MOVIE REVIEW: Malevolent

RELEASE DATE: October 5th 2018

RUN TIME: 1 HOUR 29 MIN

MPAA RATING: TV-MA

MY IMDB RATING: 7

DIRECTOR: Olaf de Fleur Johannesson

MAIN CAST: Florence Pugh, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Scott Chambers

NETFLIX SUMMARY:

Brother and sister team Angela (Florence Pugh) and Jackson (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) are nothing more than scam artists. Preying on the grief stricken and the vulnerable, they convince the bereaved that Angela has the ability to contact the dead. It's a simple con, until Mrs. Green (Celia Imrie) summons the pair to her home -- the orphanage that was once stage to a string of murders of young girls -- and Angela grows less and less certain of what's actually real. The fake paranormal investigators suffer the ultimate reality check when they are confronted by the true horrors and terrifying past that lie hidden within the haunted orphanage.

MY REVIEW

When I gave my IMDB rating a 7, I was pushing it, Malevolent was a great well rounded movie and it had some very good solid scary moments. But it almost seemed predictable at times. But I really liked the over all creepy feeling that stayed with the movie till the end. It was well imagined and you could relate to the characters. There was nothing cheesy about the acting, it was intense at times but in some parts it dragged a little and you would lose track of what the story line was. But it was diffidently a great horror movie. 

MOVIE REVIEW: Chappaquiddick (2017)

RELEASE DATE: April 6th 2017 (USA)

RUN TIME: 1 Hour 45 Min

MPAA RATING: PG-13

MY IMDB RATING: 8

DIRECTOR: John Curran

MAIN CAST: Jason Clarke, Kate Mara, Ed Helms

IMDB Summary

Depicting Ted Kennedy's involvement in the fatal 1969 car accident that claims the life of a young campaign strategist, Mary Jo Kopechne.

MY REVIEW

I was only 6 years old when that event happened, but I have heard so many different interpretations of  the event , I feel as through I lived it and was there. This movie gives me that same vibe. Now don't get me wrong, I still have questions of how they know some of this happened the way it did, but this story is as old as the movie is new. It's amazing how this story seems so factual based on stories I have heard, but can not actually co-operate the facts. But I enjoyed it, it was like watching history in the making. While some parts may not be factual the writers and directors stayed close to the story as it was told over the years.  It diffidently takes you back in time to another era. It takes you back to the late 60's when the world was much different before smart phones and the internet and how news stories broke out and a glimpse of how the world actually runs and who has the power.  

MOVIE REVIEW: Hold the Dark

RELEASE DATE: September 28th 2018

RUN TIME :2 Hours 5 Mins

MPAA RATING: TV-MA

MY IMDB RATING: 8

DIRECTOR: Jeremy Saulnier

MAIN CAST: Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Skarsgard, James Badge Dale

NETFLIX SUMMARY:

A gripping psychological thriller unfolds in the treacherous Alaskan wilderness when a retired wolf expert is summoned to investigate a child’s disappearance. Hold The Dark, starring Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Skarsgård and Riley Keough, and directed by Jeremy Saulnier,

MY REVIEW

This is a slow build up thriller. Lots of intense action once it gets started. Sometimes I became lost in the action. While I am sure this movie will find it's audience, it is a love it or hate it movie. Watch with out interruption and put your phone down.

When I first saw the description on Netflix, with out viewing the trailer, I thought it was going to be a wilderness movie about surviving the wild, and yet while I think about what I watched it could very well be that very thing. I guess it would depend on your opinion. This is a good movie, just not sure who I could recommend it to.

MOVIE REVIEW: Friend Request

RELEASE DATE: September 22nd 2017

RUN TIME: 1 Hour 32 Mins

MPAA RATING: R

MY IMDB RATING: 7.5

DIRECTOR: Simon Verhoeven

MAIN CAST: Alycia Debnam-Carey, Philip Koch, Connor Paolo

IMDB Summary:

When a college student unfriends a mysterious girl online, she finds herself fighting a demonic presence that wants to make her lonely by killing her closest friends.

MY REVIEW:

This was my kind of horror movie, a evil presence killing people off one by one. A strong story line easy to follow leading up to a ending that really did not explain everything. While the ending was good, it was not a happy ending which makes for good nightmares when you go to bed at night. I really liked how the story was written with social network interaction but was not the main focus of the story. Or was it? That's for you to decide. Everything blended well together. This movie had chills. While I will not buy it for my DVD collection, I will watch it again someday.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Angel

RELEASE DATE: September 18th 2018

RUN TIME: 1 Hour 54 Minutes

MPAA RATING: TV-MA

MY IMDB RATING: 9

DIRECTOR: Ariel Vromen

MAIN CAST: Hannah Ware, Toby Kebbell, Manwan Kenzari

IMDB Story Line

True story of Ashraf Marwan, who was President Nasser's son-in-law and special adviser and confidant to his successor Anwar Sadat - while simultaneously Israeli Intelligence's most precious asset of the 20th century. Based on NYT bestselling book 'The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel' by Uri Bar-Joseph.

MY REVIEW

This movie covers the history of tensions between Israel and Egypt from the death of Egypt President Gamal Abdel Nasser up to the Yom Kippur War. It's not the slit your throat bang bang your dead movie but it has all the same suspense and tension. I find the movie very factual. But remember, it's based on historical events. So do your own research. The movie does focus on the actions of Anwar Sadat's administration and his personal confidant Ashraf Marman, and his life during that time. Regardless if he was a good or bad guy, it shows he was a human being. It also makes you ask the question where was his loyalties, with Egypt or Israel. I liked the movie and thought it was really good and can diffidently recommend it.    

MOVIE REVIEW: The 3rd Eye

RELEASE DATE:  November 30th 2017 (Indonesia)

RUN TIME: 1 HOUR 47 MINS

MPAA RATING: MA-TV

MY IMDB RATING: 4.5

DIRECTOR:  Rocky Soraya

MAIN CAST: Jessica Mila, Bianca Hello, Denny Sumargo

IMDB Story Line



Alia decides to leave Bangkok and return to Jakarta once after her parents died. She and Abel, her teenage sister, moved into their childhood home away from the city. But Abel, who was often strange and frightened, disliked the house. She said there was something else besides them. Alia and Davin, Alia's boyfriend who accompanied Alia, were ignore everything which Abel said. But Abel's attitude is getting worse. Feel she must to help Abel, Alia intends to take Abel to a psychiatrist. But Abel refuses and she says that she can see those who are already dead because her third eye has been open since childhood. Abel invites Alia to see Mrs. Windu, a psychic who has been always helping Abel. Want to prove all the things that make no sense to this, Alia asked Mrs. Windu to open her third eye. And slowly, Alia began to experience unusual events. She began to see skmething that no one else could see, and the presence of ghosts who asked her help. But them who were appears at Alia's house hurt her. Their energy is so negative that it can harm Alia and Abel. Without any other place for them to stay, they are forced to stay there and ask Mrs. Windu's help. Can Mrs. Windu help them?


MY REVIEW:


On Netflix this movie is called The 3rd Eye, but the Indonesia title is Mata Batin and it was released in the USA in 2018. The movie has several cheap thrills that will make you jump and then becomes a confusing mess of everything. While the special effects where high school student level, the story line was strong in the first half. Then it went down hill. I thought the acting was ok but could have been better. I found a fan review page where people just hated this movie, but I think it's ok for a cheap Halloween scare, but this movie will not be in my movie collection unless it's a gift and then I will be trading it in.


However it's not bad enough to keep me away from the director or the actors in other movies, in my opinion this could have been done much better with the crew it had. I can't say I hated it or liked it because it did entertain me for the 1 hour and 47 minutes. I gave this a weak 4.5 just to be nice, because it was not the worse movie I had ever seen.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Nun

RELEASE DATE: September 7 2018

RUN TIME 1 HOUR 36 MIN

MPAA RATING: R

MY IMDB RATING 8.5

DIRECTOR: Corin Hardy

MAIN CAST: Demian Bichir, Tassa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet

A priest with a haunted past and a novice on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate the death of a young nun in Romania and confront a malevolent force in the form of a demonic nun.

MY REVIEW

This movie was part of the Conjuring Series focused on the investigations of  Ed and Lorraine Warren. It did not disappoint. It did have those spine tingling moments. And I am not sure what was more scarier, the ghost or the story behind the nun leading up to the end. They both worked together nicely terrifying.  It did not dwell on special effects till the end. What I mean about that is while there was special effects through out the whole movie, It did not need the big budget movie effects till the end. Too many special effects can kill a horror movie no matter how well written it was. I can not recommend this as a family movie and it has a well deserved R rating. It is really cool how the Conjuring movies blend together but are unique in their own way. It was really great to see this at the theater. I truly enjoyed watching this movie.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Wave

RELEASE DATE: August 28th 2015 (Norway)

RUN TIME: 1 Hour 45 Mins

MPAA RATING: R

MY IMDB RATING: 4

DIRECTOR: Roar Uthanug,

MAIN STARS: Kristoffer Joner, Ane Dahl Torp, Jonas Hoff Oftebro

IMDB STORY LINE

Although anticipated, no one is really ready when the mountain pass above the scenic, narrow Norwegian fjord Geiranger collapses and creates an 85-meter high violent tsunami. A geologist is one of those caught in the middle of it.

MY REVIEW

I am not sure how to put this into words, but I am going to try. The movie had a lot going for it in special effects and the story line seemed strong, but what killed me was the English translation track from the Norwegian Language of movie. The sound seemed off. The voice acting was horrible.If I could watch it with the original sound track and English subtitles and not English voice track, I think I would have enjoyed it better. But I could not handle the voice track with what was happening in the movie. It matched but was not convincing. I am sure the Norwegian acting was better.

The Disaster itself was awesome and welled played out, Special effects was on target. I believe a R rating was to harsh and could recommend this for family viewing. If I can find a way to watch it with English subtitles I will give it a second chance. Even Japanese Godzilla movies with English voice tracks are better then this.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Meg

RELEASE DATE: August 10, 2018

RUN TIME:1 Hour 53 min

MPAA RATING: PG-13

MY IMDB RATING 6

DIRECTOR: Jon Turteltaub

MAIN CAST: Ruby Rose, Jason Statham, Rainn Wilson

IMDB STORY LINE

After escaping an attack by what he claims was a 70-foot shark, Jonas Taylor must confront his fears to save those trapped in a sunken submersible.

MY REVIEW

This was a good shark movie that could have been better. I wanted to see more carnage. It's as if they made the over size shark to friendly. There where parts that you could not relate to how big the shark was suppose to be. The acting was good but script writing made the story weak.

I seen this in 3D because I was excited for the movie, I am not sure if it was worth the extra money. While some scenes where intense and awesome, it built up to a let down. I will still buy the Blue Ray because it's not a bad movie, But the trailer built you up for something that was not there.

Its not really a family movie, but I believe it could be a fun ride for the family depending on your standards

MOVIE REVIEW: The Veil (2016)

RELEASE DATE: January 19th 2016

RUN TIME: 1 Hour 41 mins

MPAA RATING: R

MY IMDB RATING: 8

FAMILY SCALE RATING: 5

DIRECTOR: Phil Joanou

MAIN CAST: Jessica Alba, Thomas Jane, Lily Babe

IMDB Story Line
Twenty-five years after members of a religious cult committed mass suicide, the lone survivor returns to the scene of the tragedy with a documentary crew in tow.

MY REVIEW

This movie reminds me a lot of the Jim Jones Peoples Temple mass suicide event of 1978. Except with a supernatural touch. It grabbed me from the beginning and kept me entertained. Some of it was very predictable and repetitive of other horror movies but over all I liked it. I did get a few chills but nothing to give me nightmares. The plot was very creative and satisfying over all, but this is not a family movie because of intense horror scenes and cult activity. It's a good sit down Saturday movie.  

MOVIE REVIEW: How it Ends

RELEASE DATE: July 13th 2018

RUN TIME: 1 Hour 53 Mins

MPAA RATING: MA-TV

MY IMDB RATING 4

FAMILY SCALE RATING 5

DIRECTOR: David M. Rosenthal

MAIN CAST: Theo James, Forest Whitaker, Kate Graham

IMDB Story Line
A desperate man tries to return home to his pregnant fiancée after a mysterious apocalyptic event turns everything to chaos

MY REVIEW
I think a lot of people would disagree with me about my opinion of this movie, But I did not like it because I kept waiting of a explanation of what happened. There was action and suspense but no resolve. You could say the ending was satisfying but not for me. It kept me interested till the end and dropped me off the edge. I was drawn to the movie because of the actors and promise of a end of the world story. That was there but not enough for me. This is not a family movie because over use of the F word. But in the end it's your decision if this movie was good or bad or a family movie or not.
 

MOVIE REVIEW: Last Man Standing

RELEASE DATE: September 20 1996

RUN TIME: 1h 41 min

MPAA RATING: R

MY IMDB RATING 10

FAMILY SCALE RATING 1.5

DIRECTOR: Walter Hill

MAIN CAST: Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern William Sanderson

IMDB Storyline
A drifting gunslinger-for-hire finds himself in the middle of an ongoing war between the Irish and Italian mafia in a Prohibition era ghost town.


MY REVIEW
This was a old fashion good guy vs bad guy movie except no one wore white hats. In this case John Smith (Bruce Willis) comes to town and cleans up both sides. this was the old west meets the mafia at high noon with all the drama and more. The gun and fist fighting was simply awesome. This should be a classic along side the Godfather. The backstabbing and fake alliances formed in this movie reminded you of a dirty political election. It was brutal in so many ways. At times you felt sorry for the bad guys (NOT REALLY). There is nothing bad I can say about this movie, it was awesome, I can totally give it my strongest recommendation if you like crime movies. But I can not in no way recommend it as a family movie. It is very violent.

MOVIE REVIEW: Vertical Limit

RELEASE DATE: December 8 2000

RUN TIME: 2h 4mins

MPAA RATING: PG-13

MY IMDB RATING: PG-13

FAMILY MOVIE SCALE 9.5

DIRECTOR:  Martin Campbell

MAIN CAST: Scott Glenn, Chris O'Donnell. Bill Paxton

IMDB Summary
A climber must rescue his sister on top of K2, one of the world's biggest mountains.

MY REVIEW

This was a great family tragedy, hope and family bonding story. This is when two siblings are mad at each other but would do anything for each other including risking their life. Great story surrounded by the adventure of the K2  mountain. The risk are awesome and again one of my favorite type of story lines is the will to survive in impossible odds. You really feel alone in some parts of this movie and hopelessness is ever present. I love the magnitude and scope of this movie. It is one of those movies you want to watch on a super huge TV screen. 

I gave this movie a high family movie rating depending on your standards it could be a great family adventure to watch.

MOVIE REVIEW: Poseidon (2006)

RELEASE DATE: May 12th 2006

RUN TIME: 1h 38min

MPAA RATING: PG-13

MY IMDB RATING 10

FAMILY MOVIE SCALE 8.5

DIRECTOR: Wolfgang Peterson

MAIN CAST: Richard Dreyfuss, Kurt Russell, Emmy Rossum

IMDB STORYLINE

On New Year's Eve, the luxury ocean liner Poseidon capsizes after being swamped by a rogue wave. The survivors are left to fight for their lives as they attempt to escape the sinking ship.

MY REVIEW

I love a disaster movie where things go wrong and people are forced to help other people. This is what happens in Poseidon. Hope is fading fast and someone has a crazy ideal to move on or die. You can listen to someone of authority or someone that knows how the ship is built and whats going to break. You have the perfect amount of a backstory to know what survivors are thinking when they have to make a choice. To me this was a great action movie like the ones they made in the 70's. This movie was never going to win any Oscars, but it was a fun movie to watch and I can watch it over and over again. Depending on your family standards this could be a perfect family movie. I think they could remake this movie once every 5 years with different story lines like the Airport series of the 70's

MOVIEW REVIEW: Rocky Balboa

RELEASE DATE: December 20th 2006

RUN TIME: 1h 42min

MPAA RATING: PG

MY IMBD SCORE 7

FAMILY MOVIE SCALE; 7

DIRECTOR: Sylvester Stallone

MAIN CAST: Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Tarver, Milo Ventimiglia

IMDB Summary

Thirty years after the ring of the first bell, Rocky Balboa comes out of retirement and dons his gloves for his final fight; against the reigning heavyweight champ Mason 'The Line' Dixon.

MY REVIEW:

When I first saw the trailer for this movie back in 2006, I thought to myself, this is just another Rocky movie to make a Rocky movie. And while that still maybe true, it beat my expectations. This was more like whatever happen to Rocky.  In Rocky V, Rocky lost his big home all of his cars and had to move back to the streets of his home town. But it was good to see him as a business owner.

Rocky Balboa was a character that you developed a relationship with and wanted to know he was OK. And while he did get back in the ring it was more to prove a point instead of winning a fight. A all out victory was not important in this movie but you wanted Rocky to survive. While times have changed around Rocky, he is still the same person in every movie.Nothing has changed about him.

I gave this a high Family movie rating but some younger kids might fall asleep during the slower parts and dialogue. 

MOVIE REVIEW: Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix

RELEASE DATE: July 11th 2007

RUN TIME: 2 Hours 18 Mins

MPAA Rating: PG-13

MY IMDB SCORE 9

FAMILY MOVIE SCALE 5.8

DIRECTOR: David Yates

MAIN CAST: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint,

IMDB Story Line
With their warning about Lord Voldemort's return scoffed at, Harry and Dumbledore are targeted by the Wizard authorities as an authoritarian bureaucrat slowly seizes power at Hogwarts.

MY REVIEW
The happy go lucky days of Harry Potter and friends is over, The dark times begin and Harry must start to deal with his destiny. Dolores Umbridge takes over and makes life hell for the students at Hogwarts.

I really like /hate Dolores Umbridge. She is as evil as she is sweet. She is like eating a stalk of Rhubarb. You really want to cause her pain. She is easy to hate. You want to prove her wrong when you get the perfect chance. Harry starts to question his own destiny and power, he seems his determination starts to be challenged, it seems at times his closes friends can not help him hold it together.

We have watched Harry and his friends transition from a happy childhood to a more depressed gang with a clouded future. But even with tough challenges they hold it together. This is what makes the Harry Potter series so great, it's not so much about Witches warlocks, wizards magic and fantasy as it is about relationships and friends.

I gave this movie the highest family rating I could because the series becomes really intense in the last of the movies and books.

MOVIE REVIEW: TAU

RELEASE DATE: June 29th 2018

RUN TIME: 1 Hour 37 Mins

MPAA RATING: R

FAMILY RATING: 3.5

IMDB SCALE: 7.5

DIRECTOR: Federico D'Alessandro

MAIN CAST: Maika Monroe, Ed Skrein, Gary Oldman

IMDB Summary:

A woman is held captive in a futuristic smart house and hopes to escape by breaking into the computer programs that control the house.

MY REVIEW
This was a really cool and crafted movie. It is a Netflix Original. Even though we are talking about a AI computer, The movie speaks volumes about how education is a powerful tool in the world. It is also about being so smart that you lack common sense, this could teach you about developing relationships and survival instincts. If you fall into a deep muddy slippery hole and there is no ladder and it seems impossible to get out, you have a choice to give up and die or keep trying to get out till you die because you never know what will happen if you keep trying. It's about finding a weakness in the system. It's about developing trust and friendship and making friends with someone or something your afraid of. This is about putting fear on the run.

I can not give this movie a strong family rating, but it could be a family or group discussion topic. This movie is science fiction, but is it really? In a world of Google, Alexa, Echo and Siri, How long will it be before this type of house can be built?

MOVIE REVIEW: Solo: A Star Wars Story

RELEASE DATE: May 25th 2018

RUN TIME: 2 Hours 18 Mins

MPAA RATING: PG-13

FAMILY RATING: 6.5

IMDB SCALE: 9

DIRECTOR: Ron Howard

MAIN CAST: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, EmilaClarke

IMDB Summary

During an adventure into the criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his future copilot Chewbacca and encounters Lando Calrissian years before joining the Rebellion.

MY REVIEW

I am not sure why the fans was so upset with this movie. This was a great installment to the story line. This reminded me of why people fell in love with the Star Wars saga. It was brilliantly written and directed. Ron Howard did a awesome job in bringing Hans story out. Hans story is a story in itself that had little to do with the over all Star Wars plot, but yet he connects with the franchise. He is truly a loner. This movie explains why Han is the way he is. 

I gave this a strong family rating but it may not be right for your family because of intense action and scary looking monsters. I heard rumors that they messed up Lando's character, that is totally not true. This movie deserved better box office ratings then it received.

MOVIE REVIEW: Underworld Blood Wars

RELEASE DATE: January 6 2017

RUN TIME: 1 Hour 31 min

MPAA RATING: R

FAMILY MOVIE SCALE: 2

IMDB SCALE 9.5

DIRECTOR: Anna Foerster

MAIN CAST: Kate Beckinsale, Theo James, Tobias Menzies

IMDB Summary

Vampire death dealer, Selene (Kate Beckinsale) fights to end the eternal war between the Lycan clan and the Vampire faction that betrayed her.

MY REVIEW:

The best way to describe this movie is a fight to the death or survival, your choice. But this was bringing the franchise back to what made it good. Not that any of the sequels was weak, but Selene was vindicated for all her troubles and problems she had with the vampire clan that betrayed her. I really liked the direction this movie went with her. The big battle was intense and satisfying. If this is the last time we will see a Underworld sequel or Selene, then it ended well.

MOVIE REVIEW: Brain on Fire

RELEASE DATE: June 22 2018

RUN TIME:1 Hour 28 Mins

MPAA RATING: PG-13

FAMILY MOVIE SCALE 7.7

MY IMDB SCALE: 10

DIRECTOR: Gerard Barrett

MAIN CAST: Chloe Grace Moretz, Thomas Mann, Richard Armitage

IMDB Summary

YouTube Summary
A mysterious illness is devastating her body and mind, but she's determined to find answers

MY REVIEW:
This is the true story of  Susannah Cahalan, a writer for the New York Post. I usually don't watch these types of movies but I really like the movies that Chloe Grace Moretz chooses to be in. She always brings more then what your expecting and you believe what you are watching. It also makes you question the tactics of modern medical care and how far a doctor will go to find a cure. It makes you wonder how many people that have good health care are walking around with health problems because a Doctor is relying on test results and not looking at the problem closer before they give up and deliver a false diagnoses. The director did a awesome job of keeping it simple but very informative and inspiring and suspenseful. 

I did give this movie a high family movie rating but some kids may not understand. So I stronly recommend to watch with your kids