It’s a federal holiday, my children are with their abuelos, and I am sick with a disgusting cold. It’s the perfect storm for a movie day! I’ve had a growing pile of Takashi Miike must-sees, and today’s challenge is to discover whether I can stomach them all in one day: Ichi the Killer, The HappinessContinue reading “Takashi Miike Challenge!”
Author Archives: GhoulieJoe
‘Trick’ is a Bizarre but Enjoyable Experience
The film opens at a Halloween party in 2015. A group of teens, including Cheryl (Kristina Reyes), Nicky (Kya Brickhouse), Troy (Max Miller), and the eponymous (Pa)Trick (Thom Niemann) are playing spin the bottle. When Trick lands on a dude, he inexplicably starts murdering people. Detective Denver (Omar Epps) and Sheriff Jayne (Ellen Adair) shootContinue reading “‘Trick’ is a Bizarre but Enjoyable Experience”
‘Reborn’ is Shockingly Watchable
Ken (Chaz Bono) is a sexy but deranged diener (the technical term for an employee at a morgue–not a lazy pun, I googled it) who inadvertently reanimates a baby that died in the womb. He decides to take the infant home and raise her as his sister, naming her Tess. (Don’t expect logic here, justContinue reading “‘Reborn’ is Shockingly Watchable”
‘Polaroid’ is an Average but Amusing Teen-Centered Romp
Bird (Kathryn Prescott) is your typical vanilla final girl whose friend Tyler (Davi Santos) gives her an old Polaroid camera from a yard sale. Unfortunately it’s a haunted camera–that’s bad. But it comes with film–that’s good! It also dooms everyone who has their picture taken–that’s bad. Can Bird solve the riddle of why the cameraContinue reading “‘Polaroid’ is an Average but Amusing Teen-Centered Romp”
‘Daniel Isn’t Real’ is a Real Must-See
Luke (Griffin Robert Faulkner) is a young boy whose parents are in the midst of divorce, which is exacerbated by his mother Claire’s (Mary Stuart Masterson) mental illness. During a particularly vicious fight, he flees the house and comes across the corpse of an armed gunman who was shot down by the police. That momentContinue reading “‘Daniel Isn’t Real’ is a Real Must-See”
‘I See You’ is a Wild Ride
A small town in Ohio is rocked by the kidnapping of two young boys. On the case is Detective Spitsky (Gregory Alan Williams) and Detective Greg Harper (Jon Tenney). The main focus of the film is Greg, his wife Jackie (Helen Hunt), and their teenage son Connor (Judah Lewis). The house is filled with tensionContinue reading “‘I See You’ is a Wild Ride”
‘Bloodline’: A Bit Predictable, but the Performances Make it Highly Watchable
Evan (Seann William Scott) is a social worker at a high school. He’s also a family man with a wife, Lauren (Mariela Garriga), and a young baby, Andrew, whom his mother Marie (Dale Dickey) moves in to help with. But Evan has a dark side: a la Dexter, he kidnaps less-than-moral dudes (in this case,Continue reading “‘Bloodline’: A Bit Predictable, but the Performances Make it Highly Watchable”
‘The Banana Splits Movie’: Yes, It’s a Horror Film
In real life, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour was a variety show from the late ’60s to early ’70s starring four dudes in animal costumes: Fleegle the dog, Bingo the monkey, Drooper the lion, and Snorkie the elephant. They performed comedy sketches interspersed with well-meaning but racist segments like the cartoon “The Arabian Knights” andContinue reading “‘The Banana Splits Movie’: Yes, It’s a Horror Film”
Ari Aster’s ‘Midsommar’: It’s Long and Challenging, but Ultimately Worth It
Dani (Florence Pugh) is a young lady who’s in mourning from the loss of her entire immediate family: her sister, while committing suicide by car exhaust, killed their parents as well. Meanwhile, her less-than-committed boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) has been planning a trip to Sweden with his buddies Josh (William Jackson Harper), Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren),Continue reading “Ari Aster’s ‘Midsommar’: It’s Long and Challenging, but Ultimately Worth It”
‘The Gallows Act II’: Fun and Occasionally Creepy, Especially for the Under-18 Crowd
Loosely following the plot of the first movie (if you need a refresher you can read an exhaustive synopsis here, or if you’ve never seen it and want a quick spoiler-free plot outline, here are some), it opens with a rainbow of doomed teenagers (’cause it’s okay to bother casting a racially diverse group ofContinue reading “‘The Gallows Act II’: Fun and Occasionally Creepy, Especially for the Under-18 Crowd”
