The shadow of the Bellows family has loomed
large in the small town of MillValley for generations. It's in a mansion that young Sarah
Bellows turns her tortured life and horrible secrets into a series of scary
stories. These terrifying tales soon have a way of becoming all too real for a
group of unsuspecting teens who stumble upon Sarah's spooky home. Director: André Øvredal Cast: Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel
Rush, Austin Abrams, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, Lorraine Toussain Release Date: August 9, 2019 Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller Rated PG-13 for terror/violence, disturbing
images, thematic elements, language including racial epithets, and brief sexual
references. Runtime: 1 h 47 min Review: Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark is a solid
entry level horror movie that may be a gateway for younger horror fans to
explore the genre. Norwegian director André
Øvredal, who has been turning out solid horror films for a good while now,
delivers an impressively stylish film.
It’s not ground breaking in any shape or form but his adaptation of the
short stories are staged well enough to keep most people entertained even if
the film start to film like a light version of IT as the plot unfolds. The monsters are effectively creepy which
makes for some solid moments of terror even though the film is very light on
blood. The cast of mostly unknowns does
a great job of carrying the film with Zoe Colletti leaving a strong
impression. More seasoned horror aficionados
may find the whole thing a bit quaint since the film feels like a throwback of
sorts to the old horror films like Night of the Scarecrow or The Town that
Dreaded Sundown.
On the last day before summer vacation at a rough-and-tumble high school,
mild-mannered teacher Andy Campbell (Charlie Day) accidentally causes his
fearsome colleague Ron Strickland (Ice Cube) to be fired. When Strickland then
challenges him to a fist fight after school, Campbell
must find a way to avoid a vicious beating. Tracy Morgan, Jillian Bell,
Christina Hendricks, Dean Norris, and Dennis Haysbert co-star in this comedy
directed by Richie Keen. ~ Jack Rodgers, Rovi
Director: Richie
Keen
Cast: Ice Cube, Charlie Day, Tracy Morgan, Jillian Bell,
Dean Norris
Release Date: Feb
17, 2017
Rated R for language Throughout, Drug Material and Sexual
Content/Nudity
Runtime: 1 hr. 31 min.
Genres: Comedy
Fist Fight is a silly comedy that moves at a frantic pace
the moment it starts.Boasting an
excellent comedic cast led by Charlie Day, it’s a mindless comedy that never
takes itself overly seriously.Charlie
Day is put front and center and fans of his style of manic comedy will find
plenty to like.Richie Keen does a
serviceable job of directing the comedy even though there are plenty of missed
opportunities.The most glaring issue is
that the film doesn’t take full advantage of its cast with excellent actors
like Christina Hendricks and Dean Norris showing up in glorified cameos more
than actual roles.Both roles feel like
they could have been expanded a bit to flesh out the nightmare facility.Luckily Keen keeps Ice Cube relegated to
playing a scowling hothead, leaving the comedy to the pros.It’s a good choice that pays off in the end,
leaving the audience with a perfectly zany R rated comedy.
Dearest Blog, yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for the depressing double-bill of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2 and Secret in Their Eyes.
Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.
Mama always said, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." If I adhered to that advice, I'd have a free day today, but since I wasted yesterday watching these movies, it seems fitting that I waste today writing about them.
First on the docket: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2, the further and final adventures of Katniss Everdeen.
Dear Reader(s), let it be noted that I consider myself a fan of the Hunger Games franchise.
It doesn't talk down to its audience, and the folks responsible for bringing it to the screen have done so with genuine regard for quality, rather than just milking a popular franchise for a cash grab.
It's a miserable premise--the sort of thing I'd never watch more than once--but to this point I've given HG full marks for execution.
Sadly, this final installment is a real letdown.
For as much as Mockingjay-Part 2 has got going on, it is insufferably slow and dull. Perhaps stretching the final book to two movies was a bad idea, or maybe they've just done a poor job of translating events from page to screen, but I was ready to claw out my eyes long before the halfway point.
The film yadda-yadda-yaddas over at least one thing that seems pretty important, and the ending feels like the author just got bored and turned it over to a 14-year-old fan-fiction writer. On the plus side, James Newton Howard has provided his usual strong score, and there are some nifty effects.
The acting is solid from top to bottom, and Jennifer Lawrence is no less outstanding than when she's fronting something the Academy takes seriously.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2 clocks in at an excessive 137 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of violence and action, and for some thematic material."
It's not without its good points, but The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2 is, overall, a disappointment.
Of a possible nine Weasleys, Mockingjay-Part 2 gets five.
Next up: Secret in Their Eyes.
A group of law-enforcement professionals presses the law's limits when one of their young daughters is murdered.
It's clear, at some point, someone fancied Secret in Their Eyes a legitimate awards contender, The film on which it's based has already collected an Oscar (thanks, Maynard Maynard, for that tidbit!), the cast is mint, and it's a Very Serious Story.
Sadly, it's also a tedious affair in which the twists happen exactly how and when you'd expect, and two-thirds of the decorated principals are embarrassingly bad.
Nicole Kidman is about as expressive as a ventriloquist's dummy, which may be less about her actual acting than it is about her tinkering with her face 'til it no longer moves. On the other end of the spectrum, Julia Roberts flails through the proceedings "as if there were no such thing as overacting." (I have shamelessly poached that glorious insult from an old review of Gary Oldman's performance in Bram Stoker's Dracula!)
Chiwetel Ejiofor is terrific, making it hard to believe he's the only one of the three who doesn't (yet) have an Oscar.
An unnecessary romantic subplot adds nothing, and the movie seems to take it as a matter of personal pride that each storyline reaches the least-satisfying resolution possible.
Secret in Their Eyes runs 111 minutes and is rated PG13 for "thematic material involving disturbing violent content, language, and some sexual references."
Secret in Their Eyes has all the pieces of a great bit of cinema, but, unfortunately, it fails to put them together.
Of a possible nine Weasleys, Secret in Their Eyes gets four.
If you are visiting the cinema this weekend, and--like me--you weren't lucky enough to get Legend or Spotlight, I suggest you revisit Spectre or The Peanuts Movie, and take a pass on these two downers.
