The Conjuring (Film Review)

Ed and Lorraine Warren are no ordinary married couple; they’re demonologists, paranormal investigators whose jobs are to research and help stop demonic hauntings and possessions.  Yet out of all their cases there was one so horrible that they refused to talk about it…until now.  This is the story of the Warren’s worst case; a case so frightening, so exciting, so extreme, that it ended up making a pretty effective horror film.  This is, The Conjuring.

Jack the Giant Slayer (Quick Review)

Author’s Note:  While writing a film review isn't a particularly difficult effort (Mine consists mostly of the plot of the film followed by my own opinion) it is an exhaustingly lengthy one.  I often try to write reviews of at least 800 words, and I normally end up writing much more than that.  Normally I end up revisiting/polishing the review 2-3 times before publishing, and even then I may go back to fix it more.  As such I decided to start new posts called quick review(s); where I write more concise reviews on a film I've seen recently that I just don’t have the time to write a longer review for.  More often than not these reviews will consist of films already out of theater that I either rented or watched on Netflix/On Demand.  This will allow me to give thoughts on many other films while I also continue writing full reviews/analysis on others.

Jack the Giant Slayer is a film filled with energy and loads of fun to watch!  The recent craze of taking old fairy tales and recreating them into action packed thrill rides staring well known actors has lead to many films ranging from decent to subpar (Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the Huntsman, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, etc…)  By far out of all of them, Jack the Giant Slayer stands out for me as one of the better adaptations; and it goes to show that sometimes energy is all it takes to make a good film.  Now that’s not to say the energy makes the film’s flaws invisible; the plot lacks major development between its characters, especially between the two lead’s romance.  However, you know when someone says “that film’s cast and crew must have had a great time making (insert film here)"; well this film’s made for that statement.  

The Bling Ring (Film Review)

The Bling Ring can be highly enjoyable depending on how one views the film.   For myself, I see it as both a dark comedy and a sad tragedy, with morals that speak loud and clear.  The story tells the tale of a group of celebrity obsessed teenagers who begin a robbing spree of said celebrity’s homes.  For a while they enjoy the life of fame and fortune from their plundering; but soon end up with more than they can deal with as the police begin to investigate into the robberies of their group known by the media as “The Bling Ring”.

Monsters University (Film Review)

Monsters University, the prequel to the highly enjoyable, sweet, and funny Monsters, Inc., may not have lived up to the first’s magic, but was certainly a cute and funny film.  In fact if I had to describe this movie in three words it would be “cute and funny”.  This time around Monsters U’s role of protagonist is given to Mike Wazowski (played by the ever funny Billy Crystal), with James “Sully” Sullivan (played by John “I've been in nearly every movie this decade” Goodman) taking the role as the deuteragonist instead.  The plot is set in a 70sish past where Mike has been accepted into Monsters University where he is majoring to be a scarer with the hopes of working at Monsters Incorporated.  He succeeds in doing well until an incident with the then arrogant, jock-like Sully causes then both to be kicked out of the program.  In a last ditch effort to recover his dreams, Mike makes a bet with the dean of Monsters U that if he, Sully, and the Oozma Kappa fraternity can win the Scare Games (a competition aimed to see which housing is the scariest on campus) that she will reinstate the whole group back into the scare program.