The Movie Guy

There’s one movie I find myself watching every Halloween. For me, it’s a movie that strikes all the right chords in its blend of horror, creepiness, and scares. It features a smart, compelling story, actors I like who are given clever, humorous dialogue with obscure references to recite, film direction filled with creepy cutaways and insane imagery, and, in my mind, the granddaddy of all movie monsters. It’s one of the most overlooked and underrated horror movies ever made; a movie easily passed off as just another cheesy sequel- but it’s the real deal, a genuine continuation of arguably the scariest movie ever made. Written and directed by the man who created the original “Exorcist,” it’s William Peter Blatty’s 1990 film, “Exorcist III.”

Comic book fans may feel like the joke is on them watching “Joker” but what the movie lacks in substance, it makes up for in style.

 As the origin story for Batman’s arch nemesis, “Joker” immediately takes you out of fantasy and into gritty reality with a character study of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix).

The scariest part of “It: Chapter Two” may be its almost 3 hour running time, but the movie spreads its story out among its six protagonists well enough to keep you in the clutches of Pennywise the Clown and not the Sandman.

On Netflix before August ends, you can celebrate Alfred Hitchcock’s 120^th birthday by watching one of his best films. Easily his most entertaining and accessible movie, “Strangers on a Train” speeds along like a powerful locomotive. If you’ve ever wondered why Hitchcock is so revered as an influential filmmaker, some of the shots and sequences in “Strangers” will answer that for you.

Aided by a great cast, Quentin Tarantino steps back in time to 1969 with “Once Upon a Time …in Hollywood” and the result is a purposely fractured fairy tale that has all of the director’s trademark fun.

 Blending fact and fiction, Tarantino sets his L.A. story around Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), a ‘fictitious’ once-popular TV actor who watches his ‘based on real’ neighbor Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) experience the film success he so desperately seeks. Showcasing Hollywood’s fickleness for celebrity, Tarantino gives us both sides: Rick’s desperation in seeing his own star fall while witnessing Sharon’s joy as her star rises.

The litmus test for whether you’ll like this year’s reimagining of Tom Holland’s 1988 film “Child’s Play” and its murderous doll-star Chucky is a simple one: man or machine. In the original film, a human possessed Chucky; now, Chucky’s a robot.  Personally, I’ll take a soul over sensors any day.

It’s a rare high school comedy that manages to be both funny and insightful. Rarer still are those dodging easy crude laughs for introspective hard truths. “Booksmart” does both with a genuine feel for the speech and circumstances teens find themselves in on the brink of adulthood. Continue reading →

In a time when superhero movies have become sweeping sagas, DC Comics’ “Shazam!” is a breath of fresh air- it soars on the energetic current of a teen comedy dressed in caped crusader’s clothing.

The story behind “Shazam!” revolves around 14 year-old Billy Batson (solidly played by Asher Angel), a foster home runaway seeking his real mom. Separated in public, police threw Billy into social services before his mother could claim him. Knowing she’s out there, Billy uses his wits to gain illegal access to a police computer to track her but the plan backfires when police tail his lead and find Billy instead. Continue reading →

In his follow-up to “Get Out,” Jordan Peele replaces suspense for straight-out horror in “Us” and the results are a mixed bag: while the set-up is scary, the cause for the chaos gets convoluted.

Lupita Nyong’o stars as Adelaide Wilson, a woman vacationing with her husband Gabe (Winston Duke) and two children Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex) near Santa Cruz, California. In true horror fashion, Adelaide had a traumatic event occur to her as a child in Santa Cruz and neglected to mention this to Gabe, so just being there fills Adelaide with dread. Continue reading →

With the Oscars being presented on Sunday, February 24^th, I like to focus on the films and performances that I found most memorable. In keeping with the tradition of the late Siskel & Ebert’s “If We Picked the Winners,” here are my standouts for 2018 using the nominees in the main Academy Award categories. While others try to second-guess Oscar politics with who ‘should win’ or ‘will win,’ I like to keep it simple. In case you missed any of them, these are the films and performances that I’ll remember- simply put, these are the ones:   Continue reading →