The Reel World

These days when the studios are cutting together trailers to promote their upcoming films, I feel one of the number one complaints people have is that the trailer gives too much away, so why bother shelling out the cash to see it on the big screen?  When it comes to the trailer for Bad times at the El Royale, it gives you a glimpse at what is to come, but the result is something clever and ambitious, but unfortunately feels a bit too familiar.  This is the second feature film from writer and director Drew Goddard, who first made a splash onto the screen with his hit film Cabin in the Woods.  While I enjoyed his first romp that played with many of horror’s stereotypes, I still felt the film fell a bit flat.  Unfortunately, though I enjoyed this fun little noir film he’s put together, I feel it too falls a bit flat, but mostly this is due to its 140 minute runtime.

The film opens up with a great sequence, where we get to watch as a man comes into a motel room and goes through the process of burying a bag beneath the floorboards.  It’s a long static shot that nicely sets the tone for the film we’re about to watch, and with the nice little twist at the end of the scene, we’re ready to jump into this film.  Sadly, as we are introduced to visitors at the El Royale motel, things get a bit long-winded, as it seems the sequence of just having the characters checking into their rooms will never end.  It works as setting a tone and introducing us to characters, but the problem is we spent all this time with character development just to discover no one seems to be who they claim to be.  I’m all for having twists, but this sequence just goes on for too long, and unfortunately that’s pretty much how each sequence plays out, each clever sequence stretching on for a bit too long.  This is where I understand where people draw their comparisons to Quentin Tarantino, only Tarantino can make long talkie sequences crackle with humor, dread, and cool all at once, and Goddard just can’t pull it off.

When I was in elementary school, R..L. Stine was the author all the kids were reading.  For me Goosebumps was sort of a gateway that opened me up to horror, and I’ve been a bit obsessed with the genre ever since.  If you were a kid of the 80’s, I don’t think it’s possible for you to not know who R..L. Stine is. Even if you somehow never managed to read one of his books, there was also the successful TV series that came out in the early 90’s.  For years I would have said Stine would always be the most successful writer for kids. Well, that all changed once a certain wizard hit the scene and changed pop culture.  So when they announced that there would be a live action Goosebumps film, I was surprised, but I was curious what it would be like. Could his stories still entertain the masses?  I had fun with the first film, and when it was done, it struck me how these kinds of films simply just are not made any more, films the whole family can enjoy but are targeted at younger kids.  Sure, there are the superhero films, but those are more for the teens, and let’s face it, the millions of adults who grew up reading comics.  But what happened to the kids-in-peril films that were huge in the 80’s and just seemed to vanish with time?  Goosebumps seems to be the franchise that has jumped on the 80’s throwback bandwagon, but has wisely targeted not just those looking for a little nostalgic flashback, but also younger kids. I’m talking the 11-and-under crowd, and I think this is a great thing.

The sequel welcomes us to the town of Wardenclyffe, where the town’s biggest claim to fame is being the home of one of Nikola Tesla’s inventions.  As it goes with most horror tales, this is a quiet and quaint little town, but we all know that it won’t be for much longer.  Sarah (Madison Iseman) is a bit overwhelmed, working on an essay she needs to complete to send in to Columbia University, and in a way this is kind of a strange setup, because though she’s the first character we meet, I wouldn’t say she’s the star of the film.  The real stars of this film would be her younger brother, Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and his best friend, Sam (Caleel Harris).  The two are setting up their own company, “Junk Brothers”, where their hope is to make money and find some cool stuff along the way.  It just so happens their first customer takes them to the former home of R..L. Stine, and the house has missed more than its fair share of spring cleanings.  It’s while they are cleaning Sonny stumbles across a book that has been hidden away for decades, one that has a lock on it (for those who saw the first film, you already know about the kind of trouble this book will bring), and once the boys open it, they are surprised by a ventriloquist dummy, the infamous Slappy.

"Eyes. Lungs. Pancreas. So many snacks. So little time."

The Marvel Venom character started simply enough with a desire to change the look of Spider-Man's costume in the 1980's. Spider-Man along with a collection of Marvel's heroes were abducted by a character called The Beyonder to fight on a battle planet. It's much like the iconic Planet Hulk story, which was used for the recent Thor film. When Spider-Man returns to Earth, he has a new black and white suit that he found in space. For quite a while the new look for the Web Crawler caused a debate in Marveldom about the hero’s new look. Eventually Peter Parker discovered the suit gave him new abilities and was self-healing. He was also finding himself more and more fatigued. It turned out he wasn't getting rest at night because the suit would take him out for its own adventures. Reed Richards of The Fantastic Four discovers that the suit wasn't a suit at all, but an alien life-form that had bonded to Spider-Man. When Parker rejects the symbiote, it attaches to rival Daily Bugle reporter Eddie Brock, and together they become the sometimes hero/sometimes villain Venom.

When I first heard that Bradley Cooper would be making his directing debut with A Star is Born, honestly, I kind of groaned.  It’s not because I didn’t believe he’d have the chops; after all, he’s worked with many successful directors over the span of his career. I groaned because I believed the world didn’t need yet another remake of the film.   This will be the fourth incarnation of the film, and while many can debate on which version is their favorite, the film was pretty much a relic I felt should have stayed in the past.  I mention this and want to also put out there even after some of the trailers I had caught for the film; my excitement level was pretty low going into this.  Well, this turned out to be the sleeper hit of the year for me.  Sure, many could have told me this would be a hit, and because of the cast I wouldn’t dispute it, but when I walked out of the auditorium I felt like I had experienced something special (even if it had been made three times before).

The film opens up with Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) taking the stage and performing for a large crowd.  After his show he’s looking to get a drink and stops off at the closest bar; as it turns out it is one that caters to drag-queens.  Jackson doesn’t care about the location; all he’s interested in is getting some drinks, but that all changes when he sees Ally (Lady Gaga) perform on stage.  As the night stretches on and the two continue to get to know one another, one thing is undeniable; the chemistry between Cooper and Gaga is phenomenal.  The flow of the first act of this film is perfect, and by the time Maine has Ally convinced to go on tour with him, I was convinced this movie will be a box office smash.

by John M. Delia, Jr.

Our life experiences influence what we do in our future, and what our parents experience could also influence how we are as well. And in tragedy and death, we experience large amounts of loss that could also transfer to our unborn offspring. Lastly, we experience many ups and downs throughout our lifetime, and how we react to those good or bad experiences make up who we are and how strong our will is to survive. Keep moving along knowing that there will be good life experiences, even though you will always have many hurdles to overcome, as we see in Life Itself.

Children’s fairy tales have taken a new drift with the film The House with a Clock in Its Walls.  Packed with exciting action adventure, the movie, based on the book by John Bellairs, envisions the story with an incredible amount of CGI.  You could almost call the film animated, but that’s a good thing here as things go bump in the night, magic forms the basis, and solving the mystery becomes the prominent focus for older youngsters. Orphaned due to a car crash that took his parents, young Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro) gets invited to live at his Uncle Jonathan’s (Jack Black) magical mansion. He’s a bit fearful of the old house with its grand stairway and many mysterious rooms, but Lewis sort of likes the flamboyance of the magician turned warlock.  There he’s introduced to Jonathan’s neighbor and best friend Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett), who assures Jonathan that he will enjoy living with his uncle.

Uncle Jonathan has only one rule for Lewis: he mustn’t open a special cupboard, ever.  Things go well for Lewis until it’s time he attend the local middle school.  There he’s the odd man out, as cliques have formed between the boys long before he came there.  Surprises abound his new life, and when he helps Tarby (Sunny Suljic), one of the school kids running for class President, he feels he’s finally made a friend. But things are not what they seem to be, and it leads to Lewis breaking the one rule he had promised he wouldn’t.

"Predators don't just sit around making hats out of rib cages. They conquered space."

In 1987 Predator became somewhat of a milestone film for many reasons. The movie would anchor a franchise thanks mostly to a wonderfully original Stan Winston creature design and the performance of Kevin Peter Hall under the suit. Both Winston and Hall have since passed, but the alien hunter that they created together is still going strong. The film also featured two stars who would later go on to become governors of their states. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jessie Ventura made their mark in politics. The film also featured Rocky's Carl Weathers. It also featured Shane Black in a small role that might not have contributed to the blossoming franchise then, but he has made his own impact by writing and directing the latest installment of that franchise The Predator.

There is something about the words “based on a true story” that seems to have a certain effect on us and seems to alter our perception of a film.  Then there is something about a true crime story that seems to excite us even more; at least for me, I enjoy these films where we get a glimpse of the seedy underbelly of society. So when White Boy Rick comes along to tell the tale of the youngest FBI informant who also happened to be an arms dealer and drug kingpin, well, this is the kind of film I tend to get excited about.  When I first saw the trailer, it had me thinking this could be a hodgepodge of American Hustle, Blow, and Goodfellas all wrapped into one. Unfortunately, though the film has some great talent and oodles of potential, the result is a good-looking mess on the screen.

The film opens up in 1984 where we meet Rick Wershe Jr. (Richie Merrit) and his dad Richard Wershe Sr. (Matthew McConaughey) at a gun show.  We get to see the duo hustle one of the dealers as they are purchasing a pair of AK-47’s.  What we can pick up on from the start of the picture is that there is a believable chemistry between McConaughey and Merrit that we can believe these guys are father and son.  There is also Rick’s sister Dawn (Bel Powley), who has become a drug addict, and we see her early in the film leave home to be with her unsavory boyfriend. Rounding out the Wershe clan are the grandparents, played by Bruce Dern and Piper Laurie.  Had the film simply focused just on the family, I believe there could have been a stronger film here, but the relationship between Rick and Dawn is definitely the weak link and becomes a distraction to the story, because she seems to just pop in and out of the film without bringing anything to further the story.

The favor, a paramount commitment of friendship. Everyday friends engage in this covenant, without batting an eye. But what if that favor had lasting consequences? That is how this story begins, and it rapidly descends into a tale of love, loyalty, murder, and revenge. Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively join together for a quirky and campy mystery entitled A Simple Favor that I actually must admit that I enjoyed more than I was expecting to. I mean, obviously, Blake Lively is a captivating beauty, and Anna Kendrick is the embodiment of the girl next door. Not to mention no one does that quirky charming persona like Kendrick. However, if I had to pick who was the more entertaining of the two, I would have to give a slight edge to Lively, for reasons that I will soon elaborate on. A Simple Favor is based off a book of the same name. I’m not sure how closely the film followed the book, but I imagine that the audience will not be disappointed with the film.

Kendrick plays Stephanie Smothers, a mommy blogger and single mom whose life became all about her son following the death of her husband and brother in a car accident. When her son befriends another kid in his class, she meets the beautiful and enigmatic Emily Nelson, a working mom who is very outspoken. The two bond during a play date with their kids, and Stephanie begins to really admire Emily and her life with her husband. One day, Emily calls Stephanie and asks a simple favor: pick up her son after school. Stephanie is happy to oblige, but hours quickly turn into days and no word from Emily.

Social media, along with our growing number of mobile devices, are dominating our lives. Today it's how we shop. It's how we communicate. Hell, it's how we date. For many of us, our devices have become how we see and experience the world around us. The new electronic culture has also changed our movie experience, as more and more films and television shows are going directly to our devices instead of our television and multiplex screens. It's also changed the way films are made. Recently, I reviewed a film shot completely on an iPhone. It should come as no surprise that a film would come along that tells its entire story through the lenses of these devices. It's a natural extension of the found-footage genre and has been used in many films already.  Searching delivers its entire story through the "eyes" of these devices. But this is more than a concept film. Searching gives us compelling drama and makes a significant emotional connection without ever breaking character. I found it to be a film with style and substance. That's a rare combination, and so Searching is well worth the visit to your local cinema. That is, if you can put your devices down long enough to enjoy it.

As the film begins, we get to see the evolution of the Kim family through their social media posts, their video and photograph posts, and their communications. We watch Margot (La) grow from a young girl to a teenager. We share the triumphs and tragedies of their lives, particularly the loss of her mother, through these posts and snapshots. With videos and posts we spy on the family's unfolding sorrow as Margot's mother slowly succumbs to cancer. We get to see the dynamics of a father and daughter dealing with the loss, and all through the window of various electronic devices. One night Margot goes missing ,and her father (Cho) begins to investigate where she might have gone. We witness the moment when he realizes how much of his daughter's online life he didn't know. The unknown passwords and who her friends really were. David Kim becomes an internet detective as he peels away each layer of her life. And all of this is seen through the eyes of apps, database programs, and social media.