Tag Archives: movie review

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) Movie Review

June 2, 2016 Alex Brannan

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows opens on a gorgeous establishing shot of the New York skyline. It is one of the few shots in the film not tightly framing partial faces engaging in reaction shots.

In the aftermath of Shredder (Brian Tee) terrorizing NYC, Vern “The Falcon” (Will Arnett) has taken all of the credit, and the Turtles have returned to the shadows. That is, until Shredder and two bumbling goons Continue reading Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) Movie Review →

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

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) Movie Review

June 1, 2016 Alex Brannan

The “Style Boyz” are a juvenile hip-hop crew comprised of Lawrence (Akiva Schaffer), Owen (Jorma Taccone), and Conner (Andy Samberg). After power trips get the best of them, Conner transforms his brand into Conner4Real, becoming a one-time star in the process, Lawrence gets fed up with the power feud and retires to a small farm and a scraggly beard, and Owen gets relegated to the literal background role as Conner’s DJ.

The opening credit song pretty much tells the whole story: Conner is “So Humble” in the sense that he has no idea what the word means. This threatens to ruin his career and all of his relationships, and the plot plays out accordingly from there.

Popstar plays as a mockumentary, but one can’t go in with the godfather of music mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap, in mind, as the two films couldn’t Continue reading Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) Movie Review →

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

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) Movie Review

May 29, 2016 Alex Brannan

In Ancient Egypt, a god is buried. But it is not a god, it is a mutant. Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac). Apocalypse can unlock the true potential in any other mutant, and then use those powers for his own design. That, and he can turn people to dust. After his resurfacing in the 1980s, mutants must band together and reform the X-Men in order to take down Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen.

The first act of the film sets up strong characters and their motivations. We get to see a young Scott Summers (Tye Sheridan) as a teen growing up with uncontrolled powers. Magneto (Michael Fassbender) gets a strong emotional arc to once again Continue reading X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) Movie Review →

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

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) Movie Review

May 29, 2016 Alex Brannan

In 19th century London, Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska) is whisked back into Wonderland. Again. Because, you know, money.

Alice Through the Looking Glass loses much of the charm that could be found in 2010’s Alice in Wonderland, although that film had problems of its own. This sequel is hampered by many elements that were not handled with enough care.

The narrative as a whole is problematic in that it shares very little resemblance to the source material that bears the same name. This aside, the plot simply carries little weight throughout the length of the film. Not to mention that Continue reading Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) Movie Review →

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

Holy Hell (2016) Movie Review

May 27, 2016 Alex Brannan

A film studies student such as myself often views for analysis only those documentary films that are radical, experimental, or genre defining. This neglects the more commonplace documentary of speculation, event dissection, or character study.

Holy Hell, in film studies rhetoric, could be considered a “synthetic documentary” not in that it is fabricated, but in that it, from scene one, incorporates Continue reading Holy Hell (2016) Movie Review →

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The Nice Guys (2016) Movie Review

May 20, 2016 Alex Brannan

In The Nice Guys, two private investigators, one licensed (Ryan Gosling) and one unlicensed (Russell Crowe), go after the same lost woman who has strange ties with the adult film industry.

Shane Black directs this 1970s crime noir comedy. The film visually feels like a Continue reading The Nice Guys (2016) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Leave it, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) Movie Review

May 19, 2016 Alex Brannan

Mac and Kelly Radner (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) sell their house under contractual escrow, so they must ensure that nothing in their neighborhood screws up their chances of moving out. Three college freshman (Chloe Grace Moretz, Kiersey Clemons, and Beanie Feldstein) ditch the inherent misogyny of Greek life by creating their own sorority conveniently located next door to the Radners.

This is Neighbors 2, and, based on its premise, it is Continue reading Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) Movie Review →

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Darkman (1990) Movie Review

May 15, 2016 Alex Brannan

Sam Raimi’s Darkman is an early superhero film in which scientist Peyton Westlake (Liam Neeson) is brutally attacked and left for dead by the mob. Heavily scarred and bandaged, the faceless Westlake becomes the Darkman, and, using his scientific research on artificial skin, assumes others’ identities in order to exact revenge on his attackers.

This film, in spite of being inescapably ’90s in aesthetic, is an Continue reading Darkman (1990) Movie Review →

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Money Monster (2016) Movie Review

May 12, 2016 Alex Brannan

Stock company IBIS Clear Capital loses $800 million dollars when a trading algorithm “glitches” inexplicably. Lee Gates (George Clooney) hosts a gimmicky, Mad Money-style stock show that gets hijacked by a gunman (Jack O’Connell) as a result of this stock collapse. Our hijacking criminal is trying to reveal the real criminals: the Wall Street bigwigs. How topical.

The film is littered with logical pitfalls and narrative conveniences, but we can let these slide, because Continue reading Money Monster (2016) Movie Review →

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

Demons (1985) Movie Review