It's an inescapable fact of life that some things get lost in translation. Italian poetry loses its imagery. War And Peace is apparently much more compelling in Tolstoy's original Russian. And I've been told that Abbott & Costello is painful when told secondhand. You can add to that axiom that Stephen King really doesn't translate very well on the silver screen. The notable exceptions are films based on non-horror works like The Shawshank Redemption and the barely horror-related Stand By Me. Both are wonderful films that manage to capture King's knack for the absurd in every day life. While some consider Kubrick's The Shining a classic, you'll find just as many King fans who hated it, "Here's Johnny" and all of that. I've read most of Stephen King's books and a couple of them multiple times. Pet Sematary is one of my favorites, and I've read it at least three times. When the 1989 film was released, I was eager to see it. That was a mistake, but an even bigger mistake was made by all involved in what was essentially a mess. I blame Denise Crosby, but then again I blame Denise Crosby for hurricanes and urban blight. I don't blame Fred Gwynne. He was the only part of that film that reminded me even remotely of the printed word. Now writers Matt Greenberg & Jeff Buhler join directors Kevin Lolsch & Dennis Widmyer in a remake that while not the disaster of the 1989 film still fails to capture the imaginative prose of the novel. I think it's a translation thing.

The story is essentially the same. The Creed family moves to rural Maine from the hectic big-city life. It's a wonderful a scenic home... well... except for that small rural road where oil tankers go flying by like bats out of hell. It all starts when little kitty Church is the first to meet a tanker head on. Spoiler alert! Church loses that one. Friendly Neighborhood Jud, this time played by John Lithgow, offers some homely advice. You see, there's this ancient Pet Sematary (yeah, the kids spelled it wrong) where the town's kids have been burying their Fidos for generations that just so happens to be part of the new Creed family estate. But just beyond said resting place is an extra special place where buried things come back. Jud just can't stand to see the Creed kids crying over poor old Church, so he lets slip to Dad Louis (Clarke) about the section with the extra secret sauce. Church comes back from the dead, but he ain't quite right. He smells funny. His fur is matted. Oh, and there's the psycho-killer new 'tude. OK as far as it goes. But you know the rest of the story. One of the young Creed rug rats has one of those tanker meetings, and Louis decides it's a good idea to try the same thing on said deceased child. It all goes downhill from there.

Zachary Levi is every geek’s dream come true, becoming a superhero as he takes on the mantle of Shazam. I am not well versed with this hero, but it is safe to say that he is not someone to discount, having an impressive number of abilities that put him in the same league as a superhero. Going in, I was not expecting a lot from this film, as the previews made it seem very silly and without substance. However, I can honestly say that the previews did not do this film justice. Thanks to lively performances by Levi as well as his counterpart Asher Angel, much needed comic relief from Jack Dylan Grazer, and a surprise star-studded twist toward the film’s climax, Shazam is the film to see this weekend.

Billy Batson has spent his teenage years searching for his mother after being separated at a carnival when he was a young child. Determined to be reunited, he has run away an impressive 26 times as well as sought out every Rachel Batson in Philadelphia. After his latest search brings him in direct conflict with local law enforcement, he is sent to a group home run by two former wards of the state. There he meets Freddy, a disabled foster kid with a love of superheroes.

"Welcome to The Taj. Home to statesmen and celebrities for over a century."

There are times when movies come almost uncomfortably close to real life experiences. This can be both a blessing and a curse. I've heard World War II vets have mixed feelings after watching Steven Spielberg's relentless portrayal of the D-Day storming of the beaches of Normandy. Many cried because it brought them back to a place that lives vividly in their own minds. Some were resentful for the pain they experienced. As an audience member who has never experienced anything close to battle, it was compelling and also fatiguing. It seems like director Anthony Maras took a page from Spielberg's book and made it into an entire movie. This time it cuts closer to home for a generation that was significantly changed by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. We live with those images, and it has changed the way we conduct our daily lives from flying in a plane to obtaining identification credentials that used to be matter of course. It doesn't help that these attacks, albeit on a much smaller scale, continue to happen throughout the world by an extremist sector of an otherwise peaceful religion. What might be worse than the fear is that we might be getting somewhat numb to these events. At least that's what I thought before I saw Hotel Mumbai and I realized there were still plenty of nerves to be rattled on the subject of terrorist attacks. If you're concerned that you might have become desensitized to the subject, just one viewing of Hotel Mumbai will answer that question in a resounding way.

So Dumbo was never one of my favorite Disney classics. In fact, when news initially broke about a live-action version being filmed, I wasn’t moved one way or the other. I figured I would end up seeing it for the sake of my daughter, but I figured it would just be something that I would have to endure. I speak these words with the full knowledge that I now have to eat them, as Dumbo has gone from one of my least favorite Disney films to one of my favorite movie experiences of the year. With an all-star cast that includes Colin Farrell, Eva Green, Danny Devito, and Michael Keaton, Dumbo is a fantastical and wholesome family experience that I will be taking my daughter to, but dragging her to it if she puts up a fight. Helmed by Tim Burton, Dumbo is the first of three live-action Disney movies expected this year, with the others being Aladdin and The Lion King. Of those three, I was expecting The Lion King to be the biggest audience draw, but as it stands, Dumbo has set the bar extremely high, and the other two have a lot of work to do if they expect to compete.

In comparison to the animated version, the two films are very different, as the original relied mainly on a cast of speaking animal characters with the exception of Dumbo, which remains a non-speaking role in the future adaptation. The 2019 film features a predominantly human cast, mainly focused on the Farrier family and the Medici circus. Holt Farrier (Farrell) returns home from World War I a war hero who lost a limb. Her wife has died of influenza before his return, leaving him to care for their two children, Milly and Joe (Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins respectively). Eager to resume his life as a performer, he learns that his act, which used to headline the circus, has been cancelled, and the circus has fallen on destitute times. In need of a job, he takes the only position available, wrangling the elephants.