Arena Grand Movie Theatre Blog
Posted Tuesday, February 26, 2013 within Reviews.
Review submitted by Arena Grand fan: Simone C.
Simone's rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars!
(SPOILER ALERT!)
Family. You can't live with them and you can't live, well, some family members you just can't live with at all. Ever. Such is the case for the Ravenwood/Duchannes family. Beautiful Creatures is a modern-day, supernatural forbidden love story, the archetypal "star-crossed lovers" between a mortal and a "caster" - the updated term for witch. As is the case in many magical genres, those who practice black magic are the outcasts, hence the Dark Casters (aka black magic witches) in this interpretation are exiled by the family.
Besides Dark Casters, there seem to be a number of other classifications of casters such as Sirens, Seers, Incubi, Empaths, Palimpsests, Sybils, etc. The person's nature chooses this category; the males can accept or reject but the females must succumb to what is chosen by their nature. This event takes place on the caster's 16th birthday.
Narrated by fictitious Gatlin, South Carolina resident Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich, "Twixt"), a mysterious girl keeps appearing in his dreams. Who is she? Why does he keep dreaming about her? Enter Lena, the new girl at school, his dream girl, plagued by the xenophobic "popular" girls' self-righteous gossip and whispers.
Jeremy Irons is no stranger to playing a family patriarch. Lately, he's been captivating as Roderigo Borgia on Showtime's The Borgias. In Beautiful Creatures, he plays a more magical patriarch, Macon Ravenwood, ill-fated Incubus uncle of protagonist and heroine, Lena Duchannes (New Zealand nubie Alice Englert). On Lena's 16th birthday, she is to be chosen by the dark or the light. Being female, her nature will choose for her. Her powers become exponentially stronger when she becomes emotional (and for a teenager, that's all the time). And her birthday approaches.
Of amusing note, Emmy Rossum's Siren character Ridley Duchannes is the typical gorgeous bad girl with dark powers. I still cannot believe this is the same little girl with the big voice in "Songcatcher" and "Phantom of the Opera" - whose biggest claim to fame to date is Fiona in "Shameless". Then there's Lena's mother, Seraphine, played by Emma Thompson. Seraphine seems to be a bit wacky, crazy with her dark powers, and she takes over a human body so she can move about and communicate freely. This movie is right up Thompson's alley, having appeared in the Harry Potter series and the Nanny McPhee movies.
However, Beautiful Creatures differs from the books written by authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl in that the Librarian and Seer are actually two different people. Casters are more fully explained and the story in general is richer and most readers agree that if the movie mirrored the books it would have been fab. Unfortunately, there is much amiss. I would have liked to have seen more special effects with greater intensity but much of what was attempted was a bit lackluster. However, if this movie is successful, we may see sequels to quench the Twilight audience's thirst and delve deeper into the various types of casters, character development and plot.
Director Richard LaGravenese has myriad experience with love stories (writer and director), P.S. I Love You, Water for Elephants (writer), The Bridges of Madison County (writer), etc. so it is not surprising he tried his hand at supernatural love and his focus was more on that than the magic. The story is easy to follow, though, and moves quickly, keeping you guessing.
Is the power of love stronger than magic power? Huey Lewis seems to think so. I give this flick 3½ stars. I was entertained.
Many thanks to Simone for sharing her review! Check out other reviews of this film at IMDB.
Click here to view the trailer or purchase your ticket to see Beautiful Creatures
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Posted Tuesday, January 29, 2013 within Reviews.
Review submitted by Arena Grand fan: Simone C.
Simone's rating: 5 out of 5 stars!
Every so often, a movie comes along that immediately draws you in. The plot is engaging; surrounded by mystery and horror. It contains a frightening supernatural entity. Time flies by as you watch, holding onto your seat. Mama is that movie. Finally, we have a scary movie that contains a good story and a terrifying supernatural creature.
(SPOILER ALERT!)
Mama starts off with a radio news report of a shooting at a high profile corporation. Evidently, the CEO, Jeffrey, went crazy and shot his business partners and estranged wife. We can only guess that their stock tanked, maybe he invested badly (which is not a stretch to the imagination nowadays) and he snapped. Jeffrey goes home and gathers his daughters, Victoria and Lily, to go, well, who knows where? His brother, Lucas, shows up at the crime scene but the police can provide no answers except that his brother took the kids and disappeared.
Speeding along recklessly on a snowy mountain road, the father, Jeffrey, loses control of the car, veers off and slides down a steep hill and hits a tree. Miraculously, they all survive with minor cuts and bruises. They walk through the woods, not knowing where they are going until they reach an old abandoned cabin (or is it?) called Helvecia (a possible homage to a village by the same name in freshman Director Andres Muschietti's Argentina). A shadow darts past as they enter the cabin. After making a fire to warm them up, Jeffrey then emotionally breaks down in the filthy kitchen and pulls out a gun, agonizing over murder/suicide as the only way out for him and his girls. He approaches Victoria, the elder girl, holding the gun. She asks what it is as she cannot see -- her glasses are broken and he has removed them. Suddenly, out of nowhere appears a twisted, wraithlike creature that pulls him away and snaps his neck.
Fast-forward five years, after a painstaking investigation and search for the missing family members, Lucas finally gets a call indicating the girls have been found. Unfortunately, they are feral (Lily moreso) and need rehabilitation. Daniel Kash's convincing Dr. Dreyfuss (Aliens, Alphas) steps in to assist, desiring to make a case study of them. He offers a special house to Lucas and Annabel to better accommodate and afford the girls. Plus, he can study them more closely and conveniently. Unlikely guardians artist/musician couple Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who you might know better as Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones) and Goth Annabel (ginger Jessica Chastain, Maya in Zero Dark Thirty and the lovable and fun Celia Foote in The Help) want to adopt the girls and accept. Through his hypnotherapy with Victoria, Dr. Dreyfuss realizes Mama is real and goes on his own quest for answers: Who is Mama? Mama is not quite what she seems (beyond her pretzel shape and unstable mind); she will keep you guessing.
Guillermo del Toro's past horror handiwork (The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, Mimic, Splice, etc.) proved to me that with his involvement as Producer, Mama would deliver. For me, any macabre motherly subject matter can be tormenting and upsetting, to wit, "Mommy Dearest","The Others", true story baby killers Susan Smith and Andrea Yates (and many a Deadly Women episode on Discovery I.D.). However, Muschietti's Mama brings a whole new meaning to the words "maternal instinct". Mama's Picasso-esque despair-wracked, twisted body and banshee/La Llorona-like appearance and formidable wailing will make you cry for your own mama. Hair-raising, disturbing and unsettling, Mama should satisfy the sinister seeker's palate. Five stars for this spine-chilling celluloid!
Many thanks to Simone for sharing her review! Check out other reviews of this film at IMDB.
Click here to view the trailer or purchase your ticket to see Mama
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Posted Monday, January 14, 2013 within Reviews.
Review submitted by Arena Grand fan: Simone C.
Simone's rating: 5 out of 5 stars!
Quentin Tarantino's latest work, Django Unchained, blends the Spaghetti Western with other movie genres of the 1960's. Set in the Pre-Civil War Deep South, Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz, a good guy this time, polar opposite his uber-evil character in "Inglourious Basterds") is a bounty hunter/dentist. Jamie Foxx (of "Ray"and "Collateral") plays Django, a slave.
Through Dr. Schultz's research, he learns that Django worked on a plantation where the highly desired outlaws, the Brittle Brothers, also worked. No one had ever seen them, but Django had, so Dr. King sought out the most likely path the traders and Django would have traveled to strike a bargain with them to purchase Django to help him find the outlaws. The first scene shows the slaves traveling through various and terrible weather conditions. In the distance appears a rickety stagecoach crowned with a giant molar - a silly, bobbing, swaying tooth on a big spring. Dialogue exchanges between the traders and the Dr., and in Dr. Schultz's expertly doled out persuasive efforts, was able to convince the slave traders to purchase Django.
And thus, the duo begins their adventure; two accidental/second hand heroes inadvertently righting wrongs and doling out justice the 19th Century western way. The plot is solid, the gratuitous gunslingin' and blowin' up is satisfying and rest assured, you will be amused by the well-placed music for certain scenes, from rap to rock to R&B to western -- all expertly and appropriately poised with the action sequences.
True to form, Quentin Tarantino again effectively addresses an uncomfortable subject matter as he does in many of his other films.
Django Unchained is replete with a cornucopia of calamity and gratuitous gunslingin'. For a two hour and 45 minute runaway stagecoach ride I was nearly exhausted when the credits rolled. To quote Django: "You said to get dirty, I'm getting dirty." And dirty Django becomes, a Tarantino masterpiece that captures the bitter flavor of the mid-1800s, scenes that make you squirm, laugh, become angry, and then feel vindicated. Five stars all the way.
Many thanks to Simone for sharing her review! Check out other reviews of this film at IMDB.
Click here to view the trailer or purchase your ticket to see Django Unchained
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Posted Thursday, December 20, 2012 within Reviews.
Review submitted by Arena Grand fan: Simone C.
__Simone's rating: 5 out of 5 stars! Non- Tolkien fans, though, may give it 3.5 __
For those of you wondering how a humble Hobbit such as Frodo Baggins got all mixed up with affairs of wizards, dwarves, elves and men, and matters of good, evil and rings, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey lays down the blueprint of how it all got started. Much of the back story was taken from the appendices of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy to fill in the gaps.
If you dig character-driven, fantasy adventure stories with a lot of dialogue, some good fight scenes, several seemingly-impossible-to-escape-from tight situations, then you should be entertained. If you are a huge fan of Tolkien and are expecting The Hobbit to have a beginning, middle and end resolution in this one movie, forget it. [Spoiler Alert] The movie ended just as Smaug's eye opened. I then realized this evil, legendary dragon makes his appearance next year! Duh, it's a TRILOGY - another Peter Jackson magnum opus! Oi vey! How did I miss THAT?
Peter Jackson's penchant for detail provides beautiful cinematography; outstanding costumes; unbelievable special effects/CGI/ makeup; and superb casting and screenplay. If Mr. Jackson loses any more weight, however, he will become invisible as if wearing the One Ring! If you desire a lot of constant roller coaster ride action, this movie may not deliver for you. If you understand that this movie is a foundation for the next two, and Peter Jackson's intention of painstakingly incorporating the appendices' details into the plot and the methods he uses to weave the minutia within the story will reveal in time their importance and relevance, you will be pleased. Instant gratification this movie provides not. However, there is comfort in familiarity with the main characters, and even Elijah Wood reprises his role as Frodo, albeit very briefly. We have wizardly Ian McClellan's stellar Gandalf and divine Cate Blanchett's ever and always ethereal Queen Galadriel. Hugo Weaving's mysterious Elrond makes you forget his baddie Agent Smith part in The Matrix. Long-in-the-tooth Christopher Lee resurrects the duplicitous Saruman (not a far reach from his Hammer Films Dracula). Note the bonuses: a couple hottie dwarves: Richard Armitage (Strike Back, Captain America, Robin Hood) as the Dwarf King Thorin Oakenshield (dubbed from the makeshift oak log shield he used as a shield fighting evil Albino Orc Azog); Aidin Turner (Being Human, Showtime's The Tudors) as Fili. (Who knew dwarves could be so comely??) Andy Serkis'(Caesar- Rise of the Planet of the Apes) creepy Gollum is always a crowd pleaser. Let's not forget the well-seasoned Dr. Who alum Sylvester McCoy to provide comic relief and wizardly wisdom as the magically druidic Radagast the Brown rounding out the tale (reprising the role in the next two chapters).
Of course, there is evil running amuck in Middle Earth. I am not sure even Voldemort could match the Witch-king of Angmar, aka Lord of the Nazgul aka Black Captain/Necromancer aka Sauron tag team and their band of Orcs. These infernal amigos could make even "He-Who- Must-Not-Be-Named" tremor in his treacle. We'll see more of them in the next installments. Plus you get a number of Wargs, Orcs, Stone Giants, Goblins and a few Trolls -oh, my -.
Don't expect non-stop action; you may find this epic slow. Part I is for character and story development. I am a huge Tolkien fan, so I am prejudice. Therefore I give it 5 stars; non- Tolkien fans, though, may give it 3.5. . . patience, Precious . . . good things come to those who wait . . . for Parts II and III.
Many thanks to Simone for sharing her review! Check out other reviews of this film at IMDB.
Click here to view the trailer or purchase your ticket to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
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Posted Thursday, September 6, 2012 within Reviews.
Review submitted by Arena Grand fan: Simone C.
Simone's rating: 5 out of 5 stars!
Move over, Exorcist. Take a back seat, Emily Rose. The Dibbuk Box is taking over the
possession horror genre for now! Aptly titled double-entendre "The Possession" gave me what I
long for in a movie: mystery, suspense, thrills, creepiness, mythology/mysticism and paranoia. I
knew nothing about Jewish possession, legends or superstitions and I now feel a big part of a
whole new, unexplored area of fright has been missing from my life. Heck, I thought the
Catholics cornered the market in religious horror with The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby and The
Omen. Evidently, the Jewish faith has a long history of supernatural folklore and occult-related
tales of terror.
Loosely based on true events (I knew Hollywood would embellish and sensationalize the story
with artistic license, so I purposely did not research the history of the box until after I saw the
movie), The Possession begins innocently enough in a house with an old woman who hears
voices presumably emanating from the box.
Switch to a father moving to a new home with his daughters. Being a good dad, he tries to entertain them, makes a pit stop at a yard sale to get plates (note to self: when you go to a yard sale, don't purchase any strange-looking wooden boxes with inscriptions all the way around . . . you may live to regret it . . . or not . . . ) and young Em becomes fascinated by an old antique wooden box. She begs Clyde to buy it and he concedes, but before they leave she sees someone (a nurse?) walking into the house glaring at her. She walks around the house and sees through a window someone in bed wrapped in bandages, who looks at her frightened and her caretaker/nurse gruffly shuts the curtains to the room. The girls and dad then go home.
Clyde and Em examine the box but can't seem to figure out how to open it. Em becomes more and more preoccupied with the box and figures it out. She discovers trinkets inside--including a dead bug (or a brass moth brooch, difficult to figure out exactly what it was),among other things. Not sure what is up with the moth motif (because it reminded me of Amityville Horror with all those flies and the locusts in The Reaping), I did a bit of research. The moth symbolizes dreams, shadows, otherworldliness, secret knowledge, psychic awareness, vulnerability, determination, concealment, attraction, subtlety, intuition and faith (http://www.whats-your-sign.com/animal-symbolism-moth.html). WOW -- this movie is educational, too!
Em begins to change; she drifts off into a fugue, becoming violently obsessive about the box.
She has problems at school, becomes more and more distant with her friends and family and is
visibly becoming more and more agitated. Clyde suspects something is up and takes the box to a professor he knows who tells him it is a Dibbuk box, an ancient receptacle that imprisons malevolent spirits or demons with Hebrew inscription to keep what is inside from coming out.
What I Didn't Like:
If there was anything at all, it lacked the true background story to the real box, which is very,
very interesting and creepy. I hope they use that for a sequel (or prequel).
What I Liked:
Loved the effective use of sound and music to make you jump out of your seat. Also appreciated
director Ole Bornedal's homage to Hitchcock with the dolly-shot close-up of Hannah with Em in
the MRI machine in the background and God shots of Clyde's development and the city. I also
enjoyed the symbolism of the eyes, the mirrors of the soul, with a lot of eye close-ups.
What it Needed:
Again, because of my thirst for knowledge, I would have loved more background story of the
box but that may be saved for the sequel or prequel. At least I hope they do that.
Creepy, thrilling and refreshingly different, The Possession possesses a great story, educates us
on other cultures' folklore and supernatural legends and certainly gave me hope for the horror
genre. I look forward to seeing more original movies such as this one in the future. I give it five
stars!
Many thanks to Simone for sharing her review! Check out other reviews of this film at IMDB.
Click here to view the trailer or purchase your ticket to see The Possession
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