Tag: Mystery

THE LITTLE STRANGER Starring: Domhnall Gleeson and Charlotte Rampling- Trailer

June 11, 2018 (updated June 11, 2018) Published by

Story: THE LITTLE STRANGER tells the story of Dr. Faraday, the son of a housemaid, who has built a life of quiet respectability as a country doctor. During the long hot summer of 1948, he is called to a patient at Hundreds Hall, where his mother once worked.  The Hall has been home to the Ayres family for more than two centuries.  But it is now in decline and its inhabitants – mother, son and daughter – are haunted by something more ominous than a dying way of life.  When he takes on his new patient, Faraday has no idea how closely, and how disturbingly, the family’s story is about to become entwined with his own.


Director: Lenny Abrahamson (“Room”) 

Writer: Lucinda Coxon (“The Danish Girl”), based on the novel by Sarah Waters 

Producers: Gail Egan, Ed Guiney, Andrea Calderwood 

Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, Will Poulter, and Charlotte Rampling 

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In Theaters August 31

http://www.fandango.com

Hereditary Movie Review

June 8, 2018 (updated November 16, 2018) Published by

A24’s done it again and with Toni Collette starring in their latest film, ‘Hereditary,’ they’ve created a must-see horror film; one that will be remembered for a long time to come. She’s one of the most underrated actors working today so I’m glad to see her get this role. Forgive that the film is a bit slow because Collette is outstanding as Annie a, fundamentally, cursed soul. This script allowed Collette a great deal of room to play more than one entity and gave her character above average depth. Horror films usually give female characters one dimension, but Collette’s Annie is to frighten you and throw you off course and she does so with ease.

Annie is writer/director Ari Aster’s female lead, a mother who is fighting many demons in the present as well as evil in her bloodline she was previously unaware of. When her mother passes away, grief-stricken, Annie inherits complications she doesn’t understand but must now deal with, ready or not
 like it or not. Though she tries to avoid the truth about her ancestry, several horribly events push her to acknowledge who she is. She says things she never knew she felt, experiences the mythical and sees what she once thought unreal. The complexity of the death of her daughter moves her in a direction the filmmakers made sure the audience would never see coming. This is well hidden in trailers because they lead you to believe her daughter, Charlie (Shapiro), is a problem child to be feared when it turns out that it’s Annie we all need to be concerned with. After all, she is next in line. How this unravels is just a slice of what makes the film such a delightful fright. True or not, making your audience imagine that Annie is the protagonist before they even sit to watch the story unfold is a brilliant move. Centered around her behavior for how she loses her child, the suspense builds in a most unusual fashion, taking this mother down a most unexpected path. The shock and terror come from who you envision she’ll be and you never expect who she ultimately becomes.

In his feature debut, Aster manages to surprise horror fans by giving them a feeling of isolation with the story and making it almost impossible to grasp onto a lifeline that could pull them to safety
 because there isn’t one in or around them to find. Annie is unredeemable. As she becomes more desperate, Aster uses fewer clichĂ©s and relies a limited amount on what makes a traditional horror film grim and ghastly which will endear you to his style and drive you wild with anticipation for the next nightmare he’ll drag you through.

I did have one issue but didn’t want to give anything away by revealing too much. However, I feel compelled to mention what I thought was a tragic error so I will. The storyline Annie’s son, Peter (Wolff), is involved in won’t be divulged because it’s very jarring, but I must mention that the actor chosen was not a good fit for the part. This felt so wrong that it pulls you out of the story at times. The creepy level is high and the tension you’ll feel will startle and impress. Horror doesn’t work when it’s predictable. ‘Hereditary’ is anything but that.

The Endless Movie Review

May 6, 2018 (updated May 10, 2018) Published by

Sometimes a movie can sneak up on you and take your idea of reality and throw it in the trash can. “The Endless” can do just that. It can lift out your brain, put it in the blender, and hit ‘Frappe’. But when you are finished watching, you realize that the movie that you just saw has taken you on a trip into an alternate dimension Fun House. Be careful, you still might be stuck somewhere in the Hall of Mirrors.

Two brothers have escaped ten years ago from a weird ‘UFO death cult’, as they called it. Aaron Smith (Aaron Moorhead) rememebers things much differently than his older brother Justin (Justin Benson). Being far removed from that time, they both feel isolated without contact with the cult members. They are living dull and drab lives, and they wish to make a final closing statement to the other cult people. So they head back for just single night to confront them. But at the same time, Aaron thinks they might be able to take them back.

Justin and Aaron stop at the roadside marker that shows where their mother was killed in a car crash and the cultists found the two boys alone. The cult took them in and cared for them, and Aaron has some fond memories. Back at Camp Arcadia, Aaron and Justin meet with many of the people with whom they used to live. The group has no actual leader, but Hal (Tate Ellington) is the one who talks the most and explains things to them. But how to explain that 10 years have gone by, yet the entire group seems to have not aged? There is Anna (Callie Hernandez) who is sweet to Aaron and might be using her charm to make him stay. There is Tim (Lew Temple) who is big and brawny and might be an enforcer who can make people stay.

Justin wants to get going quickly, because he feels something is not quite right at the camp. The members of the group never leave, and there are very odd things that he sees. Gravity does not seem to work in the same way. The full moon is shown to be two moons in the sky. There are things that Justin cannot explain, Aaron is not paying attention at first, but soon he also gets the idea that there are unnatural forces at work. Justin tries to leave, and he gets lost in the woods.

Justin finds a fellow named Carl (James Jordan) and he explains some things to Justin. But he does not believe Carl, until he sees the results of what happens. There is an unseen force or an entity that is controlling these people, at the camp and in Carl’s cabin. Justin goes not he finds a couple of guys in a cabin where unusual things happen with time. In some areas, there is repeating loop where time is not advancing into the future. Justin and Aaron reconnect and both decide that it is time for them to go. But will they be able to get out of the mystery location, without a way to know what the hell is going on?

Justin Benson has come up with a story that takes you and gives you a very strange tingle of your spidy-sences. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead manage to not only direct the entire film, but also two play the two key roles. As brothers who had been able to escape the clutches of a strange death-cult, they return to find things were more bizarre then they thought. The story unfolds very slowly and methodically, with just enough unexplained images and dialog to make you wonder if the two guys are just insane.

For a very small independent movie, this reaches and succeeds far better than a handful of major Hollywood releases. It explores the presence of an unseen entity better than “Annihilation”. It takes a stab at displaying time loops that can rival the movie “Edge of Tomorrow”. It takes a clever look at what being in a cult can do to mess up the brain of young kids, better than any other major movie.

“The Endless” does a credible job of breaking out of a ‘cult status’ movie and being able to become a well-respected and interesting movie that will be talked about for ages.

In Phoenix, playing the FilmBar

You Were Never Really Here Movie Review

April 13, 2018 Published by

Though some may view this as painfully slow in the beginning, I see it more as art being created before your very eyes. With any piece of art, it takes time to make it come to life and why should a film be any different? Slow and lacking in story and structure is different, this builds to a magnificent climax and with its gorgeous cinematography, noteworthy performances and memorable plot, you won’t leave feeling disillusioned. In fact, if you like Martin Scorsese’s ‘Taxi Driver’ this is definitely the film for you. Joaquin Phoenix plays, Joe, his version of Scorsese’s Travis Bickle. Phoenix plays him much in the same way that DeNiro played Travis. He’s raw and unkept but Joe isn’t disturbed. He’s haunted, yes, but he has clear goals and will do anything to meet them, especially when they get personal. Phoenix won in Cannes for the film and I believe he’ll be rewarded here, too.

Joe’s past, shown to us in snippets of macabre flashbacks, has led him to perform very dark things but for good reason. He is an advocate of sorts, hired to help people, mostly little girls who were abducted or are runaways, break free of the sex trade they’re forced into
 and he’s exceptional at his job. His preferred method of taking people out is a hammer and when we first meet him, he’s cleaning up a crime scene, indicating to us he’s methodical, careful and very professional. He also takes care of his elderly mother and from the flashbacks, it seems she’s all he’s ever had. With his next assignment, helping a politician’s daughter escape the clutches of a sex maniac, he ends up putting his mother’s and his own life in jeopardy. The film was directed by a female director, Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin) which could be why Joe, though a killer, conveys such loving and caring characteristics. You’ll sense great sorrow and warmth inside of him and take pity.

I don’t want to give too much away but there’s a scene when Joe’s in a lake. He’s sinking to the bottom for a reason I won’t tell you here but it’s handled so beautifully, so poetically, that it brings you to the brink of tears. As an audience member, you take on Joe’s anguish and heartache. It’s a spectacular look at this character and a shot you may never forget. His relationship with his charges may seem to get in the way of his missions but then you realize those relationships are the missions. He may be saving them but, in essence, when all is said and done, they are saving him.

Don’t miss this fascinating film for anything. I can’t stress this enough. Enjoy the fact that Ramsay takes some time to paint you the full picture
 it’s worth it. You’ll like the soundtrack that accompanies the film, as well. The ending is somewhat vague but had it drifted on a definitive course, it wouldn’t have fit the style. Go see this asap!

Red Sparrow Movie Review

March 2, 2018 (updated February 28, 2018) Published by

“Red Sparrow” is Russian spy craft for what could be called a ‘honey pot’. It is an enticing and intriguing person willing to bend to your every whim, only to double-cross and lead you into destruction. When a former ballerina becomes a Sparrow – then secrets, and blood, will likely be spilled. Hope you can get that carpet cleaned


Dominika (Jennifer Lawrence) is the ballet prima donna at the Russian ballet, until an unfortunate accident. With a bum leg, Dominika will no longer star in the ballet, and she will be tossed out of her place. Her mother will get no medical care, unless her uncle, Ivan (Matthias Schoenaerts), can help her. But she has little choice but to take Ivan’s offer: Sparrow Training Center.

Ivan runs the Russian Security Services (the new and improved KGB). Dominika goes to the training center to become adept at seduction and persuasion. If not, her mother will die. The strict woman who runs the school is the Matron (Charlotte Rampling) and she runs the place with an Iron Curtain fist. Dominika is stripped of all dignity, and at times, all of her clothes. Brutal training includes humiliation, beatings and near rapes. Ivan takes her away for a mission. There is a highly placed general named Korchnoi (Jeremy Irons) who thinks Ivan is not carful enough with the mission.

Her objective is to seduce a Russian oligarch who had made a little too much money. But she is brutalized and he is brutally killed. Dominika is taken away and given a new assignment. She is sent to Europe to attach herself to a CIA agent named Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton). Nash has a super-secret mole, a source inside the Russian government that Ivan and his pals want to ‘talk to’. That is spy talk for torture and slowly kill.

There is much traveling – to Bucharest, then Vienna, then London and then to Moscow and back to Bucharest. Anyway, Dominika gets wind of an American who can get military secrets. She has a roommate in Bucharest who tells her about the woman codenamed Swan (Mary-Louise Parker), but her roommate is brutally murdered. Dominika goes to meet with the traitor Swan and deliver the payoff. So she gets all the US State secrets, all on three and half inch floppy drives? Wow, so up-to-date


But Agent Nash is attempting to win over Dominika to be his double-agent. But at the same time, it is Dominika’s job to win over Nash to determine the identity of the Russian mole. Both are playing a deadly game of Spy vs. Spy. And neither one can be quite sure whose side the other one is really on. At one point a Russian killer is there to take Nash hostage and begins to torture him to death. Will Dominika come to his aid, or is her training really set in stone?

“Red Sparrow” is based on a novel, but it tries to pack as many Cold War type stories inside as it can. There is a story about the Sparrow Training Center, which Dominika later calls “whore school”. There is the Nash and his mole story, which could have been made much more prominent. This is the subplot of the Swan character selling US secrets, and how that all could have come about. There is the main story of Dominika going to meet with Nash and turn him, while Nash is busy trying to change her into another asset.

Francis Lawrence (as the director) should have picked out one of these stories and stayed with it. The movie ends up being overly long and drawn out. Jennifer Lawrence (as the main character) does a passable Russian accent, which occasionally fades in and out. Lawrence (Francis, not Jennifer) takes way too much time focused on humiliation, brutality, murder, rape, and torture. Lawrence (Jennifer, not Francis) does quite a few bold adult moves with scenes of nudity and some sex scenes.

Both Joel Edgerton and Matthias Schoenaerts do very good with their characters. Also, Charlotte Rampling is quite chilling in her role as an emotionless head of the State-run school. But the movie could have used a lot more of Mary-Louise Parker and Jeremy Irons. These two are wonderful actors and the movie perks up a bit more when they are on the screen.

“Red Sparrow” is a quite adequate spy movie, with a high level of torture and sex thrown in. But that is an unusual combination, and it makes for an icy and chilly reception for the Cold War drama. Red Sparrow does get off the ground and flies, but it never does soar


The Vanishing of Sidney Hall Movie Review

March 1, 2018 (updated March 1, 2018) Published by

This film is about a young, talented writer who is loved and admired by everyone.  With the help of his adoring teacher, he gets a publishing deal almost overnight, comes close to winning the Pulitzer Prize and then, instead of appreciating it and enjoying his success, he vanishes. Of course, there is a lot of tragedy and melodrama in between these moments, which explains some of his character, but it’s the way the story is told you’ll have the biggest problem with.

While watching the movie I couldn’t help but compare it to Catcher in the Rye, a popular book with adolescents about a young man looking for someone to connect with. Not only does the storyline remind me of the book but the main character, Sidney (Lerman), seemed to mirror J.D. Salinger himself. The 2017 film Rebel in the Rye came to mind while watching this, as well, with both the subject matter and the writers having almost the same artistic intentions and success, yet not having an enthusiasm later in life for either one.

Unfortunately, we jump back and forth in the timeline. The first hop leaves you somewhat baffled because where we are in the story isn’t displayed particularly well. After being introduced to Sidney, you’re left to guess if the next point in the story is, in fact, a book being written or a future timeline, but you do catch on to the fact that both story A and B belong to Sidney. In school, Sidney has a friend he was once close to named Brett (Jenner), who has completely changed for the worse. Brett is cold to Sidney and cruel to others and the revelation as to why will come as a shock to Sidney but not necessarily the audience, however, it does bring us deeper into why Sidney is so troubled. When Melody (Fanning) enters Sidney’s life, you know that with her zest for life and their goals and dreams together, will finally help him find a reason to be happy, but Sidney just may have a way to mess that up, too.

Kyle Chandler plays an investigator trying to find the missing writer who couldn’t live with his self anymore after a young fan of his kills himself after reading his book. Blaming himself for his death and the loss of his friend, Sidney sets out to ruin what’s left of himself, even attempting to rid the world of his books if he can.

I liked the acting in the movie but I didn’t much care for all the moodiness Lerman continually gives us. You tire of it quickly, as do other people in his life, but being that it’s a deep psychological introspective, you accept it. It was heavy on the drama and had some slow parts in the middle but an incredibly powerful final act and a wonderful Elle Fanning helps you forget all about the issues I’ve mentioned. The score is nice and the cast is good but had it not flipped around as often as it had, the yarn might have rolled out a bit easier and watching it been a little more enjoyable.

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The Commuter Advance Movie Screening

January 2, 2018 (updated January 4, 2018) Published by

Movie Screening Summary: In this action-packed thriller, Liam Neeson is Michael, an insurance salesman, whose daily commute home quickly becomes anything but routine. After being confronted by a mysterious stranger (Vera Farmiga), Michael is blackmailed into finding the identity of a passenger on his train before the last stop. As he works against the clock to solve the puzzle, Michael is unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that carries life and death stakes for himself and his fellow passengers.

Lionsgate and StudioCanal present, a The Picture Show Company production, in association with Ombra Films.

Official Site: www.TheCommuter.movie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCommuterFilm
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheCommuterFilm
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TheCommuterFilm
Hashtags: #TheCommuter

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All the Money in the World – Movie Review

December 25, 2017 Published by

‘All the money in the world can buy you many things, but it can’t buy you love.’  Isn’t that how the saying goes?  Perfect title for this film because this movie is that very statement come to life.  With this project, director Ridley Scott has taken on a story about oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. 
Getty has amassed a great fortune, has become the world’s first billionaire, and has become hardened to love.  Since he has so much money, more than he could ever spend, it seems everyone wants a piece of it.  People even send him letters, on a daily basis, pleading their case to see if he’d be willing to give them a few dollars to get them out of their current woes but his prosperity has one nasty side effect
 greed.  In his greed lies the true heart of this story.

Early in the film, you see a little history on Getty, who’s played magnificently by Christopher Plummer, and how he gained his wealth.  He made deals for Saudi oil and then brought the oil out of the desert by creating a supertanker to carry it all out.  His intellect and understanding of how finance works then made his money grow.  Scott takes us to May of 1973 where one of Getty’s favorite grandchildren, John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer; no relation to Christopher), is kidnapped.  The kidnappers want seventeen million dollars for his safe return.  The kidnappers try to get the money from his mother, Gail Harris (Williams), who is divorced from Getty’s son.  She doesn’t have seventeen million dollars so she tries desperately to get the older Getty to understand what Paul’s life means to her.  She points out that she and Paul aren’t people writing a letter to him to try and get a piece of his fortune but instead that Paul, his own flesh and blood, is in real danger.

For foreshadowing on who Getty has become, we cut to nine years earlier where Getty is explaining to his young grandson that everything has a price.  To his own son, John Paul Getty II (Buchan), he explains why he was never home.  He had a business to run and he couldn’t be ‘weighed down’ with family.  Pay close attention to the wonderful dialogue in the script regarding money and who Getty considered himself to be.  Plummer is priceless.  The film originally had Kevin Spacey cast in the role of Getty but after he was accused of sexual misconduct, Spacey was replaced with Plummer who seemed so perfectly cast you can’t imagine Scott ever had someone else in mind.  Plummer’s stone face and cold heart, when it comes to what should be an easy decision to make, were almost frightening.

Getty gives a reason why he has decided not to pay to get his grandchild back.  The main reason is that he has fourteen grandchildren and if he pays for one, they may all be kidnapped.  During this period, he buys millions of dollars’ worth of collectibles that appreciate in value, but people aren’t profitable so therefore expendable.  Getty does allow Fletcher Chase (Wahlberg) his assistant, an ex-spy who specializes in negotiations, to help try and retrieve the boy from the kidnappers without it costing Getty a penny.  Wahlberg and Williams have great chemistry.  This chemistry builds with the stress of her plight and a relationship between them builds with the stress of her plight.  It continues throughout the rest of the story when Chase shows more feeling toward what she’s going through than Getty does.  Time goes by and the kidnappers get more and more anxious.  For the audience, the tension increases with every one of their unmet demands.  The price is dropped yet still Getty refuses to pay.  One of the kidnappers shows warmth for the boy but even this doesn’t save him from getting an ear removed.

Scott does a sensational job of juggling the story of desperate kidnappers, the frightened abducted youngster and almost despondent mother who, in dire straits, still hangs on to hope that she can get through to Scrooge.  She never cries for Getty, instead, illustrates for him how Paul having the Getty name is what has put him in danger and that Getty, himself, has some responsibility to help him.

All the Money in the World is definitely one of the best pictures of the year and Plummer’s performance is easily one of the best of the year, as well.  It comes out today, Christmas 2017, and I recommend you see it as a gift to yourself.

All the Money in the World

November 29, 2017 Published by

ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD follows the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother Gail (Michelle Williams) to convince his billionaire grandfather (Christopher Plummer) to pay the ransom.  When Getty Sr. refuses, Gail attempts to sway him as her son’s captors become increasingly volatile and brutal.  With her son’s life in the balance, Gail and Getty’s advisor (Mark Wahlberg) become unlikely allies in the race against time that ultimately reveals the true and lasting value of love over money.

  Directed by: 

Ridley Scott

Written by: 

David Scarpa

 Based on the book by: 

John Pearson

Cast: Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer, Mark Wahlberg, Romain Duris, Charlie Plummer and Timothy Hutton

In Theaters December 22nd

http://www.fandango.com

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