Tag Archives: 2017

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

Dark Night (2017) Movie Review

February 3, 2017 Alex Brannan

The opening shot of Tim Sutton’s Dark Night, coming after almost a minute of music playing over a black screen, is a beautiful yet unceremoniously conventional shot. It is the reflexive kino eye shot, showing the awareness of artifice and mediation within a filmic representation.

Gorgeous red and blue neon washes over the eye of an onlooker. We can see the approaching police car in her pupil. It is tragedy in a snapshot; fundamentally artistic even if the eyeball shot has appeared everywhere from Un Chien Andalou to LOST.

Dark Night chronicles the lives of those affected by the 2012 Aurora shooting that took place in a Colorado screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises. The film is proposed as a Continue reading Dark Night (2017) Movie Review →

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

Rings (2017) Movie Review

February 2, 2017 Alex Brannan

The premise of The Ring has always seemed silly. “You ever hear about the videotape that kills people in seven days?” This is one of the first lines of Rings, this third English-language installment of the franchise, itself a remake of the J-Horror sensation Ringu.

On a plane, two people who watched the tape are killed by Samara, the pallid, greasy black-haired monster of the film, as she climbs out of a monitor in the cockpit. This essentially unrelated cold open is the shoddiest scene in the entire film; a strange way to Continue reading Rings (2017) Movie Review →

Award Ceremonies, Movie News

What to Expect From the Directors Guild Awards 2017

February 1, 2017 Alex Brannan

The Directors Guild Awards (DGAs) are this Saturday, February 4. Ignoring television, as I do not watch it, there are three film categories that could act as precursors to the Academy Awards.

Surprisingly, Ava DuVernay did not receive a nomination in the documentary category for 13th. Without this competition, there is no feasible scenario where Continue reading What to Expect From the Directors Guild Awards 2017 →

2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Live Action Short Film

February 1, 2017 Alex Brannan

Alas, the Academy-nominated short films have not made their way to screens in my area yet. I have had the privilege of seeing and reviewing two of these Oscar short films, but of course this is not enough to give a full-fledged summary of the field as a whole.

Keep this in my mind as I do my best to traverse this category half-blind.

Update: I saw them…let’s do this.

Best Live Action Short Film:

Continue reading Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Live Action Short Film →

Award Ceremonies, Movie News

The Screen Actors Guild Awards: What to Expect

January 28, 2017 Alex Brannan

Sunday 29, 2017 will mark the 23rd annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards. The ceremony is one of the many guild precursors to the Academy Awards. Many film pundits look at the SAGs to determine which actors and actresses will likely win the Oscars in the acting categories. The award show also features the closest thing to an Oscar for Best Acting Ensemble.

Speaking of this, Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture is the biggest award of the night at the SAGs, the closest thing the guild has to Continue reading The Screen Actors Guild Awards: What to Expect →

2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Why O.J.: Made in America Will Win the Oscar for Best Documentary

January 27, 2017 Alex Brannan

After watching the nearly eight hour ESPN documentary O.J.: Made in America, I decided not to give it a review. Perhaps it was due to the shear exhaustion. Now that the Oscar nominations are out and O.J. is in there, I feel this analysis can act as a de facto review.

It may seem jarring that a television documentary miniseries is being considered for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards. The series qualified for these awards season film categories by having Continue reading Why O.J.: Made in America Will Win the Oscar for Best Documentary →

2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Ranking the Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees

January 27, 2017 Alex Brannan

Nine films received honors at the 2017 Academy Awards for Best Picture. That means the Academy deems these films to be the best of the year. Hands down. Are they right about this distinction? An argument can be made to the opposite. But that is a conversation for a different day.

For now, let’s look at what they did pick as the best of 2016. More importantly, let’s rank the nine from worst to best. Continue reading Ranking the Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees →

2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Production Design

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

Production Design is great. It is necessary. Without it a film would be like Neil Breen taping garbage bags up in his garage as a set. But it is also not an easy Oscar category to predict.

Best Production Design:

Continue reading Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Production Design →

2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Animated Short Film

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

Predicting one of the Oscar short film categories having only seen one of the five films is like calling your shot while wearing a blindfold. It’s like being a movie nerd badass, you know? Or…it’s like understanding what the term Pixar refers to…movie nerd badass is oxymoronic…moronic, really…What were we talking about?

Update: I have now seen all five of the nominated Animated Short Films. You can find a review of all five (save for Piper, a link for that review is below) here.

Best Animated Short Film:

Continue reading Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Animated Short Film →

2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Makeup & Hairstyling

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

All right, Best Makeup & Hairstyling. It’s only three movies, you can’t screw up. Come on, Alex! It’s just haircuts! You can judge haircuts!

Ahem, sorry. I didn’t realize you had…clicked through already.

The Academy Award for Best Makeup & Hairstyling is…ah man now I’ve lost my train of thought. Let’s see…there’s that Swedish movie. I think there’s some old-age makeup in that one. The guy wears a hat most of the movie…does he even have hair? Star Trek is aliens…now is that makeup or CGI? Chris Pine has nice hair…Suicide Squad…they’re all painted white like clowns…her hair’s kind of rainbow…