Friday, January 30, 2015
ANNABELLE
When The Conjuring came out in 2013, I was pleasantly surprised. A demonic/creepy doll movie that didn't rely on jump scares but used them effectively when called upon. But no matter how hard they tried to establish a story with the likes of Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, the doll captured everyone's imagination. So, after making its share of money, its no surprise (yet not a complaint from me) that they made a prequel of sorts to tell the back story of said doll. With that, we have ANNABELLE.
Annabelle follows the story of Mia and John Gordon. A happy couple who is soon expecting the birth of their first child. However, things change drastically when John brings home a doll for Mia. Seemingly everything Mia wanted (it even completed a collection she had been trying to do for a while), life was good. Until the disturbances start. After the brutal murder of their neighbours and a viscious attack on John and Mia (and their unborn child) that was eventually thwarted by the police, Mia could no longer feel safe. But after finding out the attackers were involved in a Satanic cult, coupled with the fact that bizarre and apparently demonic events keep happening to Mia and her now born daughter Lea, time is running for the Gordon family to stop the madness before it destroys them, or worse yet, the soul of their child.
Unlike the competing Insidious series, the demon figure (as well as the doll) were done well, instead of coming across as silly like the aforementioned film. I like the Ed and Lorraine Warren aspect of both The Conjuring and the mentioning in this one as it really makes the film plausible (I've always had a spot in the back of my mind for these sort of things).
Like before, I was beyond impressed with the jump scares in this flick. I mean, they were genuinely frightening - something that I haven't said in a while. However, similar to films like Paranormal Activity, you find the demonic disturbances more realistic than the attempted acting. At times, the painful performaces take away from a truly scary scene. Having reactions that go from unbelieveable to just plain absurd, it takes away from what could have easily been a horror series to remember. Time will tell if this series will gain momentum (as there is another sequel in the works with Wilson and Farmiga), or if like Paranormal Activity, it will take a ninety degree nose dive with each following film. So far not bad. I'm still looking forward to it...
Sunday, January 25, 2015
TOP 5 CHRISTMAS MUST-SEE FEATURE LENGTH FILMS
As seen in www.camrosecanadian.com |
Christmas is a fantastic time of year. As long as you are not in a shopping centre
of sorts, you will find that mankind will try that much harder to love thy
neighbour and maybe be a little more generous than any other time.
But I digress. Let’s
talk about movies. Christmas brings us
the best in film and television. Today I
will focus on the feature length films.
There were many TV specials I grew up with. Frosty, Rudolph, Charlie Brown…I could go on
forever. But films? They have been few
and far between. With that in mind I
present my top five Christmas must-see movies according to…well…me. The holidays cannot end without all of these
being viewed at least once by me.
5. Home Alone – When Home Alone came out in 1990, everybody
watched it and loved it. Sure, there
were stories of kids trying the stuff for real.
But that’s what I like to call Darwinism. This is still an annual must watch for me.
4. It’s A Wonderful Life – Arguably the most tributed
stories of all time. It is a beautiful
look at life, and how precious it really is.
Remember, every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings. Jimmy Stewart is amazing in this.
3. Christmas Vacation – EVERYBODY knows who Clark Griswold
(Chevy Chase) and his family are. Only recently did we find out that little
Rusty is none other than everyone’s favourite TV geek Leonard in The Big Bang
Theory. Great cast, great supporting
cast, and downright funny every time you see it. Almost every scene can be referenced in this
one.
2. Miracle on 34th Street – This movie will make
a Santa believer out of the most adamant doubters. Fantastic story that will tug on your holiday
heart strings each time you see it. The
court room scene is one of the most iconic holiday scenes ever. Try to avoid the 1994 remake if possible.
1. Scrooged – If ever there was a movie that puts me in the
Christmas spirit, it’s this one. Bill Murray’s hilarious yet touching take on
the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol is a staple for me as my first
holiday movie of the year. I could watch
this flick every day and it still wouldn’t be enough. A movie with such a personal ending that I
have no problems admitting it will make me shed some tears every single
time. Hilarious, touching, and fun –
what more could you ask for?
I do, of course, have to give honourable mentions to other
flicks like Die Hard, Gremlins and even Lethal Weapon, as they make my holiday
watch list as well.
THE BOY NEXT DOOR
| As seen in www.camrosecanadian.com |
Jennifer Lopez stars as Claire Peterson, a high school
teacher and mother who is recently separated with her husband Garrett (John
Corbett) while still housing their son Kevin (Ian Nelson). One day, while having mechanical issues with
their garage door, enter Noah (Ryan Guzman) – the nephew of their next door
neighbour who is down to take care of his ailing uncle. Arriving as a Good Samaritan, Noah is immediately
adored by the Petersons. Not wasting time to show his true motives he waits
until Kevin is away for the weekend and calls Claire under the guise of a
failing meal attempt. After she arrives
he uses his slick words and even smoother moves to seduce Claire. After a night of intense passion, Claire realizes
the error of her ways and tells Noah that it can never happen again. Noah, however, thinks the night meant much
more and takes the rejection personally.
Not taking no for an answer, Noah begins to obsess over Claire and
things turn more grim the more she pushes him away.
The film moves forward, getting darker as it progresses then
begins to take a turn for the worse.
What started as a simple and decent obsession movie turns quickly into a
late night made-for-TV thriller and even crosses the line of cheesy 80’s
slasher flick. The veteran actress Lopez
still hasn’t seemed to have picked up the acting gene while Guzman’s threats
and action borderline on painful over-acting that would make Jim Carrey proud. Corbett’s veteran presence helped his screen
time and even Nelson’s character (although far too easily swayed) was done
well. Kristin Chenoweth’s portrayal of
Vicky (Claire’s friend and the vice-principal) was a different story, losing
all credibility the other supporting cast tried to establish. The “love scene” if you wanted to call it
that was unnecessarily graphic and it came across as uncomfortable instead of
passionate. The rating of this movie does
no justice as that scene alone (plus another) should have given it a much
harsher rating. Finally, I know have called movies predictable in the past, but
this one moves along like a kindergarten connect-the-dots in terms of both predictability
and timing. If you haven’t figured out
this movie in the first 15 minutes, try your best to stay longer (unlike the
group of people sitting in front of me in the theatre).
TAKEN 3
| As seen in www.camrosecanadian.com |
“I will find you. I will kill you.” That is the catchphrase
made popular in the series that Taken has turned into. Liam Neeson is back as Bryan Mills, the man
with a particular set of skills that he performs very well. Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen come back to
write the third installment of the franchise that made Liam Neeson a household
name in the action industry for the last decade.
It’s been a few years since the events of the last film took
place. Mills is still trying to be the
best father he can to his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace), while remaining friends
with her mother/ex-wife Lenora (Famke Janssen).
While both tasks are a struggle to the man who could take out a room
full of baddies in less than a minute, he does his best. One day, while out, he receives a message
from Lenora to meet at his place to talk.
When he arrives he finds Lenora deceased on the bed after apparently
having her throat slashed (more on that later).
Soon after he arrives the police show up to the house and catch Bryan
beside the body. However, not wanting to
go with the police, he uses his aforementioned skills and escapes. Now, with the police, led by Inspector Frank
Dotzler (Forest Whittaker) and other various agencies out to get him, Bryan
must evade the law long enough to prove his innocence, find out who did this,
and take them out.
The real downside is you’ll still feel like you have seen
this before, just like any revenge-style film ever made. Make no mistake; it was much better than Taken
2, but it’s definitely not going to break new ground. The shaky camera work during the action
scenes was more nauseating than any camcorder movie could do. And finally, the comment I made earlier about
Lenora’s cause of death is probably the biggest beef I had. The Canadian MPAA gave this show a 14A
rating. If you’ve ever seen any movie
with that rating, it means it’s an R rated movie minus the hardcore swearing. Though, for some reason this went the other
way, making the action soft and not a single drop of blood spills. With all the carnage (up to and including the
previously mentioned throat slash, gun shots, and even a fight on broken
glass), this film never shows any gore whatsoever. Its obvious absence came across as laughable
and they probably could have gotten away with a G rating. While Taken was trying so hard to be Besson’s
answer to Die Hard, this third movie definitely did not give us the awesomeness
that was Die Hard with a Vengeance. No, instead it gave us Live Free or Die
Hard – a film that belonged to a once great franchise, watered down and spoon
fed to the viewers. Still – you will
probably enjoy the ride!
INTO THE WOODS
| As seen in www.camrosecanadian.com |
In the past, Disney was known for turning fairy tales into
watered down classics loved by young and old.
They were chock full of colour/ music and were forever engraved into our
hearts. Time went by and they dabbled
into more serious takes on the classics.
2009’s A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey brought us the dark side of
the Dicken’s classic that was rarely traveled by the family film genre. While noble in its intent, it just ended up
frightening children and slowly became forgotten. Then 2010’s Alice in Wonderland was a
different look at the Lewis Carroll story helmed by visionary director Tim
Burton. While this one gained notoriety,
by marketing Burton’s poster child in Johnny Depp and giving off the vibes of
Burton’s style of fantasy, it definitely was not for the child demographic. Now
Rob Marshall (Chicago) brings us a new look at some classic fairy tales, with a
catch.
Into The Woods is a tale about a baker and his wife (James
Corden & Emily Blunt) who want desperately to start a family but seem to be
unable to. One day a hideous witch (the
always outstanding Meryl Streep) shows up and tells them of the curse that was
put baker’s family prior, making his family line barren. The only way to
reverse this curse is fetch four items by the blue moon that occurs in two
nights. Meanwhile, the story unfolds in
the background of a boy named Jack who is forced to sell the family cow for money
but only gets some magic beans, a little girl in a red hooded cloak on her way
to grandma’s house, a maiden named Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) who lives with
her cruel stepmother and two stepsisters and is forced to clean, and the tale
of a girl named Rapunzel trapped in a tower with extraordinarily long
hair. Sound familiar? What you never realized before is that all
these stories are intertwined making each an integral part of the next.
Don’t let the ads mislead you – this is very much a musical,
but quite original, and accompanied by (somewhat) talented singing. As with the
movies listed prior in the introduction, I’m not sure the kiddies will get much
out of this and may be better off kept at home.
Also, Johnny Depp’s role (albeit a small one) as the big bad wolf had
some lines that seemed rather inappropriate…maybe it was just me. And while the writing deserves a great deal
of kudos, having your brain keep up to a plot that jumps more than a hot-plate
full of frogs is quite the testament to the viewer. If you are able to tag along for the ride, you
may actually find this movie enjoyable.
Fans of musicals and fairy tales may rejoice, but the unnecessarily long
run time (and my distaste towards most musicals) didn’t so it for me; so I
leave the opinion up to you. Still kinda
shocked about Streep’s nomination, but I think it’s in her contract with
Hollywood to get one nomination a year.
EXODUS
| As seen in www.camrosecanadian.com |
Charleton Heston made some iconic movies back in the day; but
probably his most notable (perhaps because I watched it every single year in
elementary) was The Ten Commandments.
However, since nothing is sacred in Hollywood anymore (pun intended),
and with the film approaching the 60th anniversary, it only made
sense that we were to see another take. Luckily
they were able to snag Ridley Scott (Gladiator) to helm this epic. And while Heston he is not, the recently
impressive Christian Bale steps into the sandals of the legendary hero, Moses
in Exodus: Gods and Kings. This will be a very condensed look as the film’s runtime
is 150 minutes.
Ramses (Joel Edgerton) is the son of the Pharaoh and next in
line for the throne, while Moses is his adopted brother. As time goes by, the Pharaoh passes away and
Ramses inherits the throne. One day,
Moses finds out about his true heritage as a Hebrew and in the process kills
two Egyptian guards. When Ramses finds
out about this he exiles Moses from the city.
Nine years pass. After an
accident, he wakes up to a vision of a burning bush and a little boy named
Malak (Isaac Andrews). Malak acts as the
Metatron (look it up) for God. He tells
Moses to go back to Egypt to free His people.
However, Ramses’ refusal and retaliation leads to war. Malak speaks to Moses again, He tells him to fall
back and watch as He releases the infamous ten plagues onto the city. Throughout
the destruction, Moses’ shaky faith is tested repeatedly, though in the end the
slaves are freed. This leads to taking
his people on an Exodus from Egypt to the Holy Land where they will be free
forever.
We all can pretty much guess what happens from here; something
about a Red Sea and words on some stone tablets. However, if you are a fan of the best-selling
book of all time (The Bible, for those unsure); you will notice some large
veering from the written word and some incredibly executed yet arguable
over-the-top CGI. The story bears the
same substance but seems to lack all the heart.
The timeline is very confusing and leaves you wondering why some parts
where cut so short while others dragged on for too long. Bale’s unfortunately
poor performance also suffers from drastic accent changes throughout the flick
leaving the viewer wondering if he was supposed to have one in the first
place. Edgerton was rather amazing
actually, but the remaining stardom that was the supporting cast were barely
given screen time let alone lines to justify a salary. Visually the product is there, but for the
spectators it’s up to them whether they will be impressed or not. Sorry Ridley, the “Passion” just wasn’t
there. Religious fanatics need not
apply.
HORRIBLE BOSSES 2
| As seen in www.camrosecanadian.com |
Oh look, Hollywood has made another sequel.
Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis), and Dale
(Charlie Day) are finally content with their lives. Even after the first film’s events where one
of their bosses ended up in jail, the other dead, and the other is still a
nymphomaniac dentist – their lives couldn’t be better. In fact, one night when thinking how much
they hated having bosses, they decided to be their own boss. When this bro-trio hits Good Morning LA to
pitch an idea for the Shower Buddy (think automatic car wash but in the shower),
they are met with some positive interest.
Now all they need someone to finance their vision. Cue Boulder Stream and rich tycoon Rex Hanson
(Chris Pine), who offers to buy their concept and rights from them for a
handsome fee. When they decline to sell,
Rex’s father Burt (Christoph Waltz) steps in and offers to buy 100,000 units as
long as they are exclusive to Boulder Stream.
After that deal is made, the boys rush to get a warehouse and staff to
fulfill this massive order. However,
after going through the arduous labour, they find out that Burt decided to cancel
the order. And with no up-front payment, they are left with a half million dollar
debt that they are no way able to pay back.
The group must find a way to get this money back by any means
necessary. They first decide to consult
with Nick’s former boss Dave (Kevin Spacey) for ideas. When that doesn’t work, their inept brainstorming
leads them to the next best idea – kidnapping Rex and using the ransom to pay
back their debts. Unfortunately, if they
would have learned anything from their previous escapades, they would remember
that they suck at planning. But when Rex
weasels his way into the plans to aid in his own kidnapping (to deal with some
daddy issues and get his own cut), things go completely awry and mayhem ensues.
In a flick that admittedly took the buddy film concept from
The Hangover, they really needed to learn from that franchise’s mistake – don’t
make a sequel! Like the aforementioned
series, this film has nothing to gain from a sequel and simply just re-wrote
the plot while rehashing the same dynamics, similar to the Ad-Libs we used to
do as kids. Was it funny? Absolutely.
And if you are looking for a laugh, of course check it out (keeping in mind
they don’t shy away from vulgarity). Bateman’s wit shines as always and the
bumbling of Sudeikis and Day are worth the price of admission alone. Spacey’s character is downright hilarious,
and even Jamie Foxx’s return was quite funny.
The ever sultry Jennifer Aniston returns, still making men’s jaws drop
everywhere. And everybody plays off everybody perfectly. If you were a fan of the predecessor, you
will more than likely enjoy this.
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