Halloween

This is the eleventh and final (supposedly) installment of Michael Myers' reign of terror over Haddonfield, Illinois and Laurie Strode on Halloween night. Michael has been detained at Smith's Grove Sanitarium for four decades and hasn't spoken a word to anyone. He is set to be transferred to a new facility, but something goes horribly wrong. The bus ends up in a ditch, driver and transport crew all murdered, and Michael is on the loose. Laurie has been training and planning for this day to happen, and she won't stop until he's dead for good.

I'm not going to lie to you and say that I have watched all of the Halloween movies. I honestly don't think I ever watched any of them after the first one, and I'm not sure I even watched the first one in its entirety either. The first five movies came out before I was born so they were never on my must-see list. After seeing this new Halloween movie, however, I feel like I might go watch some of them. I enjoyed this movie. I wouldn't say I was drop-dead in love with it, but it was good. They even threw in some comedy, which I wasn't expecting to see in a horror film. Who knew I'd be laughing in a horror movie?!

I think that may be why I didn't love this one. It just wasn't super scary. I was creeped out for sure, but I only jumped one time. I've been to children's movies and jumped more times than that. I was looking for a dark, scary movie to get me in the Halloween spirit. I didn't get that. While I'm glad that this is the end of the Halloween franchise (eleven movies is far too many), I was expecting a bit more horror. 

The end was a little off-putting as well. I didn't feel satisfied with it. For forty years Michael didn't say a single word. No one knows why he murdered people or what made him so angry. Was it the mask? Was he just a messed up child? Did he really love Laurie but she wouldn't love him back? Who knows?! I liked the twist this movie had, but I was really hoping for some explanation or at least one word out of Michael.

One thing I really loved was Laurie's preparation and planning. She spent a lot of time training and building traps in order to protect herself and her family. The traps were brilliant and surprising to watch unfold. Jamie Lee Curtis did a fantastic job in this role. Andi Matichak, who played Laurie's granddaughter, Allyson, was good as well, but her character had a lot of "duh" moments. I guess the writers needed to keep that element of stupidity seen in all horror movies, and they decided she could pull them off brilliantly. Let's scream our head off in the middle of the street! Michael will never find us now...There were other characters that didn't seem to be completely relevant as well. Allyson's boyfriend for example. He's a big deal in the beginning, but then he just fades out and disappears. Did we need him? I don't think so.

IMDb says 7.3/10, Rotten Tomatoes says 76%, I'd say 6/10. Not bad, but not great either. Definitely kept to that classic 80's horror movie style, but in 2018 I'm expecting much more.

Venom

Investigative journalist Eddie Brock has it all: a beautiful fiance, an awesome motorcycle, and a great job. When he takes his investigations too far, however, he loses it all and is left struggling to make things right once again. The Life Foundation is to blame for it all, so when the chance for a comeback surfaces, Eddie takes it, and ends up becoming the host of an alien symbiote. Now, Eddie and Venom have to work together to protect the world from the other symbiotes that are taking control.

I may have mentioned this before, but I LOVE Spider-man movies. We first saw this character of Venom in Spider-man 3, way back in 2007. So, when I heard about this movie dedicated to Venom, I was super excited to see it. Thank you Columbia Pictures and Sony for not disappointing! This movie is fantastic. Tom Hardy does an amazing job bringing Eddie Brock and Venom together as one joint character. The comedy in the conversations between them, and Venom's use of third person in those conversations, makes for a lot of laugh out loud moments. The CGI was exceptional as well. I was loving it.



Venom is a Marvel character, but this movie is not produced by Marvel. This is a Sony picture in association with Marvel. Because of this, Sony was able to make this movie much darker than anything we've ever seen in a Marvel film before. They push the limits on the PG-13 rating, and I'm actually surprised they didn't cross over into an R rating. They definitely could have because Venom is extremely no nonsense; tells it like he sees it.

I read into some of the critic reviews. One such review, found on the Hollywood Reporter, actually made me laugh and wish I could meet this critic in person. He says that this movie "feels like a throwback" and that "the writing and filmmaking are blah in every respect." I'm am in awe at these statements and at the entire article in general (read it here). This critic clearly loves Marvel and hates Sony, or he's just an idiot. The entire article he has written is bashing on the movie. It has this feeling of extreme distaste and impatience with the whole thing. I'm sorry you had to sit through this two hour long movie and do your jobTodd McCarthy, you famous Hollywood Reporter you. I'm sure it was a horrible experience.

My only complaint with this movie is that it confused me a little bit. At first I thought that Venom was here to take over the world with all the other symbiotes, but then all of a sudden him and Eddie are trying to stop the symbiotes. Maybe this is something that I should have understood from the comics, but I never read the comics. There wasn't enough background on why Venom is the way he is or what his intentions are, and that's really the only thing I wish I knew. Maybe someone can simply explain it to me sometime?

Don't listen to the critics on this one, listen to me. Go see this movie. Everyone besides the critics are loving it. IMDb gives it a 7/10 and Rotten Tomatoes is at an 88%. This film has grossed more money than they spent producing it because Marvel fans cannot stop talking about it. Don't be a loser and not know the up-and-up on Marvel!

P.s. There are two end credit scenes, but the first one is the only one worth watching. The second one is a scene from the animated Spider-man movie that is coming out...that even I have no intention of seeing.

The House with a Clock in Its Walls

When Lewis Barnavelt's (Owen Vaccaro) mother passes away, he is sent to live with his Uncle Jonathan (Jack Black). He has never met his uncle or heard much about him, but he soon learns that this mansion he now lives in is full of magic, and his uncle is a warlock in the midst of a magical dilemma. Lewis finds himself in the middle of it all, and could be the only one to stop it.

The previews for this movie really got me interested. I had never heard of the book by John Bellairs, but I normally enjoy Jack Black's characters. He did not let me down here. This is a more serious role, although there is some joking around, for Jack Black, but I liked it. I think he did a really good job with it. I actually think he made this movie what it is. 

This movie is targeted for a younger audience, so I wasn't surprised that I wasn't satisfied with Vaccaro's character. He's young and lonely, and that always calls for stupidity. They try to impress people to make friends. Always do, in every movie involving lonely kids. You can predict what's going to happen from pretty early on. There's quite a bit of foreshadowing. This doesn't mean I hated the movie though. I actually enjoyed it. Just because I know where it's going to end, doesn't mean I don't enjoy the ride.

There were some creepier moments in the movie as well. I actually jumped once, which my friends thought was funny. What can I say, I'm a jumpy person, but I do think this movie would scare some younger kids a little. The young boy sitting near us was definitely cuddled into his mom for awhile. I think that the level of horror/suspense is what really brought me in. Even though this was one for kids, I liked that scarier aspect. The suspense along with Jack Black made for an enjoyable time.

Rotten Tomatoes ratings are pretty low so far. The audience score is at a 50%. IMDb is a bit higher at a 6.3/10. I'd probably listen more to IMDb this time than Rotten Tomatoes. It really wasn't that bad. It wasn't the best movie ever, and it's definitely more for kids even with the suspense, but I liked it. It's not going to be a big seller in the future, and will probably spend some time on Netflix, but that's OK. Not every movie will be a hit, and I'm guessing the novel wasn't either. I mean it did come out in 1973, and just now was made into a movie...I guess there are other books in the series as well. John Bellairs wrote twelve novels about Lewis Barnavelt, but I'm not sure we will ever see a sequel. This movie did not end with a cliffhanger. Maybe they are waiting to see how it does in the box office first? Who knows? Only time will tell...😏