Reviews

I am not quite sure how to feel about the 2nd one.

I did enjoy the camp atmosphere, but felt that I didnt get a full on late 70s-80s vibe aside from the music; which also was stellar in the first one.

Just like the first, i wasn't too invested in the characters, aside from the 2 sisters, which got me only liking the good-too shoes sister towards the last 20 minutes.

The acting was a bit too cheesy at times. Originally I had thought they were momicking how the acting culture was back then, but I think it boils down to a poor written script.

This also includes the moments where certain characters are placed so convenietly at the right place all the time seemed a bit far fetched.

The story of of Sarah Fier isn't all that intriguing, as im not a fan of with / salem plots, but at the end im commited to see how the 3rd part plays out.

The killings......

The killings of the shady siders / sunnyvalers were well done in the first one, which made it manageble to watch, as it had gruesome death scenes with added parts of creativity ( the ham / bread slicer from part one, woah!)

Unfortunately the 2nd one fails to add that same entertainment, as these ax killings were mild and lame, some were even comical.

I dont know what they were attempting with these films to be honest. I get that the Goosebumps tv series looking back now, weren't as good as when i saw them back then, because well what worked in the 90s, absolutely doesn't work now.

This is why i struggle to sense what audiance they were gling for here. If you wanted to capture the 90s era audiances you would have made a more serious film - the gruesomeness in the first one added to this point.

However if you were targeting younger teenage kids, they also missed the point, as I imagine teenagers wouldn't put up with the cheesy acting and far fetched story telling.

Perhaps i criticised a film too seriously that wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Perhaps the trailer overhyped me and my expectations were set too high.

Either way the film is what it is and the story has its originality too it - I just wont be caring 6 months from now - unless the 3rd installment surprizes the hell out of me.

These films are a mix between the worst versions of scary stories to tell in the dark ( which wasn't great either ) and a really bad stranger things ( which one of the actors play in here as well.) And you get fear street - some books shouldnt be made into films - apllaud at the effort of seeing an RL Stine novel on the big screen ( or u know the tv in my room) but scratch my head in the thought process of doing so.

Part 2 gets a 5/10 or a 2.6 / 5.

Saw the trailer and it looked mediocre, but I thought \hey lets see what Bruce Willis has been up to' and rented the film on demand.

The plot is very simple, which takes us through two brothers on the run to escape to Mexico after stealing loads of cash but are suddenly stopped in their tracks when one of the brothers gets shot in the leg and need medical assistance.

The vigilante's find a clinic in the middle of nowhere and follow the doctor ( Chad Michael Murray) back to his father's house (Bruce Willis) where the doc and his wife/daughter are staying after a accidental death lawsuit cased cause Rich and his family to leave the city.

So the Vigilante's follow the Doc home and eventually take hold of the family and force the doc to fix his brother's leg but the the family being take hostage wont go down without a fight.

There, thats my synopsis onto the review:

The film right off the bat seems low budget and the acting on the brother's stand point seems very subpar, i however must tell you that actor - Shea Buckner - plays a very compelling and convincing idiot-psychotic brother but unfortunately not much was given for him to work with as the dialogue was very limited, but I did like his approach.

The story was simple, and some of the gunshot wounded scenes were pretty nice and enjoye dthose, but as the chase got on the story became a tad dull and he ultimate conclusion ended weirdly - I was left feeling Just Okay with the film. It wasn't super bad and it just wasn't super good, or even great for that matter.

Bruce Willis's role as the father was good, I mean he did good for what his role was, i felt the tension of the bond between father and son, and it worked - I would like to see Willis and Shea Buckner come together in more defined film with a more compelling storyline.

• simple story
• not the greatest dialogue
• felt the relationship between both Brothers and the father son bond
• the story became dull towards the end

Review: 2.8 / 5 or 5 /10 - liked the story but the dialogue fell flat - chemistry was there, but the story as well as the conclusion was dull - wasn't bad, but wasn't great.

Justin Leblanc - Host of Real Talk Radio #Reelreview Twitter: @RealTalkRadio8

Just watched the new 1917 film, that tells the story of two British soldiers sought on a journey to deliver a message to their platoon that a trap has been laid out for them, where these young soldiers must warn them before it is too late causing 1600 soldiers to die if they cannot warn them in time.

The film has a very basic premise, of the soldiers going through to the trenches to warn their fellow soldiers of a trap, but the cinematography is absolutely amazing. The continuous shot method works so much here, that I don't think the film would have been as good without it.

A beautifully made film and most definitely will win awards for the cinematography alone, but as compelling as the story is, it was kind of lacklustre.

This is after all a telling story of real life events and certainly was achieved that way, for it's unbelievable one shot sequences and the scenery of war life was really captivating.

It just is a great piece of art.

The only critic I have is that the characters should have had more development between each other; Both leading roles played by Dean-Charles Chapman ( Lance Corporal Blake) and George MacKay ( Lance Corporal Schofield) were great, but i definitely needed a little more inside story between both soldiers, even so with Blake's brother, but it left me on this journey with these men but not entirely caring for the characters all that much - for the simple facts I didn't feel the close bond as much as I perhaps could have.

Again the continuous shot worked tremendously, I couldn't tell where the film had actually cut, and just made it for a mesmerizing experience.

This will win awards at the Oscars for sure - don't think it will for screen play though or best film, but definitely for cinematography.

Rating: 3.8/5 / 8/10

Living in Montreal, this story all too familiarly brought me back to 2012 when we heard of the decapitation of a young 30 year old engineer student studying at Concordia.

The video of his beheading and stabbings sent shockwaves to anyone who watched it, and then once Magnotta was finally caught the the paparazzi frenzy that occured, and the numerous amounts of people wanting to be sitting in that courtroom to see this sick narcissistic , psychopathic deranged human being be sentenced to life for the murder of the young Jun Lin.

On to the film,

This film well documented the timeline of Luka's first gruesome viral kitten killing videos to his the ice pic beheading viral murder that was sent through the online dark web for thousands to witnessing the horrifying act before them.

The doc takes you through a few key figures in Luka's capturing, from the APB-Luka Magnotta Facebook group that tried to get the identity of the kitten killer, to the very end, where he was caught in a Berlin internet cafe by police looking at news articles of himself.

It also provided reasonings for why Luka might have done what he did, and go into his psyche as they continue to find countless clues of his killings with various similarities to popular movies.

The 3 part doc series also gives the defense a chance to speak, as Anna, Luka's mother also gets a chance to speak, who believes that her son is innocent, as she believes her son was being coerced and manipulated by a man named 'Manny'.

From all the detectives in the various countries, to the descriptive timeline, countless news outlet footage, including the cctv survalnce and the narration from all involved really tells you the full story - Or as much as it can be told, but really links everything nicely as to why Luka had killed the young Concordia student.

• A Doc that was well done and even took a risk with showing various clippings from the murderous attacks, but think it was done in a way to not show much, but in fact made it more impactful to telling the story, since these were the crimes.

It might show a scent of glorifying the killings with them constantly mentioning the names of the videos that went viral on various video platforms like Youtube, but at the end of the day this was a story about these videos ultimately going so viral that made Luka Magnotta an international wanted man.

I was a huge breaking bad fan when the show started, and was a huge fan through and through, through out it's 5 seasons. The ending was perfect, but it ultimately led us to wonder what ever happened to Jesse Pinkman?

This film 'El Camino' which was written and director by the shows main Producer Vince Giligan shows us the aftermath of that faithful night, and takes us through the run away journey of what Jesse Pinkman did afterwards....Which wasn't really much.

The film's 2 hour length was not needed, and for a director and writer who would combine so much into one episode of a Breaking Bad, ultimately failed into giving us a 2 hour film that at least would contain the story of Pinkman's runaway.

• The film really doesn't add much to Jesse\s ultimate journey to find himself, it shows us the torturing he endured under Todd, but really that's it.

Its like as if the film did not know where to go, and was stretched too long for absolutely nothing. This 2 hour film could have been crunched to a single 45 minute episode, if that. There was no real antagonist, and the film just dragged on for nothing.

The flashback scenes gave you a deeper look into where the show hadn't provided explanation but ultimately for a film that was branded on wild man hunt for Jesse Pinkman, it failed to reach it's main objective of storytelling.

• A film that wasn't needed but many were asking for, it does provide you a conclusive ending, but it just didn't needed to get done.

Perhaps Vince was trying to go for a more artistic approach, which would have been fine, we don't need massive kills, like his previous series gave us, but it also didn't give a whole lot of storytelling either.

find a recap of what happened and watch that , it can literally explain to you what exactly happened in the film, and waste only 5-10 minutes of your time. but this film was stretched out for longer than it needed to be.

I would have been fine with them not making the film, the show provided a nice ending and ultimately perhaps tarnishes it a bit. Sometimes certain things are better lft untouched.

This is one of those things.

3.2 / 5 or 5 / 10 Respect the series, pointless film.

Wanted to watch something on Netflix, came across this film " AMI: Artificial Murder Intelligance " I probably should have stopped at the title but decided to give it a shot.

The film as a interesting concept that shows how deeply connected we are with our phones and that's great. But that interesting concept stops there.

This movie is no doubr a B film, but that doesn't even execuse it for it's lackluster storytelling, it's really boring characters and its out of nowhere randomness to the point you have to be thinking, what was the entire crew high on when making this film.

The film has an interesting concept but just isn't able to put that concept into a screenplay... The actors themselves showed no emotion , and felt dull and un interesting.

I kept watching to see how ridiculous it got , and it got pretty bad. It just didn't make any sense with Cassie going on the murderous rampage that she went on. The reasonings were there but the common sense of it all from the barrels lifting to the amount of acid fluid Cassie was able to get just didnt make sense.

She's suppose to be 17 years old FFS! And that's another thing , the actress at least loks like shes in her 30s. It was just all too weird.

They could have explained her mental state better , her mother's death and the impact a bit better

Only thing i enjoyed was the last scene with the phone family - because its shows how ridiculous of a society we have become thats where we are heading and are currently in.

But by god not the worst film i've seen but damn near close.

Waste Of Time...

Toy Story 4 was an absolute delight, and especially for those who have followed the franchise from it's debut in 1995. This film is just as good as the first, in some cases might be better, with it's excellent storytelling and add-ons of new toys (characters)

Thr film starts right where we left off, with Bonnie having all of Andy's old toys, and what might seem like a rendition of attempting to relieve the good times of its debut film, the film takes on new leaps with an even overpowering message of independence and self happiness.

Bonnie's first day at kindergarden is scared for her and has no friend, she, with the help of Woody makes a new toy called 'Forky' which is essentially a sprk with buttons for eyes, and string for arms and legs.

The Spork is having an existential as he id unsure of what he is doing being a toy and just wants to be in his safe home of the trash can.

As Forky makes his escape from the family vacation car, Woody is left trying to get him back, since it is Bonnie's new favourite toy, and the the duo go on a wilde adventure together between finding the Antique store, where the majority of the adventure happens.

In it's 100 minute play through, the film takes us on a wild ride of many meanings that can installed into our own lives. It deals with loyalty, friendship, sacrifices and liberation.

It really was a well put together film with tons of laughs and new characters that you can fall in love with all over again.

It is one of the only films in the franchise in my opinion that connected all the dots to the first installment of the film , and everything was pieced together really nicely,

If this is the last instalment of the franchise, as we have seen Tim Allen and Tom Hanks mention numerous times, then i am completely happy with its final adventure.

It just made me smile, laugh , cry and get that feel of when I was a little boy watching the first film in all it's glory and brought us back to great story telling of a boy who got joy out of his toys.

The boy has grown up, and so have the toys, and with our day and age with toys not being what they use to be - this film really brings it back to square one of hope, happiness and love, for the innocence of every boy and girl.

As stated, earlier, this might be just as good as the first installment of the series, if not better, but it definitely is an absolute gold mine of recapturing the kid sin all of us.

9/10 - Worth the buy, Watch and an encore

When the Stephen King's 'IT' remake came out in 2017, it had much to live up to, - just given the way King's films are potrayed, it hd to live up to the thirll like his other flms have done, while remaining true to it's origins as well as book portions - which it did - I gave IT 8/10 previously.

• Casting -

The kids in chapter one were stellar - and the casting director was spot in with the choices that he made to select the high school kids to face the crazed clown.

This film was no different. not only did the casting director pick five adults who portrayed the resemblance of the young kids very well, but also casted 5 'adult' characters that complemented each other on screen very well.

It literally felt like they were the same kids 27 years ago growing up in the small town of Berry - I don't think there has been a film to depict such a great resemblance in all the movies i have seen with a continuous story attached to it.

• The fight back -

• The 27 year return to the small town felt like a smoothe transition for the viewers and I at least felt that these kids who had seemingly 'defeated' Pennywise before could do it again. i felt every fear that these grown adults now were facing to face the crazed clown.

• The 'token' segments even gave us more inside stories to what happened when they were kids adding even more depth the film's story and built up the ultimate showdown of why these kids must defeat the pennywise - who'm they have been fearing this whole time.

-The film really thought of everything to add to, to make the smoothe transition towards the final battle between the now older kids. Everything just meshed so perfectly together.

• The only downfall I would say is how the kids from Berry had figured out how to defeat him - no spoilers here , but at first I felt with what the writers came up with , was a tad bit dull - but then you have to actually think about the given message in the film, as to why it worked , and why it hadn't worked before.

The messages might seem clear to some , and not clear to others - but I am not spoiling it just for the fact I would want you to get that satisfaction of figuring it out yourself - within that given message the defeat of the clown makes sense , and although , the final battle scene could have had a few minor tweaks here and there, it ultimately wasn't too bad, it still worked.

#Duration

• The length of the film is nearly 3 hours and although some might be complaining about that - it honestly needed to be. The film flowed so perfectly and kept me intrigued for the entire time - It had to be that long because there was so much they needed to add, and they added the right segment to conclude the IT series. The writing was superb and excellent

Rating: 9/10 - It had everything you could ask for - the adults were just as funny as the kids were / the chemistry was there all the same / the resemblances to the younger versions were spot on / there was actually some jump off moments, although predictable on some occasions, it still was brilliantly done.

• I also did watch this in IMAX so it added some extra fright with the sound fx and music, but oh by gawd , i paid full price for this film, and honestly i would have paid double (maybe... thats a lot of money for a film - would definitely pay it for both films together)

Really enjoyed the film and its a definite buy when it comes out.

Watch the first one on Netflix because you honestly have to get the origin story and then go watch this ASAP , you wont be disappointed.

-

This movie has Aniston and Sandler team up again after 8 years since 'Just Go With It' and that movie wasn't too bad, but the duo team up again, and honestly this movie just isn't good at all.

The beginning got me intrigued with the whole murder mystery, clue-like synopsis, and for at least the first 30 minutes weren't too bad, a sin the movie somewhat had potential - but then the bad acting and quick rash to the guess the killer was just all so sloppy.

The film provided very little laughs , and might be good for a 10- year old, but considering its a murder film and there is a particular knife in and out scene that can be a tad gruesome for youngins, so it's not even good for them.

It's not the worst Sandler film, but honestly that's not a good thing - sandy wexler was god awful, the weekend was cheezy but not too bad - the cobbler was a decent story but lacking thrill and his comedy special was well catchy and not too bad 'phone wallet keys ' is still stuck in my head as we speak.

Sandler reportedly got 39 Million for his four film extension for Netflix and honestly, Sandler is raking the dough for bad films - so good for him , but these movies certainly dont live up to the legacy of the slander franchise at all.

Jennifer Aniston and Sandler could definitely do better - and its a shame , because there on air chemistry is awesome, but with a list of bad lines and horrid story telling - it ends up being just another Netflix Original tragedy.

4/10 for the pure nostalgia of seeing the duo and having invent a clue like murder mystery , which could have been compelling - but falls short with lackluster comedic value.

You have to take this movie for what it is.

What is that you might ask ? A romantic comedy with Seth Rogen humour.

• The chemistry between Rogen and theron were great together - the relationship is believable.
• For a romantic comedy they really did a pretty decent job of the background story, while not also spending so much time dwelling into the details - it painted a perfect background of what we needed to know to understand the story between the two.

• It has quite a few funny scenes and the overall movie was enjoyable.
• It's not the greatest movie in the world, but does a decent job at being a simple good hollywoodesq comedy while also going into the deeper meaning of the film's entire message.

The deeper message from this aside from all the racial, sex dark humour jokes is the message of love and sacrifice and the willingness to change for the better.

it really incorperated the message well through the film, and ultimately is why it might have made the film that much better.

It might not be for everyone, but it is certainly worth the watch.

Loved O'shea Jackson as the funny character here, he might even be better than his father in the comedy genre. I really enjoyed his role as the best friend.

This film to be was better than I expected it to be.

• it's a Fast & Furious movie , so you already know there will be over exagerated action and fight sequences , so this is a given.

• But the story goes really in depth as well with Dwayne Johnson and Jason Staham having great chemestry on set. Their hatred toward each which became a friendship motion of the film was really well done.

• Comedy - There is some great laughs , weather it would be Johnson's and Stathams childish bickering or the over exagerated action sequences - which honestly don't overly push the limit like you would expect from a ' expendables' like film of even the ' fast and Furious Franchise' especially in installmenst 6 and 7.

But in this film it was just enough exageration to not be annoying.

The villan was spot on as well - 'brixton' who is played by Idris Elba, does a fantastic villan, and his determination to want to kill those not worthy of the cause, is seen through out and is a great and believable villan.

Rating:

The movie gets an 8 because it delivered in storytelling, humour and action sequences, all the main characters were great and believable ( as believable a syou can make them in a fast and furious franchise) and was a breath of fresh air from the long over played characters on the original fast and furious franchise.

i went on a tuesday which was half price, but i would definitely pay full price for the film - i legit was entertained.

fun fact: I am not a fan of Jason Statham , i generally find him over cocky and annoying ( crank , expendables) but in this film he wasn't bad at all, he really meshed well with Johnson's character along with Vanessa Kirby (Crown, Mission Impossible)