cult film freak: October 2014

Written by James M. Tate / 10/29/2014 / No comments / eighties , emilio estevez , horror , j.c. quinn , laura harrington , pat hingle , stephen king , suspense

CRANKING THROUGH STEPHEN KING'S MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE

eighties, emilio estevez, horror, j.c. quinn, laura harrington, pat hingle, stephen king, suspense

CRANKING THROUGH STEPHEN KING'S MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE

year: 1986 rating: *** WEEK OF THE COMET would be a fitting alternative title for MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE, Stephen King’s adaptation of his sh...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/25/2014 / No comments / 2014 , horror

HALLOWEEN HORROR REVIEW OF OUIJA

2014, horror

HALLOWEEN HORROR REVIEW OF OUIJA

year: 2014 rating: ** PG-13 horror can be lackluster for two reasons: Adult audiences yearning to be scared silly have to put up with an...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/23/2014 / No comments / 2014 , action , genre tarantino , keanu reeves

KEANU REEVES IN JOHN WICK

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2DqxZdLrsmM/VEnr5abnQvI/AAAAAAAAkOk/atXpCQP43VQ/s1600/john-wick-poster-Keanu-reeves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2DqxZdLrsmM/VEnr5abnQvI/AAAAAAAAkOk/atXpCQP43VQ/s320/john-wick-poster-Keanu-reeves.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: ***</td></tr>
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THE DROP aside, most crime flicks where an adorable puppy's introduced usually means it won’t live to be a dog… Or even a slightly older puppy… Which is extremely important since John Wick, played by a slowburn yet ultra violent Keanu Reeves, seeks revenge once his best friend gets whacked...<br />
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Well there's a little more to it than that... <br />
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Pup was a posthumous gift from his deceased wife, and as Wick hunts down the spoiled son of a Russian mobster, who also stole his supped-up 1969 Mustang, we learn about our title character by the nervous reactions of those who want him dead: the sleeping giant has been awakened, and ignited.   <br />
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With a thumping soundtrack and word bubbles for important dialogue, it's hard to believe there's not a comic book/graphic novel origin. The action is literally non-stop and the fight scenes are recklessly heart pounding. But JOHN WICK isn't fleshed-out enough for the bloodshed to really matter.  <br />
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It’s as if we missed a fifteen-minute setup, or started reading at Issue #2. And like the many bullets flying, JW blasts in one ear and out the other.

2014, action, genre tarantino, keanu reeves

KEANU REEVES IN JOHN WICK

year: 2014 rating: *** THE DROP aside, most crime flicks where an adorable puppy's introduced usually means it won’t live to be a do...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/22/2014 / No comments / 2014 , adventure , animated , channing tatum , chick flick , james marsden , kids , michelle monaghan , romance

THE BEST OF ME & THE BOOK OF LIFE

2014, adventure, animated, channing tatum, chick flick, james marsden, kids, michelle monaghan, romance

THE BEST OF ME & THE BOOK OF LIFE

year: 2014 rating: * THE BEST OF ME: In a chick flick, it's no surprise when the good rich girl falls for the bad boy... only this ...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/20/2014 / No comments / 2014 , bill murray

BILL MURRAY IN ST. VINCENT

2014, bill murray

BILL MURRAY IN ST. VINCENT

2014 rating: *1/2 The most intriguing and humorous aspect of any cinematic “unlikely friendship" is the amount of time taken for tw...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/17/2014 / No comments / 2014 , brad pitt , ensemble , jon bernthal , logan lerman , shia labeouf , war , world war II

REVIEW OF FURY STARRING BRAD PITT

2014, brad pitt, ensemble, jon bernthal, logan lerman, shia labeouf, war, world war II

REVIEW OF FURY STARRING BRAD PITT

year: 2014 rating: *** “He was one of those guys that had that weird light around him... You just knew he wasn't going to get so muc...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/14/2014 / 1 Comment /

CONNERY BOND SEVEN: NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lvmdY8V2em0/VDwi3G9lXJI/AAAAAAAAkFc/sH5r0pXJiQE/s1600/5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lvmdY8V2em0/VDwi3G9lXJI/AAAAAAAAkFc/sH5r0pXJiQE/s320/5.JPG" width="201" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1983 rating: **1/2</td></tr>
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"I do hope we have some gratuitous sex and violence," says the new Q to the old Bond in NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, Sean Connery's return to the franchise during the peak of the successful Roger Moore era. But let's center on why this strange vehicle even happened, and how it could have been even stranger, and better...<br />
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Already an established cog of the James Bond legacy and covered on the Internet, books and 007 documentaries, to thoroughly rehash the battle between Kevin McClory and the producers who brought Bond out of the pages onto the big screen would be a license to overkill.  <br />
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McClory, fellow scriptwriter Jack Whittingham and Bond novelist/creator Ian Fleming worked on the screenplay for THUNDERBALL in 1959. This was planned to be the first Bond film. The deal fell through and Fleming wrote the book, not crediting either co-writer and was sued: thus Fleming lost the THUNDERBALL rights to McClory who would, for years, use that sword against heavyweights Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, the Ion Production team responsible for classics ranging from DR. NO to THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (while Broccoli continued until bowing out with GOLDENEYE).<br />
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After the groundbreaking DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and GOLDFINGER dominated the box office, a deal was worked out when, in 1965, THUNDERBALL was finally realized, crediting McClory as head writer and producer along with a cameo… Plus the stipulation that it couldn't be remade for ten years!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I19TSLtRm-s/VDwit1hJnBI/AAAAAAAAkFU/VJRP-8dnsos/s1600/2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I19TSLtRm-s/VDwit1hJnBI/AAAAAAAAkFU/VJRP-8dnsos/s320/2.jpg" width="209" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poster Artwork</td></tr>
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During that decade, Bond morphed from Sean Connery to George Lazenby (back to Connery) to mainstay Roger Moore... but there wasn't a peep from Kevin McClory.<br />
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Riding his one trick pony, he was waiting to pounce… And in 1975, the infamous “Bond Film That Almost Was,” titled WARHEAD, would have had atom bomb strapped robotic hammerhead sharks swimming in the sewers of New York City while The Statue Of Liberty served as a possible (?) location for the cat-petting Blofeld, the most famous Bond villain co-created by McClory himself.  <br />
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As the years rolled on, McClory attempted to get Pierce Brosnon in another THUNDERBALL remake after Timothy Dalton took over the coveted role… And then shot for Dalton after Pierce reemerged victorious… But here we’ll center on the film that actually <i>did</i>  happen...<br />
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Mr. THUNDERBALL finally got his wish when Sean Connery, who dropped out of WARHEAD in the beginning stages of pre-production, came back on board as an older, wiser, still fit and dapper 007 in NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN, directed by EMPIRE STRIKES BACK hired-hand Irvin Kershner, which competed with the Roger Moore venture, OCTOPUSSY, in 1983… <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U7bD98rqabI/VDwinhO4CQI/AAAAAAAAkFM/A1cevi0Zp9w/s1600/1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U7bD98rqabI/VDwinhO4CQI/AAAAAAAAkFM/A1cevi0Zp9w/s320/1.jpg" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title Says It All</td></tr>
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Ironically, one of the most exciting sequences in NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN never really happens: A practice trial-run where Connery’s Bond leaps and darts over rocks and bushes, makes his way into a castle and is ultimately "killed" by a princess held hostage… We cut to M (Edward Fox) lecturing Bond how unfit he is for duty.<br />
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The following scenes inside an exercise club where Bond gets back in shape pales to the original: although a wall-breaking fistfight with a giant henchman is fun to watch, and proves Connery is ready, physically, to roll.<br />
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Meanwhile, as the familiar plot about a highjacked jet plane transporting a nuclear warhead unfolds, Blofeld is present. Max Von Sydow’s blackmailing heavy isn’t bald or crippled but he does have his pussycat... and is more of a backseat threat here. <br />
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The most intriguing character is the bad Bond girl. As Fatima, Barbara Carrera has the sublime amount of wicked sensuality. Her spoiled man-hating girl-child glides with venomous rancor, providing Bond a fantastic chase as he tails her hotrod on a motorcycle along a mountainous terrain… <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IAPHkTacdlc/VDwjSuJDfCI/AAAAAAAAkFk/8ltFi00hAOc/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IAPHkTacdlc/VDwjSuJDfCI/AAAAAAAAkFk/8ltFi00hAOc/s200/4.jpg" width="157" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great Bad Bond Girl</td></tr>
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Yet the true villain is Maximillian Largo, played by Klaus Maria Brandauer. Performance-wise, both Largo and Fatima seem more in tune with a campy 70's exploitation flick than a mainstream '80s blockbuster, which isn't so bad if they only had more to do.  <br />
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On the flip-side, good Bond girl Kim Basinger is the trophy wishbone caught in Largo’s sinister clutches… His eccentric power reigns from England to The Bahamas, where most of the film takes place. <br />
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With such a bland template, those robotic hammerheads, or something equally creative and outlandish, was desperately needed. The original THUNDERBALL, as sharks stalked Bond in a swimming pool, was unique and suspenseful. Herein the killer fish, who don't seem very threatening to the mellow skin-diving spy, cruise around the ocean while a JAWS-like variation plays... <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lxNP--g3Xw0/VDwjvzOpKRI/AAAAAAAAkFs/DGDAy3Rd10k/s1600/3.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lxNP--g3Xw0/VDwjvzOpKRI/AAAAAAAAkFs/DGDAy3Rd10k/s320/3.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorry Sean, too little too late</td></tr>
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Eventually leading to what is, arguably, the worst scene in 007 history as Bond battles Largo in a casino backroom by... playing a video game! The world map laser screen, appearing between the two joystick-wielding opponents, is seemingly voiced by a BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Cylon using British dialect – and this is considered excitement? <br />
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During the Cold War, right on the brink of a Presidential election wherein anti-nuke commercials and TV movies were rampant, NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN takes THUNDERBALL to the “modern” nuclear era: while having a few nice moments, it seems more an uneven jigsaw puzzle than anything else. And so, during a box office grudge match twenty years in the making, Kevin McClory's long-labored NEVER, while by no means a financial disappointment, lost to the Roger Moore vehicle OCTOPUSSY, a RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK style pulpy fanfare, better on every level: And that includes acting! So yeah, okay, Sean Connery was the original. And even Moore considered him the best Bond… But for the most part, he’s just plain sleepwalking here.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W_5ln_5NwUY/VD1lXleoYNI/AAAAAAAAkHM/z3MjA4IYByw/s1600/never10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W_5ln_5NwUY/VD1lXleoYNI/AAAAAAAAkHM/z3MjA4IYByw/s1600/never10.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Obviously, you frequently visit arcades, Mr. Bond... Or perhaps you have an Atari? ColecoVision?"</td></tr>
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CONNERY BOND SEVEN: NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN

year: 1983 rating: **1/2 "I do hope we have some gratuitous sex and violence," says the new Q to the old Bond in NEVER SAY NEV...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/13/2014 / No comments / 2014 , disney , jennifer garner , steve carell , teen

GROUCHY GROWN UP REVIEW OF ALEXANDER AND... THE VERY BAD DAY

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uVAcMaa61po/VDrt0XiNAII/AAAAAAAAkEs/3wsApwQT5EM/s1600/Alexander-and-the-Terrible-Horrible-No-Good-Very-Bad-Day-After-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uVAcMaa61po/VDrt0XiNAII/AAAAAAAAkEs/3wsApwQT5EM/s1600/Alexander-and-the-Terrible-Horrible-No-Good-Very-Bad-Day-After-Poster.jpg" width="155" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **</td></tr>
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It couldn’t have happened quickly enough that ALEXANDER traded off his TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY in the magical fashion of FREAKY FRIDAY and LIAR LIAR, by wishing his family would have an equally awful 24 hours. <br />
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The film’s mopey namesake, played by Ed Oxenbould, isn’t a terrible child actor, but his bumbling reactions to numerous misfortunes aren't very funny, or entertaining.<br />
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So it's a blessing that performers like Steve Carell as dad, Jennifer Garner as mom, and his older brother and sister are left to weather a series of catastrophes, ranging from a zit, the common cold, a job interview and a book signing gone bad with Disney icon Dick Van Dyke.<br />
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Herein Alexander takes a backseat like he's watching someone else play a video game. And while there are brief moments of Disney frolic, the movie is awkward and badly timed, wasting even Steve Carell’s scene-stealing potential.

2014, disney, jennifer garner, steve carell, teen

GROUCHY GROWN UP REVIEW OF ALEXANDER AND... THE VERY BAD DAY

year: 2014 rating: ** It couldn’t have happened quickly enough that ALEXANDER traded off his TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY i...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/12/2014 / No comments / 2014 , jeremy renner , politics , thriller

JEREMY RENNER IN KILL THE MESSENGER

2014, jeremy renner, politics, thriller

JEREMY RENNER IN KILL THE MESSENGER

2014 rating: ** Jeremy Renner is the kind of actor who takes his job seriously, playing each character with gusto. And in the role of re...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/11/2014 / No comments / 2014 , exploitation , indie , indie corner , parody

INDIE CORNER: A SHOCKED GLIMPSE INTO T.S. SLAUGHTER'S 'THE GAYS'

2014, exploitation, indie, indie corner, parody

INDIE CORNER: A SHOCKED GLIMPSE INTO T.S. SLAUGHTER'S 'THE GAYS'

Click For THE GAYS It’s a blanket term, “The Gays,” referring to an entire unseen lifestyle, usually spoken by an uptight straight perso...

ROBERT DOWNEY JR & ROBERT DUVALL IN THE JUDGE

2014, courtroom drama, robert downey jr., robert duvall

ROBERT DOWNEY JR & ROBERT DUVALL IN THE JUDGE

2014 rating: **1/2 The title character in THE JUDGE is accused of murder – he’s also dying of cancer, just lost his wife, has memory lap...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/10/2014 / No comments / 2014 , prequel

REVIEW OF DRACULA UNTOLD

2014, prequel

REVIEW OF DRACULA UNTOLD

2014 rating: ** If Darth Vader turned into the most sinister thug in the galaxy after his wife died in a dream, having Dracula, whose re...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/07/2014 / No comments / body count , brion james , eighties , fred ward , keith carradine , les lannom , military , powers boothe , suspense , walter hill

BODY COUNT NIGHTMARE OF WALTER HILL'S SOUTHERN COMFORT

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pvm-bRAfaIc/VDV8wlHCqLI/AAAAAAAAkBI/sCop82gS-g0/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pvm-bRAfaIc/VDV8wlHCqLI/AAAAAAAAkBI/sCop82gS-g0/s320/download.jpg" width="152" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1981 rating: ****1/2</td></tr>
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According to the bonus feature documentary from the Shout Factory Blu-Ray/DVD combo, the creators and actors of SOUTHERN COMFORT have different ideas on the movie’s significance and origin…<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--_gdUBNBr3I/VDTRPvw2pcI/AAAAAAAAkAY/5HsV2Im8ddY/s1600/southern-comfort.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--_gdUBNBr3I/VDTRPvw2pcI/AAAAAAAAkAY/5HsV2Im8ddY/s1600/southern-comfort.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RIP Powers Boothe 5/15/17</td></tr>
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While the actors (especially Peter Coyote) are convinced it’s a take on Vietnam, the filmmaker, Walter Hill, and his co-writer David Giler, believe the film’s about… well… a squad of National Guardsman who are hunted by evil Cajuns in the swamps of Louisiana… And in this 1981 cult classic, what you see is pretty much what you get.<br />
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But SOUTHERN COMFORT is much more of a military style horror than anything else... Liken to an outdoor body count slasher flick, each character has a particular fate they either deserve or are simply begging for: That includes Fred Ward as the nefarious Reece, whose cold, piercing eyes can chew through granite. Or Lewis Smith as his young white trash sidekick, Stuckey, igniting trouble by firing blanks at a group of Cajuns after the Guardsman “borrow” their boats for a swampy shortcut. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vAouHebNFu8/VDNLbvbur0I/AAAAAAAAj_M/3XRizhG6Xc8/s1600/fullwidth.f0efb3ae.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vAouHebNFu8/VDNLbvbur0I/AAAAAAAAj_M/3XRizhG6Xc8/s200/fullwidth.f0efb3ae.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We're gonna need bigger boats</td></tr>
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Then there’s Peter Coyote playing the group’s Sergeant, a hardnosed decision-maker just as lost as everyone else. To provide a spoiler wouldn’t be kind, but Sgt. Poole is the Janet Leigh of the movie. His exit forces the group to reluctantly rely on an inept second-in-command, Casper, played by character actor Les Lannom, exuding a perfect combination of desperately intrepid and pathetically oblivious, ultimately allowing our two main heroes, played by Keith Carradine and Powers Boothe, to slowly but surely step up to the plate. <br />
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And here, in a selection from a full interview on SOUTHERN COMFORT, Les Lannom discusses one scene where the men scramble for their lives after being tipped over in canoes.  <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3y3Tccy2JI8/VDNGcbZ0h5I/AAAAAAAAj98/_eDx4AcW3AQ/s1600/3.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3y3Tccy2JI8/VDNGcbZ0h5I/AAAAAAAAj98/_eDx4AcW3AQ/s1600/3.jpg" width="130" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Les Lannom</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2010/03/les-lannom-southern-comfort.html"><span style="color: black;">LES LANNOM (CASPER):</span></a> </span><i>The camera and sound were on boats and were there in the water with us. There was no marked difference in the number of takes required to cover the stuff. You always have cover shot from the distance and that is followed by a number of closer shots from various angles and covering varying numbers of cast members. </i><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XWAsQX0W49o/VDNKb5JwtJI/AAAAAAAAj-8/zSAvvdZOiGQ/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XWAsQX0W49o/VDNKb5JwtJI/AAAAAAAAj-8/zSAvvdZOiGQ/s1600/11.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Les Lannom</td></tr>
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<i>Walter just took these shots until he felt he had the scene and action sufficiently covered. He just shot until it was right, and Walter seemed to be very good at knowing when to stop and move on to the next shot.<br /><br />The one significant problem we encountered was losing a very expensive M-60 machine gun in forty feet or so of damned cold water. They looked for it but never found it. We were all wearing wet suits, so none of us were in danger of drowning (you couldn't sink!); and the most difficult part about it was making it look like it was a desperate situation. Fun stuff, though!</i><i> </i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AP8Ha_6l4Lc/VDN5JYBiGtI/AAAAAAAAj_c/JKf-WzTpC3g/s1600/images.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="139" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AP8Ha_6l4Lc/VDN5JYBiGtI/AAAAAAAAj_c/JKf-WzTpC3g/s200/images.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Borrowing</td></tr>
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<i>And when we finally waded ashore and filmed the rest of the scene, we couldn't wear the wet-suit booties. Had to wear the combat boots, as our feet would be seen. </i><i>Everybody's feet were aching from soaking in the water. The water was cold (this was fairly early in the shoot) and the air temp was about 36 degrees. The socks were not much insulation when they got wet. All of us parked our feet up next to some kerosene heaters to try to thaw them out. </i><i>And a little later, because this was an ongoing problem, Keith Carradine found out that he could peel off the sole from the booties and stuff them into a slightly over-sized combat boot and make the situation bearable. All of us followed suit, and the rest of the shoot was a lot more comfortable... </i><i>If you discount the fact that every morning we arrived at the set and had to put on still-freezing damp wet-suits that had hung all night in our un-heated dressing rooms in the honey-wagons!</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sWJEQr_sS5E/VDTS3KjPUxI/AAAAAAAAkAk/9maaPOM1GDc/s1600/sc04.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sWJEQr_sS5E/VDTS3KjPUxI/AAAAAAAAkAk/9maaPOM1GDc/s1600/sc04.jpg" width="136" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Take no prisoners"</td></tr>
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<b>As the nightmare continues... </b>making this canoe dunking catastrophe seem tame, Keith Carradine’s smart-alleck Spencer and Powers Boothe’s slowburn Hardin are what Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds were to DELIVERANCE: being out of their element yet trying to keep cool along the way. <br />
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Carradine, who had worked with director Hill in THE LONG RIDERS, gets first billing and is the peripheral leader, yet the buck really stops with Boothe’s steely gaze: a newcomer to the group, having previously resided in the Texas Guard, it's like nothing can phase Hardin. Hell, even his cigarettes can survive a trip through swamp water.  <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nB6HiKanwi4/VDNGHD9kRhI/AAAAAAAAj90/5elMRhEXs0Q/s1600/1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nB6HiKanwi4/VDNGHD9kRhI/AAAAAAAAj90/5elMRhEXs0Q/s200/1.jpg" width="158" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Comfort-Bluray-Combo-Blu-ray/dp/B00JGR3M80/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412748931&sr=8-1&keywords=southern+comfort+blu+ray">Shout Factory Cover</a></td></tr>
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Several important scenes have Carradine and Boothe’s characters sporadically discussing the situation at hand. Either commenting on the inability of the lesser men around them, or trying to make sense of the inevitable doomsday, they're a barometer for the audience and the unnerved, rattled Weekend Warriors who, through bad decisions, invite more punishment to be hurled upon them.  <br />
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They include Franklyn Seales as the group’s shuddering fear-meter, Sims. The late actor best known for playing an uptight account on SILVER SPOONS made his ground as the nicer of two cold-blooded killers in THE ONION FIELD. Also on board is T.K. Carter, familiar to horror fans as the skating cook in John Carpenter’s THE THING, serving up unforced and alleviating comic relief. And our token outcast/oddball  is the towering Bowden, played by Carlos Brown aka Alan Autry, a Cowardly Lion type with an unpredictable personality: that spooky red cross on the Blu Ray cover is his doing.  <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J0Fj0NpS-wU/VDNIu7lkOjI/AAAAAAAAj-w/0kVv8Rk7k74/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J0Fj0NpS-wU/VDNIu7lkOjI/AAAAAAAAj-w/0kVv8Rk7k74/s320/12.jpg" width="205" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"You betta haul ass"</td></tr>
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After getting to know the men, each scene, where the ominous swamp is like a character in itself, provides another perilous situation for the men to survive, or not. This includes an attack of ferocious Rottweiler’s, falling trees and eventually an all-out hunting spree with the kind of slow motion deaths that Walter Hill, who scripted the original GETAWAY, might have learned from mentor Sam Peckinpah.<br />
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One of the most important elements is heard, not seen. Ry Cooder grooves a moody slide guitar soundtrack that feels part of the location – a misleadingly laidback sound that fits the film's ironic title, not the dire situation... <br />
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And the survivors have their biggest challenge once the formidable hunt is over... It’s here we get to know Hardin (Powers Boothe) the most: As he remains suspicious during an outdoor Cajun cookout, we realize he’s not only the guy to root for, but he knows what’s up better than anyone: Well not entirely. Towering BLADE RUNNER badass Brion James plays a one-armed Cajon who, through the entire midsection, is captured, questioned, interrogated and flung around like a meaty ragdoll. But when watching and rewatching SOUTHERN COMFORT, it’s his expressions to really center on: because while Hardin and Spencer may know the score, Brion’s Trapper is keeping it.

body count, brion james, eighties, fred ward, keith carradine, les lannom, military, powers boothe, suspense, walter hill

BODY COUNT NIGHTMARE OF WALTER HILL'S SOUTHERN COMFORT

1981 rating: ****1/2 According to the bonus feature documentary from the Shout Factory Blu-Ray/DVD combo, the creators and actors of SOU...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/06/2014 / No comments / 2014 , adam sandler , drama , ensemble , nicolas cage , reese witherspoon , thriller

JOURNEY THROUGH THE INTERNET, AFRICA & THE RAPTURE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jtMjqAAJjYA/VDHlx4Or24I/AAAAAAAAj88/VvAGoPwfxhY/s1600/1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jtMjqAAJjYA/VDHlx4Or24I/AAAAAAAAj88/VvAGoPwfxhY/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **1/2</td></tr>
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<i>In a weekend dominated by a missing girl and a demonic doll, here's a three-pack including THE GOOD LIE, LEFT BEHIND and beginning with...</i><br />
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<b>MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN: </b>Seeing the Internet in a movie is like hearing a toilet flushing, in a movie… It’s so familiar we’d much prefer to escape life’s, um, personal necessities...<br />
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Nothing doing with Jason Reitman’s MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN, a film centering on an ensemble of characters, parents and teenagers, all using the almighty Net for various reasons: From dating sites to video games to modeling to texting: the latter appearing on the screen to showcase our distracted society. <br />
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The cast is loaded with potential talent, but Dean BREAKING BAD Norris should have had a lot more to do than passively navigate his son’s game-playing while Adam Sandler has a chance of reliving PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE… By turning in a serious role, perhaps he could prove something once again. But the males, including an existential high school ex football hero and a porn addicted jock, seem merely along for the ride... <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zDn-hiGc7EE/VDLVYkhgDMI/AAAAAAAAj9k/B37VkTqhsH8/s1600/men-women-children-will-peltz-elena-kampouris.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zDn-hiGc7EE/VDLVYkhgDMI/AAAAAAAAj9k/B37VkTqhsH8/s200/men-women-children-will-peltz-elena-kampouris.jpg" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cute blonde</td></tr>
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It’s the women who have the most interesting, risqué storylines. One wife cheats… A young girl persists on staying skinny and loses her virginity to a jerk… An uptight mother, played by the film’s main antagonist, Jennifer Garner, strictly monitors her mopey, lovestruck kid… Meanwhile, Judy Greer’s progressive single mom takes unconventional pictures for her sexy daughter’s modeling website. <br />
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Everyone eventually connects, romantically or otherwise. And like MAGNOLIA and many ensemble films, there’s a stream of conscious narrative bringing things  together…<br />
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In this particular case it's the Voyager Satellite hovering just beyond our solar system with Carl Sagan as the token philosopher, providing depth through the wise voice of Emma Thompson, the female Morgan Freeman here…<br />
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But going beneath the surface level, whether an inch or a mile, can be considered deep. Ironically, the most intriguing elements occur during the mundane, everyday observations, and not when the writers try for meaning: That’s when things get preachy and pretentious, and downright predictable.    <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s5_oFMAHUps/VDHl3efktdI/AAAAAAAAj9E/9Tjpwm3MRIs/s1600/2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s5_oFMAHUps/VDHl3efktdI/AAAAAAAAj9E/9Tjpwm3MRIs/s320/2.jpg" width="203" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: ***</td></tr>
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<b>THE GOOD LIE:</b> You would think, judging by the trailers and the poster, THE GOOD LIE centered mostly on Reese Witherspoon’s bitch with a heart of gold, Carrie, and her friendship with three African refugees… But Carrie has little to do with the film but “babysit”… Yet she hardly even does that…<br />
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The real story centers on a young "family", beginning with their on-foot journey from war-torn Sudan to Kenya. This prologue lasts twenty minutes but packs about every trial and tribulation you can imagine –  drinking their own urine, dodging bullets and battling fierce wild animals, the preliminary trek is rushed in order to segue into the feel-good movie it becomes once the children, grown into college age young adults, move to Kansas City where a moody Witherspoon sets them up with various jobs.<br />
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It would be impossible to delve into the immense pain these kids felt unless ample time and effort was provided for us to, as the old saying goes, walk in their shoes. There are sporadic flashbacks and conversations to shed light on their past, but THE GOOD LIE is really a fish out of water tale not about surviving, but adapting in the comparably soft American culture. <br />
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During the last twenty minutes, when the family "chief" returns to Africa in search of a very special person, not only does the title become perfectly clear, the movie fills in the gaps from a somewhat cushy interpretation of hardship and struggle, providing a satisfying conclusion – for the characters and the audience.  <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZpzVXZ4jFHY/VDHmH_nS1FI/AAAAAAAAj9M/7XCTmM4ID4I/s1600/3.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZpzVXZ4jFHY/VDHmH_nS1FI/AAAAAAAAj9M/7XCTmM4ID4I/s320/3.jpg" width="198" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **</td></tr>
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<b>LEFT BEHIND:</b> Nicolas Cage, the once A-list superstar and Oscar winning actor, could be viewed as taking a serious downgrade by headlining the low budget Biblical-based thriller, LEFT BEHIND… Although, since he’s been demoted to Straight-to-DVD hell the last few years, perhaps this return to theaters is his way of serving in heaven, literally. <br />
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After a ponderous twenty-minute conversation within an airport terminal, the plot clunks underway… Based on a novel foretelling the predictions in Revelations – where God’s Rapture will take only Christians to heaven – much of the suspense takes place on a commercial airplane where Cage’s Rayford Steele is the sole pilot…<br />
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The children, a flight attendant and most important, co-pilot, have all been whisked away – all that’s LEFT are a pile of clothing… Same thing’s happened globally; but we center on Captain Steele’s hardened Atheist daughter Hattie, played by Nicky Whelan… It’s her character we followed through the overlong prologue, and she’s the focal point on the ground. In fact the Rapture begin on her “watch” when her little brother vanishes in the middle of a heartfelt hug.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A_9lgxhnfUo/VDLU6eA6SKI/AAAAAAAAj9c/UfuGoQRfYQk/s1600/1351180703_nicolas-cage-knowing-film-photos_1024x768_19521.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A_9lgxhnfUo/VDLU6eA6SKI/AAAAAAAAj9c/UfuGoQRfYQk/s200/1351180703_nicolas-cage-knowing-film-photos_1024x768_19521.jpg" width="107" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nic Cage</td></tr>
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Skipping from the airplane to the city, the best scenes occur eight miles high. Take away the Rapture aspect and we have a selected group of paranoid passengers not trusting each other, resulting in our heroic pilot having to land the airplane back in New York, just like the AIRPORT films of yesteryear. Meanwhile, the attempt to wedge the Christian agenda is awkward and clumsy...<br />
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But since it's a tale about people who weren’t lucky enough to make the ethereal cut, if this particular vehicle works, a franchise about desperate heroes surviving a godless world might crossover to the mainstream… After all, who's around to preach Christianity? <br />
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With a distracting low budget and a cheap acoustic soundtrack, LEFT BEHIND might be just that in the box office: not faithful enough for the faith-based and not exciting enough for a suspenseful thriller. Yet there are times when Nic Cage makes you forget he's stuck in a bad movie. After all, he's had plenty of practice lately.

2014, adam sandler, drama, ensemble, nicolas cage, reese witherspoon, thriller

JOURNEY THROUGH THE INTERNET, AFRICA & THE RAPTURE

year: 2014 rating: **1/2 In a weekend dominated by a missing girl and a demonic doll, here's a three-pack including THE GOOD LIE, ...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/04/2014 / No comments / 2014 , franchise , horror , prequel

REVIEW OF ANNABELLE

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hyAYIXPDdSY/VC7zsAHB6gI/AAAAAAAAj7o/3CsF8Y1UXi8/s1600/Annabelle-2014-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hyAYIXPDdSY/VC7zsAHB6gI/AAAAAAAAj7o/3CsF8Y1UXi8/s320/Annabelle-2014-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **</td></tr>
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Two particular things don’t make sense: Calling a girl you think is ugly a dog, when dogs are usually cute… And referring to a precious child as a little doll, when dolls can be horrendously frightening…<br />
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Especially in the case of ANNABELLE, a gift given to the lovely Mia by her husband John for… God knows what reason. The doll itself resembles a mad clown donning partial makeup while staring fiercely into the pits of hell… And where else would you put such an antique horror but facing a newborn child’s crib within an otherwise innocent bedroom…<br />
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That’s skipping ahead. By the time the couple, via 1969 during the Manson Family cult-killing period, bring new life into the world, Annabelle has already summoned likewise hippie freaks and eventually, The Devil himself rears his formidably horned face, an image way too familiar at this point – a ghost with white sheets would probably be scarier, or at least more mysterious.<br />
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A hybrid of ROSEMARY’S BABY, POLTERGEIST, and THE EXORCIST… especially the rip-off conclusion… ANNABELLE has a few worthy jolts: But you can sneak up behind someone in a Disney film and cause the same reaction. The problem are the characters, so uninteresting and paper-thin that the time between spooks is more boring than necessary… And worst yet, the doll doesn’t have enough to do: A conduit into the Netherworld is okay if the vessel is normal to begin with, but with a namesake antagonist so creepy, why invite anyone else to the party?

2014, franchise, horror, prequel