Tag: Film

Brothers (2024) | REVIEW

Peter Dinklage, Glenn Close, and Josh Brolin in BROTHERS — PHOTO: Prime Video.

Directed by Max Barbakow — Screenplay by Macon Blair.

Max Barbakow’s Brothers, from a script by Macon Blair (I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore), is a buddy action crime comedy that follows twin brothers Moke (played by Josh Brolin) and Jady Munger (played by Peter Dinklage) who, after a shared history of crimes over the years, team-up to do ‘one last job’ together. During their previous ‘last job’ years ago, Jady was apprehended and sent to prison while Moke managed to get away, and so at the start of the film, they find themselves on opposite ends of life. Jady has just gotten out of prison, under suspicious circumstances, while Moke is trying to start a family and live as a law-abiding citizen. However, when Moke loses his job due to his criminal past, Jady finds an angle to convince his brother to join up with him for a road trip and a heist. Meanwhile, we discover that Jady made a shady deal with an aggressive crooked cop (played by Brendan Fraser) and his judge father (played by M. Emmet Walsh), who intend to keep track of whether or not Jady follows through on their deal.

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Caddo Lake (2024) | REVIEW

Dylan O’Brien in CADDO LAKE — PHOTO: Max.

Directed by Celine Held and Logan George — Screenplay by Celine Held and Logan George.

Every once in a while, you encounter a film that completely blindsides you in the best way possible for a variety of reasons including you not really having the highest of expectations for it. Why didn’t I have high expectations? Well, I think the fact that it was being unceremoniously dumped onto a streaming service, in this case, Max, certainly didn’t prepare me for something particularly great. But, and I mean this wholeheartedly, Celine Held and Logan George’s Caddo Lake is one of the better feature-length surprises of the year thus far — not necessarily because it’s one of the best films of the year (it isn’t and it almost definitely won’t be regarded as such), but more so because of how much this captivating and relatively strong film came out of nowhere. 

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‘Salem’s Lot (2024) | REVIEW

Ben Mears (played by Lewis Pullman) looks out at the vampires in his hometown in ‘SALEM’S LOT — PHOTO: New Line Cinema/Max (Still image from trailer).

Directed by Gary Dauberman (Annabelle Comes Home) — Screenplay by Gary Dauberman.

This long-awaited Stephen King adaptation has gone through what many would describe as development hell. The film started principal photography in late 2021 and was originally slated to be released theatrically in 2022, but it was shelved or delayed due to a variety of circumstances including COVID-19-related post-production issues. Despite there having been talk about releasing it a year ago around the time of the SAG-AFTRA strikes, it remained shelved for quite some time, which led many to fear that, like Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah’s Batgirl or Dave Green’s Coyote vs. Acme, it could be yet another finished but unreleased and permanently shelved Warner Bros. Pictures product. Earlier this year, Stephen King even got involved and questioned its shelving, but, eventually, it was finally released straight to Max almost two weeks ago. Though not exactly a gem in its current state, there are definitely things to like about this adaptation that has, thankfully, finally seen the light of day.

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REVIEW: Destroyer (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Annapurna Pictures

The following is a review of Destroyer — Directed by Karyn Kusama.

In the first scenes of Karyn Kusama’s Destroyer, a seemingly inebriated LAPD detective, Erin Bell (played by Nicole Kidman), walks onto the scene of a crime to investigate what colleagues of her’s think of what happened to a murder victim with three dots in the back of his neck. What follows is a labyrinthine narrative complete with twists and shoot-outs as we learn what events made Bell, a former undercover officer, into a disheveled and visibly weathered revenge-seeking rogue detective. Continue reading “REVIEW: Destroyer (2018)” →

2019 Film Preview, Pt. 2: Original and Awards Films – Special Features #39

In this, the second and final part of my 2019 film preview, I will discuss and present you with the most interesting 2019 non-tentpole films, as well as the films that may be talked about during awards season 2019. Now, just to get this out of the way, I will only mention adaptations if, and only if, I think they have Oscar potential, as the wise men and women call it.  Continue reading “2019 Film Preview, Pt. 2: Original and Awards Films – Special Features #39” →

REVIEW: Thoroughbreds (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster — Focus Features / Universal Pictures

The following is a review of Thoroughbreds — Directed by Cory Finley.

Remember My Chemical Romance? It was a rock band that my sister loved back in the day. I really liked their album The Black Parade, and every now and then some of the band’s songs come to mind. When I was watching writer-director Cory Finley’s directorial debut Thoroughbreds, I started to think about their song “Teenagers” — more specifically about the line “All teenagers scare the living shit out of me. They could care less as long as someone will bleed.” The late-great acting talent Anton Yelchin, in what seems to be his final role on film, has a similar line in the film, but he manages to express himself in much fewer words: “fucking evil children.” Continue reading “REVIEW: Thoroughbreds (2018)” →

REVIEW: The Nun (2018)

Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros. Pictures

The following is a review of The Nun — Directed by Corin Hardy.

A funny thing happened when I sat down in a local movie theater room to watch The Nun — the newest The Conjuring spin-off film (this one having been inspired by a demon from James Wan’s The Conjuring 2). It was a packed theater full of people of all ages, shapes, and sizes, and right behind me, three young men sat and talked with one another. When the film opened with a scene from The Conjuring 2, I could hear one of them say: “wait, is this a Conjuring-movie?” Then another one said with his mouth full of popcorn: “oh, I haven’t seen the second one yet.” Continue reading “REVIEW: The Nun (2018)” →

REVIEW: Next Gen (2018)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of Netflix’s Next Gen — Directed by Kevin R. Adams & Joe Ksander.

You may be surprised when the first acting credit that pops on the screen in the relatively unpromoted Netflix animated film Next Gen is that of actor-director John Krasinski. At the very least, I was surprised to see names like Krasinski’s, but also other actors like Jason Sudeikis and Michael Peña. You start to ask yourself how this animated movie had managed to go relatively unnoticed with those names attached to it, and then you hope that you’ve found a new hidden gem. Next Gen isn’t quite that good, but I did enjoy it for what it was. Continue reading “REVIEW: Next Gen (2018)” →

IJR Awards 2017: Film and Documentary Nominations Announced

Today I’m revealing the second half of the 2017 nominations for this blog’s IJR Awards (I’m Jeffrey Rex Awards, but you probably already guessed that). The final legend award (Film Legend) isn’t getting any nominees, instead I’ll reveal the winner, or honoree, when all of the winners are to be announced on March 1st.
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REVIEW: MUTE (2018)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of the Netflix Original Film MUTE — Directed by Duncan Jones.

Duncan Jones’ fourth feature film MUTE, which is dedicated to his late father David Bowie and his late nanny Marion Skene, is a science-fiction film in the vein of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. It tells the story of a search for a missing person in the melting pot of a futuristic and dirty Berlin, which, in true Blade Runner fashion, is bathed in neon lights and bluish colors. The film’s protagonist is an unlikely outsider — a tall and mute bartender named Leo (played by Alexander Skarsgård) who lost the ability to speak as a child in a violent motorboat propellor accident.  Continue reading “REVIEW: MUTE (2018)” →