The Lodge: Blurring The Lines Between Reality and Hallucination

The Lodge is a horror movie starring Riley Keough, Richard Armitage, Alicia Silverstone, Jaeden Martell, and Lia McHugh. Richard and Alicia are parents to Jaedan and Mia. The parents are in the process of divorce and Riley is the dads new girlfriend. The opening shots of the movie show the family house with a lot of empty rooms. There is a feeling of isolation that will be one of the main themes of The Lodge.

The mom dies unexpectedly and six months later the family goes to their winter house for Christmas. The dad has to work until Christmas so he sends the kids and the new wife there first. The dad is written like a stereotypical horror movie character. He shows the wife a fun for seemingly no reason but to setup some later scene. The dad has written a book about death cults and the wife was the only survivor of the cult as a child.

 Once at the winter house with the kids, the feeling of isolation and seclusion increases. Riley the wife begins to have memories of her childhood and the cult. She sleepwalks and has hallucinations to the point that the audience doesn’t know what’s real and what isn’t. Riley gives a chilling performance that’s award worthy. There is a portrait of the Virgin Mary in the winter house that whenever it’s onscreen there’s a hallucination right after.

The two children have a good relationship. They actually get along and are close. Lia McHugh plays the younger sister and she is a good actress. Sometimes child actors are hit or miss but she is pretty good for her age. She has a doll that looks like the mom and it’s creepy also. This movie gets darker and it goes on and the end is very dark and I’m glad it went as dark as it did. I recommend this movie if you're looking for a good psychological thriller. 🍔🍔🍔🍔

Brahms: The Boy 2: Smart and Sensible Horror Movie Characters

Brahms: The Boy 2 is a sequel to The Boy that came out in 2016. It was about a house that was haunted by a possessed doll that turned out to be crazy child that killed someone and was living in the walls for many years. Brahms: The Boy 2 continues the story of Brahms and expands the universe.

The movie starts out with a mother played by Katie Holmes and a son are victims of a home invasion. Katie has PTSD and the son stops talking and only communicates by writing down responses. The family goes to the country to relax and the son finds the Brahms doll buried in the woods. The son takes the doll home and over the next few days he and Brahms are inseparable. The son says Brahms talks to him and has rules like he must have a dinner plate and must be with the son at all times. The mom has hallucinations due to the home invasion.

In the beginning all the weird things happening in the house can be attributed to the son acting out. The parents don’t think anything supernatural is happening at this point other than the son acting out so they have nothing to be suspicious about until the son seems to be a little violent and has violent drawings in his notebook. The son says Brahms has done all the bad and strange things happening but the parents don’t believe him. At one point the son is in the dining room with the doll and is mad and the parents leave the room and there’s a loud bang and when the parents come back in the table is flipped over. The table is too big and the son is only ten. There’s no way the son could have done it and that’s what the dad says. When you eliminate all other possibilities, only the impossible remains.

The parents do some research on the doll and history of the house they are staying in and the information from the first movie comes up and the history of the doll begins to unravel. The son starts to act and dress like Brahms and wears the mask that Brahms wore in the first movie. The parents find the son doing a weird ritual with the doll and the mom distracts the son while the dad ones up behind the doll to destroy it with a sledgehammer. This is a clever idea by the parents and unique to horror movie characters. Also the son helps and is the one to actually destroy the doll which is nice. The son is at constant struggle to resist Brahms and has a key part in the plan to destroy the doll which is different. Usually children in horror movies are kind of useless.

Throughout the movie the characters make smart and rational decisions and don’t succumb to the usual tropes of horror movie characters. It’s a breath of fresh air in a world with so many bad horror movies. The son slowly dressing and acting like Brahms is clever and creepy. The references to the first movie are interesting and shed new light on it rather than rely on the first movie for plot. The sequel stands on its own and adds more to the first one as well. If your a fan of The Boy, you will enjoy Brahms: The Boy 2 as well. The one complaint was the sons acting was inconsistent. 🍔🍔🍔

Downhill: Good Story But Unlikeable Characters

Downhill is a remake of a Swedish film called Force Majeure from 2014. A family is on a skiing vacation and the parents are Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Their marriage is doing ok at that point but after a traumatic event Will Ferrell does something the puts strain and distance between him and his family. The movie wants you to feel bad for Julia at first and later Will, but both main characters aren’t necessarily likable.

While Julia was wronged she is nagging and passive aggressive as a person. Will is definitely not likable. While on vacation he is constantly on his phone, he ignores Julie and doesn’t defend her in public conversations and situations. The movie tries to make the audience feel bad for Will because his father passed away and he’s going through some sort of midlife crisis but right from the beginning the dialogue between the two is uncomfortable and frustrating.

The script is a good insight into married life but once again if the characters were more likable the movie would have worked better. There might have been something lost in translation from the original Swedish movie. Downhill does make the audience think a lot about people’s perspective and who they should be rooting for, Will or Julia. 🍔🍔 and 1/2 🍔

Parasite:The Cost of Deceit

Parasite is about a poor family the Kims, conning their way into the employment of the Parks, a wealthy family. Parasite was written and directed by Bong Joon Ho, who also made The Host, Snowpiercer, and Okja. You see how the Kim family lives in Korea, they live in a run down apartment that is dirty and has bugs. They steal wifi and are always trying to get thugs for free. The dad is making pizza boxes for a local pizzeria. He isn’t good at it and haggles prices for the made boxes with the pizzeria employee. The audience can see how the family is always looking for their next money making venture.

The Kims sons friend is a tutor for a rich family, the Parks, and is going to study abroad and the friend asks the son to fill in, saying it pays well. The friend and the son make some fake credentials to get the son a job as a tutor for the daughter of the Parks. Already there is deceit and the son hadn’t initiated it. This is the first is a spiral of lies and trickery for the Kim family.

When the son goes to the Parks house, you can see how clean and nice the neighborhood is which is a big contrast from the Kims. So the son gets a job as a tutor and after leaving he gets an idea. The Parks have a younger son and sees drawings so he says he knows a art teacher for the son. So he gets his sister a job for the Parks as well. One by one each member of the Kim family works their way into the employment of the Parks as the audience sees various tricks and plans to get rid of the previous staff including the Parks driver and housekeeper. The way the Kims lie and seduce their way in is almost effortless for them. It’s hard for the Parks not to fall for it.

The amount of deceit gets almost overwhelming for the Kims as something is revealed that puts their plan in jeopardy. This screenplay is unlike anything I’ve seen before and is a breath of fresh air in a world of remakes, sequels, and adaptations. Parasite win four Oscars including best director, best principal screenplay, best international film, and best film of the year. This movie shows the nativity of the rich and the lengths of which people will go to survive. Parasite is an achievement in writing and a great foreign film. If people can get used to subtitles they can truly expand their movie selection and experience. 🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔

Blog Update!

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Sonic the Hedgehog: Speeding Past The Curse of Bad Video Game Movies

Movies based on video games have always had a bad track record of being being horrible and a lot of times straying very far from the source material. When the first trailer for Sonic The Hedgehog came out fans were horrifying with how Sonic’s design was. He had human teeth, short legs, and a pudgy body. We all thought this was going to be another bad video game movie. Backlash ensued immediately to the point where the studio redesigned sonic to look more like the character. While fans liked the redesign were they going to like the movie?

Sonic begins on another planet where he is being to by an owl that people are after his special power. Sonic is little and is being told the rings are portals to other worlds. Sonics homework’s in filled with loops and straight always like the classic zones from the game. As familiar enemies attack, he is given the rings to go to earth to escape. Sonic gets to earth to a town called Green Hill, Montana, and then a montage of ten years shows how sonic lives. Sonic is voiced by Ben Schwartz and he captures the spirit of Sonic. He has a youthful, playful portrayal. He is always cracking jokes and having fun. Since Sonic would be about siren or seventeen has personality and attitude make sense. He has a youthful and happy go lucky personality.

Since Sonic has been living alone on earth he occupies his time playing sports, reading flash comics, and, playing sports. One night he is playing baseball with himself and runs fast enough to cause a power outage. This is how Sonic crosses paths with local cop James Marsden. Also the military brings in robotics scientist Dr. Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey. James Marsden reacts to Sonic as anyone would, first with fear. But he catches on pretty quick and helps Sonic. He is very funny and has great comedic timing. I’m glad Marsden isn’t confused the whole movie about who and what Sonic is.

Jim Carrey portrays Robotnik perfectly. He is playing an over the top video game character and he goes 1000% with it, with erratic movements, and ridiculous dialogue. Yet his character fits in well into the world established. Jim Carrey really sells the character and is the best part of the movie. Throughout the movie Robotnik is reign to capture Sonic with various robots and machines and it’s  here where Sonic learns to use his powers. He uses his classic attack’s from the game and when he uses his speed it’s reminiscent of the flash and quicksilver where Sonic sees everyone else in slow motion.

Throughout the movie there is a fun lighthearted theme. The producers of the movie didn’t try to make a dark, gritty, reboot of the character. They kept the tone the way it should be. The fights are fun and reminiscent of the classic games, there are easter eggs hidden throughout, they even remix the green hill music. I wish they would have remixed more game music. The plot is easy to follow and family friendly. It’s fun for the whole family and the best video game movie ever made. This had the potential to be just as bad as other video game movies. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction for future video game movies. Let’s hope there is a sequel because I want to see more from this universe. 🍔🍔🍔🍔

Birds of Prey: It’s Harley’s Time to Shine

Birds of Prey stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Ewan McGregor as Roman Sionis AKA Black Mask. This movie is a spin off of Suicide Squad and has Harley on her own without the Joker. This movie continues Harley’s character development from Suicide Squad and make her more relatable. She’s more human and has the same problems as you and me, like dealing with a breakup and trying to find a new career.

Margot Robbie is the best incarnation of Harley Quinn. She captures the voice, the personality, including the psychologist background the Harley has. Harley Quinn was created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for the Batman: The Animated Series in the nineties. She was later put into DC comics and other cartoons and video games, including a new cartoon on DC Universe. Birds of Prey reminded me of this new cartoon. She breaks the fourth wall and talks to the audience and it’s great. She is narrating and telling the story like a real person would. She forgets parts and rewinds back to them.

Ewan McGregor plays Black Mask and he is hilarious. His performance is animated and over the top. He definitely stands out and has fun with his role. He has an interested relationship with the Victor Zsasz. Harley must work with Black Canary, Huntress, and Detective Renee Montoya, who form the Birds of Prey. They are played by Jurnee Smolett-Bell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Rosie Pérez. They all have good chemistry with each other and it’s nice to see Rosie Pérez in a tough role like this.

The final fight take place in a carnival funhouse and they use the element of the funhouse to their advantage. Since this movie wasn’t doing so well in the box office the name was changed so people would recognize the title better. It went from Birds of Prey(The Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn) to Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. The original title was a reference to the movie Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). While it was a clever title most of the audience my not have understand the reference and for a movie about Harley Quinn, her name is the last word of the title. This movie was funny, it didn’t have a giant CGI battle at the end, and should be making more money than it is. Hopefully the new title will help. 🍔🍔🍔 and 1/2 🍔

Rhythm Section: A Movie That Can't Quite find It's Rhythm

The Rhythm Section stars Blake Lively, Jude Law, and Sterling K. Brown. Blake’s character had her family die in a plane crash caused by a terrorist and wants revenge. This movie is from Eon Productions, which has produced every single James Bond movie. Was this their attempt at a James Bond style movie starring a female lead? This movie is based on a book and the author also wrote the screenplay.

At a runtime of 109 minutes, The Rhythm Section feels like it’s three hours long. The pacing is terrible. There are too many long drawn out scenes that don't advance the story along. The plot is predictable. There are two characters introduced that interact with Blake Lively throughout most of the movie, one played by Jude Law, and the other by Sterling K. Brown. They are both being setup to be the potential villain of the movie. It's pretty obvious when they reveal who it is.

One redeeming quality of The Rhythm Section is that while Blake Lively is being trained by a former MI6 agent to go after her family's killer, she herself is inexperienced. Most attempts to get information or stop a killer are failures or she does the job very sloppy. But it makes sense because she is still highly untrained. This movie seems like an attempt to make a female driven James Bond like movie but it fails. 🍔

Gretel and Hansel: A Creepy Atmospheric Reimagining

Gretel and Hansel is a new adaptation of the classic Grimm fairytale. It stars Sophia Lillis and Alice Krige. Lillis has started in The IT remake and the Sharp Objects miniseries. Krige has started in Star Trek: First Contact, Silent Hill, and The Christmas Prince movies on Netflix. Gretel and Hansel has great pacing and an intense score to compliment the movie.

Gretel is the protagonist and has to survive with her brother Hansel in a harsh unforgiving world. Sophia plays a character a lot more wise then her age suggests. When they get to the old women’s house they talk about fairytales and legends that play into the current plot.

The atmosphere is creepy and keeps the audience captivated as the old woman is nice to the children but is hiding something. She slowly reveals her intentions throughout the movie and it’s a cat and mouse game between Gretel and the old woman. The use of witchcraft is very interesting and well done. It becomes the main plot later in the movie. The use of herbal concoctions and spells also plays a big role. The score is used so well during these and other abstract and dreamlike sequences.

The ending of the movie is ambiguous and while open ended conclusions aren’t always a bad things, this ending could have used more explanation for the average movie goer. The hardcore movie fan shouldn’t have trouble but it may leave audiences a little confused. 🍔🍔🍔 and 1/2 🍔

I Lost My Body: A Visually Unique Out of Body Experience

I Lost My Body is a French movie made by Netflix about a severed hand trying to get back to its body. The movie also shows the events leading up to this point. The animation is outstanding and unlike anything I’ve seen before. The editing is wonderful as scenes of the hand going on it’s journey switch between scenes of the character Naoufel, the person who lost his hand.

Naoufel is a pizza delivery guy who during a late delivery develops a relationship with the person who he was supposed to deliver a pizza. While this character development  is necessary I wish there were more scenes of the severed hand out in the world. That was the most visually interesting parts of the movie.

The relationship between Naoufel and the girl is nice because it’s an unlikely way to start a relationship or get close to another person. Out of all the movies nominated for best animated picture I Lost My Body is the most visually interesting in my opinion, with its compelling story and unique animation. 🍔🍔🍔🍔

Klaus: A Fresh Take on Santa

There have been many stories about Santa Claus, including a version where he meets Pac-Man. But Klaus, which is a Netflix original,  surprises the audience into realizing they are watching a movie about Santa Claus. Klaus stars Jason Schwartzman, J.k. Simmons, and Norm MacDonald. Writer and Director Sergio Pablos has written movies like Despicable Me and Smallfoot. He has crafted a unique story about learning kindness. The animation is great because it looks like two dimensional drawing  instead of three dimensional computer effects. The character designs are unlike what we've seen before.

Jason Schwartzman plays Jesper, a spoiled son of a rich man, who has been in the postal guard for months and refuses to do any work. His attitude is very reminiscent of David Spade in The Emperor's New Groove. He is sarcastic and always cracking jokes. Jesper is in the postal academy and he is lazy and his father wants to see his progress. Jesper says he tried and should go home to a life of luxury. But in a surprising move the father promotes him to postal worker and says he must establish a post office in a remote island in a year or he is cut off from the family. Instead of having Jesper come home and still be spoiled he makes him go out on his own and make something of himself.

J.K. Simmons plays Klaus, a toy maker who lives alone. He helps Jesper deliver mail and helps come up with a way for people to need mail. Children write letters to him so Jesper can deliver them and the kids get toys in return. They start doing it for kindness instead of just for self service. Throughout the movie more aspects of Santa keep showing up until everything about Santa is established from the classic story.

Norm MacDonald plays a ferryman who needs to get Jesper to the island and he is hilarious. He is sarcastic and wisecracking to Jesper when Jesper makes assumptions of where he will live and what services will be available to him which aren’t very much. Anytime Jesper makes a crack at the ferryman, he has a comeback waiting. Norm MacDonald has great comedic timing and a voice for sarcasm.

Klaus is a heartwarming tale and has great animation and a great message. It’s worth watching. 🍔🍔🍔

The Gentlemen: A More Refined Gangster Movie

The Gentleman is about criminals and drug kingpins and lowlives, but they are presented in a classy and polite way. Guy Ritchie is back with his signature style of touch and cheek gangster and heist plot. He has a way of writing lengthy dialogue driven movies without feeling boring or long drawn out. The characters conduct themselves with style and respect and conduct their business in the same manner. They take the time to correct one another on grammar while pointing guns at each other which is great.

Matthew McConaughey is weed gangster and crime lord. He has a much more refined way of doing things and has a lot of exposition and lengthy dialogue to say. But he is charming and prides himself on class and grammar. He is always seeking a more civilized was of handling problems and only escalating when it is absolutely necessary.  Since he has been doing such serious roles the last few years he gets to have fun and be a little over the top and silly in The Gentlemen.

The cast also includes Hugh Grant, Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell, and Henry Golding. Hugh Grant is telling most of the narrative and he is cheeky and over the top. He is not his normal calm, collected persona like he is in most roles. When he tells a story he shows a scenario where people yell and shoot and are super violent but then shows what really happens which is a lot more civil. Whenever two characters are talking to each other even while they are arguing, they still correct each other on grammar and gentlemanly ways of acting.

Henry Golding plays someone from a rival gangster group and this is his most interesting role to date. This script really gives him something to do and show his acting chops. He gets to go over the top and have fun, which he didn’t get to do in past movies like Crazy Rich Asians and A Simple Favor. Colin Farrell plays a boxing coach who gets caught up in the whole situation. Even though he has to do questionable things he still retains his mentoring persona even when being attacked by a gang or getting his students involved in bad situations.

The Gentlemen is a nice change of pace and worth seeing after a boring and disappointing January for movies. 🍔🍔🍔🍔

The Stigma of January Movies

What is it about movies in January the have a similar pattern? January is notorious for Hollywood releasing movies that the studios have very little faith in and don’t expect to profit. Besides the wide release Christmas and Oscar nominated holdovers, January has a lot of horror and action movies that get released. Rarely do January released movies have good reviews or make a lot of money. According to an article on Business Insider this can be also because of people’s financial situations. People have just spent a lot of money from the holidays and aren’t looking to spend a lot of money. The bad weather in January also prevents people from going to the movies.

Bad Boys for Life is a recent exception but typically a lot of PG-13 horror movies come out in January with low budgets and they will get sequels in better movie months like May, June, or July. Movies that have had their release dates pushed back will often get January releases. Some other bad January realizes over the years have included Mortdecai, I, Frankenstein, Epic Movie, Bride Wars, The Book of Eli, Legion, Texas Chainsaw 3D, Live By Night, and the list goes on. But there is one movie from 2008 that was one of the best movies financially and critically to come out in January. Taken stars Liam Neeson and was a huge success that not only spawned two sequels and a television show, but revitalized Liam Neeson’s career since then. There have been a lot of animated movies, some from foreign countries starring big name actors that have also been released in January. Hoodwinked!, Strange Magic, Norm of the North, and are good examples.

Now while so many movies that were critically and financial failures, do audiences get enjoyment out of some of these movies? I have enjoyed many January release movies that have entertained me despite the mass consensus. The Hellboy remake was fun and straight from the comics and Broken City starring Mark Wahlberg was a good crime drama. Kung Fu Panda 3 was an amazing end to the trilogy of movies. So while a lot of movies in January are probably duds you may not want to count them all out just yet and maybe take a chance on one. But most aren't worth the time and money.