Cinematic Sommelier
8.9
Classic Spielberg.
The dynamics between the siblings, newly children of divorce. The soaring John Williams score. The perspective of the camera angles between filming the adults and filming the kids, much like JAWS, provides a subtext that really adds to the realism of the storytelling. The masterfully subtle, yet impactful touch of one of the all time great directors. Only Spielberg could make a creature like E.T. lovable.
8.4
Damn you, Netlfix! I knew exactly how this was going to go, and I still loved every awkward, ultimately lovable second!
Shocker… they have relationship troubles when Hunk 1 moves to the other side of the country and has the audacity to befriend a young woman who also goes to Harvard.
Shocker… Hunk 2 moves into Elle’s life just in time to save her from having to find something to do with her free time other than destroying her best friend’s relationship with his girlfriend who puts up with way too much shit from him if you ask me. Like, bro, you’re straight up neglecting this girl who is moving heaven and earth to be with you. You repay this loyalty with making her a third wheel in her own relationship.
Movie then pulls a “surprise” on our two main love birds by basically pulling a “When Harry Met Sally.” “She’s just my friend from school, babe. You know, like you and Noah.” This leaves hunk 2 with the sequel bait line “she’s worth it” line at the end, to let us know his quest for Elle’s heart isn’t over yet. But to be honest, she played him just to win that DDR tournament and pay for Harvard. You can do better Hunk 2, I’m rooting for you in the next one.
In all honesty, they haven’t seen the end of “When Harry Met Sally.” This is going to turn into Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend” real quick in part 3…
8.5
So predictable, yet still so good…
A tale as old as time of forbidden love, almost ruined friendships, and a happy ending no matter how sideways things go between the second and third act. Yet again, Netflix proving that its logo is red because it does love stories better than any other streaming service out there!
The breakout star from the Perron family made famous by the original “Conjuring” film really comes into her own as leading lady of this fateful fall in love fairytale. Mix in a kickass sound track and her real life boyfriend (insert shocked face after seeing the onscreen chemistry), and you have another hit rom-com. Although, the height difference between them will never not drive me insane. But that’s a movie review guy problem, not the film’s problem.
7.9
Ari Gold selling cars. Supported by an all-star cast. Too many high profile comedy actors to count. A solid script that feels like it was lit on fire very early on to make way for “just roll the camera and let the improv fly.” Short, sweet, and to the point. Just like this movie.
And… since they play it to roll the credits, it gives me an excuse to play one of my favorite 38 Special songs. Rock on.
7.1
Very “Bridge of Spies” or “The Post” for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a solid film. But this is the movie that gets nominated for Oscars galore because Tom Hanks is in it. There have been better war movies put out, but this will certainly kill 2 hours of your time, and is an addition to the growing collection of content on AppleTV+. Just seemed pretty safe bet all the way down the checklist.
Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare 