Reviews – Page 104 – tmc.io 🍿 watch movies with friends

THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS Trailer

March 27, 2018 Published by Shari K. Green

In the tradition of Amblin classics where fantastical events occur in the most unexpected places, Jack Black and two-time Academy Award® winner Cate Blanchett star in The House with a Clock in Its Walls, from Amblin Entertainment. The magical adventure tells the spine-tingling tale of 10-year-old Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) who goes to live with his uncle in a creaky old house with a mysterious tick-tocking heart. But his new town’s sleepy façade jolts to life with a secret world of warlocks and witches when Lewis accidentally awakens the dead.

Based on the beloved children’s classic written by John Bellairs and illustrated by Edward Gorey, The House with a Clock in Its Walls is directed by master frightener Eli Roth and written by Eric Kripke (creator of TV’s Supernatural). Co-starring Kyle MacLachlan, Colleen Camp, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Vanessa Anne Williams, Lorenza Izzo and Sunny Suljic, it is produced by Mythology Entertainment’s Brad Fischer (Shutter Island) and James Vanderbilt (Zodiac), as well as Kripke.

Executive produced by William Sherak, Tracey Nyberg, Laeta Kalogridis and Mark McNair, The House with a Clock in Its Walls will be released by Universal Pictures. www.housewithaclock.com

Genre: Adventure

Cast: Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sunny Suljic and Kyle MacLachlan

Directed by: Eli Roth

Writer: Eric Kripke

Based on the Novel by: John Bellairs

Produced by: Brad Fischer, James Vanderbilt, Eric Kripke

Executive Producers: William Sherak, Tracey Nyberg, Laeta Kalogridis, Mark McNair



In Theaters September 21

http://www.fandango.com

Journey’s End Movie Review

March 27, 2018 (updated March 27, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

Journey’s End is an incredibly well-done war film. It’s set in the spring of 1918 during the fourth year of WWI. We’re transported to the battle of Saint-Quentin in northern France, where a very young soldier, Raleigh (Butterfield), is in the trenches about to fight for the first time. Each company of soldiers is required to spend six days a month on the front-line and it’s his turn.
The set is brilliant and looks authentic, giving you the exact feeling of what a WWI trench warfare must have felt like.
As the camera moves through the men, you get a strong feeling of claustrophobia. To manage this feeling, director Saul Dibb keeps the camera focused closely on the faces of the soldiers, allowing you to sense all expressions clearly. There’s no way you’ll mistake a feeling of fear for one of contentment or bravery.

You can’t help but think of what it would have been like back then not only being on the front-line but being stuck in the ground for so such long periods of time, waiting for the enemy, waiting to die. Young Raleigh is stationed with a friend from back home, Stanhope (Claflin), who happens also to be captain. Stanhope isn’t exactly handling things well and knowing the sitting ducks that they are, gets through the day by drinking as much whiskey as he can get his hands on.
These characters will keep you engaged in the film and the actors playing them must have been well versed enough in the war to visually and audibly bring the attention to detail Dibb needed to pull empathy and pity for their circumstances from his audience.

We’re not in battle much, but when we do get there, you’ve gotten to know them and care for them so much so that you’re hoping they return. You dread the possible moment a bullet finds Raleigh. The journey Dibb takes you on is from different perspectives than most and it’s those differences that you’ll celebrate.

It was originally a play written by former British officer R.C. Sherriff. His story was simply about life in the trenches during WWI and you’d think it couldn’t make a thought-provoking yarn but with the characters struggles, their trying to get in the last smoke before they die and the battle itself, Journey’s End, though a smaller film than others like it, is one of the better war pictures I’ve seen. There are a few slow parts but don’t worry… no matter what’s going on in the film you’ll be in a constant state of wondering what’s going to happen next. This helps make Journey’s End memorable, which it most certainly is.

Website:http://www.journeysendthefilm.com

Facebook:www.facebook.com/gooddeedentertainment/ @GoodDeedEnterainment

Twitter: https://twitter.com/journeysend2017 @JourneysEnd2017

Isle of Dogs Movie Review

March 25, 2018 (updated March 25, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

That eclectic director, Wes Anderson, has gone to the dogs! But that’s a good thing, because “Isle of Dogs” is a top pedigree product from Anderson. This stop-action animation was created in the same manner as his prior “Fantastic Mr. Fox”, and now this movie deserves the same recognition. This could be the next Best Animated Feature at next year’s Oscar program, because this movie is Man’s Next Best Friend. It is a visual delight and it is filled with a huge kennel of top talent.

“Isle of Dogs” is set in a near-future Japan, where the city of Megasaki is led by a grouchy old politition Mayor Kobayashi (Kunichi Nomura). He dislikes dogs so much that when an outbreak of ‘snout flu’ make the canines less than desirable, he banishes them all out to Trash Island. He starts with the loyal protector dog named Spots (Liev Schreiber). Spots is the canine companion and guardian to the Mayor’s young ward, Atari (Koyu Rankin). The young Atari knows that the Mayor is up to something, when all the dogs in the city get rounded up and exiled out to the lonely island of garbage.

There are several alpha dogs that run in an Alpha Pack on the island. Starting with Rex (Edward Norton) who thinks he is the leader, and King (Bob Balaban) who was in a series of commercials, along with Boss (Bill Murray) who used to be a little league mascot, and finally Duke (Jeff Goldblum) who just hangs around spreading gossip. These dogs are sometimes joined by Chief (Bryan Cranston) who is street-smart stray, and never wants to be part of the human world again.

Atari is able to steal a small plane and fly to Trash Island, so he can start the quest to find Spots. The Alpha Pack finds Atari and they want to help him. It is difficult, because Atari speaks nothing by Japanese, and the dogs bark only in English. Rex comes up with a plan, time and time again, only to be countered by Chief. Chief always comes up with a more sensible idea, but he wants nothing to do with Atari. Back in the main city, there is a brilliant scientist who is developing a cure for the snout flu. And there is a foreign exchange study named Tracy (Greta Gerwig) who supports Atari and the dogs.

Atari and the Alpha Pack go on a search for Spots, and Atari grows closer to Chief along the way. Chief wants nothing of the sort, but he slowly sees that a boy’s love for Spots is real. They meet many other dogs in the wild of the island. There is Nutmeg (Scarlett Johansson) who was a show dog in her prior life. There is Jupiter (F. Murray Abraham) and Oracle (Tilda Swinton), two dogs in charge of a different section of the island. Each of them has found a way to cope with being banished from Megasaki. But each one would like nothing better to be back with his or her original owner.

Mayor Kobayashi becomes more fanatical in his hatred for dogs, and he begins plans for an extermination. The dogs begin an uprising and a resistance to the unyielding power of the Mayor. The Office of the Mayor has a real-time translator (Frances McDormand) who is constantly catching all of the interested parties up on the latest development. There is also a deep-voiced Narrator (Courtney B. Vance) who is very quick to explain the finer points of the Japanese local government and the various geological features of Trash Island.

But the real beauty of the movie is in the visual displays of the scenes. Each frame is hand-crafted and manipulated with precision to show stop-action puppet movement. Each character is delightfully illustrated, more than any CGI created animated cartoon could ever be. There is an aspect that looks and feels real, and that is something beyond even the best Disney animated movie. This movie can be compared to Ws Anderson’s other stop-action film “Fantastic Mr. Fox”. But that one was based on a well-known children’s book, and “Isle of Dogs” is basically all Wes Anderson.

When you see “Isle of Dogs”, you will know that Wes Anderson was not barking up the wrong tree…

Opens March 28th – in Phoenix – exclusive at Harkins Camelview at Fashion Square

Flower Movie Review

March 24, 2018 Published by Shari K. Green

In today’s climate with the Me Too and Time’s Up movements comes a real daisy of a story. Flower is fresh and unexpectedly bold entertainment. It opens by telling us how high school student Erica (Deutch) and her friends make extra spending money. Not wanting to give too much away, I’ll let you know that it’s by getting middle-aged men in precarious situations and extorting cash from them when the moment’s right. Picking the most vulnerable, the young women know the men won’t resist them nor will their demands for cash be denied. Erica, the prettiest of the girls and the most flirtatious, takes on the task of performing oral sex on older men but being very open sexually she doesn’t see it as a burden.

As you get to know Erica you’re shocked by her, but her personality isn’t off-putting in the least. She’s a product of a broken home who believes she’s loved by a father who’s in prison and who desperately wants the opposite of what her mother is currently looking for. Her mother, played by the extremely qualified Kathryn Hahn, smiles and pretends to enjoy being around someone who doesn’t bring her joy, so that’ she’s not alone and Erica desperately doesn’t want that for herself. She vows her life will not end up like her mothers but while looking for fault in others, Erica doesn’t see those within herself. Her mother’s fiancé, Bob (Heidecker), has a son named Luke (Morgan) who is emotionally unstable due to drugs and a troubled past. When Erica meets Luke, she’s underwhelmed at his looks but is taken aback by the fact that he isn’t overwhelmed by hers. Unable to accept that a man doesn’t see her as a sexual object, she meddles in his business until he opens up to her.

He tells her that he’s filled with anxieties, he’s an overeater and depressed because of something that happened in his past. Luke won’t say who it was but informs her that when he was younger, a teacher sexually abused him. She begins to feel for someone other than herself for the first time which is an awakening of sorts. She grows attached to her soon to be stepbrother and vows to help him set things straight. ‘Shaking down a child molester is our moral obligation.’ However, when she finds out who the teacher is and implements her plan of attack, everything beings to go wrong.
The end of the film is a bit of a letdown but overall, the movie is engaging and the actors do a fantastic job of keeping you sympathetic to their plight; supportive of the storyline.

Watch Flower at a theatre near you. It’s a good indie film with a surprising twist at the end.
If in Phoenix, enjoy this at HARKINS CAMELVIEW AT FASHION SQUARE today.

Pacific Rim Uprising Movie Review

March 23, 2018 (updated March 22, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

The movie “Pacific Rim Uprising” is a sequel to “Pacific Rim” from a few years back. In the “Rim” world, the giant monsters (called ‘kaiju’) were defeated by the humans controlling giant robots (called ‘jaegers’). It was an excuse to see enormous good guy robots lay the smack down on gigantic evil beasts in order to save the world. After the world was saved, it took ten years (in movie time) to get back to the same ‘Rock-en Sock-em’ battle mode. in “Uprising” there is a new threat, and the world is ready to be saved again. This is a Science-Fiction Action movie that relies a lot more on the Action and the Fiction than it does on the Science.

Ten years ago, a brave jaeger pilot and commander named Stacker Pentecost declared they were “canceling the apocalypse!”. They did this by fighting and defeating the kaiju. But he died in the effort and he left behind his son Jake (John Boyega) and his adopted Japanese daughter Mako (Rinko Kikuchi). Mako was a famous jaeger pilot back in the war. Back then, young Jake was starting in the Jaeger Training program until he was kicked out. But after a street brawl instigated by an even younger Amara Namani (Cailee Spaeny), who is a street-wise orphan and illegal jaeger scrapper, they both get (forced) into the school. There Jake meets his old partner-pilot Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood), who wants Jake to take the training seriously this time.

There are new threats that arise, and a Chinese industrial tycoon wants to replace all human-controlled jaegers with remote-controlled drones. There is a special vote to be held in Sydney, but an unknown jaeger attacks the city and kills Mako. She was able to get out a coded message in time. The kaiju may be returning, and this time, they are getting help. There are two scientists (also from in the first movie) named Dr. Newt Geiszler (Charlie Day) and Dr. Hermann Gottlieb (Burn Gorman). Newt now works for the huge Chinese company making the drones. Gottlieb is still with the team that supports the jaeger pilots.

After a sneak attack by the drones, who are secretly controlled by kaiju brains, only the Trainee Cadets are all that is left. Like I said, this movie relies very little on the Science from Science-Fiction. Trainee Cadets include Amara plus a handful of other ethnically-diverse young jaeger pilots. They are led into battle by Jake and Lambert, who have the most powerful jaeger named Gipsy Avenger. Some of the other jaeger names are Bracer Phoenix, Guardian Bravo, Titan Redeemer, and Saber Athena. These sound more like Axe Body Wash scents, but oh well…

But how are the evil kaiju still on the attack after ten years, and who is helping them to organize a new assault on humanity? I am not at liberty to say, but the culprit might say that It’s Always Sunny in Tokyo City. By the way, the skyscrapers in Tokyo take a beating from the jaeger vs. kaiju wrestling match. The whole place seems to be pretty much gets leveled, as the kaiju all combine into one super-sized monster. The thing is heading to Mt. Fuji, and the thing is not after film or apples.

The acting is relatable to the story-line, it is not fantastic, but there are a couple of standouts. John Boyega has a ton of charm and charisma, and he will not be outdone by the same attributes in Scott Eastwood. Cailee Spaeny is OK in a role that tries to make her do (and know) too much. The snide little comments from Burn Gorman as Dr. Hermann make him the best one to root for.

There is plenty of action, and it all holds together really well. That is unlike the mess that is any “Transformers” movie. The pacing is brisk and it moves from location to location with a focused goal. It does not let any fluff take over the story. You know, stuff like, a deep back-story for any character, any accurate scientific theories, any meaningful dialogue, and especially no mushy romance scenes.

To sum it up:

If you like this sort of thing, then you will sort-of like this thing…

Love, Simon Movie Review

March 16, 2018 (updated March 16, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

‘Love, Simon’ is a touching story about a high school student named Simon (Robinson). He has a secret that he has kept from everyone in his life. That secret is that hes never told his family or friends that he’s gay. The film, in a way, encourages those who haven’t, to do the same. Why do I say that? Because it shines a light on how much his friends love him and how much support his family would give him. There’s no way he doesn’t know this, yet he’s still terrified to tell anyone. The reason for that is he’s focusing only on those people who wouldn’t approve, instead of those who love him enough not to care who he loves.

It’s also a coming of age story, like the many who have come before it, but there’s something special here. If you can get past the bad jokes, some which are set up, so the audience will feel for Simon, some just cheesy and ineffective, you’ll truly enjoy the film. After those are out of the way, about halfway through, ‘Love, Simon’ finds its own voice instead of trying to be a crazy, teenage romp. It’s an unusual movie with a terribly important subject and told in a brave and unique way but not until later in the film, when the filmmakers decide they’re not trying to be ‘Revenge of the Nerds’, ‘Sixteen Candle’s,’ or your basic romantic comedy, will you feel that it is. Had they stayed away from the horrible character of the principal (Hale), it might not have been judged so harshly but at times it was so over the top, especially with him, that I can’t help mention how mediocre it could be at times. To break the vibe of faculty trying too hard to fit in comes the drama teacher, Ms. Albright, played by Natasha Rothwell. She was hysterical and it’s her class that not only gives Simon the first true place he can feel himself but gives the film its first real laughs, as well.

In the end, all Simon wants is to be accepted and that makes the film relatable. Most of us, at one point or another in our lives, have felt that very same way. The circumstances may have been different but being acknowledged as part of a pack has been ingrained in us. Simon is no different. The scenes primarily take place in his high school so the movie will have a younger audience who understands the roles of electronics and the complications of having them in their lives.

In the library, Simon begins an email exchange with someone who wishes to remain anonymous, as does Simon. This person calls himself ‘Blue.’ After these emails begin, Simon desires more and more to meet him and tell the world that he loves him. What ends up happening is that Simon spends the rest of the film trying to figure out who Blue is. They do a great job of hiding this from you!

Simon struggles with his own way of coming out to everyone but, unlike Blue, doesn’t get to decide the time, someone chooses it for him. An all-student online chat has been created where the students do and say horrible things about one another and, in a scenario that’s hard to believe would happen, Simon’s announcement is made here. Blue sees this and, afraid the same thing will happen to him, decides to step away.

Essentially, we’ve seen this movie before, just not with two young men. But, as I’ve mentioned, when ‘Love, Simon’ shifts from comedy gear to a more serious tone, the movie stops trying to imitate and becomes a special piece to witness. What they’ve done well, works to close the film and has you leaving with a sense of fulfillment. It’s dramatic and emotional and wins you over because the rom-com formula doesn’t work and that’s not hard to see but you will enjoy it for what it is.

LOVE, SIMON Official Channels

Website: LoveSimonMovie.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoveSimonMovie/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lovesimonmovie?lang=en

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovesimonmovie/

#LOVESIMON

7 Days in Entebbe Movie Review

March 16, 2018 (updated March 12, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

In July 1976 almost all people around the world were enjoying the upcoming U.S.A. Bicentennial celebrations. Except a handful who happened to be aboard an Air France jet that was hijacked in Athens. The jet left Israel and was taken over by Palestinian extremists and two German revolutionaries. The plane finally found safe passage into Uganda and landed in Entebbe. That country was led by a dictator named Idi Amain, and he gave the hijackers a place to stay. The Israeli government was backed into a corner, and something had to be done.

The hijackers were from split between Palestinians wanting a homeland, and the Germans, who had no other revolts left to join. The German authorities had shut down the German terror cells, and these two headed off to hang out with the others. Brigitte Kuhlmann (Rosamund Pike) and Wilfried Böse (Daniel Brühl) had no prior experience doing something major like this, so they decided to help the Palastinians. Idi Amain (Nonso Anozie) had no love for the major world powers, so he thought he would shove their nose into the situation. Amin let the hijackers use the airport in Entebee as a place to conduct negotiations, or perhaps executions. Air France was helpless to end the stand-off, so it left it up to the Israelis.

The Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Lior Ashkenazi) knew that they could not negotiate. If they gave in, then more planes would be taken and more hostages would be in danger. The Defense Minister was Shimon Peres (Eddie Marsan) who knew that as things went on, he could persuade Rabin to eventually take military action. Not action that would confront Uganda directly, but a stealth operation that could get done under cover of darkness to free the passengers. This would not be an easy mission, but Peres believed that it needed to be done.

Böse was becoming more discouraged by the actions of the Palestinians. They had no respect for any of the hostages, and even less for those who were Jewish. Kuhlmann had turned the corner in her sanity and was popping more and more drugs to stay awake. She would lose touch with reality every now and then, but she was a brutal soldier in the fight. The crew of the Air France flight acted bravely and took special care to see that all the passengers were treated OK. But they had no control over anything. They could only hope for some type of rescue.

That rescue did come, by the way. There can be no spoilers about this, because it all happened more than 40 years ago! Amin’s forces helped to guard the old terminal where the hostages were held. But when the Israeli Special Forces arrived, the rescue operation would take down many of the Ugandan forces. Then they focused on the hijackers, and all of them were eliminated. The initial group of 248 taken hostage was then down to 94 by the time the rescue team arrived. Of those, only three people died in the fight, plus one Israeli soldier. The soldier killed was named Netanyahu. His younger brother went on to become the current Prime Minister of Israel.

For some reason this movie was made now, after several other films have already been made about the same events. This movie is over 40 years after the incident, so in does not reflect any breaking or recent news. The director, José Padilha, does a weird thing in the final act by cutting between the hostage rescue and a modern jazz dance recital. Yes, that does sound odd, but the actual depiction is even stranger. Perhaps it means that the soldiers are fighting for the right of dancers to make jazz hands? Don’t know…

The biggest actors of note are Daniel Brühl and Rosamund Pike. But there is something creepy about humanizing a couple of leftist anarchists who help hijack a plane. They are portrayed as wanting to make a big difference in the world. But doing that by holding hostages and threatening to kill them might not win any arguments. All the Palestinians portrayed as mean and belligerent. Idi Amin is mostly a joke character.

If any portrayal is positive, it is in the way that the Israeli government finally made the gutsy decision to make the rescue attempt. The entire thing was fraught with risk, and the fact that they made it out with as such a small number of causalities is amazing. In short,

Watching “7 Days in Entebbe” makes one weak…

Tomb Raider Movie Review

March 15, 2018 (updated March 15, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

Better Title: Indiana Croft and the Raiders of Tomb

Lara Croft is the main character from a video game ‘Tomb Raider’. She shares many things in common with Indiana Jones. Both are adventurous treasure seekers, who travel all about the globe. Both have fathers who also were adventurous treasure seekers and both are handy with person weapon. With Indiana, it is his bullwhip; for Croft, she uses a bow and arrow. They fight evil people who are looking to harm the earth and its people. Indiana fights Nazis, and Croft faces off against an evil organization called Trinity.

Lara (Alicia Vikander) is the daughter of a successful London businessman named Lord Richard Croft (Dominic West). But for seven years, he has been missing and presumed dead. Lara will not accept that fact. The entire holdings of the Croft empire would be in her control, if she would only sign the papers that officially declare her Dad is dead. Her guardian Ana Miller (Kristin Scott Thomas) is waiting still for Lara to come to her senses. But instead Lara has found a key hidden by her Dad before he left on a journey many years ago. This leads her to a secret hideaway that her Dad had created, and she learns the reasons he left.

She makes her way to retrace her Dad’s steps by going to Hong Kong and find the ship he last sailed on. She finds the ship, and the ship’s captain is the son of the man that took her Dad years ago. Lu Ren (Daniel Wu) has given up on the past, because he lost his dad at the same time. But Lara convinces Lu Ren to take her to an unknown island where her father was headed. Perhaps they can both find out what happened to both their parents. This island is supposed to hold the tomb of an ancient Queen of Japan.

But a bad storm shipwrecks the two of them on a reef, and they are separated. Lara swims to the island, but is taken hostage by the mysterious group who is also on the island searching for the Queen’s tomb. This group is led by Vogel (Walton Goggins), and he is as ruthless as his thugs. Lu Ren is also there, physically forced into hard labor. Many other lost souls are also being forced to work against their will. The entire focus is to find the tomb, and that is what brought Richard Croft there to search years ago. Vogel claims to have killed Lara’s dad years ago.

But Richard Croft is still alive on the island, and soon he meets up with Lara. But they are captured by Vogel again and they find their way into the tomb. That is when the real Indiana Jones stuff stars to happen. Vogel is working for Trinity, the shadowy evil group who wants to use the special supernatural power of the ancient Queen of Japan for some evil purpose. Richard has pledged his life to stop it, and Lara is there to make sure that something works out right. But there are Indiana Jones-type life-or-death bobby traps to puzzle out. There are ‘National Treasure’ type riddles to figure out.

A Video game based movie is pretty similar to a Comic book based movie. You go into it knowing that it is a bit removed from reality. But with “Tomb Raider”, the writing and direction are trying to make it part of the real world. It could have used director Roar Uthaug playing it with a few winks and nods to the audience. But it strives for a Shakespeare level of literary value that just is not there. It is a very well-done popcorn matinee type movie. Even the soundtrack swells and drumbeats you into how you should feel about a scene.

Alicia Vikander knows that this is less than Oscar worthy material, but she puts in a very physical and high-value performance. Walton Goggins is great yet unsettling as he plays a very bad man, slowly going nuts on that island. Dominic West is decent and he gets some heroics in the end. Daniel Wu is OK and he gets a few good lines. Kristin Scott Thomas plays a very minor role overall, and then the plot attempts to ‘Keyser Söze’ her character, with does not work out well.

Has this been done before? Yes, of course. Has it been done better? Yes, but there is a certain charm to Vikander and her attempt to turn Lara Croft into a more brainy, and not quite as busty, woman adventurer. She handles the roles well, but the movie does not live up to what it could have been.

Submission Movie Review

March 12, 2018 (updated March 14, 2018) Published by Shari K. Green

Stanley Tucci plays, Ted Swensen, a moderately famous professor of literature in ‘Submission.’ Due to having sold one somewhat lucrative novel and being touted, for a moment, ‘the writer to watch,’ he teaches the subject but isn’t necessarily where he wants to be. On occasion, he gets some special attention from students, fans of his work, he might not otherwise have received and smiles at the thought. However, after the failure of being able to write a follow-up book, he realizes that things might not ever be better than it is now. Wanting more than what his station can provide, he gets himself into a mess when an opportunity to feel on top again presents itself. It comes in the form of the adoration of a young student. Enjoying the praise and attention, his ego or inner nature doesn’t see the path he is being led down, only where the road may ultimately lead. I’ll give you a hint… he’s on a course to self-destruction.

Richard Levine’s adaptation of the Francine Prose novel, ‘Blue Angel’ is a fascinating, dramatic narrative about the glaringly oblivious, powerful male archetype being chewed up and swallowed by a seemingly sympathetic, innocent and doting student, aptly named, Angela. It is divine. The angelic student is presented to us by the wonderfully gifted Addison Timlin, who first starts weaving her web by flattering Ted, telling him how much his book helped her get through her father’s death. Timlin’s Angela is engaging and hypnotizing. Angela is crafty and manipulative and though tender at first, she gets more aggressive, knowing full well when to bring out the big guns.

One day while speaking to him after class, she overwhelms him with the things and people she most admires. She throws out some of her other favorite authors, all names that impress him and help them relate to one another, not to mention, compel him to want to know more. She speaks of her own book and while doing so she makes herself seem vulnerable, cutting herself down whenever possible so that she can gauge his feelings by whether or not he tries to build her back up. She the queen to his pawn in a game he isn’t prepared to play. She soon asks her professor to read the first chapter of her book and asks him to tell her what he thinks of it. Who better to give her an opinion than the wonderful and talented Ted Swensen? After she explains all the reasons he shouldn’t read it, he agrees to make time for it. The book is called ‘Egg’ which turns out to be largely sexual in nature.

We listen to Swensen’s inner dialogue through the beginning of the film, which is fitting to carry the story forward. You might not be a big fan of voice over but it’s humorous and instructive at times and helps endear the audience to his character. However, as we move further along, we don’t hear his thoughts as much, only the chapters he is reading as they now have consumed his every thought, his imagination and have cost him sleep. As his interest in the story intensifies so does his interest in Angela. He believes this young author to be, ‘Quite accomplished,’ and instructs her not to show it to others; to keep is close.

Through different characters and situations, at a dinner party with his loving wife, Sherrie (Sedgwick), and speaking of his student Angela with another professor, Magda (Garofalo), he is given subtle warnings about her and the situation that’s building in general and doesn’t catch a single one. Through these warnings, the audience gets a glimpse of how dangerous having one’s ego stroked to this degree can be. Tension builds, you shake your head at him and though he tries to tell himself he’s only a mentor, maybe even a father figure, it’s not working with you.

This is a great strategy and Tucci is the perfect everyman to associate with. This story is fantastic. We see that the jig is finally up when he reads the line in the book, ‘I alone had the power to make a grown man risk everything.’ This is a brilliant way to finally give Ted an awakening, one of many.

Submission is a pleasure. It’s well written, well shot and the actors were remarkable. It unfolds to reveal two opportunists, one more vicious than the other. I’ll let you decide which one that is. *See it at Harkins Shea 14 tonight!

The Strangers: Prey at Night – Movie Review

March 9, 2018 Published by Shari K. Green

If you’ve ever read any of my reviews for horror films, you’ll know I base how frightening the movie was by whether or not I have to leave the light on at bedtime. This is a leave, at least, a nightlight on type of situation. The main reason for that is because if you let the main theme of the film, people out to kill you who won’t stop until they do, sink into your psyche it’s quite distressing and can interrupt one’s plans for a good night’s sleep. The movie played a part it in, as well, of course. It’s a decent horror but it did have its fair amount of eye-rolling scenes, mostly due to things the characters do that no one in their right mind would. If they hadn’t continually done, well, stupid things that make you periodically root for the killers, Dollface, Pin-Up Girl and Man in the Mask, the flick would most likely keep you up all night. The very thought that people would want to kill indiscriminately because they’re bored is terrifying. When asked by one of the characters why she’s doing what she’s doing, Dollface responds, ‘Why not.’

The original movie, The Strangers, written and directed by Bryan Bertino, one of the writers of this film, was unique and more frightening than this but its sequel is filled with just as much blood and as many jump-scares as its predecessor. Dollface and Pin-Up Girl seem to always come out of nowhere to wrangle this family of vacationers right where they want them to be able to torture them with ease. The first film, starring Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler, is similar in that they are a married couple who are terrorized at their vacation home by masked strangers. This time, it’s a married couple with two teenage kids, going to spend a vacation at a family members trailer park near a lake. What makes this all more frightening of a thought is where the premise of the screenplay originally came from. The Strangers came to Bertino because of two true events. Those of the Manson family, Tate murders, where several people were killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and also a series of break-ins that happened in Bertino’s neighborhood when he was younger, whereupon a stranger would knock on the door and ask if a particular person was home, just to see if someone was there. If no one was home at the moment, that was the place they hit. Combining these two ideas made it possible to construct a horrifying tale of unwitting victims unable to escape the circumstances they found themselves.

Christina Hendricks (Madmen) plays a mother named Cindy and Martin Henderson (Grey’s Anatomy) plays her husband, Mike, who decide to force their teenagers, Kinsey (Madison) and Luke, played by Bill Pullman’s son Lewis, to take a trip with them to a place where Cindy and Mike, more or less, have their kids to themselves. Well, they do get them to themselves but not for long.

They find that the trailer park is deserted and her uncle isn’t there to greet them so they’ll see them in the morning. It’s peculiar but god forbid anyone listens to the hairs on the back of their necks which are pointing the way out for them. They ignore their gut feelings and because of that decision, their family vacation never gets underway. The terror starts almost the very moment they get there… without a chance to play cards or reconnect. From earlier scenes, you can see that the siblings aren’t close but before long they’re having to save each other. They find themselves wandering alone, in a place they’re not familiar with, without help and no way to get any.

For the most part, it’s cliché (a wounded girl can’t run) and it’s highly predictable (the victims moves toward the problem not away from it) and I just can’t say enough how ridiculous it is that the individuals in this film’s scenarios put themselves in danger more than help themselves out of it. That said, if you like a good, fun horror, you’ll get plenty out of it. There are a lot of jump-scares and the occasional clutch-your-seat scene to make this a worthwhile watch. There was particular care in making sure you heard people struggling to live. That was a plus. Director Johannes Roberts puts you into the action in a scene where Luke is being attacked by Man in the Mask in a pool. We go under the water with him, briefly come up for air only to be yanked back under giving us that feeling of all hope being lost at the same time Luke experiences it. Eerie. I would like Roberts to explain one thing to me, though. Why on earth is Man in the Mask a big fan of Kim Wilde and Air Supply? Perhaps to remind us that he is just a normal guy under there or that he’s a touch on the older side? Whatever the answer, it was odd. So is the film. Watch it anyway but I’d wait for cable.

THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT Official Channels

Website: preyatnight.com

Facebook: Facebook.com/TheStrangers

Twitter: @TheStrangers

Instagram: @TheStrangers

Category: Reviews