Action – Page 15 – Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare

“Violent Night”

By Brett_G on December 4, 2022December 4, 2022

8.4

Did I overshoot this one rating-wise? Possibly. That being said, it’s absolutely amazing at what it set out to be, and then some. What I figured would be a solid holiday action meeting ended up leading me and everyone else in the theater through a tour of all of the emotions. We laughed, we cried, we almost threw up because seeing some of the kills would make John Wick blush… It was AMAZING.

David Harbour plays Santa with a refreshing take. Who knew St. Nick had a relationship with a war hammer akin to Thor and Mjölnir? That being said, Leah Brady steals the show, and gives the film its heart. The chemistry she and Santa have grounds him in a way that’s necessary with such violence on display, providing the necessary motivation to make us root for Santa to not just take them off the naughty list, but off this earth.

The bad guys were a little one-dimensional, but it’s excusable given the strengths of the other characters. This and “Bullet Train” gave me faith this year. If we believe… Hollywood will give us great action movies! All it takes is a little literal Christmas magic.

“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”

By Brett_G on November 7, 2022

8.1

The Most Nic Cage movie to ever movie.

Lightning in a bottle. A stroke of brilliance. Lunacy, set to film. This one is everything you want it to be and more. Pedro Pascal and Nicholas Cage absolutely kill it. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be confused.

“An intelligent film for grown-ups.”

Action Drama

“Memory”

By Brett_G on August 28, 2022

6.3

It’s “Taken,” but he has Alzheimer’s.

Action Suspense/Thriller

“Fall”

By Brett_G on August 12, 2022

7.1

🚨DO NOT WATCH IF YOU’RE AFRAID OF HEIGHTS.🚨

Holy crap… despite my love of roller coasters, I’m deathly afraid of heights. This movie spends most of the runtime atop a rusting retired TV tower as the two main characters make every attempt to accidentally meet their demise. Needless to say, it took a couple years off my life as I squirmed, jumped, and kept my eyes closed through certain passages. Still catching my breath.

Aside from the personal drama, the movie was quite good at what it set out to do, which was present a great action thriller. Tight hour and a half run time, just enough story to hold the action together, and a hellacious twist that I should have seen coming. (Facepalm)

Action Comedy

“Minions: The Rise of Gru”

By Brett_G on July 14, 2022

7.2

Much better than expected! A fun, tight hour and a half comedy that kept me either giggling or flat out laughing to myself.

The boys are back for another wacky adventure that see Gru get his ass in a bind that the 3 stooges much make worse, then get him out of.

Despite the predictable story, there’s a lot of charm and genuine entertainment here, in addition to a rocking soundtrack!

Bonus – there was no roving gang of suit clad chads in my showing! Win-win!