Current Reviews - Sobriety Test Movie Reviews

REVIEW: If Tragedy Is A Foreign Country, Then The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby Walks Away From Learning Its Native Tongue

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, September 21, 2014 In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them

Directed By: Ned Benson

Starring: Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Viola Davis, William Hurt, Isabelle Huppert, Jess Weixler, Bill Hader, Ciarán Hinds, Archie Panjabi, Katherine Waterston, and Nina Arianda

Companion films are in this year, at least for indie cinema. Veteran filmmaker Lars von Trier was bent on releasing his steamy Nymphomaniac: Parts 1 and 2 to the world this spring. Similarly, first-time director Ned Benson was bent on releasing twin f...
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REVIEW: With A Cheating Wife & A Complicated Life, This Is Where I Leave You At the Altman Family Shiva South of Maine

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, September 20, 2014 In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

This Is Where I Leave You

Directed By: Shawn Levy

Starring: Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver, Rose Byrne, Corey Stoll, Kathryn Hahn, Connie Britton, Timothy Olyphant, Dax Shepard, Ben Schwartz, and Jane Fonda

For a director, Shawn Levy has relatively high productivity. Just look at his throughput. Since 2011, he's given us Real Steel, The Internship, the upcoming Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, and several made-for-television movies. That's a busy schedule as a director, and it's...
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REVIEW: Practicing the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, Private Detective Matt Scudder Takes A Bloody Good Walk Among the Tombstones

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, September 20, 2014 In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

A Walk Among the Tombstones

Directed By: Scott Frank

Starring: Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, Eric Nelsen, Brian "Astro" Bradley, Sebastian Roché, and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson

It's been a rough year at the movies, but the fall is finally here and in full swing. We've gotten through the hurdles of a rather dismal summer box office season full of duds. With the fall, we can say goodbye to being inundated with explosions, wild nonsense masquerading as humor, and unwanted sequels or reboots (i.e. Trans...
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REVIEW: According to Starship, Nothing's Gonna Stop Depressed, Suicidal Skeleton Twins Milo & Maggie Now, Even Saying See You Later

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, September 14, 2014 In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

The Skeleton Twins

Directed By: Craig Johnson

Starring: Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, Bill Hader, and Ty Burrell

Suicide can have long-lasting consequences that reach far beyond the individual taking his or her own life. If that person has family, friends, or other loved ones left behind in this world, there's a good chance that those persons will be scarred for life. The emotional toll of someone doing something this unnatural is extremely heavy and can last a lifetime. Just ask all those unnam...
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REVIEW: Despite Dealing With Cousin Marv, Eric Deeds, & Rocco the Pit Bull, Bartender Bob Handles The Drop For the Chechens

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, September 14, 2014 In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

The Drop

Directed By: Michaël R. Roskam

Starring: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, James Gandolfini, Matthias Schoenaerts, John Ortiz, Elizabeth Rodriguez, and Ann Dowd

We've lost a lot of cherished figures in the world of entertainment in the last couple of years. For those actors who were still in the game at the time of their passing, I'm always impressed by how many completed projects they have in the pipeline. Take Philip Seymour Hoffman for instance. We've already seen him in God's Pocket and ...
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REVIEW: In No Good Deed, Malignant Narcissist Colin Evans Unfortunately Puts His Violent Tendencies on Display at 17 Creston Lane

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, September 14, 2014 In : 0.09% Cocktails

No Good Deed

Directed By: Sam Miller

Starring: Idris Elba, Taraji P. Henson, Leslie Bibb, Kate del Castillo, and Henry Simmons

I miss slasher flicks. Aside from You're Next a little more than a year ago, we haven't had too many good ones in the last several years. It's all the paranormal, supernatural stuff that dominates nowadays. I prefer my antagonists to be a little more interesting like Jason Voorhees or Ghostface. That being said, I'll take it where I can get it these days, or so I tho...
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REVIEW: In Dolphin Tale 2, Clearwater's Rescue, Rehab, & Release Philosophy Isn't Perfect for Dolphins Hope and Winter

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, September 13, 2014 In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Dolphin Tale 2

Directed By: Charles Martin Smith

Starring: Harry Connick, Jr., Ashley Judd, Nathan Gamble, Kris Kristofferson, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, and Morgan Freeman

I'm no adoring fan of the Dolphin Tale franchise, but the rescue, rehab, and release principle by which the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) operates is something Hollywood should consider as part of its own strategy. It may help with the weak year studios have had at the North American box office. CMA rescues injured animals, rehab...

REVIEW: In The Last of Robin Hood, Alcoholic Errol Flynn Is Too Old For Lover Beverly "Woodsy" Aadland, But She's Just Young Enough For Him

Posted by James Brown on Monday, September 8, 2014 In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Last of Robin Hood

Directed By: Richard Glatzer

Starring: Kevin Kline, Dakota Fanning, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Kane, Max Casella, and Patrick St. Esprit

Biographical dramas are sometimes tricky beasts. If the individual is particularly well known, directors must convince moviegoers that their vision is historically accurate. The key is to have an actor who looks, walks, and talks like the main character. Some of this is dependent upon the costume and make-up crew members on deck, but the ...

REVIEW: Thanks to the Philosopher's Stone, As Above, So Below, As I Believe the World to Be, So It Is in Hell

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, August 30, 2014 In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

As Above, So Below

Directed By: John Erick Dowdle

Starring: Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, and François Civil

Summer 2014 is coming to a close. The excitement I put forth back in May when The Amazing Spider-Man 2 arrived hasn't materialized into a wealth of big budget blockbusters behind which we all can rally. While I have lauded smaller films like Chef, Snowpiercer, and Boyhood, we peaked too early with films like Godzilla and X-Men: Days of Future Past. It's been downhill ever s...
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REVIEW: The November Man Peter Devereaux & Alice Fournier Don’t Exactly Rock Arkady Fedorov's Presidential Campaign in Belgrade

Posted by James Brown on Friday, August 29, 2014 In : 0.09% Cocktails

The November Man

Directed By: Roger Donaldson

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Luke Bracey, Olga Kurylenko, Eliza Taylor, Caterina Scorsone, Bill Smitrovich, and Will Patton

As I begin typing my review of the recently released The November Man, I realize that there's a certain pointlessness to it all. The studio behind this spy movie green-lit a sequel before the original even arrived in theaters. Unless they have the next Guardians of the Galaxy on their hands, I wouldn't exactly deem this to be a w...
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