Tag Archives: movie review

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

Alien: Resurrection (1997) Movie Review

May 6, 2017 Alex Brannan

2379, hundreds of years after her death, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is cloned by United Systems Military in order to extract the xenomorph larvae from her pregnant stomach.

A simple setup: another space station, another alien, another situation Ripley has to get herself out of. If it ain’t broke?

Alien: Resurrection is director Jean-Pierre Jeunet pre-Amelie and writer Joss Whedon just as he was finding success with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Two heavy-duty cinematic work horses behind this studio-infiltrated franchise sequel. What could go wrong? Continue reading Alien: Resurrection (1997) Movie Review →

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

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) Movie Review

May 4, 2017 Alex Brannan

On a planetary system called The Sovereign, the Guardians of the Galaxy defend some golden batteries from a large squid monster. Upon success of this task, the golden inhabitants of the planet that houses these golden batteries pay the Guardians. They then chase them down violently when it becomes evident that one member of this indelible crew, Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper), stole some of these batteries for his own gain.

This long diversion about batteries aside (and, yes, batteries take up a large portion of this film’s narrative), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is about Continue reading Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) Movie Review →

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

The Circle (2017) Movie Review

April 28, 2017 Alex Brannan

Mae (Emma Watson) is stuck at a dreary temp job. Her car barely runs. She lives at home with her parents. Effectively, she’s stuck.

Then, through a connection in friend Annie (Karen Gillan), Mae lands an interview at The Circle, a hip-and-trendy tech outfit that is, on contact, Orwellian. Or, at least, Continue reading The Circle (2017) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Leave it

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) Movie Review

April 28, 2017 Alex Brannan

Director Guy Ritchie’s new venture, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, opens on a war sequence that introduces Uther Pendragon (Eric Bana), the father of the once and future king Arthur (Charlie Hunnam), as well as one-time king Vortigern (Jude Law).

It is a scene marked by blurry action and messy narrative introduction. Luckily, it is also a scene that is returned to multiple times over throughout the film.

Following this, we watch little Arthur grow up before our eyes in a very Continue reading King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) Movie Review →

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

Alien 3 (1992 & 2003) Movie Review

April 25, 2017 Alex Brannan

There is a stigma to Alien 3, the third installment in the massively popular Alien franchise and David Fincher’s first directorial effort. Pulled out of the world of music video directing, Fincher was given the lofty task of continuing the sci-fi horror series. The end result was massive studio interference that led to two drastically different cuts of the film.

The 1992 theatrical cut was heavily edited down, leading to a far less cohesive film. It is still Continue reading Alien 3 (1992 & 2003) Movie Review →

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

Phoenix Forgotten (2017) Movie Review

April 21, 2017 Alex Brannan

Phoenix Forgotten opens on Sophie’s (Florence Hartigan) 6th birthday party. Family members give testimonials to camera about Sophie; advice for her as she grows up. Then, a voiceover from Sophie begins the narrative. Her brother Josh (Luke Spencer Roberts) and two of his friends went missing in the desert in 1997. Now, Sophie is returning home to make a documentary about his disappearance.

The film plays with framing through this setup. In 1997, Josh, obsessed with seeing lights in the Phoenix sky that may or may not be a UFO, starts Continue reading Phoenix Forgotten (2017) Movie Review →

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

Free Fire (2017) Movie Review

April 20, 2017 Alex Brannan

Free Fire, the new film from Kill List director Ben Wheatley, takes place during a contentious international arms deal in a spacious abandoned warehouse in 1978 Boston. As expected, it does not go as planned.

Interestingly enough, the deal plays out in an anachronistically polite way. Not tea party polite, but more polite than Continue reading Free Fire (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Leave it

Sandy Wexler (2017) Movie Review

April 16, 2017 Alex Brannan

Adam Sandler. A story of continuous disappointment. The celebrity’s output has a marked shift from his early days to recent years. Pixels. The Ridiculous 6. Even The Cobbler’s different approach to the Sandler brand was a misfire.

Now that Sandler is working with Netflix, it seems like the bar has been lowered significantly.

The eponymous Sandy Wexler (Sandler), played with one of Sandler’s three voices, is a notorious Hollywood manager. Notorious for being Continue reading Sandy Wexler (2017) Movie Review →

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

The Fate of the Furious (2017) Movie Review

April 12, 2017 Alex Brannan

In Havana, Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) cousin (Janmarco Santiago) gets his car towed by the man with the fastest car in Cuba. Toretto challenges the man to a race for the cousin’s car. What comes from this is a race of the fastest car against the slowest car. It is a race predicated on family and honor, and, of course, Dom wins.

Those unfamiliar to the The Fast and The Furious franchise may find this cold open to The Fate of the Furious, this eighth installment to the series, silly, both in theme and in how it plays out. But it is also Continue reading The Fate of the Furious (2017) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Sci-Fi/Fantasy

The Discovery (2017) Movie Review

April 11, 2017 Alex Brannan

What happens in a world where proof of an afterlife is definitive? Thus is the ethical dilemma of The Discovery, the new film from Charlie McDowell (The One I Love) and distributed via Netflix.

Thomas Harbor (Robert Redford), the man credited for what is dubbed “the discovery” grants unprecedented access with an interview; an interview that ends in a crew member’s on-air suicide.

Elsewhere, Will (Jason Segel) and Isla (Rooney Mara) meet on an otherwise empty ferry. They naval-gaze for a time, discussing how people “grow into their names” or not, how suicide groups in the face of the discovery are disingenuous, and then finally the truth of Continue reading The Discovery (2017) Movie Review →

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