Blog — 3 Brothers Film

Review: The Woman in the Window (2021)

Joe Wright’s adaptation of the popular bestseller is baffling, cynical trash that wastes a good cast and crew.

Review: One False Move (1992)

Carl Franklin’s neo-noir is fast, tense, and quietly revealing about how people are and the way the world works.

Aren's Reviews, Overlooked and Under-Appreciated, ReviewsAren BergstromMay 14, 2021One False Move, Carl Franklin, Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Epperson, Bill Paxton, Cynda Williams, Michael Beach, Earl Billings, Jim MetzlerComment

Hot Docs 2021: In the Same Breath

Nanfu Wang’s documentary is a useful primer on the early days of the COVID-19 crisis.

Reviews, The Festival CircuitAnton BergstromMay 12, 2021Nanfu Wang, coronavirus, COVID-19, China, USA, propaganda, social criticismComment

Zack Snyder: Sucker Punch (2011)

Zack Snyder’s genre pastiche attempts to deconstruct the role of women in popular culture with this action fantasia, but isn’t entirely successful.

Flash Back, Reviews, Zack SnyderAnders BergstromMay 7, 2021Zack Snyder, action, fantasy, genre, Emily Browning, Oscar Isaac, Jon Hamm, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens, Jena Malone, Jamie Chung, Carla GuginoComment

Hot Docs 2021: Come Back Anytime

John Daschbach’s documentary about Masamoto Ueda and his ramen restaurant, Bizentei, is a gentle portrait of community.

Aren's Reviews, Reviews, The Festival CircuitAren BergstromMay 6, 2021Hot Docs 2021, John Daschbach, Masamoto Ueda, Come Back AnytimeComment

Review: Seconds (1966)

John Frankenheimer’s Seconds deconstructs America in the 1960s and exposes the paranoia and anxieties bubbling under the surface of American culture.

Aren's Reviews, Reviews, Overlooked and Under-AppreciatedAren BergstromMay 3, 2021John Frankenheimer, Lewis John Carlino, David Ely, Rock Hudson, Salome Jens, John Randolph, Will Geer, Jeff Corey, Richard Anderson, Murray Hamilton, Karl Swenson, Khigh Dhiegh, Frances Reid, SecondsComment

Zack Snyder: Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010)

For all its fantasy adventure tropes and CGI animation conventions, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole has all the formal tics and thematic obsessions of a Snyder film.

Review: The Father (2020)

Florian Zeller’s adaptation of his own stage play is a claustrophobic work of compassion with a great Anthony Hopkins performance.

Reviews, The Current: In Theatres, Aren's ReviewsAren BergstromApril 20, 2021The Father, Florian Zeller, Christopher Hampton, Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell, Olivia WilliamsComment

Zack Snyder: Watchmen (2009)

With his successful cinematic rendering of Watchmen, Zack Snyder shows the fascination and power of the superhero on film.

Zack Snyder, Reviews, Flash BackAnders BergstromApril 16, 2021Zack Snyder, Watchmen, superheroes, Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, action movie, violence, comic book adaptationComment

Review: Tolkien (2019)

Brings welcome attention to important yet lesser-known aspects of J.R.R. Tolkien’s life, even if the film isn’t the Tolkien biopic the world needs.

Reviews, The Current: At HomeAnton BergstromApril 15, 2021Tolkien, J- R- R- Tolkien, Dome Karukoski, David Gleeson, Stephen Beresford, Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Colm Meaney, Laura Donnelly, Pam Ferris, Derek Jacobi, biopic, biography, writer, OxfordComment

Review: Coming 2 America (2021)

Coming 2 America fits Hollywood’s current template for legacy sequels, but its humour is very much a 1980s throwback.

Review: Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018)

A thought-provoking drama about Christian persecution in Nero’s Rome.

Reviews, Overlooked and Under-AppreciatedAnton BergstromApril 2, 2021Paul Apostle of Christ, St. Paul, Ancient Rome, historical drama, dystopia, persecution, Christianity, early churchComment

Zack Snyder: 300 (2007)

Zack Snyder’s 300 is a heavy metal fever dream and a spellbinding work of comic book mythmaking.

Review: I Care a Lot (2020)

J Blakeson’s thriller starring Rosamund Pike wastes its appealing hook with muddled satire and contradictory characterizations.

Reviews, Aren's Reviews, The Current: At HomeAren BergstromMarch 23, 2021I Care a Lot, J Blakeson, Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza González, Dianne Wiest, Chris Messina, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Macon Blair, Alicia Witt, Damian Young, Nicholas Logan Comments

Review: The Mauritanian (2021)

The story of Mohamedou Ould Salahi and his 14 year imprisonment is affecting, but Kevin McDonald’s film doesn’t quite do it justice.

Reviews, The Current: In TheatresAnders BergstromMarch 19, 2021The Mauritanian, Kevin McDonald, Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim, Shailene Woodley, Benedict Cumberbatch, War on Terror, drama, true storyComment

Zack Snyder: Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Zack Snyder’s explosive debut is arguably the finest zombie movie ever made.

Zack Snyder, Reviews, Overlooked and Under-AppreciatedAnton BergstromMarch 18, 2021Zack Snyder, zombie, horror, post-apocalyptic, Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Kevin Zegers, Michael Barry, Lindy Booth, War on TerrorComment

Review: Con Air (1997)

Simon West’s action classic leans into every absurdity of 1990s filmmaking, defining its entertainment ethos, without capturing its art.

Review: The Little Things (2021)

John Lee Hancock’s serial killer drama gestures at the hallmarks of prestige cinema, but is mostly a bore.

Reviews, The Current: In Theatres, Aren's ReviewsAren BergstromMarch 10, 2021The Little Things, John Lee Hancock, Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Natalie Morales, Chris Bauer, Michael Hyatt, Terry KinneyComment

Review: Riddick (2013)

The third film in The Chronicles of Riddick series goes back to basics in its riff on survival movies and cat-and-mouse thrillers.

Flash Back, Reviews, Aren's ReviewsAren BergstromMarch 2, 2021Riddick, David Twohy, Jim Wheat, Ken Wheat, Vin Diesel, Jordi Molla, Matthew Nable, Katee Sackhoff, Dave Bautista, Bokeem Woodbine, Raoul Trujillo, Karl UrbanComment

Review: The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

The sequel to Pitch Black takes a bizarre left turn into space opera, resulting in a deeply silly and kind of awesome epic.

Flash Back, Reviews, Aren's ReviewsAren BergstromFebruary 25, 2021The Chronicles of Riddick, David Twohy, Jim Wheat, Ken Wheat, Vin Diesel, Colm Feore, Keith David, Karl Urban, Thandie Newton, Alexa Davalos, Judi Dench, Linus Roache, Nick Chinlund, Yorick van WageningenComment