Documentary Drama Suspense/Thriller

“Argo”

By Brett_G on

8.8

I’ll admit – I slept on this one too long.

With the tension building of “Sicario” interwoven with a plot akin to “American Hustle,” this film establishes itself as one of the best of the historical drama boom of the 2010’s.

The razor sharp script, masterful directing, and perfect cast really took this to the next level. Even the supporting case is a who’s who of the industry who turn in a-list performances. And the soundtrack… chefs kiss.

It’s no surprise it won so much praise back in the day. Not only is it a fantastic film with a powerful plot, but it’s a movie about Hollywood as well, which is always the secret ingredient to becoming an awards season darling. The best of Affleck on full display!

No comments
Action Blockbuster

“Madame Web”

By Brett_G on

5.4

You can put Sydney Sweeney in glasses all you want movie… I still noticed she was in a schoolgirl outfit… “dorky” did not overpower the hot. Do better. The pigeonholing of what could have been interesting characters as caricatures was insulting.

It’s really as bad as you’ve heard. I was hoping to prove the tide wrong, but I can’t do the mental gymnastics. I could point out 3-4 different exact points where I’ll wager the walk-outs are happening. And half of them aren’t even the plot, they were the nauseating action. There were more jump cuts and camera tricks than Liam Neeson hopping the fence in “Taken 3.” This made Michael Bay’s “Transformers” choreography look artistic in comparison.

“The Room” (yes, that one) has a more coherent plot and better developed characters. Half of this movie is shot with the actors facing away from camera so that they could voiceover to try and patch things together in post.

The soundtrack is pretty sweet. I’ll give it that. And it had promise. There was so much potential to work with… but when you botch the “with great power, comes great responsibility” speech and force the audience to spend most of the runtime trying not to hurl from the cinematography… you’re gonna have a bad time.

No comments
Drama Indie

“How to Have Sex”

By Brett_G on

4.5

Hint – this ain’t it. The “50 Shades” trilogy is a better example. I never thought I’d say that.

I was going to make a joke to start this one, but after trudging my way through, I couldn’t muster comic relief. Maybe they were going for “pain is the purpose,” but leave that to the “Promising Young Woman”’s of the world. AND WHY IS EVERYONE SMOKING IN EVERY SCENE?!?!?

The bright side – it was only an hour and a half of my life I can’t get back.

No comments
Drama Indie

“The Teacher’s Lounge”

By Brett_G on

7.2

Kids can be assholes… adults can be assholes… you know what? Everyone’s an asshole!

Seriously though, this is an hour and a half of examples of why teachers don’t get paid enough and why we can’t keep any in the profession anywhere in the world. The microcosm illustrating the broader degradation of societal trust in each other and the sinister consequences that closely follow the descent caused by it are on full display here. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been this genuinely uncomfortable in a movie in a long time, for essentially the entire runtime. It’s almost kind of redeemed in the third act, though. Almost… I’m still not quite sure how to interpret the final frames.

No comments
Documentary Drama

“The Zone of Interest”

By Brett_G on

7.6

So… this is an hour and a half of the chainsaw in the motel shower scene from “Scarface,” and should definitely win all the awards for its brilliant sound design.

The devil’s quite literally in the details with this one, and it executes subtlety to near perfection. It’s definitely a thinker, and not a modern blockbuster on the movie IQ scale. To contrast such beauty with such haunting atrocity is a tall task. It’s not a light movie, obviously. When our protagonist family is inconvenienced by the ash of the deceased contaminating the night sky, daring to interrupt their slumber… you’re in for a complicated emotional ride. To have such normal life existing so close to the worst of humanity… it’s a bold choice, and one that I felt paid off by the time the credits rolled.

No comments