Brett_G

“Spinning Gold”

By Brett_G on April 2, 2023April 2, 2023

6.5

Good, not great. Reading the book ruined the movie.

I recommend “And Party Every Day” instead. The full story of this meteoric rise and spectacular fall from grace, and everything in between is something far better than Hollywood could ever put to film. Outside of the copious amounts of cocaine, they got that right. Casablanca Records was a one of a kind story with characters so complex that this film had massive shoes to fill. Unfortunately, it came out very vanilla.

As a huge KISS fan, they did the band dirty in this film. So much history misrepresented. For shame, movie!

https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-casablanca-records-story

Indie Suspense/Thriller

“Inside”

By Brett_G on April 2, 2023

6.1

It’s a cinematographic representation of the frog in the boiling water. If that frog was also tapping his watch and asking for this whole thing to hurry up and be done with. It felt every second of its hour and forty five minute runtime. Willem Dafoe does his damndest to save this thing, and does cement himself as the master of “slowly slipping into madness” guy, but even he can’t save this from itself. Art heist gone wrong movie turns into silver screen serpent eating its own tail in search of a deeper meaning.

Indie Suspense/Thriller

“The Tutor”

By Brett_G on April 2, 2023

6.2

So… it’s a Hitchcock ripoff… kind of. A valiant effort. The ending shot was straight out of “Psycho.”

The twists you can see coming from a mile away. Overall, it frustrated me. It wasn’t that it was poorly executed in a technical sense. The shots are beautiful and there is some good tension building. And holy shit is Noah Schnapp creepy. But the story was too predictable for it to have its fullest impact. So, a few bright spots, but overall letdown.

Action Blockbuster Drama

“Creed 3”

By Brett_G on March 9, 2023

8.5

Strong “Dark Knight Rises” vibes with this one…

An enemy that knows our hero better than he knows himself. Pierces the veil and exposes them in a way that opens up a new narrative avenue that refreshes the series. A fantastic landing pad for a trilogy, but I’m sure they’ll keep going.

Jonathan Majors is the best villain in Hollywood in my book. His menacing presence in this rivals that of even his recent outing as Kang in “Ant Man: Quantumania.” Even without saying a word, his mere presence in the scene evokes a feeling of unease. It’s a true talent, and a gift to this film as Adonis is tested as he’s never been tested before.

The stakes may have been weakened in the third act, but it is a Rocky anthology film after all. Still a phenomenal addition to the franchise that I highly recommend!

Drama

“Jesus Revolution”

By Brett_G on March 9, 2023

7.8

Join a Christian revolution to land a hot blonde? I’ll buy it. Respect the game.

The Jesus metaphor with this one is thrown out the window in favor of an actual Jesus lookalike. This film expertly delves into humility, hubris, and their roles in the human condition on our journeys to self realization sharing this big old rock we call earth.

Kelsey Grammar and company mail it as a cast, and make this one of the most palatable prophecy pictures I’ve seen on the silver screen in a long time. Very well done!