Horror/Thriller

“The Man in the White Van”

By Brett_G on

4.2

Save yourself two hours of your life…

It’s aggressively insulting to the intelligence of the audience as it tries to be 6 things at once. It’s “Pride & Prejudice,” as the daughters fight for the right to be married off? Is it a ripoff of “Duel,” the amazing vehicular thriller by Steven Spielberg? Is it a slasher, akin to “Saw” or “Texas Chainsaw Massacre?” The answer is – it tries to be all of these things, and thus fails at all of them. What could have been an amazing premise is pissed away on cheap jump scares, laughable hijinks, and dialogue that sounds like ChatGPT had a stroke.

Instead – enjoy this 38 Special tune (or really any of their catalogue)… they’re mentioned in the movie, and I would have rather watched two hours of their music videos.

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Drama Throwback

“Stolen Summer”

By Brett_G on

7.7

I’m a sucker for coming of age stories… especially ones that take place over the summer. Therefore, I was all-in on this one from the get-go.

THEN, it decides to go on and be an amazing tale of faith, connection, humanity, imperfection, humor, love, and loss… all in an hour and a half!

There’s such a strong, genuine heart to this film that gave it an unmistakable warmth and made everything incredibly approachable. It didn’t fall into the trap of being preachy, which is always my worry… a bravo and well done on this one, which I highly recommend!

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Indie Rom-Com Suspense/Thriller

“Anora”

By Brett_G on

6.9

So… this thing turns into a comedy in the second half. I did NOT see that coming!

There are many lessons here… don’t marry an exotic dancer? Don’t marry an heir to a Russian mob fortune who didn’t get permission to get married? Don’t untie your hostage early? Make sure the mom likes you?

Whatever the takeaway, the fun remains. This was an incredibly unexpectedly funny one that left me befuddled from beginning to end, in a good way. Well worth a watch, for the plot.

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Action Blockbuster Drama

“Gladiator 2”

By Brett_G on

7.7

Not as good as the first… while copying a lot of the first… while still being pretty damn good.

Falling prey to the plight of modern blockbusters, it has way too much going on in some places, and loses some of its power in doing so. Simple doesn’t always mean boring, Hollywood.

With that out of the way – seeing boat battles in the coliseum is LEGENDARY! The spectacle often makes up for the lackadaisical storytelling at times.

I WAS ENTERTAINED! 😂 (it’s worth the runtime)

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