I saw the original Halloween directed by John Carpenter back in 1978 at age 9 and it scared the hell out of me. Since then we’ve had about 9 sequels and remakes oand they’ve all been hot garbage. I kinda like H20 (1998), but that’s a stretch. The good news is that this movie completely erases all those movies and picks up where the original left off (save 40 years later) and it does that movie proud. It’s a really effective chilling movie. Now at it its core, it’s still a slasher movie with all the cliches. You’ve got the useless cops, the horny teenagers waiting to get carved up and you know exactly whose going to be left to face off against the big bad with the butcher knife in a TJ Hooker mask (ok Captain Kirk). What makes this movie work is that it takes all the standard cliches and does them all very effectively. There are some winks at the original movie and that “killer” original score is used again which just adds more tension. The lynch pin is Jamie Lee Curtis who can play Laurie Strode in her sleep. She ups the ante in this movie and is all bad ass survivalist. She is great. I saw the film at a 5p show after work and it was packed and there was a line outside waiting to get in for the next show. The movie should make a fortune this weekend. If you don’t like these types of films, then stay away, but if you’re a fan of the franchise and dig the scary, then you’ll really enjoy this one. It’s lots of fun. Don’t worry, they’ll probably be making more of these. 

Rating (***1/2)

Pending who you talk to, this movie is either great or awful. I’ve read some horrible reviews. I just saw it and I fall somewhere in between. If you like Queen’s music, then you’ll probably dig this. The music and casting is terrific. The guys they got to play some of the band members are spot on. They also do an incredible job of recreating Live Aid. That covers the last 20 minutes and its worth the price of admission right there The story itself is your standard music biopic. Nothing in this is groundbreaking and it’s almost a paint by numbers formula. For the most part, it’s alright. You get the highlights but that’s about it. Freddy Mercury led an NC-17 life in a PG-13 movie, so there is a lot missing or left to the viewer’s imagination, but is touched on well enough. If you want the full disclosure, you’ll have to watch something else. Look for a weird cameo by Mike Myers as Ray Foster, which I could have done without. That’s just stunt casting. This is worth seeing. The acting by Rami Malek is great. He gets all of Mercury’s nuances and ticks and captures the performers persona. As music biopics go, it’s good enough. There are many better ones, but if you like the band, you’ll walk out of the theater humming their tunes. I promise you that.

Rating (***)

I’m not a Harry Potter expert. I’ve only seen the movies (a lot), so I may not be the best person to review these Fantastic Beast pictures. I like the whole franchise, but all the mythology seems to blend together for me and frankly, I just watch these for the visuals and shits and giggles. My family, well that’s another story. They are all over this and know this stuff back and forth. So ultimately, I’m going to let you know if they recommend it. Personally, I found this movie rather confusing. I like all the characters and the visuals and animals are creative and exciting. The last reel esp. was well done. It’s a shame that I really had no idea why anybody was doing what. I found it all difficult to follow. It’s also considerably darker than the last film. Kind of joyless. So for that, I’m going to give this a middling rating and recommend this for Harry Potter fans only. I had asked my wife and two of my kids what they thought. My wife was disappointed, my 12 year old thought it was too long and confusing and my 17 year old daughter thought it was just pretty good. Not exactly a rave from the fandom in my family.

Rating (**1/2)

It’s hard to believe that after 42 years, this franchise is still healthy. Not to mention still has Sly attached to it. That’s pretty amazing. Not sure that you can say that about too many other franchises. Rocky movies are like comfort food. They follow a simple template and every movie has used it down to a tee. Aside from Rocky V (brutal), they’ve all worked. Creed 2 is not as good as Creed, but it still works. The film deals more with Adonis’ (Michael B. Jordan) personal life with Bianca. They get engaged, she has a baby and there are some family conflicts to deal with. If you saw Rocky IV, then you’ll recognize much of what’s happening here. Dolph Lundgren reprises his giant Russian Ivan Drago and Adonis ultimately fights his son. Matter of fact, much of this film mirrors that movie. They even bring back Bridget Nielsen. Sly is still around with his goofy hat and he gives another very tender and emotional performance. People forget that he can really act. If you want a boxing metaphor, this film isn’t a knockout, but packs a good punch.

Rating (***)

Game Night– Comedy misses the mark. A really good set up, but falls flat and loses its focus. (**)

Bad Times at El Royale– A bloody fun time. Bloody is the word. The film is too long, but it’s stylish and pretty entertaining, despite being a Tarentino rip-off. (***)

Breaking In– A sloppy and predictable home invasion film. Very much like Panic Room, but a lot worse. (**)

Uncle Drew– Surprisingly charming and pretty funny comedy starring some of the biggest personalities in basketball. (***)

Venom– A disjointed Marvel film. The identity of the character is never quite distinguished. (**)

House With a Clock in the Wall– A good companion to Goosebumps. A cute pre-teen Halloween film that works for the most part. Not bad. (***)

Roma– One of the best films of the year. It’s a beautiful film, yet slow. Some might say it doesn’t go anywhere, but I thought it was very well done and I found Cleo’s story interesting. (****)

BlacKkKlansman– One of the best of the year and IMO Spike Lee’s best film. It’s very powerful, funny and I thought the story was very engrossing. (****)

Skyscraper– A loud ridiculous action film from Dwayne Johnson. Sort of a Die Hard rip-off with a little Towering Inferno mixed in. Good to see Neve Campbell, but the film is forgettable. (**)

Upgrade– A creative action film with lots of gore and over the top violence. It’s not too bad, but I had a difficult time bonding with the lead. (**1/2)

Tag- Another comedy with a great set-up but falls apart. The cast led by Ed Helms is grating. (**)

The Spy Who Dumped Me– This should’ve been better. It started out really funny, but just got worse and worse. Kate McKinnon’s character is more irritating than funny. It’s also very gory and violent for a comedy. (**)

RBG– Really interesting documentary about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I hope that I have her stamina at her age. (***)

Book Club– A bunch of old codgers in a book club decide to read Fifty Shades of Grey to spice things up and in their marriages. Parts of it are cute, but this movie is a 1 joke film that I didn’t laugh much at. Mary Steenburgen has become to “go to” actress for adult comedies, much like Morgan Freeman has for actors. (**)

Won’t You Be My Neighbor”- The best documentary I’ve seen this year. Who doesn’t love Mr. Rogers? What I liked most about Fred Rogers is that he seemed just like the man I watched as a little kid. (****)

Hotel Transylvania 3– They’re still making these? Drac goes on a cruise to meet a woman. I liked the first movie, but whatever charm that film had came as a surprise. Ok for the younger set, but my 12 year old was bored. (**)

Oceans 8– The Oceans films are an exercise in self indulgence where really high profile actors are all invited to a private party, but the audience is just eavesdropping. I liked Oceans 11, but the other 2, meh. This all female version is actually kind of fun and engrossing. Just don’t make anymore of them. (***)

Crazy Rich Asians– Your atypical rom com but with an almost all Asian cast. This is really a delightful film with engaging characters, beautiful locales & it’s well acted. (***1/2)

Strangers: Prey at Night- Not a lot of imagination went into this sequel and whatever star power is in this is killed off in the first 10 minutes. Many of the kills are sick and all the moves are telegraphed. (*1/2)

Adrift– A pretty amazing story and it’s well told, despite being pretty slow. It’s worth checking out for the scenery alone. (***)

Hurricane Heist– A standard heist film, but the gimmick of it taking place in the middle of a hurricane doesn’t make this any better. This movie is pretty cheesy. (*1/2)

Rampage- A pretty stupid movie about a bunch of animals that grow really large and get out of control. The villain is something out of an Underdog cartoon. (*1/2)

Deep Blue Sea 2– Full disclosure, Deep Blue Sea is one of my favorite movies, but this belongs at the bottom of the ocean. (*)

Blockers– You can only go to the crude sex humor well so often. This movie about a group of parents trying to make sure their kids don’t have sex on prom night should be a lot funnier. (*1/2)

Chappaquiddick– Poor casting and a very poor script really hinders this story about the infamous Kennedy scandal. (*1/2)

While working on the Avatar sequels, James Cameron took time out of his busy schedule to produce a very cool looking sci-fi film based on a Japanese graphic novel. The film has a lot of style and vision, plenty of action and is loaded with interesting characters. But what is this movie really about and who is this movie marketed for? The story is all over the place. We get a really interesting set-up, but nothing is really drawn out and I wanted to know more about some of these guys. It’s also quite violent for a PG-13 movie which I’ve seen marketed for kids. It’s not overly graphic to gain an R, but we get some pretty good kills including a guy cut in half. Appropriate for a graphic novel, however. This isn’t a bad movie, but it has lots of problems with the script and its too long. I wish the film was tighter and more contrite and you’d have a better film. I saw it in IMAX 3-D because that’s how it was marketed. You can skip the 3-D. It’s cool at times, but not really worth the extra coin. Suitable for 10 and up.

Rating (**1/2)

A story about a husband (Jonathyn Pryce)who wins the Nobel Prize for literature, but he carries a secret about his body of work which his dedicated wife (Glenn Close) has continued to hold for him. Glenn Close is excellent. She’ll win her first Oscar on 2/24. She speaks in this film with very little dialogue, but her actions tell the story. Pryce is great too. This is a pretty engrossing drama. She’s married to a shit, but for some reason she stays with him. He’s never mean to her, but he does cheat and is a narcissist. He does truly loves her and he needs her a lot more than she needs him if only to continue to take care of his health by putting out his pills. She continues to stay, keep his secret and for that, we the audience kind of wonder why? Another film like this is “Big Eyes”, but I think I enjoyed this one a little better. It’s a very good drama with a couple great performances.

Rating (***1/2)