Arcade Pictures, Strike Entertainment, Studio Canal,
Ashley Bell, Julia Garner, Spencer Treat Clark, David Jensen, Tarra Riggs, Louis Herthum, Muse Watson, Erica Michelle, Andrew Sensenig, Judd Lormand
Picking up after the last movie, Nell Sweetzer (Ashley Bell) is recovering from the events surrounding the “last exorcism”. She’s trying to put her life back in order when the horror from before finds her again sending her into an even more horrible plan.
My wife warned me about this movie. She saw it in a theater in the Philippines before it was even released in the US. But when I saw it out on DVD, I knew I had to check it out. My wife is a connoisseur of horror films, and when she hates a film, I should trust her. This was a really boring film. Ashley Bell did a really good job with what she had, but the movie left no one home when they turned the lights out. No scares, no real tension, and even worse, a horrible story. I love a good horror film as much as my wife does, but I really could not get into this movie, and I really felt like it was a total waste. It was just a bad idea, and they should have definitely put this off until they had a better script. I thought it was really bad, and if you follow me regularly you’ll see I don’t hate many movies, but this one was a waste of my time. I’m really glad I didn’t plunk down the cash to see this one in the theater. You can do better, trust me!
Gary Oldman, Kathy Burke, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Dencik, Colin Firth, Stephen Graham, Tom Hardy, CiarĂ¡n Hinds, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Konstantin Khabensky, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Simon McBurney, Mark Strong
This story of the Cold War tells the story of George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a retired agent(due to a failed operation in Hungary), back into work to uncover a Soviet spy within MI6. Due to the failure in Hungary and what has happened since there are 4 senior agents who are suspect, and it’s tough to pin down who has sold out.
This film is a remake of a 1979 TV Miniseries starring Alec Guiness in the role played by Gary Oldman (Smiley). It was a much longer production, and this one probably suffered in the cutting room, trying to get it down to just over two hours. Even though I have not seen the original, I was really unimpressed with this film. It has its fans, that’s for sure. Some people love long slow drawn out spy melodramas, very short on any action, and very cerebral. I think if you’re like this, you’d be more satisfied with the book, however. Not only is the film very deadpan and extremely slow (Dare I say boring?), but a lot of it is left resolved, never explained, and just plain missing any info on it at all. This is one of those films where fans sit around discussing why this happened, and what that means.
For me, I was basically bored silly for two hours, and didn’t really care if they found the mole or not. After all, Reagan’s going to get them to tear down the wall, and the Soviet’s days were numbered anyway.
Not to dis a most likely fascinating book, the film was a disappointment. I didn’t really get into it, and was not happy with the ending in the least. I’d say skip it.
Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Studio Canal,
Rowan Atkinson, Dominic West, Gillian Anderson, Rosamund Pike, Daniel Kaluuya, Richard Schiff, Ben Miller, Pik Sen Lim, Togo Igawa, Mark Ivanir, Burn Gorman
Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) has been sent off to learn kung fu fighting techniques in a form of rehab. After his screw-ups in Johnny English (2003), he was mostly just sent away to get him out of everyone’s hair. But the leadership of MI-7 has changed, and now Pamela (Gillian Anderson) is in charge, and much to her despair, she’s forced to call Johnny back in to protect the Chinese from assassination by Vortex, the evil group that wants to disrupt the balance of power in the world. Enter Johnny English who does his best to do the job with the help of perhaps his only friend Kate Sumner (Rosamund Pike) who can tell when someone is telling the truth by reading their body language.
Johnny English Reborn is just as silly as the original was. You’ll probably have a hard time remembering back to 2003 when the original came out. It’s been so many years, that I probably should have done a refresher on the old one before watching the sequel. By this time, it’s nearly a new concept again! Of course it’s silly. That’s what Rowan Atkinson does….think of Mr. Bean with a license to kill. He hams it up through his way bungling and screwing-up in a way that actually works, if you wait long enough.
I’ve always been a Mr. Bean fan, so I enjoyed this film a fair amount, just because of the character. It is a ripoff of Peter Sellers work in The Pink Panther and Leslie Neilsen’s Naked Gun movies, for sure, but in a Beany way that makes it ok. My wife and I enjoyed it. But I wouldn’t run out to purchase this one on BluRay to add to your collection, unless you’re really a Rowan Atkinson fan. It is, after all, very silly and probably not worth multiple viewings! But it’s definitely worth a rental if you like films like I mentioned above that have comedy and inept cops or secret agents that stumble their way to success. Personally, I think it’s good harmless fun, and worth renting. But if you’re not a fan of these kinds of “silly” comedies, then avoid it, for goodness sake.
Nick Frost, Jodie Whittaker, Luke Treadaway, John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Jumayn Hunter, Danielle Vitalis, Paige Meade, Simon Howard, Terry Notary
A South London gang is out making trouble, trying to mug a young lady when fire falls from the sky. A race of aliens has landed and they are out for blood. The gang has to try to work together to defend their territory from the bloodthirsty aliens who prove a lot tougher than those they typically have to face.
This is brought to you by the same team that brought you “Sean of the Dead”, it’s certainly tongue in cheek and somewhat humorous. However the aliens are real tough guys. Big as gorillas and running on all fours, covered in hair and with glow in the dark mouths, they are pretty terrifying and quite strong. They sneak through the shadows and are very fast. As we catch glimpses of them they become more and more horrific.
This is basically a morality play. The bad guy is the one everyone has to depend on to save them, and it’s going to be interesting to see who is able to forgive his past transgressions and accept his help. Played by a typical bad mouthed bunch of hoods, that’s exactly what they’re supposed to be. Not very likable, but again, just what you would expect. They have to do what they can to survive, and it’s certainly full of action and suspense. This was a bit of a surprise to me, as I didn’t expect much, but I was impressed with the action and adventure in this film, along with some real humor. It was well done, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Universal Pictures, Studio Canal, Relativity Media
Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Oscar Steer, Asa Butterfield, Lil Woods, Eros Vlahos, Rosie Taylor-Ritson, Daniel Mays, Maggie Smith, Rhys Ifans, Ewan McGregor
Poor Isabel (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is in serious trouble. She has to run the farm, and take care of the family while her husband is off fighting in the war. She’s got trouble. They have to bring in the harvest, but the tractor is broken. Then her spoiled niece and nephew show up from London to be added to her own since it’s unsafe for the children in the city in case of bombs. Now she’s got 5 to take care of and her kids and the cousins hate each other with a passion. But help arrives when none other than Nanny McPhee turns up to teach the children FIVE lessons. You know the drill, when you don’t want her but you need her she must stay, but when you want her but no longer need her, she must leave. Nanny McPhee has a lot of magic and the children find themselves learning the 5 lessons in a strange and magical way. Hint: They’ll never use the term “When pigs fly” in the same way again!
This is the second Nanny McPhee movie. I don’t think it’s quite a good as the first, as this story is definitely derivative. Isabel has a brother who is a shyster. He’s got a load of gambling debts and needs money really bad, so he’s trying to talk her into selling the farm. (But Annie lives in the orphanage with Mrs. Hannigan whose brother is trying to get the reward from Daddy Warbucks) Oops, wrong movie. (But then Nanny McPhee gets on the bed with the kids and they turn the bedknob and fly to Portobello Road to find Professor Brown to get the last spell of substitutiary locomotion to fight the Nazis) Ok, wrong movie again. Yes this is very similar to both movies. So why did I rate this movie so high? Simply because it’s a really great kids film. The story is very well done, and though it’s derivative, the kids won’t mind that a bit. Emma Thompson has the Nanny McPhee character down, and her magic is as good as Mary Poppins any day! Maggie does a good job as the harried mother, and the two London cousins are awesomely evil. These kids are spoiled rotten, but they turn nice soon enough with Nanny McPhee’s prodding. Maggie Smith is in here too as Mrs Docherty, but I’m not sure at all how she even fits into the story. I’m not sure if I just missed it or if there is really a connection, but her talents are pretty much wasted in here. According to imdb.com’s trivia page, Mrs Docherty was the baby in the first movie. They may have said that, and I may have missed it. Otherwise it was a bit obscure for me. But obviously Nanny McPhee has been around a while as several people in this film recognize her from their childhood.
So what things do I like most about the movie? Well, the sense of irony is really strong, and I really appreciate that. The most outlandish proposition is stated and later comes true word by word. That cracks me up. The whole scene with the flying pigs is a blast, although not a large part of the film, but very cleverly done. Nanny McPhee is an icon and is well acted. There’s not a lot of suspense which is good for the younger viewers. I think this is an excellent kids movie and one the kids and the parents can watch together. There’s enough action, surprise, and laughs for the whole family to enjoy, so whether the kids are 3 or 17, the whole family can enjoy this, even the grandparents! I highly recommend this movie!
