What News Guys?

One year after helping clownfish Marlin ( Albert Brooks ) find his missing son Nemo ( Hayden Rolence ), blue tang Dory ( Ellen DeGener...

One year after helping clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) find his missing son Nemo (Hayden Rolence), blue tang Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) embarks on her own adventure to search for her family. During a school field trip with Nemo to watch the stingray migration, Dory is cautioned about the strong "undertow" - and the word triggers memories about a similar warning from her parents, Jenny (Diane Keaton) and Charlie (Eugene Levy). Determined to remember more and locate her mother and father, Dory heads to California, with Marlin and Nemo in tow. Once there, the trio discovers the Marine Life Institute, a massive rehabilitation center and aquarium. With the aid of new friends Hank (Ed O'Neill), Fluke (Idris Elba), Rudder (Dominic West), Destiny (Kaitlin Olson), Bailey (Ty Burrell) and more, Dory begins piecing together snippets of her past to discover the fate of her parents.

As someone who adores Finding Nemo and has waited YEARS for a sequel, I must say I am disappointed. Finding Dory definitely has a sequel feel to it. This didn't feel like a story that is worth a thirteen year wait. There are certainly cute and funny moments, but nothing solid enough to become a favorite. Near the last quarter or so of the movie it just got redundant and all I could think was, "Ok, this can be over any time now." I enjoyed seeing characters from Nemo make appearances, but overall it's not enough to make Dory an instant classic like Nemo. Pixar outdid themselves with the animation but you can tell this is a sequel for the sake of a sequel, not because they came up with a great storyline.

While I certainly did not really enjoy this movie it isn't without its few saving graces. There are plenty of new characters like Destiny and Bailey. But definite breakout is Hank the octopus, he is good enough to get his own movie. Parents of children with developmental disabilities will find special meaning in this movie.

Though this may not be as momentous as "Finding Nemo", "Finding Dory" is still a worthy continuation of the adventures of everybody's favorite clownfish and forgetful blue tang.

It's rare anymore that I find a well-made, enjoyable horror movie. Flicks like Paranormal Activity, It Follows, and anything dir...

It's rare anymore that I find a well-made, enjoyable horror movie. Flicks like Paranormal Activity, It Follows, and anything directed by Rob Zombie have somehow become the acceptable standard for horror. Yawn. I didn't watch any trailers or read anything about the plot of The Conjuring 2 and I didn't expect much from it.

It's been seven years since Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) and her husband, Ed (Patrick Wilson), helped The Perron family with their haunted Rhode Island house. When Lorraine has a premonition of a terrifying demonic force threatening to kill Ed, she decides they cannot investigate anymore to keep him safe. Across the pond in Enfield, England, the Hodgson family is being terrorized by the angry spirit of an old man named Bill (Bob Adrian). The eleven-year-old Janet (Madison Wolfe) seems to be the focus of all the hubbub and the primary victim of Bill's rage. When the police come by one night, after a particularly scary attack, and witness supernatural activity themselves, the Hodgon's soon find themselves in the middle of a media firestorm about their haunted home. The church sends Ed and Lorraine to England to confirm the authenticity of the case despite Lorraine's hesitance and worries about Ed's safety.

The plot was good and scares were well-paced throughout the whole movie. The movie was long over 2 hours and I never got bored. Sequels of horror genre have always been cursed to turn out poor yet director James Wan manages to set his bar as compelling as the first one; though not critically-acclaimed but overall a satisfying scare without blood and gore. There was no nudity, swearing or gratuitous gore. Not that I'm a prude - I don't mind that stuff - but I know that bothers some people. So if a family with teen-aged kids want to see a really good horror flick, you don't have to be worried about anyone being mortified over nude scenes and/or sex. Also,it doesn't matter if you haven't seen the first "Conjuring" movie, so don't let that hold you back.

The few negative things that bugged me while watching this are : throughout the movie, everyone seems to sleep like the dead, and loud noises, voices, crashes, etc., mostly don't wake anyone, even while sleeping in the same room as the disturbance. This trend begins at the start of the movie and it's continued throughout and it repeatedly pulled me out of the whole experience. The basement in the Hodgson residence is partially flooded and no one seems to find it strange or problematic. At one point it's raining and water is rushing in down some sort of trough. The whole basement area seems very unnatural. I'm not familiar with British housing, especially of the 70s, so I kept wondering if this was for plot-convenience and to make it more creepy, or if it is historically accurate and normal.

Patrick Wilson & Vera Farmiga return as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren & they deliver remarkably. Its the strength of their performances that push 'The Conjuring 2' to further success. Frances O'Connor as the mother under torment, is fabulous Madison Wolfe performs superbly in her role as a teenager who faces complexities in her daily life due to being constantly possessed. Her acting quality is similar to that of Natalie Portman in Leon: The Professional ( 1994 ) only in a creepier version. The way Wolfe plays with her eerie demonic glances, lip movements and limbs as she exudes the voice of a grumpy 70-year-old man sends shivers down the spine.

Overall, "The Conjuring 2" was better then I expected it to be. I liked the first movie, which wasn't perfect, but was a good horror movie. Before watching the movie I had doubts that they probably won't achieve the success of the first movie. I was wrong. It is as good as the original.

What News Guys?

Review Finding Dory

R.I.P Anton Yelchin

Review The Conjuring 2

Songs of The Month (June 2016)

About me

Popular Posts

Blog Archive

recent posts

Follow Us