Brett Garten, Movie Extraordinare

“Book Club: The Next Chapter”

By Brett_G on June 10, 2023June 5, 2023

7.2

A feel good sequel to one of my favorite Boomer Bait films of the 2010’s. And of course, they’re going global! You go to Italy, and you know you have to run into a long lost love. “Letters to Juliet” told us so. If I ever travel to Italy, I expect to run into the Italian foreign exchange student I had a wonderful time getting to know my junior year of high school. If not, my love of film has been all for naught!

Friendship and fun. That’s what you expect and it’s what you get a lot of from this film by the time the credits roll. A perfect match of expectations and execution.

Action Blockbuster

“Fast 10”

By Brett_G on June 9, 2023June 5, 2023

6.1

Why do I keep doing this? Better yet, why do we all keep doing this and making sure these gross a billion dollars?

Best summed up by a direct quote from the movie, “I’d make a freight train take a dirt road.” That perfectly sums up the absurdity of the story, the nonsensical nature of the execution, and the difficulty of making it to the post credit scene where Vin sells us on giving this another go-round in a couple years. Because we’ve all had too many Coronas and have inhaled too much NOS. This is beginning to make Transformers look Oscar-worthy.

Documentary Drama

“Blackberry”

By Brett_G on June 8, 2023June 5, 2023

6.8

If you enjoyed “The Social Network” and “The Wolf of Wall Street,” you’ll enjoy this one. Why we need so many corporate biopics, I’ll never know, but they keep being good so here we are. The casting was one of the stronger points of this film, along with the screenwriting. What could have very easily been the most boring film of the year only worked because of the souls of the people involved. Comedic timing, nuanced performances, and the perfect dash of nerdiness made this click like the signature keyboard of the film’s namesake.

Drama Indie Suspense/Thriller

“The Gardener”

By Brett_G on June 7, 2023June 5, 2023

6.8

You’re not ready for this movie. I wasn’t ready for this movie. No one is ready for this movie.

Paul Schrader, the same man who brought the Abu Ghraib reckoning masked in a poker playing road trip coming of age film to life brings us… this. A white supremacist who falls in love with a black woman masked as a love story intertwined with a revenge tale masquerading as a film about horticulture. It’s a lot to take in, and definitely not for the faint of heart. It’s clunky at times, but similar to “The Card Counter,” this film deals in the most tense of situations. There’s really no breathing room until the credits roll.

Comedy

“Fool’s Paradise”

By Brett_G on June 6, 2023June 5, 2023

7.2

Similar to “Showgirls,” I think this film is brilliant, but there’s a lot to dig through to get to that genius. It’s an expertly executed satire of showbusiness and Hollywood, and surprisingly funny. A true case of “less is more” in practice. The cast is fantastic. There’s not a weak link in anyone’s screen time. I was especially surprised by the non-verbal performance by Charlie Day, who typically relies on over the top vocals to sell his craft. it’d be like Jim Carrey not having any lines. A big leap, but also a big payoff here. Definitely different, but well worth the runtime and experimentation.