[star rating=”4″] IT. Directed by Andy Muschietti, with Jaeden Lieberher, Jackson Robert Scott, Jeremy Ray Taylor.
Creepy It is a disturbing reboot of a scary 80s film character. Based on a Stephen King book, this film borrows from Steven Spielberg movies of yore. It’s about a small town suburb with a menace lurking beneath – a darkness that only the children see. It contains buckets of blood and quite a few gross scary moments, but like what he did with Mama, Muschietti spends a lot of time building up an ominous atmosphere.
The film is also part psychological thriller. So, the scary parts are very frightening, but not the crux of the matter. The little ensemble features a fine bunch of actors and it will be fun to see who gets cast as their adult versions in Chapter 2. Fans of the book will miss some of the deeper aspects of characterization while those familiar with Tim Curry as the clown in the TV series make their own comparisons, but if you’r unfamiliar with either this film is really going to scare you! EXTRAS: Deleted scenes. – Theresa Smith
[star rating=”3″] AMERICAN MADE. Directed by Doug Liman, with Tom Cruise, Sarah Wright and Domhnall Gleeson.
Tom can’t seem to wipe the smirk from his face, and who can blame him in this biographical crime movie about Barry Seal, a former TWA pilot who flew missions for the CIA then became a drug smuggler for the Medellín Cartel in the 1980s. The guy was so awash with cash that over time he couldn’t find anywhere to hide the relentless bags of notes he kept scooping on his drug-running.
Tom does what he does and American Made is easy to watch, simultaneously serving as a heads-up about the evil of US ‘foreign policy’. An entertaining reminder of all those headliners from the 1980s – Reagan, Pablo Escobar, Ollie North and Iran-Contra affair. EXTRAS: Deleted Scenes, American Storytellers, Cruise & Liman: A Conversation, In the wings, Shooting American Made, Flying High, The Real Barry Seal. – Jane Mayne
[star rating=”2.5″] THE LAST WORD. Directed by Mark Pellington, with Shirley MacLaine and Amanda Seyfried.
Shirley MacLaine fans are aplenty and those who lapped up all her esoteric books are definitely going to forgive this influential star for a middle-of-the-road movie. This welcome re-sighting at this late stage in her career isn’t going to win any awards. It is what it is – a feel good drama about a retired go-getter businesswoman who inveigles a young journalist (Seyfried) into prepping her obituary.
As expected, an acrimonious relationship blossoms into one of friendship and mutual respect. Utterly predictable and uncomplicated, and possibly just an opportunity to catch a last glimpse of this potent mystic. EXTRAS: None. – Jane Mayne
[star rating=”2″] THE DARK TOWER. Directed by Nikolaj Arcel, with Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey
Despite rich source material The Dark Tower film version is rather lifeless. It draws on Stephen King’s series of books and instead of making the story a duel between gunslinger Roland (Elba) and Man in Black, Walter (McConaughey), it’s centered on a boy – Jake (Taylor). In our world Jake has dreams about a gunslinger in his nightmares, while a dark tower is being destroyed. The teen discovering there are multiple universes, and that his dreams are real is what drives the narrative.
Action sequences are difficult to parse and any time Roland and Jake discover a new place they don’t have enough time to explore before they’re forced to run off. So, all the world building on the part of the filmmakers is lost. Arcel has interpreted ideas from King’s sprawling fantasy to put his own spin on it and it really helps if you didn’t read the books.
EXTRAS: Blooper Reel, The Man in Black – McConaughey’s process, The Gunslinger in Action – Elba & the Stunt team’s process for creating the Gunslingers battles – Theresa Smith
WS
