Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare

“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.

Horror/Thriller Suspense/Thriller

“Long Legs”

By Brett_G on July 12, 2024

8.5

In a word – unsettling.

The whole damn thing. Front to back. The opening scene of this film is one of the best in recent memory and legitimately grabbed each and ever person in the theater and didn’t let them go until the credits rolled. The atmospheric dread that each and every scene is steeped in is a work of art in and of itself.

As expected, Nic Cage and Maika Monroe turn in fantastic performances that you lose yourself in as the story unfurls.

Definitely not your typical modern horror film. It’s a season’s worth of “Mindhunter” procedural married with the discomfort of “Silence of the Lambs,” all packaged neatly within the hour and forty minute runtime. Did the second to third act bridge get a little clunky? Sure. But it’s more than made up for by everything else here firing on all cylinders. I didn’t expect to be this terrorized by a film heading in. I’m still processing it 4 hours later.

Documentary HBO

“Ren Faire”

By Brett_G on July 12, 2024July 4, 2024

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.

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.

Action Blockbuster Horror/Thriller

“A Quiet Place: Day One”

By Brett_G on July 10, 2024July 10, 2024

7.8

Where the Purge series seemed to shy away from going full purge – welcome to A Quiet Place grabbing you by the shirt collar and never letting go for 2 hours of nonstop anxiety inducing terror. You’re dropped right alongside our main characters in never feeling safe the entire time. What this series does better and more consistently than most is environmental immersion and character. This film really rounds out the trilogy by maintaining and even growing these strengths. Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn really hold down the fort as leads, and give such rich performances that it lends itself to intensifying the terror when even the slightest sound is made, inciting the potential violence that lurks just out of frame. You care so much about the characters that it really makes everything else that much more effective. A great example of attention to detail and care.