6.7
Ah… the old friends who fight like a married couple but date other people. A tale as old as time…
Solid rom-com from Max this time, not Netflix!
Short, sweet, and to the point. A fun hour and a half or so.
Category: HBO
6.5
So… it’s kind of a “Tiger King” ripoff. This guy is INSANE, and his cult is INSANE. The only thing I might have to copy from this is his hiring someone to manage his dating app profiles and set up his dates down at the local Olive Garden once I make my millions from this whole movie reviewing thing.
The ending was a letdown for the ages, but perfectly on-brand for this shitshow. If you’re just looking to kill a couple of hours and feel better about your life… here ya go.
8.2
This score excludes everything after season 2. The first 2 seasons of this show are nothing short of brilliant, and the other Nolan brother at the height of his complex storytelling powers. The second two seasons made me sad, and left me not sad that they cancelled the show and took it off HBO Max. The premise, acting, and the twists of the first 2 seasons are amazing. The first season finale being one of my all-time favorite HBO episodes.
7.3
It’s basically “Breaking Bad,” but instead of making meth, this teacher/coach decides to sell himself to rebuild his life. A great cast, a lot of great laughs. The only complaint I have is the clunky ending. It ends like hitting a brick wall. Very strange, and unfortunate. But then again, this kept it from overstaying its welcome. Solid B-tier HBO television.
6.5
Beautiful film. Meh story.
I was hellaciously intrigued by the trailer and what I thought was the film’s premise. Sometimes that intrigue hits; sometimes it misses. Unfortunately, this one ended up being a trapeze act of a narrative, swinging wildly all over the place for far too long and with no rhyme or reason. All to, I think, come full circle. I’m still not quite sure what I was supposed to take away from this one. There are some great premises and possibilities, but the story opts for the path of least resistance and goes for tricking the audience into thinking that misdirection and the resulting confusion is evidence of its cleverness, instead of just a cheap Christopher Nolan rip-off. Honestly, I think the overall lesson here was a “don’t stick your dick in crazy” cautionary tale dressed in a noir disguise.
Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare 