Blog — 3 Brothers Film

Review: The Predator (2018)

Shane Black’s latest entry to the Predator franchise has Black’s trademark humour, but is undone by sloppy narrative structure and preposterous attempts at timeliness.

Review: Extraction (2020)

Extraction is just as humourless and imperialistic as most modern American action movies, but at least it has good action.

Reviews, Aren's Reviews, The Current: At HomeAren BergstromJuly 31, 2020Sam Hargrave, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Ande Parks, Fernando Leon Gonzalez, Chris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh Jaiswal, Randeep Hooda, Golshifteh Farahani, Pankaj Tripathi, David Harbour, Extraction, NetflixComment

Review: Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019)

The fight scenes are as impressive as ever, but the story crumbles under the weight of its propaganda messaging.

Peter Weir's The Last Wave (1977) Reveals the Eschatological Divide Between Settler and Indigenous Australia

The Last Wave examines how colonialism manifests an eschatological divide that ripples out across the spiritual world.

Essays, Yesterday's Cinema, Most PopularAren BergstromJuly 24, 2020The Last Wave, Peter Weir, Tony Morphett, Petru Popescu, Richard Chamberlain, Olivia Hamnet, David Gulpilli, Fred Parslow, Vivean Gray, Nandjiwarra Amagula, Australia, colonialismComment

Review: The Walking Hills (1949)

John Sturges’ Western plays like a minor variation of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).

Review: Bad Education (2019)

Cory Finley’s Bad Education contains a great Hugh Jackman performance and gets at the heart of bad people who think they’re doing good.

Reviews, Aren's Reviews, The Current: At HomeAren BergstromJuly 17, 2020Cory Finley, Mike Markowsky, Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Geraldine Viswanathan, Alex Wolff, Rafael Casal, Stephen Spinella, Annaleigh Ashford, Ray Romano, Bad EducationComment

Review: Capone (2020)

Josh Trank’s comeback is a deeply messy deconstruction of Al Capone, featuring a bizarre Tom Hardy as the dying gangster.

Reviews, Aren's Reviews, The Current: At HomeAren BergstromJuly 14, 2020Capone, Josh Trank, Tom Hardy, Linda Cardellini, Matt Dillon, Al Sapienza, Kathrine Narducci, Noel Fisher, Kyle MacLachlanComment

Hot Docs 2020: Hong Kong Moments

An incredibly relevant doc about the Hong Kong protests.

Reviews, The Festival CircuitAnton BergstromJuly 10, 2020Hot Docs 2020Comment

Review: George Washington (2000)

Twenty years later, David Gordon Green’s debut feature George Washington remains a beautiful cinematic memory.

Overlooked and Under-Appreciated, Reviews, Aren's ReviewsAren BergstromJuly 7, 2020George Washington, David Gordon Green, Candace Evanofski, Curtis Cotton III, Donald Holden, Damian Jewan Lee, Rachael Handy, Paul Schneider, Eddie Rouse, Janet TaylorComment

Review: Tremors (1990)

Tremors’ status as cult classic and staple of cable TV is a result of its sturdy filmmaking and fun vibe.

Flash Back, Reviews, Aren's ReviewsAren BergstromJune 30, 2020Ron Underwood, Brent Maddock, S.S. Wilson, Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross, Reba McEntire, Victor WongComment

Table Talk: Da 5 Bloods (2020)

Anders and Anton discuss the new Spike Lee Vietnam War film, Da 5 Bloods, and how it fits into Lee’s on filmography, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the legacy of American imperialism in Southeast Asia.

RoundtablesAnders BergstromJune 26, 2020Table Talk, Spike Lee, war movie, drama, race, Vietnam, Delroy LIndo, Clarke Peters, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Jonathan Majors, Norm Lewis, Paul Walter Hauser, Melanie Thierry, Jaspar Paakonen, Jean RenoComment

Review: The Harder They Fall (1956)

Humphrey Bogart’s final film is a bruising noir and a chance to watch the titan of Old Hollywood spar with Rod Steiger, another acting icon.

Overlooked and Under-Appreciated, Reviews, Aren's ReviewsAren BergstromJune 24, 2020The Harder They Fall, Mark Robson, film noir, Philip Yordan, Budd Schulberg, Humphrey Bogart, Rod Steiger, Jan Sterling, Mike Lane Comment

Remembering Ian Holm

Anders and Aren reflect on the passing on Ian Holm, who brought a complexity and professionalism to beloved roles in The Lord of the Rings and Alien.

FeaturesAren BergstromJune 22, 2020Ian Holm, Remembering Ian Holm, The Lord of the Rings, Alien, The Fifth Element, Brazil, Time Bandits, The Miracle Maker, Hamlet, Ratatouille, Robin and Marian, The Sweet Hereafter, Naked Lunch, eXistenZComment

Review: Yi Yi: A One and a Two… (2000)

Much like a modern version of Ozu’s Tokyo Story (1953), Yi Yi is a lovely exploration of the generational dynamics of a single family.

Flash Back, Reviews, Aren's ReviewsAren BergstromJune 17, 2020Yi Yi: A One and a Two, Edward Yang, Wu Nien-jen, Elaine Jin, Issey Ogata, Kelly Lee, Jonathan Chang, Hsi-Sheng Chen, Su-Yun Ko, Lawrence Ko, Taiwanese New Wave, Yi YiComment

Table Talk: Contagion (2011)

Anton and Aren take an extended look back at Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion and consider its narrative structure, filmmaking style, and whether it’s now a modern classic in light of COVID-19.

RoundtablesAnton BergstromJune 15, 2020Contagion, Steven Soderbergh, Scott Z. Burns, Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, Sanaa Lathan, COVID-19Comment

Review: Memento (2000)

Almost 20 years after its release, Memento remains a stunning encapsulation of Christopher Nolan’s obsessions as a director, and one of the very best neo-noir films.

Flash Back, Reviews, Aren's ReviewsAren BergstromJune 10, 2020Memento, Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Callum Keith Rennie, Stephen Tobolowsky, Harriet Sansom Harris, Larry Holden, noir Comment

Review: The Anderson Tapes (1971)

Sidney Lumet’s 1971 heist thriller starring Sean Connery is diverting genre fun that’s made more interesting through its experimental formal presentation.

Review: Young Ahmed (2019)

The newest film from the Dardenne Brothers, Young Ahmed, tells the story of a young teenager in Belgium who has been radicalized by fundamentalist Islam and how that affects his relationship with his community and society.

Reviews, The Current: At HomeAnders BergstromJune 4, 2020The Dardenne Brothers, Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Europe, social criticism, social realism, neorealism, drama, IslamComment

Review: The Battered Bastards of Baseball (2014)

Before they made Wild Wild Country, Maclain and Chapman Way directed this winning documentary about the Portland Mavericks, an independent baseball team run by TV actor (and father of Kurt) Bing Russell.

Reviews, Overlooked and Under-Appreciated, Aren's ReviewsAren BergstromJune 3, 2020The Battered Bastards of Baseball, Maclain Way, Chapman Way, Portland Mavericks, Kurt Russell, Bing RussellComment

The Righteous Gemstones Captures the Contradictions of American Evangelicalism

Danny McBride’s HBO comedy mocks the excesses of American evangelicalism while capturing the essence of its focus on family and forgiveness.

TV CornerAren BergstromMay 27, 2020The Righteous Gemstones, Danny McBride, Adam DeVine, Edi Patterson, Tony Cavalero, Cassidy Freeman, Skyler Gisondo, Gregalan Williams, Tim Baltz, Dermot Mulroney, Walton Goggins, John Goodman, Jennifer Nettles, American evangelicalism, ChristianityComment