Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare

“Our Friend”

By Brett_G on February 14, 2021

8.1

They had me in the first half, not gonna lie. I felt I was watching a group of narcissists feed off of each other until their ultimate, deserved demise. Then, the story blossoms in the third act that you’ll have to watch through a layer of tears as the hits just keep coming. Taking you to a beautifully dark place where the emotions of the finale of life reside.

Casey Affleck is officially sad guy now. He’s continuously kicked in the balls guy and does it better than anyone else in Hollywood. Jason Segal rocks it as the loveable loser with a heart of gold. Dakota Johnson expands her skillset in yet another outstanding dramatic performance.

Bring some tissues, and be prepared to call a loved one/loved ones afterwards. Another tremendous entry in the “dying person” genre, a la “Me, Earl, and the dying girl.”

“Tammy and the T Rex”

By Brett_G on February 14, 2021

7.7

You may be wondering how this one earned this score. Well, it’s unabashedly itself. Unafraid to be one of the most ridiculous hour and a half strips of film in Hollywood history. A love story between a girl and her dinosaur.

Shout-out to “The Last Drive-In” for yet another great introduction to a historic film.

You’ll spend quite a bit of the runtime going, “Hey, I know that person!” Pedro from “Napolean Dynamite, ” Denise Richards, Paul Walker, Bernie from “Weekend at Bernie’s.” An absolutely ridiculous plot, and yet, it works wonderfully. Bravo to one of the all-time great b movies!

Amazon Prime Rom-Com

“The Map of Tiny Perfect Things”

By Brett_G on February 13, 2021

8.9

Literal mapping out of life’s tiny but impactful, perfectly imperfect moments that make life worth it. Just enough nerdy time travel theory to take me back to writing a college paper on it once. The rom-com sap fest love story I’m always a sucker for. Amazon’s attempting to dethrone Netflix, and I am here for it!

After this and “Freaky,” Kathryn Newton is pigeon holing herself as the official time travel girl a bit, but she’s so damn good at it! I couldn’t help but also keep thinking that Kyle Allen looks like a younger version of Heath Ledger most of the movie. Distractions aside, they play the perfect onscreen stand-ins for left brain/right brain characters in this love story for the ages. I figured this would feel a bit stale, given how they’re repeating the niche like a time loop lately, but it knocks it out of the park. Highly recommend!

Action Blockbuster

“Greenland”

By Brett_G on February 1, 2021

5.5

I’ll save you two hours of your life. Remember the whackadoodle notion that the U.S. was going to buy Greenland? This movie is just as, if not more baffling.

So few f**ks were given, Gerard Butler is Scottish for half of the movie… and his character’s from Florida.

Get ready to snooze your way through the most boring, cheap, light on everything possibly cool disaster movie, where the biggest disaster is that it didn’t end a half hour earlier. Honestly, go watch “Airplane!” or “San Andreas” instead.

Classic Rom-Com

“This Time For Keeps”

By Brett_G on January 29, 2021

6.5

What to woo the woman? Sing to her. Preferably in an operatic fashion.

Your run of the mill classic Hollywood musical with a love triangle mixed in. Classic rom-com of sorts.

How did I land on this, you may ask? While in the mood for contemplating “somewhere in time” weekend on Mackinaw Island, I also stumbled upon this film, whose pool scenes and part of the main story takes place on the landmark filled island.

https://www.mlive.com/travel/2018/07/how_a_hollywood_star_in_a_swim.html