Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare
Cinematic Sommelier
7.1
Better than expected. Pretty middle of the road story-wise. Adventure packed coming of age story. Pixar’s patented gorgeous animation. A fun couple of hours at the theater. Bring tissues, and be ready to shed some tears… Pixar doing Pixar things. Will be a nice addition to Disney+ in a few months.
6.2
Yes… that one. They finally snuck it out into theaters. A very, very strange film. Exactly what I expected going in. A lot of political talking points, brutal violence, and “I’m going to hell for laughing at this” style humor. Solid performances by all involved. Think “the most dangerous game” meets “the purge.” It’s basically a more politically (hard to believe, I know) version of “the purge.”
8.7
Hell of a legacy project for Jennifer Aniston. Steve Carell delves into a devious villain again, with a strong follow-up to the dad you root against the entire runtime of “The Way Way Back.” All involved deliver some of their best performances, in what turns into some of the quickest wit and high velocity dialogue you’ll experience this side of an Aaron Sorkin project. Handles heavy subject matter with grace and the respect it deserves, doesn’t shy away from the gray, and draws clear moral boundary lines when called upon. Brilliant balance in script and performance. And a cliffhanger for the ages! Can’t wait to see where this goes, and where Apple TV+ asserts itself in the streaming wars with high quality prestige pieces like this. Well done!
6.8
He had me in the first half, I’m not gonna lie… poor guy got screwed over by the town, hurt his business, created unnecessary obstacles to him growing his livelihood in a small town. Then, he lost his marbles sitting in his hot tub one night, and hatched a plan for one of the most memorable criminal rampages in modern history. Almost as unbelievable as the classic horror film “Killdozer” comes this script Hollywood writers spend their days trying to come up with.
7.3
The cinematic answer to the question “why do you love movies?” Specifically, seeing movies at a theater. This tale of a drive-in in danger of closing, and a band of film lovers banding together to save a landmark and create memories to last a lifetime is an inspiration for chasing your dreams and fighting for what you believe in. The beauty of the community of film is on full display (no pun intended) in this great find scanning through Amazon Prime. The word of mouth documentary film that is to die for at a film festival. If I’m ever passing through Pennsylvania…
Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare 