Halloween

My View:  Halloween  (2018) R Michael Myers comes back to get revenge on Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) four decades after their first confrontation. Let me say first off that Jamie Lee Curtis gives one heck of a performance, giving the role everything she has. This is a sequel to the 1978 original film, it’s if all the other Halloween movies didn’t happen. So Michael has been locked up in a mental institution for the past 40 years. Laurie has been obsessed with Michael, convinced that he will come back for her and she wants to make sure she is ready. Laurie became obsessed with Michael has cost Laurie her family, her marriage broke up, her daughter taken away by child services when Laurie’s daughter was twelve. What I loved about this film is it captures the essence of the first film. The film continually references the first film both visually and in the storyline. The audience that I saw it with, thoroughly enjoyed the movie, continuously screaming throughout the film and there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested. I will say that this is different from the first film, the body count is high (only five people died in the first film) and extraordinarily bloody and violent. Lovers of the original will have a great time as Michael and Laurie battle it out once again.  My Rating: Full Price   Halloween Website

Indiefest:  The Guilty  (2018)  R  A police officer (Jakob Cedergren) is assigned alarm dispatch duty when he gets a call from a kidnapped woman. This tense thriller that has plenty of twists and turns, some of which I didn’t see coming and a plot that moves at a quick pace. The cool thing about this film is that it takes place all on the phone as the police officer attempts to track down the kidnapper and keep the kidnapped woman calm and alive. What starts out as an ordinary and boring night of answering and dealing belligerent, drunk callers turns into a night fraught with tension that continues to build as the film moves along. This Danish film that is their entry for the Foreign Film Academy Award competition is a riveting film that will keep you on the edge of your seat.  My Rating:  Full Price    The Guilty Info

In Case You Missed It (A movie just released on DVD/Blu-Ray):  Eighth Grade (2018) R  Kayla (Elsie Fisher) is all about blending into the woodwork so that she doesn’t stand out. All Kayla wants to do is survive the last week of the eighth grade so she can start high school on a clean slate. Life has decided that Kayla should come out of the shadows. Kayla decides to give advice on how to navigate life through a series of YouTube videos. I loved this film, and Elsie Fisher is a delight to watch on screen. Her performance is heartfelt and beautiful and writer/director Bo Burnham treats her with a loving touch. The film is filled with beautiful moments about an awkward kid trying just to survive one last week of school. This is a film that everyone will enjoy going into the last week of eighth grade with Kayla.    My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again  Eighth Grade Website

In Memory of Ed Wood (A Movie I've Only Seen in Trailers but Just Looks Like a Bad Idea):   Johnny English Strikes Again  (2018) PG  After a cyber attack exposes all of the undercover agents in Britain, Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) comes out of retirement to find the hackers and bring them down. I have stated before I don’t get Rowan Atkinson’s style of comedy and I can’t believe they have now made three of these films. This one is not for me.    Johnny English Strikes Again Website

Forgotten Film:  Lymelife  (2009)  R  The story of two families in the 1970s that are struggling to stay together as seen through the eyes of two fifteen-year-old kids, Scott (Rory Culkin) and Adrianna (Emma Roberts). Charlie (Timothy Hutton) has Lyme disease, his wife, Melissa (Cynthia Nixon) is having an affair with their neighbor, Mickey (Alex Baldwin), whose wife, Brenda (Jill Hennessy) knows about the affair. The characters are complex and the acting, especially Hutton and Culkin, who give some of their best performances of their careers. This is a sad, sensitive film that sometimes delves in comedy.   My Rating: Full Price    LymeLife Info

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Halloween:  Prosthetics Lifecasting

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You:  Overlord  (2018)  R  Two American soldiers find themselves behind enemy lines on D Day. It appears that the Nazi’s have been up to some very evil experiments. The trailer looks really scary, and it’s being produced by J.J. Abrams.   Overlord Website

Until Next Time!

First Man

My View:  First Man  (2018)  PG-13    The life of Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling), the American astronaut who was the first man to walk on the Moon. The film is technically a marvel, with the space scenes some of the most amazingly shot films of all time. The lunar landing is amazing to watch, and you really feel that you are apart of the experience. This is a great film, but I came away from this film feeling that the subject of the film, was a joyless man who couldn’t show (and maybe feel) emotion, other than sadness and that makes the film feel a little flat. The film does a great job at showing just how amazing and complex it was to get a man on the moon.   My Rating: Full Price   First Man Website

My View: Bad Times at the El Royale  (2018) R    Seven strangers meet at the El Royale, a hotel with a dark past. In one night, all seven will have a shot at redemption before things go to hell. I enjoyed this film which is reminiscent of a Quentin Tarantino film. I loved how the film slowly reveals the story and the background of each character based on their room numbers. There are plenty of twists and turns in the plot, and it will keep you guessing how it's going to turn out until the final credits. By the way, I did not recognize Chris Hemsworth who must have lost 40 pounds of muscle for the role. The film is a little long but well worth the time.    My Rating: Full Price   Bad Times at the El Royale Website

My View:  The Old Man & the Gun  (2018)  PG-13      Based on the true story of Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford) who escaped from San Quentin and then went on to rob over 80 banks while in his seventies. If this is genuinely Redford’s last acting performance, then he goes out on a high note. It’s a brilliant, understated performance that only someone with skill like Redford can do. Redford’s performance is bolstered by the performances of Casey Affleck, the world-weary cop trying to catch Forest, and Sissy Spacek, who slowly falls in love Forest. The film is based on a true story, and I loved the ending of the movie where they used old photos and footage of Redford to illustrate the 16 prison escapes that Forest did over the years.   My Rating: Full Price   The Old Man & the Gun Website

Family Faire:  Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween  (2018)  PG    On Halloween night two boys named Sammy (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and Sam (Caleel Harris) find a manuscript written by R>L. Stine (Jack Black) in an abandoned house. When they open the manuscript, it releases Slappy (Avery Lee Jones) an evil ventriloquist doll. Slappy plans to create a Halloween Apocalypse with the help of his Halloween monster allies.  While not quite as fun as the first Goosebumps film, it’s still an enjoyable film to watch. Slappy is still really creepy, and the monsters that he unleashes are imaginative. I loved the unconventional ending to this film, and I am guessing that we will meet up with Slappy again. A word of caution: some of the monsters are quite scary, so very young children should probably not see this film.    My Rating: Bargain Matinee   Goosebumps 2 Facebook Page

Indiefest:  22 July  (2018)   The story of Norway’s worst terrorist attack in which over seventy people, mostly children,  lost their lives. The first third of this film is compelling and scary as we see the killer prepare and then carry out the attack, far more terrifying than any horror film that I have seen. The next two-thirds of the film are quite as interesting, as the government tries to figure out how the attack happened and if it could have been prevented, along with the trial of the attacker. The film bogs down in the 2nd half as the debate on whether the attacker can use the insanity defense in his trial. The film is extremely long and it just drags on as we focus on one of the kids that was shot by the attacker goes through his rehab. I am going to give this an excellent rating because of that first third was so well done and horrifying as hell.    My Rating: Full Price   22 July Website

Indiefest:  Tea with the Dames  (2018)  Documentary where Dames Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, and Maggie Smith talk about their careers and friendship that goes back more than fifty years. A fascinating documentary with four legendary actresses talking and laughing with each other. The film does a great job of giving us background on the four women, and we get to see plenty of their performances on stage and screen. The film also does a great job showing us old interviews that the women did earlier in their careers. I loved the ending of the film when it showed footage of the women receiving all the awards they have gotten during their careers.   My Rating: Full Price   Tea With the Dames Website

Forgotten Film:  Coming Home  (1978)  R   Sally (Jane Fonda) is married to a captain (Bruce Dern) in the U.S. Marine Corps who is fighting in the war in Vietnam. With nothing to do, she decides to volunteer at a veterans hospital. There she meets Luke (Jon Voight), a former soldier who was wounded and paralyzed fighting in Vietnam. Sally slowly changes her outlook on the war and falls in love with Luke. Excellent film about dealing with the aftermath of the war in Vietnam and how we treated the soldiers that fought there. What I love about the film is the opening scene which was filmed with actual Vietnam war vets and was unscripted. This was one of the first films that openly dealt with the conflicts about the war in Vietnam. The film won three Academy Awards and probably should have won more.       My Rating:  Full Price   Coming Home Info

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween:  Slappy Lead Puppeteer 

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You:  Halloween  (2018)  R   Michael Myers comes back to get revenge on Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) four decades after their first confrontation. All I needed to know was that John Carpenter was doing the score for this film that I knew I wanted to see this film.   Halloween Website

Until Next Time!