Tag Archives: drama

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Becky (2020) Movie Review

June 6, 2020 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Becky, from directors Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott, is about as barebones as a thriller can get. A group of White Supremacist prison inmates are being transported down a county road when they spring a plan to break out. The mastermind behind the plan, Dominick (Kevin James), leads them to a lake house in search of a mysterious key. But they come up against the obstacle of a family spending the weekend at the house—a father (Joel McHale), his daughter, Becky (Lulu Wilson), his girlfriend (Amanda Brugel) and her son (Isaiah Rockcliffe).

The bloody mayhem that unfolds from this straightforward plot is Continue reading Becky (2020) Movie Review →

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

Adrift (2018) Movie Review

June 1, 2018 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Adrift tells the true story of Tami Oldham (Shailene Woodley), who, while sailing a yacht to San Diego with her boyfriend Richard Sharp (Sam Claflin), gets caught in a storm that leaves the boat in tatters. With a search area too large for anyone to conceivably find the yacht, Tami uses her tact and pure force of will to navigate the boat toward Hawaii, a target small enough that any miscalculation could mean missing landfall and, thus, certain death.

The five minutes of screentime after Woodley’s Tami comes to and takes stock of her situation, where she kicks herself into gear and Jerry-rigs the half-destroyed boat into a functioning machine, is Continue reading Adrift (2018) Movie Review →

2018 Golden Globes

2018 Golden Globes Film Predictions – Who Will Win

December 11, 2017 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Note: As award campaign trajectories are subject to change, so will these predictions. They will be updated as necessary to reflect the most likely candidates as decided by one lone critic.

The 2018 Golden Globes ceremony will be held on January 7, 2018 at 8 p.m. ET.

Continue reading 2018 Golden Globes Film Predictions – Who Will Win →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Drama, Love It

Where the Woods End (Am Ende Der Wald) (2016) Short Film Review

November 1, 2016 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

There is something to the aesthetic of Where the Woods End, the thriller short subject from director Felix Ahrens. It is sleek and gritty all at once. A glorious crane shot of the titular woods opens the short, panning across the lush, unassuming setting.

Where the Woods End is a taut psychological thriller that follows the growing internal torment of police officer Elke (Henrike von Kuick) after she Continue reading Where the Woods End (Am Ende Der Wald) (2016) Short Film Review →

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

Goat (2016) Movie Review

September 28, 2016 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Brad (Ben Schnetzer) is a college-student-to-be. His brother Brett (Nick Jonas) already attends the college he is accepted to, and Brett is a member of an elite fraternity on campus as well. Brad, still recovering from a brutal physical assault, is convinced to join the frat, where his ethical patience is severely tested.

Goat has an introduction that is evocative of other movies of its ilk. The “wild life” is in full effect, portrayals of Continue reading Goat (2016) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Leave it

The Light Between Oceans (2016) Movie Review

September 22, 2016 Alex Brannan 1 Comment

Derek Cianfrance, the director of The Place Beyond the Pines and Blue Valentine, returns with a story that is similarly bleak and heart-wrenching, despite what the title might have you believe. The Light Between Oceans tells the story of a married couple (Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender) who, after multiple attempts, fail to carry a child to term.

Cianfrance brings style to the film, but it does not make up for the pitfalls of narrative and thematic substance. Lighting and framing capture picaresque cinematic moments from the 1920s Australian landscape. The sound design, in certain pivotal scenes, is fantastic. The film appears very much, and very adeptly, like a film.

Fassbender and Vikander come together to make up the tragic couple. They are the film’s driving force, and they are both wonderful. Rachel Weiss, in addition, is absolutely riveting in a criminally small supporting role.

The issue with The Light Between Oceans is Continue reading The Light Between Oceans (2016) Movie Review →

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

Snowden (2016) Movie Review

September 14, 2016 Alex Brannan 1 Comment

A movie by a veteran (yet perhaps out of touch) director starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt depicting a true story that was previously depicted in an acclaimed documentary. Is this The Walk. No, this is Snowden.

Snowden follows the CIA career and subsequent “whistleblowing” of Edward Snowden (Gordon-Levitt), as well as his relationship with Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley).

Snowden’s script at times reads more like a civics lesson than a drama. Feeling the need to Continue reading Snowden (2016) Movie Review →

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

Entertainment (2015) Movie Review

May 6, 2016 Alex Brannan 1 Comment

The opening shots of Entertainment are largely static. The Comedian (Gregg Turkington, essentially playing in this film a fictionalized version of himself and his comedic alter-ego Neil Hamburger), stands in an airplane fuselage, looking down. He watches as a clown, Eddie the Opener (Tye Sheridan), prepares for a set at a prison. He looks on dour-faced as the clown “wows” the crowd of prisoners by simply bouncing a ball and clapping his hands.

The first spoken dialogue in the film comes from a tour operator who encourages The Comedian and others to “by all means, go ahead and wander.” Yet the film does the opposite. Continue reading Entertainment (2015) Movie Review →

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

The Comedy (2012) Movie Review

May 4, 2016 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Rick Alverson’s The Comedy is not a comedy. It is an anti-comedy. A satire of a self-destructive generation gazing on their own broken world. The film opens on a group of people, mostly slightly overweight men, drinking and dancing, spitting beer and stripping nude. This is a commonplace setting for this group of “friends.”

The film stars Tim Heidecker of Tim and Eric fame. Comedy partner Eric Wareheim co-stars, and their presence in the film in one instance is Continue reading The Comedy (2012) Movie Review →

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

Race (2016) Movie Review

February 19, 2016 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Race is the biopic of Olympic athlete Jesse Owens. The film follows Owens (Stephan James) as he tackles adversity in 1930s America and Germany. It also explores the relationship between Owens and his down-and-out coach Larry Snyder (Jason Sudeikis).