REVIEW: Sex in the City 2

I would love to have come back to the blog for good, honest reasons.  I would love to say that I have gotten over the self doubt that I feel and that I am ready and willing to kick things up a notch and turn this sucker to eleven.  I think it would be great if I could say that there was some profound experience that I felt and encountered that levelled me to a plain where I was becoming more dedicated to writing and all stuff of the sorts.

But, and it is quite sad, I am not back on the blog because of any of those things.  I am here because I lost a bet back in the summer, and it is time to pay my dues.  It is time to get behind the keyboard and write a review of a film that was cast upon me by my maniacal podcast co-host for losing said bet.  There are a total of three films that I have to see and review as penance for my sins, and Sex and the City 2 is the first one down to kick it off.

Before I talk about the movie's main qualities, and there will be a spoiler or two in there (so if you are pining to see this film, you best not read the review... or, you could read the review and thank me for saving you two and a half hours.  Yes!  It is almost that long!), I should talk about what the movie did right.  I thought that I would be out of the loop as to the characters and their qualities, as this is the second movie and it came from an HBO television series.  I hadn't seen any of them before, so I figured I would be lost.  Thanks to an expository little bit at the beginning, I soon found out about the characters of Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Samantha (Kim Cattrall).

As I learned about the girls at the centre of this movie caper, I was then thrust into the action of them getting together and hanging out.  This is where the movie's good qualities stopped, and the remaining two hours and twenty minutes begun.  It was a little cheesy how the characters were introduced, but I was fine with it.  It was expository, but it caught me up to speed, and I was fine with that.  What I was not fine with was the lack of chemistry between the characters and the clumsy, inane dialogue that sprouted up through the rest of the movie.

After a wedding sequence that felt as long as the one in The Deer Hunter (it wasn't even close in run time, but it sure felt like the fifty minute spectacular that The Deer Hunter exposed us to), we find that the girls have a chance to have an all expenses paid vacation on the dime of a well to do sheik, and then they are off to Abu Dhabi.  Well, not technically.  They said they were there, but the shots were so close up and there were no scenes with the actors at any landmarks that would have made it feel like they were actually there.  The seventh instalment of The Fast and the Furious felt like a travel documentary to the UAE compared to Sex and the City 2.

The trip to the Middle East is great for Carrie, because she is finding life with her husband Mr. Big, but she just calls him 'Big,' to be a bit difficult.  She wants to go out, and he wants to stay in.  She wants to eat out, and he wants to eat in.  The marriage is in shambles.  Can you imagine having to live through such vicious trappings of a marriage as this?  I see how that sort of thing could actually be a hinderance to a good relationship, but it is played off so poorly in the movie that their marital issues seem as trivial as the rest of the plot.

It is difficult to connect with the main ethos of the lead if I don't get where they are coming from.  In a movie that I didn't like as a whole,  Sex Tape, I did get and understand the problems that the couple were facing.  Even though it was about life with children and keeping the romance up (I don't have kids, so I can't fully relate), it was portrayed in a way that made me understand that it was a huge issue and that they were essentially roommates instead of husband and wife.  I got it.  That's the magic of good story telling (and about all that was good about Sex Tape), is that it puts you in shoes that you normally don't live in.

Nothing of the sort happened here.  I was sceptical about the problems surrounding Carrie and Big's marriage (I still can't take the character seriously since he is referred to solely as 'Big'), and therefore I didn't get the main drive for the character.  She meets up with an old flame while in Abu Dhabi, and they have dinner, which of course leads to a kiss.  Once again, since I don't get the base of the problems that she is facing, I couldn't care less about the mistake that she made.  This kiss, by the way, is the only plot point that happens between them going to Abu Dhabi and them returning.  I'm not joking.  The film is a mess of needless scenes that think they are being funny and witty, but are failing hard.

I suppose that's the big take away from this dreaded viewing experience.  That it is trying, and on some level believing that it is succeeding, to be full of charm and wit.  It is not.  It leaves me wondering what the series on HBO was like.  It must have been better than this for it to become so popular.  It makes me wonder if the characters I was viewing were more than two dimensional images, and if they were once fully fleshed out individuals in a fun, fictional landscape.  I will never know, because, after seeing the movie, I don't want to return to any portion of this property again.

The bloated length of the movie feels worse than it is, and that is partly down to the writing, and partly down to the lack of dynamics between the characters.  It feels as though they are all phoning this one in.  I couldn't care less about the limited back stories that each of the girls is given.  In fact, I forgot all about their back stories until I read the synopsis of the plot on Wikipedia.

The climax of the film is that the girls have to get to the airport on time or else they will have to fly home in coach.  Yes.  I am being serious.  That is the main problem that they all are facing, and what propels them to make the choices that they do.  This was the worst part of the movie, for sure.  The writer, who is also the director, Michael Patrick King seems to think in terms of 'rich, white people problems' and not in terms of something that the regular audience member would relate to.  I get it, soap operas are about the rich and opulent, but at least with them there is intense drama and at least three people named Victor.  Here it was cardboard cutouts of characters who needed to get back to America in first class.  Ride in #@$%ing coach! I yell at the screen.

The movie doesn't seem to know who its audience is, or even care about it.  This is one of those sequels that feels like the ultimate definition of a cash grab.  What makes it hurt so much is that I feel as though there was a time and a place and these characters came alive and had personality.  I feel that there was a time when I would have connected to Carrie and her relationship issues.  All of that is lost here.  It is a detractor for the previous works of this universe, and it is a detractor for ever making a bet with someone when you have to watch a movie of their choosing if you lose.

Rating - 0.5 out of 4 stars

Weekend Box Office Predictions: 'The Light Between Oceans' and 'Morgan'

This week has not been the most exciting for me.  Instead of plowing forward with projects, I took some down time for myself.  I was ordered by my wife to play some video games and to not think about writing for a bit, so that's what Wednesday and Thursday were for me.  As much as I tried to stay away, I still found myself getting a lot of proofreading done on a manuscript.  So much for being able to walk away from it completely.

So, that is why this weekend's predictions are getting posted today instead of on Thursday.  That and the fact that there was little to become excited about with the offerings in store for movie goers.  Pondering over the numbers, it is doubtful that either The Light Between Oceans or Morgan is going to be able to make over ten million in their debut.

The Light Between Oceans

For some people, hearing the name Derek Cianfrance attached to a movie is enough to get them excited and out to theatres.  He made his name off of 2010's critical darling, Blue Valentine.  It was his first feature film, and one that earned an Oscar nomination for Michelle Williams' performance.  Cianfrance followed it up with The Place Beyond the Pines, his first movie to make it into wide release after spending three weeks in limited release.  With two solid films behind his name, the problem is that the crowd that knows who he is and follows him is still a small one.

This time around he is teaming with Buena Vista, and The Light Between Oceans is beginning in wide release instead of having to work its way towards it.  When The Place Beyond the Pines was in its first weekend of wide release, it made $4.9 million.  I see The Light Between Oceans doing a bit better than that, but not by much.  While it has the marketing power of Disney behind it, there is very little social awareness of the product.

The other thing that is going to hurt the movie are the critical reviews.  At the time of writing this, it is sitting at sixty percent on Rotten Tomatoes.  That's not awful, but it is low enough to possibly dissuade the type of mature movie goer that would be thinking about seeing this movie.

Prediction - $7.5 million

Morgan

Opening up opposite is Fox's Morgan, starring Kate Mara and Anya Taylor-Joy.  Both of them are extremely talented actors, but the issue is their drawing power.  Taylor-Joy is still a relative unknown, and Mara has not been in key starring roles before.  Most of her mainstream works come from supporting positions, such as in The Martian and Fantastic Four.

But, as last month's Don't Breathe showed us, you don't need to have marquee names as leads to propel a horror-rooted film into a good position in the box office.  The difference here is the social media factor.  There was a lot of awareness for Don't Breathe, while Morgan doesn't even show up in the top ten most tweeted films, a death blow to a movie that is opening this weekend and has a target demographic that is fuelled by social media.

Prediction - $5.5 million

REVIEW: Don't Breathe

"You'll be sitting on the edge of your seat.'  That's the hyperbolic line that is thrown out way too often in describing something that is action-packed, adrenaline-fueled, or suspenseful.  It has become cliche, and I never really think about it in terms of actually meaning anything.  However, it is so delightful to be a part of an experience where I am sitting forward in anticipation, my body frozen, as I dangle on the edge of a comfy theatre chair in wait of what will happen next.

It is an experience that seldom happens, and I believe, if I really put the brain effort into it, I could count the times it has taken place on one hand.  To captivate the audience to the point of that sort of physical reaction is so difficult to pull off.  Yet there I was, fully drawn into my screening of Don't Breathe.  It was not just me.  As the film quieted down I noticed that there was not a sound to be heard in the entire theatre.  Nobody was talking, nobody was shifting in their seats.  The entire crowd was in the palm of director Fede Alvarez'a hand.

This is because, in only his sophomoric feature film effort, Alvarez has shown that he is a master in setting the mood as well as the stakes.  Both are incredibly important.  If you have a good atmosphere but don't care about the characters and the outcome, it will be a bust.  If you really like the characters but the setting is a bore, you can lose interest quickly.

The story is about three young people who break into homes and take items, leaving money behind.  All of a sudden, there is a big score that they have in front of them.  A blind army vet is sitting on a lot of cash, and the three cannot pass up the opportunity for the amount of money they could rake in.  From there, it turns into a home invasion film, but one that is able to stand out from others in the genre.

Right from the beginning of the film, we are able to attach to the motivations of the protagonist, Rocky (Jane Levy).  She is living in an absolute shit hole in Detroit, and wants to get her and her sister out of there.  Alvarez, who also penned the script alongside Rodo Sayagues, doesn't try and make her the ultimate of moral heroes.  He allows her to be flawed and for us to question her actions at times.  This is the kind of character that I really love, someone who feels like they could live in the real world and has real life struggles around what to do with ethical decisions.

The performance of Levy is off the charts, and it is clear that she is an under-rated talent in Hollywood.  She was solid in Alvarez's Evil Dead, but here she runs the gauntlet of emotions, portraying them all with her entire body and soul.  This is key to making us care about how things will turn out for the young woman who ends up in a very scary situation.

The other standout performance comes from Stephen Lang as the blind man.  He is an absolute terror on the screen, a determined force that will make the intruders pay for going into his house.  He has moments of passion and devastation as well, as Alvarez and Sayagues wrote him to be more than just a one dimensional antagonist.

From the moment the break in takes place, Alvarez sets the intrigue and suspense through a masterful sequence that is designed to feel like one continuous take.  It shows the exploration of each of the robbers through the house, as well as taking note of different objects.  It is clear to the audience that these objects are going to be of significance later in the film, but it doesn't detract from their payoff at all.  This one scene is the beginning of a nightmare that unfolds as the robbery turns pear-shaped and three become caught in a horrific world as the blind man tries to find them.

The skills of Alvarez's attention to atmosphere and setting were the biggest take aways from Evil Dead.  The man knows how to establish an environment and ensconce the audience within it.  The house itself feels like a living character in Don't Breathe, as it creaks and groans as they move, giving away their position, as well as having a terrifying maze-like basement.

The past few years have shown that there are some outstanding horror directors on the rise, and Don't Breathe declares that Fede Alvarez is not just in that conversation, but that he has already arrived.  He brings well earned jump scares through the use of timing and pace, and keeps a struggle for life unfolding with silence and patience as well as driven moments with a dominating score.  This is an outstanding addition to the home invasion genre, and should be seen by horror fans the world over.

Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars

The Bourne Conundrum

The critics were split on the release of the latest Jason Bourne movie, called, well, it was called Jason Bourne.  It was the return to the franchise by both Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass, and opened to an encouraging $60 million.  That makes it the second highest opening weekend for a Bourne movie, putting it only nine million behind the opening take of 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum.

While my podcast co-host Christopher enjoyed the movie enough to recommend it, the key fault that kept me from going that far was the camera style.  It was incredibly shaky throughout, and I felt that it led to the film being overwhelmed by the one technique.  Shaky works at times, but when it is used for all shots, be them action or subtle scenes of dialogue, it looses its power.

On top of that, it made some of the brilliant chase scenes feel as though they were not allowed to shine.  There was a great deal of attention paid to coordinating and executing these sequences, with a lot happening in the background.  Because of the shaking camera and super fast edits, it was difficult to take any of it in and really experience what the characters were going through.

Thank goodness it wasn't in 3D...

At least, that was the case in North America.  The movie has begun its Asian rollout, and some people are not extremely happy with the fact that it is playing primarily in the third dimension.  That's right.  A movie with insanely fast edits and a shaky style (which, as mentioned, can work at times) has been converted to 3D, something that audience members in China say are ruining the experience.

There has even been a protest over it.  Movie goers got together to demand a refund on their ticket purchases, claiming that the film was difficult to sit through in 3D.  I could only imagine the pain of the experience.  Not everything is equal when it comes to adaption for 3D.

While it was only a small group of people protesting, it shows the side of Hollywood that is all about the money instead of the art form.  The Asian markets were selected for the conversion because of their previous acceptance and love for the format in other action films.  The difference is that those action films were shot with 3D in mind.  This one was not.  It is a move to exploit higher ticket prices from the public by cramming Jason Bourne into something that it is not meant to be.

In North America, at least in Canada, where I am located, bumping up to paying the admission price of a 3D movie is usually the difference of three dollars or so.  That is not the case in China.  The ticket prices for 3D movies are roughly twice what it costs to see it in two dimensions.  That is quite the price hike, especially for something that the rest of the world gets to see in its intended format.

Having 3D as an option is not a bad idea, but that is not really the case in the Asian markets.  In Beijing, eight out of one hundred and forty nine theatres ran the 2D option.  It's worse in Shanghai where only 9 out of 174 theatres screened the film in 2D.  Those screenings are said to have been in remote areas or during non-prime movie going hours.  Universal has responded by saying that it will release more screenings in 2D.

So, what's the point?  Well, it has felt like this summer, more than before, that theatres were making seeing a two dimensional offering of a 3D film more difficult.  In Brantford, where I live, the only screenings that were in 2D were between the hours of 4 and 5pm.  Not early enough in the day to be home for supper, and not late enough in the day to have a complete afternoon.  It was obvious that the exhibitors were making all of the efforts possible to keep people paying the money to see the films in 3D.

Even though I thought we had it bad, it is not close to the same situation over seas.  This episode with Jason Bourne shows that the main driving force in the end product is about money, and not about the quality of the film.  Anyone who has seen Jason Bourne, whether they liked it or hated it, will most likely tell you that they were thankful it was not a 3D movie.  It just was not built that way, and we are seeing that the drive to get double the ticket prices in an expanding market outweighs the measure of the product that is being sold.

Weekend Box Office Predictions: 'Don't Breathe', and 'Mechanic: Resurrection'

Could this finally be the weekend that Suicide Squad gets knocked out of first place in the box office?  I am voting yes.  The run of Suicide Squad, spending three weeks at number one, had less to do with its holding power than it did with the weaker offerings that come about at this time of year.  Going into week four of its release, it will come as an absolute shock to me if it is able to hold off an upstart horror film that should be able to take first place from it.


Don't Breathe

This is the second team up from producer Sam Raimi and director Fede Alvarez.  The two paired up originally with the 2013 remake, Evil Dead.  Alvarez was a first time feature film director, having worked on a number of shorts before hand.  While I was a bit of a fence sitter on the final product, Alvarez showed that he was extremely capable of using environment to set to the tone and the feel of a film, something that will play well into Don't Breathe, as it appears to spend almost all of its time without one house.

It was that attention to atmosphere, as well as cinematography, that helped win over the fans of horror as he used practical effects and led Evil Dead to an opening weekend of $25 million.  The movie topped out at $54 million domestically, so it didn't have the greatest legs.  But, long term projection is not what I am all about in these articles, so let's not worry about that.

Evil Dead had something going for it that Don't Breathe doesn't have, and that is a name brand with rabid followers.  I am not going to equate too much of Evil Dead's success to having a niche fan base, because we have seen in other films, like Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy, have hardcore fans that don't make a large impact on the box office.  We could also look at Warcraft from earlier this summer to see that fans don't mean financial success.

All of that is to say that I don't see a huge dip in box office openings between Evil Dead and Don't Breathe.  I think there will be a bit of a drop, and that Don't Breathe won't open to the same numbers, but it will come close.  It has had a solid marketing campaign, and it is holding up well on Twitter.  The critics are loving it, so it may just end up having better legs than the front loaded Evil Dead.

Prediction: $22 million


Mechanic: Resurrection

This movie is a difficult one to think about.  Firstly, it is because the first movie was not a hit.  It brought in a world wide tally of $62 million on a budget of $40 million.  Those are hardly numbers that make a property declarable as a winner.  Secondly, it's star, Jason Statham, is not a big numbers driver.  He does well in ensemble casts, but films where he is the principle cast member don't run very well.  This is his first starring role since 2013's Homefront, which opened to just under $7 million.  The opening weekend numbers are similar for other efforts such as Parker ($7 million opening weekend), and Safe ($7.8 million opening).

It is hard to believe that things have changed drastically for Statham and his ability to draw audiences.  This is a franchise that nobody was really asking for.  Movies about action and adventure have a difficult time drawing at this time of year.  Last year saw Hitman: Agent 47 open to $8 million, as well as No Escape opening to the same numbers a week later.

While the title of the film is 'resurrection,' I don't believe that it is apt for this film.  This one could easily be considered dead before it hits theatres.  The best chance it has at making any of its reported $40 million budget back will be in the international scene.

Prediction: $6 million

The Crash of Ben-Hur

Sword and sandal movies are not necessarily hits at the box office, but for some reason there was an attempt to bring a remake of Ben-Hur into theatres on a budget of $100 million.  While that does not seem like a lot of money for a blockbuster during the summer time, it is a number that far outweighed the interest of the movie, and was perhaps a mis-calculation of MGM and Paramount.  It is less of a hit by Paramount, who only put up twenty percent of the funding for the movie.

The budget is very similar to what Paramount put up in 2014 for Hercules, a movie starring Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, that brought in close to $250 million world wide.  If they had hopes that Ben-Hur would do similar numbers, they were vastly mistaken.  It lacked the sort of drawing star power that Hercules had, as well as aiming at a vastly different demographic, one that doesn't necessarily flood to theatres.

That demographic is the much sought after Christian market.  They were ripe for the plucking with Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, which made over $600 million on a budget of $30 million.  Ever since then, there have been attempts to harness the same sort of success, as studios have been trying to dole out biblical and faith based stories in hopes of seeing the green.

In 2014, there were a glut of films trying to break into that demographic.  We had big budget movies like Darren Aronofsky's Noah (which made $362 million world wide on a budget of $125), and fellow acclaimed director Ridley Scott's Exodus: Gods and Kings ($268 million on a $140 million budget).  The former was a success, although there was an intense battle between the film maker and the studios over the version that should be shown, as the executives were afraid that it would not penetrate the Christian market as hoped.  The director won, and the result was a film that fared well.

There were also a smattering of lower budget attempts that year.  The most profitable was God's Not Dead, which had a production budget of $2 million and made $62 million across the globe (the majority of that was from North America).  There was also Heaven is for Real.  It starred Greg Kennear and was directed by Randall Wallace.  It was able to barely break $100 million world wide on a budget of $12 million.  And, if I haven't mentioned enough already, there was the adaption of The Bible mini-series from the History Channel, which got repackaged into a horrible looking film called Son of God.  It made close to $60 million domestically on an unreported budget.

So, have any of these films that I mentioned seemed as though there was proof that a large budget film seeking the Christian audience would work?  Only one comes to mind, and that was Noah, the film made by a man considered by many to be an atheist, and a film that left a lot of the Christian audiences upset at liberties taken with the story, as imagery and symbolism were used to tell the spiritual aspects of the narrative.  Oddly enough, there wasn't the same kind of backlash from Exodus: Gods and Kings, which did everything it could to actually leave God out of the film.

Looking at the evidence from the box office, it is easy to understand that there is no such thing as the Golden Christian Egg, the movie that will get everyone out of their homes and into the theatres.  What happened with The Passion of the Christ was lightening in a bottle.  It tapped into culture, and those sorts of things, when re-attempted, can easily come off as forced.

The team behind Ben-Hur, most notably Mark Burnett and Roma Downey (the couple behind many faith based projects), were looking to bring a faith based element to the film in the hopes that it would get the audiences out.  They could have looked at the two previously mentioned blockbuster attempts to see that even with established and acclaimed directors and star studded casts it is hit or miss.  Ben-Hur had neither of those things, unless you consider the director of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter a recognizable and acclaimed name.

There was little happening for this movie that was going to make it stand out.  It had to rely on the merits of the original in its marketing.  The target demographic never even saw the faith based elements in the trailers.  Perhaps that was a big miss.  In the end, the movie ended up servicing a much older audience than was possibly intended (95% of the movie goers were over the age of 25), and disappointed on critical and financial levels.  It may come as a surprise to MGM and Paramount, but, from the lessons of history, it was actually very easy to predict.

REVIEW: Kubo and the Two Strings

Brought to us from Laika studios, Kubo and the Two Strings is a stop motion animated family feature.  Laika specializes in stop motion, and from the visuals in Kubo, you can see that they are very good at what they do.  It does not take long for the viewer to get completely immersed in the world that is created, and it only gets better as the movie progresses.  This is also one of those special movies where seeing it in 3D actually makes a difference to the story telling.  So many 3D films are just as good in normal formats, but Kubo uses the technique to make the world and the story all the more magical.

The tale is about a young, one-eyed boy named Kubo (Art Parkinson) who has an ability and power to create moving origami through the use of his guitar.  He is a story teller in the village square, hooking the residents to his every word, but never seems to know how a story should come to an end.  His life is turned upside down when he does not heed the words of his mother to get home before dark, and the truth of his past comes to track him down in the form of The Sisters (Rooney Mara).  They are his aunts, and they are after him at the command of Kubo's grandfather, the Moon King (Ralph Fiennes) to take his remaining eye.

In one final act of protection, Kubo's mother uses the last of her magical abilities to send him far away.  She also transforms a monkey shaped magical charm into his protector, voiced by Charlize Theron.  Kubo must seek down a fabled set of armour to be able to protect himself from the Moon King and The Sisters.  Along the way, the come across a samurai beetle (Matthew McConaughey) who has had his memory wiped and is up for helping Kubo on his quest.

The story is a sweet one, as Kubo and his youth must face the grown up task that is set before him.  He has to rise above his age to be something that he is not, going from the teller of the stories to the main character.  His inability to know how a story must conclude is something that he must confront at the end of the film to find triumph and safety.

Much like Big Hero 6, this is an animated film that is not just good as a family film, but a good movie, period.  There is a lot of fun humour that comes from many different directions, such as gags, facials, and punch lines.  It also excels in its action sequences and brings a great deal of entertainment in choreographed battles.  The layout and story flow that happens through the action scenes surpasses the abilities of many main stream blockbusters.

The true heart of this film comes through in the voice acting.  It is genuine and sincere.  Art Parkinson embraces the character of Kubo and opens the door to invite the audience into his heart.  Theron and McConaughey have a chemistry between them that builds towards a relationship that appears true and time weathered.  Notably, Rooney Mara is chilling in her performance as The Sisters.

It is a beautiful movie.  The animation and the story itself create a world that the audience is a part of.  The magic seems real and has a flow to it.  The use of lighting is exceptional, as it assists in the telling of the story by bringing out the wonderful colours of the world as well as dimming things down to invite the darker aspects into the fold.

I do not simply recommend this film to families, but to everyone.  There is something neat about a story about story telling, and how real life needs story tellers to assist in the great feats of humanity.  It is a coming of age tale that has a note of resonance for all ages.  It is a very special kind of movie that doesn't come along that often.

Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars

REVIEW: War Dogs

There is a certain something about War Dogs that is familiar as a cozy blanket.  It could be the use of a musical soundtrack featuring songs that have been over used in movies before.  It could be the narration of it that leaves it with a feeling of Goodfellas.  There are many different attributes of this Todd Phillips film that are recognizable, but that doesn't mean that it is a hack of a movie.

The story is one that is based on a news article, much like Pain and Gain was.  The difference here, is that War Dogs understands how humour is supposed to be integrated into a movie.  That is key.  We follow David Packouz (Miles Teller) as he has dreams of becoming more than a certified massage therapist.  His life is changed when he runs into his best friend from tenth grade, Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill).  David is a door mat with a solid heart, while Efraim is not one to take shit from people, and looks after himself.  These are qualities that David admires, as he doubts his dreams and ambitions in life.

David finds out that Efraim makes a living bidding on the crumb sized military contracts of the mid 2000s was in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Emboldened by being in the company of his old friend, David leaves his humble dreams and teams up with Efraim to make insane amounts of money making deals that are on the shady side of legal.

Ultimately, it is a movie where the main character must look at who he truly is and decide if the life that he is living is one that he can sleep with at the end of the day.  As mentioned in the opening paragraph, nothing new here.  But that is alright.

What Todd Phillips is able to do with this story, is direct it into something with bits of memories of past film, but without directly stealing anything.  He is able to keep a good pace throughout the movie, something that he is known for.  There are down times, and those down times mean something.  They aren't just for trying to pad the run time of the movie.

Miles Teller is as good as he always is, but, to me at least, the main acting story coming out of War Dogs is the performance of Jonah Hill.  Known primarily as a comedian (while we already know just how talented Teller is), Hill elevates himself to become a chameleon who is able to be something to everyone.  In his one role, he plays a master manipulator who changes shapes and attitudes, and it is believable the entire time.  There are great things ahead for this actor, that is for sure.

Probably the biggest draw back of the film is that we don't get enough of the down to earth moments of Teller's character.  With the movie about his choices of what to do, as well as battling the morality of what he is doing, there needed to be a very solid foundation of personality that we are to build off of.  A lot of it comes from the narration, rather than actually seeing the moments that are to make him a three dimensional character.

Phillips, who directed the Hangover trilogy, shows that he is willing to take his understanding of comedic timing and gags and transport them to a more serious film.  It is still not the most serious film in the world, but it is compared to Phillips past filmography.  The movie offers some good, solid laughs, as well as some dramatic moments, to make it effective summer fare.

Rating - 3 out of 4 stars

Weekend Box Office Predictions: War Dogs, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Ben-Hur

This is a busy weekend in theatres, with three wide release films taking their shot at making money.  Their timing isn't the best, as mid to late August is generally a time of year where movies go to die.  There is a time of transition from summer blockbusters into fall Oscar fare.  An absence of excitement dwells in theatres at this time, and right now War Dogs, Kubo and the Two Strings, and the remake of Ben-Hur are hoping that the general audience numbers swell in their favour.

War Dogs

If you haven't seen the trailers for this movie, it is the 'based on the true story' film about two young men in the United States who end up becoming gun runners.  The man behind the movie, Todd Phillips, is best known for his work on the hugely successful Hangover trilogy.  While they were well received by fans, the attraction faded over the course of the series, with the third one only totally $112 million domestically, a far cry from the $277 million of the first film.

Still, in the modern landscape of comedies, scoring over one hundred million is a great achievement.  The big question is if this movie starring Jonah Hill and Miles Teller has what it takes to reach the same heights.  Hill, while a recognizable name, has not been one to show that he is a big box office draw.  That is not to take away from his great talents, it is just what the numbers show.

On social media, War Dogs has not been tracking well.  As of the time of writing this, it only has just shy of 3,000 tweets for the day.  Considering it opens tonight and that it is geared towards a younger audience, that does not bode well.  What is really interesting is that The Bronze, a movie about a gymnast starring The Big Bang Theory's Melissa Rauch which has not been well received by critics or audiences, has more than twice as many tweets.

The really unfortunate factor facing War Dogs is the fact that it is coming out a week after the animated for adults film, Sausage Party.  There is a good chance that the Seth Rogen starring movie about grocery store food gone wild will hold up well and that means it will dig into the pockets of War Dogs.

Prediction: $18 million


Kubo and the Two Strings

It has been a fairly strong year in terms of family focused movies, so it will take something special to make another movie stand out from the rest of the pack.  Luckily, that is exactly the sort of thing that animation studio Laika is known for.  At a time where all animation seems to be focused on computers, Laika uses brilliant and beautiful stop motion to capture their stories.  The trailers for Kubo give a taste of the visual treats that the film will have.

Unfortunately their films don't set records when it comes to their releases.  The Boxtrolls brought in $17 million during it's opening weekend, which was three million better than Paranorman, which came out in 2012.  The performance in the box office seems to be steady, reaching world wide totals close to the $110 million mark, and I don't see much changing for this one.

Prediction: $17 million


Ben-Hur

There is a lot riding on this movie.  I am not talking about terms of franchise potential or anything like that, but more in the pure financial sense.  It cost roughly one hundred million to make, which is a lot for a film that is being released during the third weekend of August.  The advertising for it has also been pretty intense, so there will be a hefty marketing budget that Paramount will be needing to make up.

If there is something that we have learned from the horror genre in the mid 2000s, it's that remakes of 'classics' do not essentially mean success.  Are audiences really dying for a remake of the original movie that was nominated for over ten Academy Awards?  The big answer, at least what I am thinking based on recent trends of movies, is that they aren't.  Just look at Ghostbusters and the difficulties it had in getting audience members in their seats.  That film is looking down the barrel of a $70 million loss, and I would be surprised if Ben-Hur ends up doing better.

With Morgan Freeman as the only recognizable cast member, there is nothing here that is going to push people to go out and see it.  The reviews for it are currently in the dumps, sitting at 33% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing this.  It will end up keeping some people at home, but the religious material in Ben-Hur may be its saving grace.  Audiences of faith based material generally don't pay attention to the critics.  If this remake is able to really tap into that audience, then it may stand a chance.

Prediction: $10 million

REVIEW: Sausage Party

Consider this movie a version of Toy Story, but for adults only.  And when I say, 'for adults only,' I sincerely mean that.  The comparisons lay with inanimate objects given human emotions and looking to become selected by human beings.  Instead of toys, we are given all of the different items that populate a grocery store.  They want to be chosen by shoppers to go to the great beyond where they will live the best of lives.  Essentially, they believe that leaving the store is like entering into heaven.

What they don't know, and what they are told from a returned bottle of Honey Mustard (Danny McBride) is that life outside of the grocery store is a horrid one where the humans mean to murder and consume the food.  There is little attention paid to him by the others, as his story seems ridiculous and crazy.  Only Frank, a hotdog played by Seth Rogan, listens to him and begins questioning everything that they believe, setting out on a journey to find the truth.

There is a lot in this film that could be seen as a criticism of religion, as well as having a political statement.  The food's nationalities parody stereotypes and hyperbole.  I didn't see it as a method of debunking religious beliefs, but more of adding layers to proper anthropomorphize the delicious food products as well as creating a society full of subculture in which they live.

Leading the charge of high calibre talent in this film (including Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, and Edward Norton) is Rogen who also was one of the scribes for the script.  I have said for a while that he is not just a comedian, but an actual acting talent.  He shows it off here, as it is not just the jokes and gags where he shines, but in the delivery of every line.  It is the kind of performance, as well as his role in Jobs, that make me want to see more of him in varying types of roles.

The direction of Sausage Party is handled expertly by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon.  They do well to keep the movie flowing along at a good pace.  They also have delightful fun with playing with pop culture references and moments from other films.  This goes a long way to adding a flavour (horrible pun intended) that is unique to this film.  That sort of thing stands out in a summer where a lot of what has been offered on the mainstream level feels generic and as though we have already seen it before.

As mentioned, this is a film that is really for adults.  Don't sneak your kids in to see this movie.  It is irreverent and is not shy on throwing the cussin' about.  As well, there is a full on pleasure orgy that happens when the food is liberated.  Could it be a commentary about hedonism?  Possibly, but more likely it happened because Rogen and company thought that the images of food copulating in various ways would be hilarious.

If you have a problem with seeing a donut having sex with a wrap, you will not want to see this film.  If you have issues with the ideas of religion being played with, it is best to stay home.  If you are willing to view this picture as merely a microcosm of humanity in the grocery aisles, both the good and the bad, you may very well enjoy it.  A lot of the jokes landed firmly, and it was a lot of fun to watch.

Rating - 3 out of 4 stars.

REIVEW: Punk's Dead: SLC Punk 2

Have you ever sat down to watch the sequel to a movie and been left wondering, why the hell did they make this movie?  It happens, and could be because of many reasons.  I don't know the exact motivation behind director James Merendino returning to pen a follow up to 1998'a SLC Punk, and that unfortunately shows throughout the film.

It is difficult to not think of an original property and what it was when you are viewing a sequel.  The film that you are watching should be a stand alone experience and judged on its own merits.  This was very hard to do while watching Punk's Dead: SLC Punk 2.  The first film was about the battle for personal identity and self discovery, and the tone of the directing matched it well.  It had a unique feel to it, and it was lead by the outstanding performance of Matthew Lillard as Stevo, a punk living in Salt Lake City who had to come to terms with everything he believed about anarchy and life.

Punk's Dead misses out on harnessing an identity of it's own.  It does try through various methods, although most of them rely on brining back characters from the original film.  It can be tiring watching a movie that is just focusing first and foremost on fan service, as the story suffers just to fill in as many call backs as possible.  The worst such offender is the fact that the film is narrated by Heroin Bob, who passed away in the first film.  He is our guide from behind the grave, and, although actor Michael Goorjian tries hard, he is a very sterile and word spewing guide, the very kind that makes us ask for our money back at the end of the tour.

Perhaps that is the best way to describe this film.  It is not an actual experience that the audience feels, but a tour that has been arranged with points to stop at along the way.  The narrative focuses on the straight laced goth offspring of Bob, Ross (Ben Schnetzer).  Even though he never met his father, we are shown from our seats on the tour bus that he has father issues, although it is never adequately on display.  More so just like animatronics on a Disney Land journey.

What I suppose the movie is to teach us is that sometimes we need to step outside of ourselves and grasp onto a new experience in life to understand what else may reside on the dark edges of our comfort zones.  If this is indeed the message, it is muddled through a bland script that lacks the upbeat tempo of the first film.  We don't necessarily feel for Ross, but rather want him to be punched in the face a few times.  It worked for Edward Norton in Fight Club, and I would have loved to see that self involved brat get a slug to the old kisser.  We eventually do get that, and it is finally a moment to pay attention to the screen.


There are times when I can say that while I didn't like a sequel, die hard fans of the original will find joy in it.  That's not the case here, though.  I doubt that anyone will enjoy this herding of former cast members in for the sake of it will appeal to anyone.  It is a complete shame that a movie about inner and outer identity is followed up by a movie that has neither.

Rating - 1 out of 4 stars

Weekend Box Office Prediction: Suicide Squad and Nine Lives

This is a very important weekend for one studio in particular.  Warner Bros. has been trying to catch up with Disney in regards to super hero movies and the shared universe concept.  It has been a tough act to follow, and the performance of Suicide Squad will be an indicator of just how far they have come, or need to go, to match the earning potential of Marvel movies.


Suicide Squad

There has been a great deal of marketing around this movie.  There have been a slew of trailers, and that branding has paid off well.  It is dominating Twitter, and, at the time of writing this, has had over 216,000 tweets for the day of August 4th.  To put that in perspective, the next most talked about movie on Twitter is Ghostbusters, which has just shy of seven thousand tweets.  It has also been seeing a lot of Facebook likes added to its page, and is one of the year's most talked about movies on social media.

Even though it is performing well on the internet, that doesn't mean much past the opening weekend. What is really going to pay off in the long run is continued word of mouth, rather than just pure anticipation.

But, we are not here to talk about the future of the movie, but rather the opening weekend.  The trailers for the film look to inject a lot of fun into the movie, something that has changed from its original trailer.  I think it is equal parts the effects that Deadpool would have had, showing that there can be comedy and laughs integrated with the action, as well as the fact that Batman v. Superman fell flat on its face after opening weekend.

There was a lot of reshuffling that happened with the movie after Batman v Superman faltered.  What this means is that there have been massive reshoots, and the tone of the film has changed a lot from what it was originally intended.  The final product is not doing well on Rotten Tomatoes, scoring only 29% at the time of writing this.  That will mean little to the opening day, but if it really is a flat movie as the critics suggest, it could pose a problem as the weekend continues and could make the film incredibly front loaded on opening day.

Prediction:  $125 million


Nine Lives

It may seem on the surface that taking big, authentic Hollywood names and placing them in almost any kind of film is the key to success.  That almost feels like the strategy that is being taken with the film Nine Lives.  It casts Kevin Spacey as a father who neglects his family for business aspirations, who is then transformed into a cat by Christopher Walken.  He has a finite number of days to reconnect with his family in the form of a cat, or else he will spend the rest of his life as a feline.  Sounds like a winner.

The problem is that the trailers look incredibly generic, and it has the feel of a straight to video release.  There has been little awareness of this film, as boxoffice.com indicates that the movie doesn't even have twenty thousand Facebook likes.  It has been almost non-existent on Twitter, and that looks to spell doom for the film.  I have watched a number of family features this year, and I have never seen a trailer for Nine Lives screened.  With the awareness low and no critical reviews out yet (which is never a good sign at this point in the release cycle), I see this film bombing and ending up on streaming services before the year is done.

Prediction: $7.5 million

Letting the Fear Keep Me Away

Well, it has been a while since I have written anything on the blog.  We can chalk that up to the side effects of dealing with anxiety on a daily basis and giving into the demands of the dark beast.  It is not a proper excuse, because I have managed to be actively writing during the time, but just not on the blog.  There is something different about writing for the blog.  Putting something out there that people will read and judge.  Like a punk, I allowed my fears to get in the way and keep me from talking about the movies that I have been seeing this summer.

It is unfortunate that I took a bit of a break, because there have been some really fun features that have been screening in theatres.  There have also been a number of duds.  This summer has had both ups and downs as far as movies go, and it has been a lot of fun to be a part of that, viewing and reviewing for the podcast that I co-host, The Movie Breakdown.

Hopefully this week will be a lot better for getting content on the blog.  The big movie coming out this week is Warner Brothers' Suicide Squad.  The reviews are starting to come in for it, and it is not encouraging so far.  I have been disappointed with the vision taken by DC in their films, and I still have high hopes that I will be enjoying this one.  I like to believe that come Friday morning I will be writing a positive review for the film, one that talks about how it takes risks and tries to be something different.

But, at the same time, I have worries.  Those worries come from the fact that this movie looks to be going the complete opposite direction as the Superman movies.  They were super serious and gritty, while Suicide Squad appears to be taking a more fun approach, using bright colours and humour.  I can't help but think that they will take it to the extreme, just as Superman was the extreme in trying to be dark and real.

Oh well.  I shall find out soon enough.  Thursday night is coming quickly and I will remain optimistic until the final credits roll.  There have been a number of movies that have shocked me this summer, and I feel that Suicide Squad could be one of those.

So, all of this is to say that I haven't gone anywhere and am trying to tackle the anxiety that has made daily blog writing very difficult to do.  It doesn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon, so I may as well do what I can to work through it and get the words down anyways.

REVIEW: King Jack

This is a film that is not really well known, but sometimes you can come across such a movie and be absolutely dazzled at what it has to offer.  In the case of King Jack, it brought me back to a time when I was a gawky teenager and reminded me of just how horrible things can be.  Now, I am not comparing myself to the character of Jack (Charlie Plummer) and the sorts of ordeals that he went through.  But it did show me just how misunderstood and mistreated some of the people I went to high school with may have been.

And that's where a really good film gets you.  It pries back the skin from the surface and shows you the underneath of what you have not before experienced.  It brings you to someone's world, for better or worse, and allows you to taste the life that they have endured.  You watch it and come away with a new sense of understanding of the world.

Jack is a boy who is socially awkward and get's bullied brutally.  This is a coming of age tale, but not one that pulls any punches.  It is very blunt and, at times, very awkward to watch.  Jack's life gets twisted up when his aunt has a mental health episode, and his cousin Ben (Cory Nichols) comes to stay with Jack and his family.  The last thing that Jack wants is to be put as a care giver to his younger cousin, and he is very firm and distant when Ben arrives.

However, and predictably, the two begin to get along.  They soften up to each other, and end up beginning to become friends, something that Jack does not have.  When his bullies enter the picture, Jack must make decisions about himself, his insecurities and fears, and his family.

What really holds this film together is the acting of both Plummer and Nichols, whose bonding feels as natural as the experiences the viewer has from their formative years.  It is a course in authenticity, and is crucial in creating the backdrop for the choices and actions of Jack later on in the film.  There are times where I was smiling, saddened, horrified, and stunned by what happened, and it was all possible do to the chemistry that the two young leads had with each other.

That is not to say that the quality of the acting was all that the film had going for it.  The direction and script from first time director Felix Thompson ushers the audience seamlessly into the world of the two boys.  We don't feel as though we are watching a movie, but rather a genuine slice of life from history.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a blunt movie.  It shows the horrors that teenagers have to deal with when they are outsiders, and it does so without making it feel dumbed down and easily accessible and watchable for wide audiences.  In this regard, it is similar to The Spectacular Now, which threw teenagers into the struggles of adults.  Just like The Spectacular Now, it works on all levels and left me questioning how I viewed and interacted with certain people in high school, wishing I could go back and be a little more open minded.

Rating - 4 out of 4 stars

REVIEW: The Shallows

I cannot stand a protagonist who is stupid and brings about their misfortune because of making common sense mistakes.  Take Blake Lively's character Nancy in The Shallows, for instance.  She goes to a secluded beach to go surfing by herself.  Granted there are two other people there, but she stays in the water when they leave.  That's not smart.  Then, the best decision of them all, is when she decides to paddle her surfboard over to the corpse of a whale that quite obviously has been eaten by something.  Surprise, surprise, there is a shark in the water.

This is when I would roll my eyes and hope that the worst happens to her, knowing that she brought it on herself by making the dumbest decision in the world to check out something that is always the scene of a shark feeding frenzy.  However, I was shocked when the film continued and I found myself invested in her well being.  This, my friends, is the sign of great acting.  To take someone who I normally want to see being shit out of a shark, and transform me into a fist pumping fan of the character.

The story is essentially her in the water with this shark.  It's no spoiler, that's what the trailer shows.  But to pull it off properly, it needs the attention to detail in the performance, and that is exactly what we get from Lively.  Tom Hanks pulled off seclusion in Cast Away, and we see a similar level of ability here.

What also aids this movie is the fact that it is a blend of schlocky and tension.  With the premise, for the movie to take itself too seriously it could end up being laughable and boring.  However, director Jaume Collet-Serra knows that this movie needs to be equal parts fun and suspenseful.  He uses interesting shots and edits to bring about the suspense, incorporating the score masterfully as well.  And when the shark attacks, it is something out of a glorious b-movie.

Normally I would say that two different tones in a film is not a good thing.  It was what kept me from ultimately recommending 2013's Neighbours, as that film played both in the realm of reality as well as that of slapstick, continuously crossing between the two and leaving me feeling like it didn't know what exactly it was.  In the case of The Shallows, it comes across as purposeful.  The proof is in the fact that I jumped at the startles that occurred, with a glorious smile on my face from being taken in by the director at something that was so goofy looking and crazy.

Not everything needs to be super serious.  In fact, sometimes something that is just plain fun is needed, especially in the midst of blockbuster season.  There is nothing groundbreaking with The Shallows, and yet I would still call it the best shark movie since Jaws.  Let's be honest, there have not been many good shark movies made.  Luckily there is a good one in theatres right now, and it is just waiting for you to sink your teeth into it.

Rating - 3 out of 4 stars

REVIEW: Independence Day: Resurgence

The first Independence Day was a big summer blockbuster hit.  I ended up seeing it in theatres, and even though it was not a perfect movie by any standard, it delivered fun and adventure in a goofy and visually pleasing way.  Anchoring the film was the charisma of Will Smith.  We also had a bunch of supporting actors who were relevant in Hollywood at the time in Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, and, to a lesser extent, Brent Spiner.

The sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence, has many of the same players from the first one, with one major exception.  Will Smith is nowhere to be seen.  And with that departure from the franchise, so did leave the charisma.  Those supporting actors from the previous one were now left to carry the weight of the film, a movie that needed more life and energy than they were up for bringing to the stage.

I shouldn't go that far.  Jeff Goldblum was decent in his return as David Levinson, but that is about as far as I will go in saying that the returning cast was up to the challenge of battling outer space monsters.  Brent Spiner's character was a goofy and cartoonish ploy, intending to bring many laughs that ended up falling flat and inducing groans.  In general, there were many intended moments of comedy, but there was only one time when the audience actually let out an audible giggle.  I giggled at that point as well.

The sad thing is that twelve hours after seeing it, I cannot even remember what happened that made me giggle.  This is a big problem with Independence Day: Resurgence.  It is ultimately forgettable.  Yes, the special effects are magnificent.  Yes, the danger is bigger.  However, bigger is not always better, and it is proven by the fact that there were few standout scenes and moments during the alien invasion.  Heck, I remember more scenes from last year's San Andreas than I do about Resurgence.

Part of the issue comes down to the horrendous script that is full of the most insane expository dialogue that I have seen in years.  Part of the issue could be that there were five people involved in the writing of the script, trying to shoehorn explanation in wherever they could with the minimum amount of effort needed.  The plot issues don't stop at exposition.  We get so many cliches that it feels as though we are watching a spoof of a Hollywood blockbuster.

One of those cliches is Jake Morrison, played by Liam Hemsworth.  He is a too cool for school pilot who plays by his own rules.  Never seen that before.  Hemsworth was quite obviously director Roland Emmerich's attempt at a young lead that would carry a hefty portion of the film.  The problem was that he is not at the level to elevate scenes above the script, which is what Will Smith was able to do.  He plays the role just fine, but 'just fine' bleeds him in with everything else that is nondescript about this movie.

One shining star was the performances of both Maika Monroe and Joey King.  I have long been a fan of both of those young actresses, and they show more depth than they should have here.  Really, they should have just been reading the lines and forging themselves into the mosaic of bland scenery, but instead they decided to bring something more to their characters.  They brought life and emotion, something their contemporaries were without.

This film is an orgy of special effects with paper thin plot and characters.  It may not have been the best blockbuster season this year, and this film is just another one to add to the list of 'see it if it is on television.'  There are some who may get a kick out of the nostalgia, but for people who are looking for something energetic and new, you will be left yawning and wondering what the hell you just sat through.

Rating - 2 out of 4 stars

REVIEW: Warcraft

The movie is based off of a video game of the same name, or it could be based off of the video game World of Warcraft.  I have seen debate on gaming forums as to which is most true, but it seems to be that most people feel it is based off of the hugely successful World of Warcraft.  The player base for that game peaked in 2010, making the film six years late to the party.

The world of orcs is no falling apart and is not longer habitable.  It's a shame, really.  This means there needs to be a new land to travel to and claim as their home.  That's bad news for the humans of Azeroth, as they seem quite happy to be living in peace.  It is also bad news for all the poor bastards who are imprisoned by the orcs, as their souls are used to create the portal needed for the orcs to travel to Azeroth.  It sounds like those damned orcs only care about themselves.

A war party of orcs is sent through the portal to capture humans to fuel the 'fell' (the dark magic power used by the orc leader Gul'dan) in order to open the portal a second time to bring the rest of the orcs through into Azeroth.  It is quite reasonable to believe that this plan does not sit well with the humans, who rely on the leadership of King Llane (Dominic Cooper), the mighty warrior Sir Lothar (Travis Fimmel), and the guardian Midivh (Ben Foster), who is a very powerful magic user and protector.

What does this all lead to?  Well, it leads to a story with an exorbitant amount of alliances made and broken, as well as one of battle, blood, and anguished faces.  Thrown into the mix is Garona (Paula Patton) who is a half breed orc that is captured by the humans and finds her allegiances challenged.  There are a lot of players involved in this movie, I haven't even mentioned the main orc Durotan (Toby Tebbell) or magic user Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer).  With so many key members of the cast, there is a lot of ground to cover in showing why each is important and motivated.  This does not do well at keeping the pace of the film clipping along in the realm of completely enjoyable.

The story itself feels like nothing new, but director Duncan Jones and fellow script writer Charles Leavitt do something that a lot of films are too afraid of when it comes to movie making - they are not ashamed of killing major characters.  This addition into the story, and the fact that it clearly becomes and introductory piece to what is a hopeful franchise (the title has just now been changed to Warcraft: The Beginning), allowed me to still predict how it would end but with no idea as to who would survive.  Predictability along with doubt is the best thing that this movie offers.  That being said, there were certain characters that the audience knew would not be killed.

Being a huge fan of Duncan Jones (Moon and Source Code), there was a certain level of expectation that followed me into this cinematic tale.  This is his first foray into a special effects fuelled spectacle, and there were times that sadly it felt like a really well done video game cinematic.  The visuals weren't awful, they just were not up to the standards that we have already seen set for 2016 from Jungle Book.

The action sequences were fun enough, with a no-holds-barred approach to showing people getting annihilated, something that most movies shy away from.  The unfortunate part is that these moments were scattered amongst some useless scenes that were over doing it with the bloated cast of characters.

In the end, it was just too much of 'already seen,' and it did not feel like a completely fresh product.  There have been many other fantasy films in the past, and the few things that this movie had going for it were not enough to elevate it above its contemporaries.  It is a fine movie, but that is about it.  Warcraft excels as a video game cut scene, but falls short of the quality and emotions needed for a tentpole flick.

Rating - 2.5 stars out of 4

Thank The Paranormal Activity

As a horror fan, I need to take a few minutes here and really thank the Paranormal Activity franchise.  I have never recommended a single one of the films.  The first one was a breakout hit, but it left me agitated with my theatre experience.  I hated the husband of the main character, and I begged for his demise.  There was an understanding by director and writer Oren Peli as to how to create tension for what has become the modern day 'jump scare,' but there was a fragmentation when it came to character development and story telling.

Taking a look at the state of horror at the time Paranormal Activity achieved mass distribution, there was a lot of attention being paid in the horror industry to bring life back into the big named slashers that dominated the 1970s and 80s.  We had seen lifeless and impotent reincarnations of Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, and A Nightmare on Elm Street was a year away from thudding into theatres.  There was no lustre to the horror scene.  It was just attempts by studios to hold onto the past, believing that the slasher sub-genre was the way forward for fans.

How wrong they were.

Priced with a budget of only fifteen thousand dollars, Paranormal Activity hit the screens in 2009 and became a phenomenon.  It took in over one hundred million domestically, and another eighty five million from foreign markets.  Regardless of what I think of the quality of the film, it showed that there was something that movie goers were craving, and it did not have to do with nostalgia and stories from yesteryear.

The initial impact was felt right away, with a glut of cheap, found footage films.  This, however, is not the true legacy left by Paranormal Activity.  Sure, it is the most visible impact, and I may have a lot of people disagreeing with me on this, but the mark it left of movie history was something vastly different.  It showed conclusively that budget meant absolutely nothing, and that atmosphere and attention to pacing and tension could bring in the box office numbers.

This was not the first film to hit the low budget, big numbers benchmark for horrors.  In 1999, The Blair Witch Project introduced found footage to the masses and was a low budget success.  It had an immediate impact on films, but its impact was felt in the independent market, with its doppelgängers never seeing the cinema.  And then in 2004, James Wan's Saw raked in just over one hundred million world wide.  It fell in nicely with the established slasher attempts of the day, so it is less of an anomaly.

With Paranormal Activity, it's successful notes were noticed by its producer, Jason Blum.  Blum realized that it was not the fact that it was the gimmick of found footage that made it successful, something that many people equated with it, but rather the fact that a managed budget could mean success for a film whether it found its way to nationwide distribution or simply video on demand and streaming services.

This is what makes Blum a visionary.  Throw stones at me if you will for calling him a visionary, but this is exactly the word that one should use when describing him.  The success of the Paranormal Activity franchise brought him into the game, being able to wield money and not throwing it out in big chunks looking for the next big thing.  Instead, he stuck to the same financial formula that made Paranormal a success.

At first, the films that were coming from him were similar in feel as they focused around hauntings and possession, the rising fad that horror was undergoing.  But, it was his unwillingness to deviate from the movie making formula that led him to being able to branch out and begin producing different types of low budget films.  While the competition was still looking back at Paranormal Activity, Blum was looking forward and allowing directors with new and interesting stories an opportunity to get their ideas out there.

The biggest step forward for Blum and his production company, Blumhouse Productions, was with 2013's The Purge.  It showed that his formula could be completely separate from hauntings and the supernatural and still maintain success.  This is the forward thinking that I had referenced.  He knew that it was not just about recreating the same films in different formats, but by taking fresh ideas and bringing them out by keeping the budgets in check.  Made for a budget of three million, The Purge brought in eighty nine million worldwide.  Its successor, The Purge: Anarchy, had a slightly higher budget of nine million, but took in one hundred and eleven million across the planet.

While horror was the main financial driver for his production company, it allowed for a massive variety of films to be made.  From a suspense in The Creep when he teamed up with Mark Duplass, to  giving actor Joel Egerton a chance to direct The Gift, to producing the Oscar nominated Whiplash, there was a great deal of diversity coming out of Blumhouse Productions.  He even provided a fresh ground to down and out director M. Night Shyamalan with a great come back movie in The Visit.

Without Jason Blum understanding the correct lessons learned from Paranormal Activity, horror would be in a much different place today.  He could have easily stuck with keeping to the same story format, believing that the success lay there, but he thought bigger.  He believed in high concept stories with low budgets, giving the creators freedom to create.  Just like the found footage success took a few years to be really felt in mainstream cinema, Blum's true formula took a while for others to understand and emulate.

Without Jason Blum, would The Shallows be getting nationwide distribution?  Would James Wan's The Conjuring and its sequel have gotten the distribution support that it received?  Would It Follows have been the modest hit that it was?  I could go on and on, but that would just become boring reading.  The important thing to focus is the fact that Blum's ability to take chances on films because of keeping the budgets low while allowing creative freedom has brought many wonderful horrors, suspenses, and thrillers to audiences, either directly or indirectly thanks to Jason Blum.

REVIEW: The Conjuring 2

I will start this by saying that I enjoyed the first Conjuring.  It should be taken with a grain of salt, though.  It was a decent horror film that ended up switching tones and going for the ultimate in chaotic once the third act came around.  Director James Wan said it was his last horror film, but ultimately he could not stay away and returned for this summer's sequel.  If what we have been given in 2016 in the way of sequels is a trend, it would be believed that The Conjuring 2 would be without soul and just a reason to put out a film with a recognizable name.

Luckily, however, there is plenty of heart and soul to be found in this paranormal caper.  It follows the ghost investigating husband and wife team of Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) as they come off the case of the Amityville haunting.  This is based off of actual people, and there was an actual Amityville case, but, truth be told, it was one giant hoax.  That doesn't stop it, and the fictional house that symbolized it in the 1977 film, from being used in cinematic tales of ghosts to this day.  After investigating the case at Amityville they decide to hang up the gloves, only to be drawn in one last time, heading to London to deal with a family that has been tormented by an evil spirit.

Wilson and Farmiga reprise their roles in terrific fashion, with a true chemistry between the two.  In a way, this is a story about their love for each other as much as it is about the case of the haunted house.  We get enough back story into their relationship to understand both their caring and concerns for each other.  Solid relationships that the audience can believe in are paramount to every film, and The Conjuring 2 manages to pull this one off.

Knowing the current state of haunted house horror films, it is easy to go into this movie and believe that everything will be solely about the jump scares.  The first Conjuring laid heavy on them, but Wan showed a crafty ability to keep them from being too predictable.  This time around they are a little easier to anticipate, but there is a greater detail paid to the atmosphere and the story.

The first half of the film builds on the tension of these jump scares that the Hodgson family is dealing with.  Poor folks can't get a decent night's sleep without jumping at a scare.  There were audience members who were jumping as well, but, as mentioned, they were easily spotted.  Once the movie entered the halfway mark, it was less about this and more about the narrative, turning it from a startling horror into more of a thriller.  In a number of ways, this format was similar to Insidious Chapter 3, which turned out to be a very fun ride.

Paying more attention to the characters and the story elevates The Conjuring 2 above what my expectations were.  We are treated to a well cast company of actors, anchored by the young Madison Wolfe who plays a child who is most afflicted by the paranormal baddy.  There are four people with screenplay credits, which can usually mean a film feels disjointed along the way.  Not so here, as it is competent for being a summer horror film.

Keeping it from being great is the aforementioned predictability of the scares.  But for those who have not seen nearly as many horror films as I, it should still prove to be frightful.  The characters are great, the relationships are believable, and Wan shows his slickness with the camera attention to set details.  There are so many failed sequels this year, but The Conjuring 2 does not rank among them.

Rating - 3 out of 4 stars

REVIEW: The Do-Over

As I sit here htikning about writing a review for Adam Sandler's latest film, The Do-Over, I figured that I would put the sae attention into the quality of the review as they put into the making of the film.  That means what I write is what I write..  No going back and editing things, leaving the mess where it lies and expecting that it will be good enough for general consumption.  That seems to be the approach that director Steven Brilll put into it, so it is the same effort that the review will get.  I would apologize about the spelling and grammar mistakes, but since there is no apology forthcoming from the makers of the film, I will follow suit.

The movie is about two best friends of former years who meet at a hgighschool reunion.  We have the geeky bank manager, Charlie (David Spade), and Max (Adam Sandler) who we will quickly come to understand is just  a bit of a dick.  Well, that is an understatement.  He is a giant knob.  Much like other Sandler movies, he pays someone who just isn't that relatable.  This is the case with Max, as he is a self-centred bucket of mean spirit, which is a good summary for the film proper.

With adam Sandler movies, you can generally make a list of things that you will expect to see and then check them off as they happen.  Will there be meanness towards children?  Check.  Will there be urniation jokes?  Check, there is urination sprayed everywhere.  Will there be massturbation jokes?  you betcha.  Will it make fun of people who look different?  Yeppers.

This is the problem with his films (or one of the problems with his films): they cater to the lowest of juvenile humour and do so in the same repeated ways.  Essentially it feels like if you have seen one of his recent films, you have seen them all.  There appears to be no effort really put into them, and that is something that netflix should be conscernded with.  They have an exclusive movie deal with Sandler, and so far what hwe have gotten is The Ridiculous 6 and this current pile of misguided humour in The Do-Over.

I suppose I have not talked at all about the plot, but what would be the point of that?  As the movie rolls along the plot becomes more convoluted and dumber with each sequence.  I am already writing at a dumbed down level right now, and I don't want to sink any deeper in the abyss that I have tread.

If you were looking for meaningful analysis about this movie, I am sorry but that is just not going to happen.  I have more important things to do right now, such as cut my fingernails.  Seriously, they are clicking on the keys of my laptop right now and it is driving me insane.  I should also pet my cat and then clean the litter box, in that order specifically.  Little John McClane does not need to have my sweaty, litter spattered fingers running through his bad-ass coat.

If you are a fan of Adam Sandler movies as a whole, I am sure you will like The Do-Over.  It is billed as action/comedy, although, if you ask me (and in a way you did by reading this), there is too little of either element to stick it in either genre.  If things like homophobic gags and scenes with sweaty testicles are not your thing, then you can just forget about watching this movie.

REVIEW: X-Men: Apocalypse

Have you ever gone out and purchased just one heck of a marvellous cheese?  I'm not talking just about your generic cheddar, but let's say it's aged ten years.  Or even, and one of my favourites, jalapeño havarti.  Now it's a blessing to have such a wonderful treat, but what you have on your hands can be instantly ruined and rendered moot.  If you slice it up and put it on the cheapest hotdog you can find, accompanied by a stale bun, you may have just as well used something else.  What you have done is wasted that cheese.

I understand that it is not the greatest analogy, especially for those who don't roll the dairy, but that is how I felt when it came to the main villain in X-Men: Apocalypse.  What the film makers did was take Oscar Isaac, who is one of the best acting talents of today, and put him in a roll that could have easily been filled by anyone.  There was nothing about Apocalypse that allowed for any subtle nuances from Isaac, who was destined to just deliver monotone lines and show limited facial expressions.

Does that mean the movie as a whole is bad?  Not at all.  What it does mean is that the main source of tension in the film drags and adds little energy, which does affect the film as a whole.

As the movie begins, we find director Bryan Singer hurling visuals at us, almost as though the movie is setting a tone that it is going to flex its CGIed muscles throughout.  It felt a little overkill and distracting, especially when it went into a Monster Energy Drink lead-in to the opening title.  There was worry, I am not going to lie about that.  I asked, 'what have I gotten myself into?'  Luck would have it that the computer generated pace of the opening sequence was disingenuous to the tone of the rest of the movie and things died down until the third act when it turned once again into visual effect soup.

They looked pretty enough, but they were massively abundant and took away a lot of the intimacy that the story deserved.  The cast of characters involved was deep, and the talent selected to play each part was well thought out.  Each of the X-Men felt like there was some attention paid to them to create heroes that we could root for.  The same could not be said about the mutants that were enlisted by Apocalypse to help him.  For whatever reason, the man needed help.  Even though he was near all powerful.  His character and the reasoning for his actions were most certainly underwritten, once again making me ask why Llewyn Davis (or, to use an example that may be better known, Poe Dameron) himself was cast for the role.

It was the quieter moments of the film where I felt the true story was being told.  There were enough of them to make me happy, and I enjoyed the inclusion and story of Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) and Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee).  Both are incredible young talents who brought depth to their characters enough to stand properly alongside other brilliant cast members, such as James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence.

Possibly the most underplayed aspect is the time period.  It is set in the 1980s, and we are more shown that, rather than truly feeling it.  The previous movies focused greatly on playing into the emotions and feelings of their times, giving the viewer a rich environment in which to watch the story roll out.

Ultimately, there are enough decent aspects of the film to bring even keel the downside of a villain that lacks charisma and understanding.  It is not the strongest of the new X-Men movies, but it does hold a character of its own.  During a summer that is filled to the brim of special effects spectacles, it is X-Men: Apocalypse's shortcomings that will keep it from being too memorable.

Rating - 2.5 out of 4 stars

Should I Trust Rotten Tomatoes?

This is a question that a lot of people do not ask, at least the folks that I have come in contact with.  For some, the aggregate score of a film is enough to dictate whether or not to watch a movie.  With others, they don't pay attention at all or are unaware of the service.  I sit here thinking about it as I am about to see X-Men: Apocalypse tonight and the current rating for the film is sitting at forty nine percent.

For those who don't know, the website rottentomatoes.com posts a percentage of how many critical reviews were in favour of a film.  This can be a helpful tool for people who want to save their hard earned (or lazily earned, I'm not going to rule that out) dollars on something worthwhile.  Seeing that a movie was a hit with a large percentage of critics could be enough to make the decision to spend the bucks on a theatre ticket.

However, it is incredibly subjective.  The percentage is only on a scale of whether or not a film was recommended, not how good it is.  As someone who doles out film ratings on a weekly podcast, my magic rating for something being 'recommended' is three out of four stars.  However, there have been plenty of movies that get the dreaded two and a half stars, thus falling short of the glorious recommendation, that will still hit a target with a great number of people and I found fun to watch.

What am I saying?  Essentially, I am saying that a simple yes or no on a movie doesn't really mean squat.  What helps is following certain critics and seeing over the long haul if you have a similar view to movies as her or him.  That means when they like something, you have a good chance of liking it as well.

The notion that a site like Rotten Tomatoes is the end all of quality rankings is something that we should not fall into.  There have been a number of low rated movies that I like (it doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen), and there are also numerous times when something that is rated highly bores me to sleep.  Gathering anecdotal evidence from friends and the random passerby (I say random because someone with anxiety issues like me tends not to stop and hold cinematic court with people I don't know), this is the case with many people.

Once again, what am I saying?  That while there is some value to be gleaned from sights like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, they shouldn't be the one stop shop for deciding whether or not something is worth seeing.  Taking the time to actually read reviews goes a long way, as something that is a sticking point for a critic may not be one for you and you can feel comfort knowing that you will see the movie differently.

For me, the excitement that I have for X-Men: Apocalypse has not wained.  It is not reviewing well, but this has been a solid franchise since Matthew Vaughn reset the story with X-Men: First Class.  There is a deep well in my soul that warns me that I will not like it because of the rating it has on Rotten Tomatoes, but I am keeping that bastard tempered.  The best thing I can do is remain positive that I will like it, and then go and let the film speak for itself.  A lot of times, that is the best that anyone can do.

Disclaimer - the thoughts and opinions on Rotten Tomatoes do not apply to Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star.  That movie is horrific.  Full Stop.