A24 On The Rocks

The A24 Rocks crew is on their 50th A24 film review! What's the 50th film in the A24 film catalog? That would be the 2017 WW2 Romantic Drama "The Exception." Starring Jai Courtney, Lily James, and Christopher Plummer: The Exception is about a troubled Nazi soldier, and a spy disguised as a housemaid, who are both working for the exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II in the early days of WW2. The soldier doesn'...

It was the beginnings of the internet, kids were sniffing glue instead of eating tide pods, people were getting slimed on Nickelodeon, and you could sit down and eat Trix while blasting Nirvana in your flannel and ripped jeans. Want some 90s nostalgia? Don't worry, these A24 fans have just as much appreciation for the films that came before A24, and to show that: they're giving you their top 10 fa...

The Lovers is a 2017 Dramedy starring Debra Winger and Tracy Letts. Written and directed by Azazel Jacobs, this movie follows a married couple named Michael and Mary who both are cheating on each other behind their backs. When their son Joel calls and plans to visit, their adulterers (played by Aidan Gillan and Melora Walters) pressure them to finally come clean about their extramarital affairs. W...

The A24 Rocks crew brings a special Halloween treat for horror fans by reviewing the 1973 William Friedkin classic "The Exorcist." The Exorcist was adapted by the writer of the novel William Peter Blatty, and is considered one of the most successful horror films of all time, earning $1.8 billion in the box office accounting for inflation. It's about a 12 year old girl named Reagan an...

In this 2017 black comedy starring Cillian Murphy and Brie Larson: a couple IRA members look to make a gun deal in 1978 Boston. When one of their underlings appears to have assaulted the cousin of someone in the gun sales gang, the deal goes awry in quick and comedic fashion. Free Fire was directed by Ben Wheatley and executive produced by Martin Scorcese, and it also boasts the world record for l...

Since it's Halloween month, the A24 Rocks crew has decided to review an all time classic for their A24 Vibe Discussion: The Thing. Released in 1982 and directed by John Carpenter: The Thing is about a group of scientists at a remote research facility in Antarctica who encounter a Norwegian scientist from a neighboring research facility trying to kill a husky. When the Norwegian scientist attem...

Halloween month happened to line up with an A24 film that is becoming more well-known in horror film circles: The Blackcoat's Daughter. Written and directed by Osgood Perkins (son of Anthony Perkins who portrayed Norman Bates in Psycho), The Blackcoat's Daughter is about a girl named Kat (portrayed by Kiernan Shipka) whose parents seemingly forgot to pick her up for winter break from her C...

On today's A24 Vibe Discussion, Eric kicks off the Halloween month in style by speaking to Reya Mazzola, a Paranormal Anthropologist currently working on her PhD at Wayne State University in Detroit. Reya specifically focuses on the history of human relationships with ghosts and haunted places, a subject that pertains to many A24 horror films. Eric and Reya touch on many spooky subjects includ...

The first film A24 distributed in 2017 was Trespass Against Us, a crime drama starring Michael Fassbender and Brendan Gleeson. Directed by Adam Smith and written by Alastair Siddons: this movie follows a family of British crooks that have set up an RV Park in a field in Gloucestershire, England. Michael Fassbender plays our main character, Chad Cutler, and Brendan Gleeson plays the patriarch of th...

Welcome to Hell: where we geo-locate for free bdubs, hack speed limit signs, and ponder what it'd be like to be a cognizant satellite. The (aspiring) Demon Lord of Friendship answers burning curiosities such as: if you were bald, would you only mow the lawn with your shirt off? What do you think about playing pickup basketball with Adam Sandler? Check out our fair Demon Lord's website (hel...

The A24 rocks crew has finished reviewing the 2016 year of A24 and you know what that means: THE 2016 A24 OSCARS! Seven Oscar Isaac's will be given out tonight for the 2016 year of A24 including: best picture, best director, best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, and best screenplay (original or adapted). How this will work is simple... democracy. Each review...

Now that the A24 Rocks screw has reviewed every single A24 film from 2013-2016, they've decided to have a Mt. Rushmore draft. The way it works: a draft order will be determined by a random number generator, and when one host picks a film, then no one else can pick that film. The draft will then move in a "snake draft" style. Four faces of Mt. Rushmore and four movies. And you, dear l...

A24's last film of 2016 was 20th Century Women, a slice of life drama featuring a star-studded cast that included Annette Benning, Billy Crudup, Greta Gerwig (director of Barbie), and Elle Fanning. Writer and Director Mike Mills was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for this film. It revolves around a teenager named Jamie (played by Lucas Jade Zumann), his single mom Dorothea (played by Annet...

The A24 rocks crew transports you to another era of the silver screen once again, this time they share their top ten 1970s films and invite Brian De Palma expert Ray Neeman on to share his top 10 as well. It was the time of Watergate, Vietnam, and psychedelic counter-culture for America in the 1970s: but how did that translate to film and pop culture? Many say the 70s was the "Golden Era of F...

The A24 rocks crew review their first "creature feature" horror film with The Monster starring Ella Ballentine and Zoe Kazan. The Monster is about a rocky relationship between an alcoholic mom named Kathy and her daughter Lizzy. Kathy must drop Lizzy off at her father's house several hours away, and on this road trip: they get in a car accident and soon find out that what caused the...

In the 1999 cult classic Fight Club, Tyler Durden (played by Brad Pitt) asked: if there was any historical figure you could fight, who would it be? The Narrator's answer was Gandhi. On today's A24 Vibe Discussion, the A24 rocks crew asks: if there was any A24 character or actor they could fight, then who would it be? Also, if there was a gigantic royal rumble with every A24 character, then...

In 2016, the Academy Award winning producers of Amy (a previous A24 film about Amy Winehouse) focused their filmmaking prowess on the 90s Britpop band Oasis. Many know Oasis from hits such as Wonderwall, Don't Look Back in Anger, and Champagne Supernova. Others also know them as a dysfunctional band who couldn't make their way out of the tabloids due to feuds between brother's Liam Gal...

As Kevin would say: mind f*ck ahoy! Continuing our A24 vibe discussions: Black Mirror Season 6 came out last month, and these indie movie fans are here to give you a spoiler-free review of the famed Netflix Sci-Fi show. We discuss the themes of each episode and debate which one was our favorite, and the differences between this season and season's past. What were some of the best performances this...

In 2016, A24 produced their first full length film in "Moonlight," and it ended up winning three Oscars including Best Picture. Almost no film studio’s win Best Picture with the first movie they produce, but many knew Moonlight was special the day it was released. Written and directed by Barry Jenkins and based off a play by Tarell Alvin McCraney: Moonlight brings us into the world of Little, Chir...

We're premiering a new segment today called "A24 Vibe Discussions." These will be shorter 30-45 minute podcasts where we discuss films that are related/adjacent to A24. It'll be our way of having more general film discussions while also looping in A24 while we can. This week's topic: Kevin, Cole, and Eric give their Top 10 favorite 80s films and discuss what cinematic masterpieces from the 80s may...

Just in time for July 4th week: today these A24 fans review the 2016 film "American Honey" written and directed by Andrea Arnold. Starring Sasha Lane and Shia LeBeuof: American Honey is about a woman named Star. We drop into her life as she takes care of her half brother and half sister. When Star is getting food at a supermarket: she meets a man named Jake (played by Shia Lebouf) who of...

The Sea Of Trees is a 2016 A24 film starring Matthew McConaughey and Naomi Watts. Directed by Gus Van Sant (Director of Good Will Hunting and Milk), The Sea of Trees is about a man named Arthur who goes to Japan’s infamous Aokigahara Suicide Forest to kill himself, before a similarly troubled Japanese man named Takumi crosses his path. Arthur decides to help Takumi find his way out of the forest,...

Morris From America is a 2016 coming-of-age comedy starring Markees Christmas and Craig Robinson (The Office, This Is The End) about an African-American father and son living in a small town in Germany, while the father coaches soccer. Morris deals with being a fish out of water by holding onto his American roots as an avid hip-hop lover, but it isn't before long that he meets a teenage girl n...

What will you do when all the lights go out? That is what this 2016 A24 film starring Elliot Page and Evan Rachel Wood asks. Directed and written by Canadian New Wave Director Patricia Rozema and based on a 1996 book by Jean Hagland: Into The Forest explores the bonds of family when all the electricity goes out and you're living in a cabin in the woods. Is it a Sci-Fi or is it a indie drama? H...

Equals is a A24 Dystopian Sci-Fi film starring Nicholas Hoult and Kristen Stewart (who was only a few years removed from the Twilight saga) about a post-apocalyptic world where emotions are essentially outlawed. Directed by Drake Doremus and written by Nathan Parker, this film is filled with brutalist architecture and bland tones while asking the question: if we could have no war and have fantasti...