Drama – Page 9 – Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare

“It Ends With Us”

By Brett_G on September 7, 2024September 1, 2024

7.6

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So… Blake Lively’s 100% in the wrong on this press tour. Damn… there’s nothing light about this movie. It’s an UNCOMFORTABLE watch. It’s a productive discomfort, but will definitely be triggering.

Going in with a fear that there would be a deference towards glorifying or worse yet romanticizing domestic violence, I was pleasantly surprised by the care that Justin Baldoni took to not only treat the subject matter with the utmost respect, but also delve into the nuance of broken people hurting other broken people when their broken pieces fit together and neither has the strength to pull out of the tailspin. The challenge of trying to help someone who needs but doesn’t want or isn’t ready for help. The weight of generational trauma.

It’s far better than the “Fifty Shades” fiasco. This one was well worth being the only guy in the theater not dragged there by his significant other.

Comedy Drama Indie

“Free Time”

By Brett_G on July 13, 2024July 13, 2024

7.4

As someone who’s currently stumbling his way towards turning 31… this movie encapsulates how its felt to be 30. Awkward. Feeling like something’s been missed, feeling like making a change, thinking I’m actually doing pretty well, thinking I need to start a cult where we all go camping by the river and hammock while catching up on our reading before all going back to our old day job and coming full circle. (Yes, that last one’s a summation of a passage of the film.)

It felt very “Office Space” in its exploration of purpose, comparison to others, and the tug of war between laser focus and aimlessness. There’s a balance to be found in the chaos and lessons to be learned but not dwelled upon along the way. I’ll try not to get too bad reflecting and pontificating here… And also avoid growing a mustache. I’m pretty sure that’s not the answer, either.

Drama Indie

“Daddio”

By Brett_G on July 11, 2024July 4, 2024

8.2

Who had “Sean Penn bringing out Dakota Johnson’s best performance” on their 2024 bingo card? I certainly didn’t but here we are.

2 hours of just two people in a cab. That’s it. And I’ll be damned, it was one of the deepest stories I’ve seen on the silver screen all year. As someone who is regularly in and out of peoples’ lives in a temporary, albeit deep and often impactful fashion, this one spoke to me in an especially powerful way. With so little to distract, the two leads had so much room to explore and exercise their personal power as performers. By far the smallest crowd of my recent moviegoing, and that bums me out. There are a lot of folks missing out on a great story being told about the importance of being kind to one another and the power of connection. This film is similar to “The Holdovers” in that I didn’t want it to end. It felt like a cinematic hug of sorts.

Comedy Drama Indie

“Kinds of Kindness”

By Brett_G on July 9, 2024July 4, 2024

7.2

I expected weird, and weird I received.

What turned out to be the same ensemble telling 3 loosely related tales of psychologically disorienting oddity plays out over almost 3 hours of runtime. Each seemingly stranger than the next. I’m still not sure how to adequately put into words what this one entails without giving away the element of surprise, which is this movie’s biggest pocket ace. Definitely don’t watch with children or if you have a weak stomach… Shit gets weird, and it keeps getting weirder…

Documentary Drama

“The Bikeriders”

By Brett_G on July 5, 2024July 4, 2024

7.2

I’ll watch anything with Jodie Comer in it… so count me in.

THEN I discover that Austin Butler may have finally lost his Elvis accent?!?! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

I’d file this one under “PG Sons of Anarchy.” There’s still violence, but it’s much more subdued and the overall feel of the film is much lighter. There’s a thoughtfulness here that really ties in to the fact that it’s the result of a photojournalist’s work. The cultural factors at play, lurking under the surface, really shined and elevated a tale as old as time. The backdrop of war and its effect on the youth, the ever-present search for purpose and evolution of these as we age was on full display and well handled by all involved. There are many heralding Tom Hardy as some sort of genius in this one, but I feel like he plays mostly variations of a similar character lately. There’s nothing wrong with that – it works. However, I’m left lost by the level of the fawning. It was a surprisingly good film, albeit a tad long in the tooth by the time the credits rolled.