Tag Archives: Netflix original

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

The Titan (2018) Movie Review

April 15, 2018 Alex Brannan 1 Comment

Through the endless minutes of exposition at the front-end of The Titan, we hear a lot of what we have heard before in dystopian science fiction. Population is rising, while resources are dwindling. Pressures for survival have lit up violent conflicts across the world. Scientists and military personnel are desperate for a solution. Terraforming Saturn’s moon, Titan. Biogenetic enhancements to survive such a move. Medical trials gone wrong. Yadda yadda.

Rick Janssen (Sam Worthington) is one of these test subjects. A military man who was once thought MIA while in the Syrian desert, it is this incident that convinces the government that he is Continue reading The Titan (2018) Movie Review →

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

Bright (2017) Movie Review

December 23, 2017 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

So get this: it’s a buddy cop movie starring Will Smith. Yeah, sure, it reminds one of Bad Boys, only Smith’s partner Jakoby (Joel Edgerton) is an Orc. And Smith’s character, Ward, is racist against Orcs like the rest of the police force. In this universe, pretty much everyone is racist against Orcs, and Elves, and Fairies. At one point, Smith swings a broom at a Fairy, trying to kill it, and says: “Fairy lives don’t matter today.”

So, you know, the film’s subtle.

Ward and Jakoby find themselves in the middle of a war between the police, various gangs, and some assassin Elves. It is a war over a misplaced wand, which, based on what people are willing to do for it, seems to have an equivalent power to Continue reading Bright (2017) Movie Review →

Television Reviews, TV Drama

House of Cards Season Five Episode Six Recap & Review

June 3, 2017 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) is sworn in as acting president in the wake of a split vote for the presidency in Congress. This bizarre scenario is a clear foreshadowing to what Claire has been vying for for quite some time.

The shake up in the White House also spurs action from Russia, and we are re-greeted by the presence of Continue reading House of Cards Season Five Episode Six Recap & Review →

Television Reviews, TV Drama

House of Cards Season Five Episode Five Recap & Review

June 3, 2017 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Nine weeks after the botched election, there is still no president-elect. By the 12th amendment, Congress will select the president and vice president. Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) is prepared for it. In fact, he devised the snafu that allowed America to get to this point. Now he just has to do what he does best: manipulate the spineless miscreants of American politics.

With everything in flux, every character is dealing with Continue reading House of Cards Season Five Episode Five Recap & Review →

Television Reviews, TV Drama

House of Cards Season Five Episode Four Recap & Review

June 3, 2017 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Low voter turnout on election day threatens Frank Underwood’s (Kevin Spacey) chances of winning. On top of these grumblings that Underwood is on the losing path, the administration receives word of a potential terrorist attack at a polling place.

These two situations frame the fourth episode of season five of House of Cards. The weighty resignation of Underwood’s almost certain loss shifts to Continue reading House of Cards Season Five Episode Four Recap & Review →

Television Reviews, TV Drama

House of Cards Season 5 Episode 1 Recap & Review

June 3, 2017 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

At the beginning of Season Five of House of Cards, President Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) takes over Congress, literally stepping in where he is not allowed. Because abuse of power in the House of Cards war is only met with slight perturbation.

With the repetition of “I will not yield,” the ultimate rallying cry of Frank Underwood’s slimy political persona, the President demands Continue reading House of Cards Season 5 Episode 1 Recap & Review →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Leave it

Sandy Wexler (2017) Movie Review

April 16, 2017 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

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 →

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

The Discovery (2017) Movie Review

April 11, 2017 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

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 →

All Movie Reviews, Comedy, Drama, Leave it

Girlfriend’s Day (2017) Movie Review

February 18, 2017 Alex Brannan 2 Comments

Ray Wentworth (Bob Odenkrik) is a greeting card writer. The best, if you ask him. We first see him looking down the barrel of the camera in closeup, waxing poetic about the poetics of card writing. Writing novels are for hacks who cannot edit themselves. Cards are the real challenge.

Following this, Ray is Continue reading Girlfriend’s Day (2017) Movie Review →

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

Coin Heist (2017) Movie Review

January 22, 2017 Alex Brannan Leave a comment

Son of the headmaster of his prep school, Jason Hodges (Alex Saxon) gets more than he bargains for during a mundane field trip to the U.S. Mint. While Jason attempts to get the school “hacker” to change his bio grade, his father is arrested for embezzling.

In the fallout of this, the school is forced to enact cuts to all extracurricular activities. And this is an adequate amount of parts for a Continue reading Coin Heist (2017) Movie Review →