the space where Elisa’s words cannot reach, they clean the facility. This includes cleaning up the blood after a new arrival to the facility causes Continue reading The Shape of Water (2017) Movie Review →