Tag Archives: thriller

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

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) Movie Review

March 11, 2016 Alex Brannan

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), in the process of leaving her boyfriend, suddenly becomes party to a car wreck. She awakens in a concrete room chained to the wall. An effectively desperate Winstead struggles just to reach her phone in a tense scene that culminates in the menacing introduction of Michelle’s captor Howard (John Goodman).

This early standoff between Winstead and Goodman is fascinating, although it would have played better with Continue reading 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, F Movies, Loath It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The Loft (2015) Movie Review

January 2, 2016 Alex Brannan

The Loft begins with distracting shots: intentional blurring and tightly framed, hyper-wide angles. These grotesque wide angles return frequently throughout the length of the film.

A groveling Karl Urban tepidly growls his lines as Vincent Stevens, a man being interrogated by police after a woman is found dead Continue reading The Loft (2015) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Indie Films, Like It, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

Cold Deck (2015) Movie Review

December 4, 2015 Alex Brannan

Cold Deck opens with a jazzy soundtrack and a warmly-lit montage of poker tables being played. The film zooms in on one particular table, where the players engage in emasculating ball-busting, each jab met with the same uproarious laughter.

One player, Bobby (Stefano Gallo), loses out to the clubs owner, Chips (Paul Sorvino), who takes sympathy on him and lends him some cash.

Bobby works in a factory, but his conversations are all on gambling. It is his lifestyle. Strapped for cash, barely able to Continue reading Cold Deck (2015) Movie Review →

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

Goodnight Mommy (2015) Movie Review

November 25, 2015 Alex Brannan

The main diegesis of Goodnight Mommy begins with two twin brothers being children. They play tag in a corn field and frolic through the woods. They cautiously enter through a dark void of a passageway, referring back to the viewers themselves, who are choosing to do the same by watching this film.

The film opens with an immediate sense of stillness. But there is Continue reading Goodnight Mommy (2015) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

Hackers (1995) Movie Review

November 22, 2015 Alex Brannan

18 year old Dade (Jonny Lee Miller), aka “Crash Override,” aka “Zero-Cool,” is on parole for a cyber-crime he committed when he was a pre-teen child. On his 18th birthday, he is given access to a computer for the first time since he crashed 1,500 plus computers, resulting in a stock market dip.

Dade falls in with an underground subculture of computer hackers. This group is soon framed for creating a Continue reading Hackers (1995) Movie Review →

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

Spectre (2015) Movie Review

November 6, 2015 Alex Brannan

In the new outing for James Bond (Daniel Craig), we open on a gun barrel sequence. The classic gun barrel sequence, which we haven’t seen up front in a Daniel Craig Bond film until now. Signifying a return to classic Bond form, perhaps?

In Mexico City on Dia de Los Muertos, Bond stalks through a parade in a skeleton mask. He is on an off-book mission to assassinate a series of targets before they Continue reading Spectre (2015) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, Lists

Ranking the James Bond Filmography

November 1, 2015 Alex Brannan

With Spectre just around the corner, it is only appropriate to look back at the good and the bad, the camp and the grit, the martinis and the Aston Martins. Here is a ranking of the entire James Bond franchise, not including the forthcoming 24th installment.

Note: click on the titles to read full reviews of the films.

Continue reading Ranking the James Bond Filmography →

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

Skyfall (2012) Movie Review

November 1, 2015 Alex Brannan

Skyfall opens on an extended foot and car chase, which is choreographed beautifully. It also ends with the apparent death of James Bond (Daniel Craig), shot and left for dead in the sea as Adele’s thunderous theme kicks in. Of course, Bond survives, but MI6 doesn’t know this. M (Judi Dench) must write his obituary. Her job is also threatened for her reckless actions with her agents in the field.

Following this, MI6’s computers are hacked and their headquarters are destroyed. Bond returns to help remedy the situation, but he’s Continue reading Skyfall (2012) Movie Review →

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

Casino Royale (2006) Movie Review

October 30, 2015 Alex Brannan

The cold open to Casino Royale shows, in sleek black and white, James Bond (Daniel Craig, in his debut as the character) waiting in the shadows of an office for a corrupt MI6 agent. Bond explains to the man that he killed his contact. The scene is essentially a gritty fist fight cross-cut with a noir-style confrontation. It is also essentially MI6’s test to Bond, a mission that gives Bond his 00 status (because killing two people while working for MI6 makes you a 00-agent, arbitrarily). Albeit brief, it is a wonderful opening.

We then see a meeting of evil minds. Mr. White (Jesper Christensen), leader of global crime organization Quantum, is setting up private banker (for terrorists) Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) with a terrorist outfit. Later, Continue reading Casino Royale (2006) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words)

Die Another Day (2002) Movie Review

October 30, 2015 Alex Brannan

In the cold open to Die Another Day, James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) goes undercover in North Korea as an illegal arms dealer trading conflict diamonds for military-grade weaponry. His identity is discovered almost immediately, and an extended hovercraft chase ensues. You read that right. Hovercraft chase.

As is standard with these Brosnan films, the chase is littered with fiery explosions and ends with a flat one-liner. Following the chase, Bond is captured by Continue reading Die Another Day (2002) Movie Review →