Nate (Nicolas Cage), his wife Theresa (Joely Richardson), and their three kids, young Jack (Julian Hilliard) and teens Lavinia (Madeleine Arthur) and Benny (Brendan Meyer) have moved to Nate’s late father’s farm. To raise alpacas and grow tomatoes and peaches. Yeah, good thing Theresa is bringing in income; she has some kind of consulting jobContinue reading “Richard Stanley’s ‘Color Out of Space’: Stick with it Until the Halfway Point–It’s Worth the Wait”
Tag Archives: 2019
‘Villains’: Thought-Provoking and Funny as Hell
Jules (Maika Monroe) and Mickey (Bill Skarsgård) are inept but resourceful thieves who have just robbed a gas station. Ironically running out of fuel in the middle of nowhere, they break into an empty well-appointed home. All is well until they stumble onto a little girl chained up in the basement. As they scramble toContinue reading “‘Villains’: Thought-Provoking and Funny as Hell”
‘Mary’: More Like ‘Meh-ry’
We open with a title card about a witch coming to steal kids at sea, and move on to Sarah (Emily Mortimer) being held by the police, who speculate “God only knows what happened out there.” Sarah is dehydrated and bruised, and her husband David (Gary Oldman) is conspicuously absent, though their daughters Lindsey (StefanieContinue reading “‘Mary’: More Like ‘Meh-ry’”
‘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”
‘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”
‘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”
Babak Anvari’s ‘Wounds’ is Profoundly Disturbing–in a Very Good Way
Will (Armie Hammer) is an apathetic bartender who finds a phone left by four college kids. He ends up bringing it home and becoming obsessed with it. His girlfriend Carrie (Dakota Johnson) pleads with him to turn it in to the police, as it contains gruesome pictures of murders as well as texts pleading forContinue reading “Babak Anvari’s ‘Wounds’ is Profoundly Disturbing–in a Very Good Way”
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