Been awhile since I’ve posted. So, here are some mini reviews of movies I’ve seen lately.
“Pet Sematary”
“Us”
Jordan Peele’s second directorial outing, “Us” is a horror story about a family suddenly tormented by their seeming doppelgängers. Where did they come from and what do they want? The movie explores this, though not always in a satisfactory manner.
Mar. 8 2019 Reviews
Reviews of streaming movies, as well as one theatrical release.
Streaming Original Series
Here I’m going to offer my thoughts about some of the original series available through Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.
“Anna and the Apocalypse”
“Anna and the Apocalypse” is an indie film (directed by John McPhail) out of the UK that promotes itself as a zombie comedy musical. Yes, musical. Available now in the USA via popular digital platforms, the movie centers around teenager Anna (Ella Hunt) and her small circle of friends as they prepare for the various Christmas festivities at their school when a zombie apocalypse breaks out in their normally quiet little town. The group fights their way around town in an attempt to reunite with family members and loved ones, and hopefully find a way out of the undead mess.
More Mini Reviews
“Vice” – Christian Bale destroys his body and plays former Vice President Dick Cheney in this well-made version of Cheney’s story and rise to power. Amy Adams plays his wife, while Steve Carrel plays Donald Rumsfeld. Was interesting to see how the events of the Bush Jr. administration came to be, since there were always the rumors and such circulating. Well worth a watch if you remember this time period in American history. Final Grade: A
“Aquaman” – Introduced in previous DC movies, water breathing hero Arthur / Aquaman gets his own standalone story. And since “Justice League” was such a travesty, nice to see the standalone movies are more entertaining. Jason Momoa gives a fun performance as the hero, and while we all know he has a great body, part way through the movie I began to wonder if Arthur just doesn’t like shirts. Anyway, while the movie is overall a fun superhero romp, it does drag in a few places. And why did we need multiple bad guys? Final Grade: B-
“Bird Box” – 2018 Netflix original. After horrific forces have destroyed most of the population, a woman (Sandra Bullock) must guide two children to a supposed safe haven. The catch is that the enemy can only destroy you if you look at it, so the characters must spend time outside in blindfolds (for some reason the monsters won’t come inside), trying to make their way around as best they can. The main problem I had with this plot is the lack of thought by the characters that, hey, actual blind people exist and manage to survive using various techniques. Instead, there is lots of stumbling around, using strings, and so forth. Most of the story just seemed nonsensical to me. Final Grade: D+
“The Changeling” – From 1980, streaming on Shudder. George C. Scott plays a composer who witnesses his wife and young daughter killed in a horrible motor vehicle accident. Many months later, he rents out an old enormous house to try to get his creative juices flowing again, only he quickly realizes something else is in the house with him. An effective, albeit not particularly scary by today’s standards, haunted house story where we actually get most of the answers we could want as viewers. Final Grade: B-
“You Might Be the Killer” – 2018, also streaming on Shudder. Horror comedy starring Buffy-alum Alyson Hannigan, about a guy named Sam (Fran Kranz) who is training some counselors at a soon-to-open summer camp. Being a camp in a horror movie, the counselors start dying to a masked killer. Sam keeps blacking out, and beings to wonder who might be responsible for all the death surrounding him. If you are a fan of the camp themed slasher movies, you will likely enjoy this funny romp. I know I did. Final Grade: B
