A24 On The Rocks

Today the A24 Rocks gang reviews what may be the worst A24 film of all time. They've said this before, but this time they mean it. Barely Lethal is a 2015 action comedy film directed by Kyle Newman (director of Fanboys and several Taylor Swift music videos), and written by John D'Arco (writer of Trolls: The Beat Goes On and TrollsTopia). It's packed with the star-studded cast of Hailee Steinfeld,...

Slow West was a 2015 A24 Western film written and directed by punk rock star John Maclean. Taking place in 1870 Colorado, young Jay Cavandish (played by Kodi Smit-Mcphee) treks into the wild wild west with help from a bounty hunter named Silas (played by Michael Fassbender) to find an unrequited love from his homeland of Scotland. On the way, he encounters all the dangers and thrills of the anarch...

The A24 Rocks gang reviews its 20th film, and perhaps one of the best A24 films of all time: Ex Machina. Directed and written by Alex Garland (director of Men and Annihilation), this academy award-winning Science Fiction flick is about a programmer named Caleb (played by Domhnall Gleeson) who works for a Google-reminiscent company called Bluebook. Caleb wins a raffle to meet Bluebook CEO Nathan Ba...

In Cut Bank, Montana (supposedly the coldest town in the country), Dwayne McLaren (played by Liam Hemsworth) is sick of small town life and devises a money making scheme with local mailman Georgie Wits (played by Bruce Dern) to earn a quick buck and get out of town. Dwayne quickly finds out that getting away with this scheme won't be all that easy. Guest-starring Billy Bob Thornton, John Malkovich...

In the second A24 film of 2015, actors Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts are Josh and Cornelia, a young 40s couple with no children dealing with aging and a stagnant professional. Josh, a documentary filmmaker that hasn't released a film in years, meets Jamie (performed by Adam Driver) and Darby (performed by Amanda Seyfried) at a class he's teaching. When Josh and Cornelia get dinner with Jamie and Dar...

The first film distributed by A24 in 2015 was Son of a Gun starring Brenton Thwaites, Ewan McGregor, and Alicia Vikander. Directed and written by Julius Avery, this Australian crime-drama follows JR, a recently imprisoned 19 year old kid. JR meets Brendan through a mutual love of chess. Brendan, a hardened criminal and bank robber, offers his protection in exchange for help when JR gets out of pri...

In this special episode these A24 nerds talk to Brandon Johnston from The Martini Shot, a fellow film reviewer and mixologist who makes unique cocktails for every film he reviews. Brandon shows them how to make a "sex on the farm," inspired by the A24 film X and the cocktail "sex on the beach." Now that every film from 2013-2014 is reviewed: these cinephiles give their favorite film and least favo...

It's 1981 New York City and Ronald Reagan (the actor) is President, you own a heating-oil business and your oil trucks keep getting robbed... what do you do? This film may have the answer. Starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year is a period crime-drama that explores the inner workings of the oil industry in the early 80s. The film centers around Abel, an immigrant and busine...

In this suspense-thriller starring Ryan Reynolds and Rosario Dawson, The Captive focuses on a dad and mom whose daughter has been abducted by a pedophile ring. Eight years after the abduction, a police unit tasked with taking down pedophile rings have found a clue that proves she is still alive. But will the family and the cops overcome a wealthy and powerful group of child sex traffickers? These...

If we were to tell you Martin Scorsese produced another gangster movie with Ray Liotta in it, what would you think? Would you probably not think it’d be one of the worst gangster movie's of all time? Well then, you’d be wrong. Revenge of the Green Dragons is a 2014 film based on a true story about a Chinese gang named the Green Dragons that wrecked havoc on Queens in the 80s and 90s. Directed by A...

The 2014 A24 film Laggies, directed by Lynn Shelton, is about a directionless 28 year old named Megan (played by Keira Knightley) in a dead-end relationship that meets a 16 year old named Annika (played by Chloe Grace Moretz) who provides a spark to her life after Megan found her dad cheating on her mom. It isn't long before these A24 nerds dig deeper into this movie and provide insight from their...

In 2013, Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier found a Gumtree ad that offered free room and board if the tenant dressed as a walrus, they discussed this on their SModcast and the result was the 2014 horror-comedy Tusk. Starring Justin Long, Michael Parks, and co-starring Johnny Depp, Haley Joel Osment, and Genesis Rodriguez: Tusk may be one of the more infamous horror films of the last 10 years. It begs p...

In this zombie Rom-Com aptly titled Life After Beth, a recently bereaved boyfriend finds his ex-girlfriend has come back from the dead under mysterious circumstances. An all-star cast of Dane Dehaan, Aubrey Plaza, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Grey Grubler, and Cheryl Hines is led by writer and director Jeff Baena. Where does this film fall in the history of zombie lore? Di...

In 2014, many women lined up to see Robert Pattinson in one of his first films since Twilight. Was it worth it? A man seeks to look for his stolen car in an Australian outbreak starring Guy Pearce and Robert Pattison. A film where the 2008 recession never came back, dystopian vibes permeate this particular cinema. Inflation? PSH! DEFLATION! Director David Michod guides us through this Sci-Fi Weste...

This week the A24 On The Rocks podcast takes on the 2014 A24 film Obvious Child starring Jenny Slate, while being written and directed by Gillian Robespierre. We have experimental filmmaker Caitlin Ryan on to discuss this romantic comedy about a standup comedian who decides to get an abortion after having a one night stand. The crew discusses the divisive pro-choice/pro-life topic that is ever so...

In the eighth episode of A24 On The Rocks, these five friends discuss the 2014 film Locke starring Tom Hardy. Construction foreman Ivan Locke tries to balance his disintegrating family life, the largest concrete pour in Europe outside of nuclear/military, and a baby being born all while talking to people (voice acted by a stunning supporting cast) through his car speakers. A film that takes place...

In 2014, Scarlett Johansson was in the middle of her Avengers and Marvel Cinematic Universe fame, yet she still starred in a little known (at the time) Sci-Fi film called Under The Skin out of Scotland. Adapted from a book by Michel Faber and directed by Jonathan Glazer, it went on to be one of the most critically acclaimed roles of Johansson's career. The seventh film distributed by A24 became a...

The first film distributed by A24 in 2014 was Enemy, starring Jake Gylenhaal, based off the novel The Double by Jose Saramago. It proved to be a turning point in director Denis Villeneuve's as he went on to direct Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Dune. These A24 fans discuss the deeper meanings of this mind-bending thriller and easter eggs throughout the film that led to the ending. How come they m...

On this week's A24 On The Rocks we have special guest Luke Londo on to review A24's fifth film: the 2013 coming of age drama The Spectacular Now, starring Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley. This group of cinephiles discuss the themes of this adaptation, reminiscing on their own high school experiences, and how a rom-com on the surface turned into a melancholy tale of addiction. How does this movie...

This 2013 film is based on a true story about a group of teenagers who robbed a string of celebrity houses. It is directed by Sofia Coppola and starring Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, and Emma Watson. These A24 nerds delve deep into the themes and intent of the movie, examining celebrity obsession in the early days of social media and the pop culture zeitgeist of the late 2000s. Remember the days...

In their journey to review every single A24 film in chronological order, these movie-buffs review A24's third film: the 2013 cult classic Spring Breakers directed by Harmony Korine. They break down everything from how the film has aged, the soundtrack, the director's intent, and the choice to cast Disney stars in an explicit and divisive film. As Alien (played by James Franco) would say: SPRING BR...

The second A24 film ever distributed was Ginger & Rosa, a coming of age drama starring Elle Fanning about a British girl dealing with family trauma and existential dread during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Written and directed by Sally Potter, these A24 fans discuss how Potter used a historical event to explore growing up in a dysfunctional family with a friend who is starting to float in another dir...

In the first episode of A24 On the Rocks, these cinephiles begin their journey of reviewing every single A24 film in chronological order. The first movie? A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, starring Charlie Sheen and directed by Roman Coppola. We discuss Charlie Sheen's pop culture relevancy in 2012 and his fall from grace, on top of reviewing the movie and giving our letter grade. Cau...