Blog — 3 Brothers Film

Christmas: The Holdovers (2023)

The Holdovers is something of a Christmas miracle: an Alexander Payne movie that doesn’t have contempt for its characters.

Aren's Reviews, Christmas, Reviews, The Current: In TheatresAren BergstromDecember 1, 2023The Holdovers, Alexander Payne, David Hemingson, Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston, Christmas Comments

Review: Air (2023)

Ben Affleck’s Air is an easygoing underdog sports drama without the sports.

Aren's Reviews, Reviews, The Current: At HomeAren BergstromNovember 27, 2023Air, Nike, Air Jordan, Michael Jordan, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina, Chris Tucker, Viola DavisComment

Halloween Horror: Doctor X (1932)

Michael Curtiz’s Doctor X demonstrates the perverse strangeness of pre-Code horror.

Aren's Reviews, Halloween Horror, Overlooked and Under-Appreciated, ReviewsAren BergstromNovember 13, 2023Doctor X, Halloween Horror, pre-Code horror, Michael Curtiz, Robert Tasker, Earl Baldwin, Terror, Howard W. Comstock, Fay Wray, Lee Tracy, Preston Foster, Lionel AtwillComment

Review: The Creator (2023)

Gareth Edwards’ The Creator borrows liberally from other, better films, but it’s strikingly relevant in our present moment.

Aren's Reviews, Reviews, The Current: In TheatresAren BergstromNovember 9, 2023The Creator, Gareth Edwards, Chris Weitz, John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpsons, Allison JanneyComment

Halloween Horror: Freaks (1932)

Tod Browning’s Freaks is an icon of pre-Code horror and a great drama about the lives of circus performers.

Halloween Horror: The Haunted Mansion (2003)

Eddie Murphy’s The Haunted Mansion is an effective spooky movie for children and families.

Halloween Horror: The Witches (1990)

The Witches remains a notable blend of horror and adventure for kids, and the most surprising movie of Nicolas Roeg’s career.

Halloween Horror: The Fall of the House of Usher (1960)

Even more than Poe’s story, Corman’s version highlights familiar features of the Gothic.

Reviews, Halloween HorrorAnton BergstromOctober 6, 2023Roger Corman, The Fall of the House of Usher, horror, Halloween Horror, Vincent Price, Mark Damon, Myrna Fahey, Harry Ellerbe, Gothic, Gothic horror, Edgar Allan Poe, Richard MathesonComment

Review: Unknown: Cave of Bones (2023)

Unknown: Cave of Bones, the Netflix documentary about the Rising Star cave system, is often affecting, but overreaches on some of its scientific claims.

Aren's Reviews, The Current: At Home, ReviewsAren BergstromOctober 3, 2023Unknown, Cave of Bones, Unknown: Cave of Bones, Netflix, Mark Mannucci, Rising Star cave system, Lee Burger, homo nalediComment

TIFF23: Snow Leopard

The late Pema Tseden’s Snow Leopard is a beautiful drama that captures the mysterious power of the Tibetan plateau.

Aren's Reviews, Reviews, The Festival CircuitAren BergstromSeptember 20, 2023Snow Leopard, Tibet, China, Pema Tseden, Jinpa, Tseten Tashi, Xiong Ziqi, Losang Choepei, Genden Phuntsok, TIFF23, Toronto International Film FestivalComment

TIFF23: Wildcat

Ethan Hawke’s Wildcat examines the life and work of Flannery O’Connor in unconventional, passionate fashion.

TIFF23: Mandoob

Ali Kalthami’s Mandoob is a strong debut that recalls classic film noirs in its exploration of one pathetic man’s increasingly bad decision making.

Aren's Reviews, Reviews, The Festival CircuitAren BergstromSeptember 12, 2023TIFF23, Toronto International Film Festival, Mandoob, Ali Kalthami, Mohammed Algarawi, Mohammed Aldokhi, Hajar Alshammari, Mohammed Alttowayan, Sarah Taibah, Saudi ArabiaComment

Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

The third Pirates film threatens to spin out of control, but such an eccentric vision of a dark and whimsical fantasy world has rarely been as vividly imagined on screen.

Overlooked and Under-Appreciated, ReviewsAnders BergstromSeptember 8, 2023Disney, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Gore Verbinski, Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Chow Yun-fat, pirates, adventure, fantasyComment

Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

Dead Man’s Chest is the best film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, a big, fun, rollicking adventure.

Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

An imperfect film yet still a classic adventure, mostly thanks to Johnny Depp’s iconic performance.

Review: American Graffiti (1973)

At 50, George Lucas’s masterpiece of nostalgia is far deeper, more complex, more innovative, and more influential than is often remembered.

Review: The Day After Trinity (1981)

Jon Else’s documentary The Day After Trinity is a useful nonfiction companion to Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Aren's Reviews, Reviews, Overlooked and Under-AppreciatedAren BergstromAugust 24, 2023The Day After Trinity, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer, John Else, documentaryComment

Review: Talk to Me (2022)

Talk to Me hides some clever commentary on the dissociation of Gen Z in its creepy seance scenario.

Review: Tightrope

This Clint Eastwood-starring psychosexual thriller interrogates Eastwood’s onscreen persona in a way similar to Sudden Impact.

Aren's Reviews, Overlooked and Under-Appreciated, ReviewsAren BergstromAugust 9, 2023Tightrope, Richard Tuggle, Clint Eastwood, Geneviève Bujold, Dan Hedaya, Alison Eastwood, Jennifer Beck, Marco St. JohnComment

Review: Barbie (2023)

Barbie is a summer confection that never resolves the contradictions behind its approach.

Aren's Reviews, The Current: In Theatres, ReviewsAren BergstromJuly 27, 2023Barbie, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, Mattel, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, Will Ferrell, Simu Liu, Michael Cera, Helen MirrenComment