Cinematic Sommelier
6.1
So… a grave robber love story? Kind of wrapped in a comedy of sorts. A very odd mix at every turn.
Some beautiful shots and an interesting premise to take a crack at it. Just really hard to get over the strange factor and get into the possible horror of being connected to the land of the dead through their former belongings.
4.1
Points for originality, but not much else. The but wears out its welcome pretty quickly. There was a reason the Jack Links Jerky commercials were just that, and not a feature film. Not a whole lot happens between the beginning and end here, so not much to comment on, oddly enough.
6.2
Doing this back to back with a movie about resurrecting a movie theater was a rough choice. This one just didn’t resonate as well as the other. But I think differences in structure and characterization didn’t help it. A cool story, but clunky in its execution. In the spirit of the “Action Park” documentaries, it almost took off. Sadly, it just never hooked me in the way I had hoped it would. The lady talking to the boat was one of the more interesting points. Her passing being foreshadowing I did not have on my bingo card.
3.0
… And all of those points are for the soundtrack. That’s it.
53 movies in. I’m calling it. WORST of the year. In the running for worst of the decade. It’s up there with “Cats.”
I’ll save you 2 hours of your life you can never get back. Don’t do it. 2 hours is an INSANE runtime for this genre, but then they make it 2 hours of violent torture porn. I don’t need to see you sprinkling Lime powder on a mass grave. There’s no need for this movie to exist. Don’t give me any analysis about this having a deeper meaning or societal commentary. I call bullshit. This makes “The Hunt” and “The Purge: Election Year” look Oscar-worthy. A shovel to the face would have been more subtle than this movie trying to make a point. I’m actually surprised that wasn’t a scene here. I can’t drag this movie enough. A24… come on… get your shit together.
7.8
Definitely one of the dorkier things I’ve done in a long time, but loved every frame of this one. Movies and Marquette – what’s not to love?
A tale of the rise, fall, and resurgence of independent film exhibition. The spirit of “Midwest nice.” The heartwarming story of a small town coming together to make dreams come true. For a movie geek such as myself, this was like home for an hour and a half. AND, I happened to be sitting behind someone who starred in the movie. AND was able to recognize one of the actors as one of the co-stars of “Quicksand,” another Northern Michigan original screened at the Vogue in Manistee.
As shared in the post-show Q&A, look for this one to be on PBS/Streaming in October!
Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare 