Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare
Cinematic Sommelier
7.9
“Westworld,” with a little bit of “John Wick.” A classic revenge story straight out of a western, with a modern twist. Fantastic action directing and cinematography makes for a wild ride in this quest for his wife’s killers and finding vengeance. Spent almost the entire runtime on the edge of my seat as the narrative navigated around each new corner, revealing a new twist. Very well done!
7.9
Spielberg’s genius on full display! A game of cat and mouse on the open road. Really, you could circumvent an entire road rage course by just showing this film as what can happen when things go awry on the highway. So simple, yet so effective! A master class in tension building and cinematography. Spielbergs eye for framing and storytelling are evident in even his earliest of works. And… it gave us the infamous noise from the shark death in “JAWS.” (I’m a film nerd, and yes, learned about this by watching all of the special features of both movies.)
7.6
Serving as his own director of cinematography, this may just be one of Quentin’s best. Very different from his usual style, but I appreciated the way the rawness of the storytelling really fit the story. Kurt Russell plays a great madman in what reminded me of the Spielberg classic “Duel.” A menacing presence, haunting those who dare trespass on the open road.
7.8
In between “Mamma Mia” films, Pierce Brosnan needed a project to inject testosterone into his portfolio and prove that he still kicks ass. “November Man” is that film. A much better film than the misfire that’s was “No Escape,” this slick, well executed spy thriller packs the punch of a Bond film without all of the constraints of a franchise film.
Side note: I hope to one day look as perfectly distinguished as Pierce Brosnan.
Remington Steele returns to the world stage to kick ass and take names as a retired CIA agent turned rogue who double crosses his oldest friend after finding out he himself has been double crossed. Delivering one of the finest finales of the 2010’s. Very well done.
8.1
The most I’ve seen a crowd react to a movie in a long time! What I thought was going to be a “Taken” rip-off turned out to be so much more. We laughed, we cried, we cheered… This movie really came out of nowhere to be surprisingly brilliant. Bravo Neeson!
Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare 