Drama Indie

“Daddio”

By Brett_G on

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.

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Action Blockbuster Horror/Thriller

“A Quiet Place: Day One”

By Brett_G on

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.

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Comedy Drama Indie

“Kinds of Kindness”

By Brett_G on

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…

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Action Blockbuster Comedy

“Bad Boys: Ride or Die”

By Brett_G on

7.5

Was this batshit insane? Yes. Yes it was.

Did it still work? Hell yes it did!

What could have easily fallen into stupid territory somehow ended up in so stupid its fun territory that the “Fast & Furious” franchise has been aiming for for years now. The cast is perfect. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence really have these characters figured out, and the supporting cast they’ve assembled fire on all cylinders to deliver a powerhouse ensemble performance. I’m not sure the plot really matters. What matters is the creativity in the cinematography and the almost constant risk taking that pays off at every turn. They had fun with this one, and it comes through in almost every frame. A breath of fresh air in the middle of blockbusters trying to take themselves too seriously. Well done!

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Suspense/Thriller

“The Watchers”

By Brett_G on

6.7

Well, it’s definitely M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter at the helm. Ishana Night Shyamalan does her best to stick the landing of the patented twist ending that is her family legacy, and mostly nails it. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of the lore that we delved into as an audience as this movie progressed. Some of the film seemed to be a pretty blatant ripoff of other films of late, such as “A Quiet Place” or “10 Cloverfield Lane.” That being said, it’s in the depth of storytelling that this one really finds its legs. In an attempt to be overly clever, the story falls into clunky territory, but overall, it wasn’t half bad.

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