Archive for October, 2016

Allspark Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Hasbro,

Henry Thomas, Annalise Basso, Elizabeth Reaser, Lulu Wilson, Parker Mack, Sam Anderson, Kate Siegel, Doug Jones

The Zander Family is having a rough time. Dad was killed by a drunk driver leaving Mom, Alice (Elizabeth Reaser) alone with two girls, Lina (Annalise Basso) and Doris (Lulu Wilson). They are struggling to pay the bills by offering psychic services like readings and seances, when Alice realizes her youngest daughter Doris may actually have the gift for real. Alice really wants to help people, perhaps to help herself with her loss, but is it really friendly spirits, or does their home have a much more sinister past than they are aware. Messing with spirits is asking for trouble, and they have a lot on the way.

This film is a prequel to the 2014 film Ouija starring Oliva Cook and Ana Coto [Click here for Ed’s Review] . If you haven’t seen or can’t remember Ouija, this is a good time to rewatch it, as this is the story what happened in the house about 50 years earlier. This story gives us the background on when the characters in the original movie were kids, and what happened to them so that the original films make more sense. This film is a bit better, although I really did enjoy the first one as well, but now the whole thing makes a lot more sense to me. The first one was kind of random, which a lot of people didn’t care for. This one is a formula film, and it’s produced by Michael Bay so there’s a lot of activity going on here. Henry Thomas, who I haven’t seen in a long time, is here as a Priest who presides over the daughter’s school and is trying to help them. When he’s on screen, he’s really good, but it’s not a huge part. The girls are excellent and really pull it off, especially the younger girl Doris. The film is really creepy and scary, but the weakness is probably the predictability of the story. It goes where you expect, and there aren’t many real surprises in the plot. But it does take place in the late 60’s which was a nice change, visiting my youth for a little while. I find it hard to think of the 60’s as a period piece, but I have to admit I’m really getting old! But the 60’s vibe was strong. All in all, I really enjoyed this film, and thought it was a decent Halloween Horror film. I liked the way it fit in with other movie, and that made it more enjoyable for me. If you’re a fan of horror, this is a really good one.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday October 25, 2016


Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Chernin Entertainment, Scope Pictures,

Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Samuel L. Jackson, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett, Judi Dench, Chris O’Dowd, Ella Purnell, Terence Stamp, Kim Dickens, Milo Parker

Essentially a fantastic story about a young man, Jake (Asa Butterfield) who is very close to his elderly grandfather, but can’t seem to connect with this own father. When grandfather Abe (Terence Stamp) is killed under mysterious circumstances, Jake and his father head over to Wales to find the orphanage where Grandpa Abe stayed as a child, and Miss Peregrine, the odd mistress of the home about which Abe has told stories to Jake since he was a little child that would certainly make Mary Poppins jealous. Miss Peregrine and the children who live in the home have many secrets, mostly very dark, about those who want to destroy them, monsters and all sorts of misfits all around. Jake needs to find out that he’s someone special after all, just like Grandpa promised.

This is a live action adventure by Tim Burton. Yeah, when you see Tim Burton’s name producing a film, you know it’s going to be quite strange, and this is certainly not an exception by any means. This is one really weird story, and fans of Burton will surely love the weirdness more than anything else. But it’s a damn good story too, and though it is quite unrealistic most of the way, it does have a certain charm to it, plus a cameo by Dame Judy Dench too. All kinds of supernatural things abound, and nothing is ever as it seems to be. But underneath it all, it’s a familiar story of a young boy who feels out of it like he’s not anybody special, who needs to come to grips with the hero in him. Now I was an avid reader in my youthful days, and though I have lost that due to a huge lack of time to read anymore, I still respect those whose passion is the printed page. This, as I understand, is a wonderful book, and the movie does not follow the story very closely and departs across many of the characters. I can’t comment on that because I have not read the book, so my review of this is only of the film, and I really liked it. I splurged the extra three bucks for a pair of 3D glasses and the 3D was pleasurable. I really enjoy that technology and rarely am I disappointed in the 3D effects. After a few minutes, you get into the story and begin to forget that it’s actually 3D which is I think a good thing, but I have to admit that I was very enthralled with this film and enjoyed it very much. Certainly a can’t miss for Tim Burton fans, but anyone who is a fan of quirky adventure stories that are certainly out of the ordinary would, I think, enjoy this movie as well. This is a well received film by the public, and I am very happy to give my full recommendation to this one. It is PG-13 and there are some creatures that would be scary for little kids, but for Teens to Seniors, this is a good little movie.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday October 18, 2016

  • Alice Through the Looking Glass
  • Cafe Society
  • God’s Not Dead 2
  • Independence Day Resurgence
  • Our Kind of Traitor
  • Ratchet and Clank

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation,

Robert Mitchum, Marilyn Monroe, Rory Calhoun, Tommy Rettig, Murvyn Vye, Douglas Spencer

Matt Calder (Robert Mitchum) is a farmer living outside of town along the river the Indians call “The River of No Return” with his young son Mark (Tommy Rettig). When a saloon girl Kay Weston (Marilyn Monroe) and her boyfriend, gambler Harry Weston (Rory Calhoun) end up stranded on a raft on the river near the farm, Matt and Mark rescue them, but Harry steals Matt’s only horse and rifle and takes off for nearest town to register a claim for a gold mine he won in a poker game, leaving Kate behind with Matt and Mark in terrible danger since they have no gun and no horse, and this is dangerous Indian territory. Their only choice it to take the raft and try to make it to town down the river without dying first.

This is a really neat classic western from 1954, filmed in CinemaScope and in Technicolor which was something to see in 1954, and is at the height of great western movie times. Plus this has the added attraction of having Marilyn Monroe in it, and is one of the lesser known films in her “body” of work. She’s beautiful here, as always, but certainly knows how to handle herself in the rugged outdoors along the Salmon River in Idaho where this was filmed. The story is full of action and adventure, wild animals, crazy white water, Indians who seem really pissed off for some reason, and the usual campfires, coffee, and horses. The story moves right along and wraps up neatly in a package right at the end with Marilyn being carried off into the sunset. What could be better than a good old fashion western film filled with gunfights and unbelievable scenery as well as good values and fair play by the good guys who always win. But this film has a few twists and turns along the way, and isn’t all black and white as far a wrong and right. But the guy in the white hat eventually comes out on top and goodness wins as it should. There is a lot of music in this film as well, although you can’t really classify it as a musical, but almost. Most of it is sung in the sultry voice of Marilyn Monroe, but the husky deep bass voice of Tennessee Ernie Ford singing the great western theme song, River of No Return in the beginning is what led me to this film in the first place. Waileree! Marilyn doesn’t do bad singing it in the end either. I have a Pandora station of Cowboy Songs, and I live a few blocks from Knotts Berry Farm which often brings great western music to us, most often with the group Chaparral featuring Johnny Blankenship and Harvey Walker who are staples at Knotts, have being there for as long as anyone can remember. Between the two, I got really hooked on western and cowboy songs (Harve used to play fiddle for Roy Rogers’ Sons of the Pioneers) and Pandora used to play Ernie Ford’s River of No Return on a regular basis which got me to wondering about the song, and I figured it had to be a movie theme. I found it streaming on NetFlix and it was a wonderful 90 minutes going back to the great Westerns of old and I totally enjoyed this trip back in time. If you ever get in the mood for a great sample of the old western films, this is a great one that is not that well known (at least to me) and since I was about 3 years old when it came out, I somehow never saw this one. I really had a good time watching this, and I’m sure you will too.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.