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Reviews
The Boy Next Door (2015)
You know exactly what you're in for...
When you buy a ticket to a movie called "The Boy Next Door" with Jennifer Lopez in her nightie on the poster with a sexy guy staring angrily into the black, you know EXACTLY what you're going to get. Why expect anything else? You're setting yourself up for disappointment. I don't understand all the one star reviews. This movie is a carbon copy of every "erotic thriller/stalker" movie ever produced in the 90's and early 2000's. (Fatal Attraction, Mother's Boys, swimfan, The Roommate, Obsessed, etc.) Lopez and Guzman are FINE here (as is Kristin Chenoweth, who very nearly steals the show. BRAVO!). Those three turn in decent performances and their work actually carries an otherwise stale script, which is the biggest problem here. The dialogue is pretty stiff. The actors are working their butts off to make it all seem plausible, but its just not and that fault lies with newcomer Barbara Curry, who wrote that drivel. Someone should have given the script a good "once over" with a red pen and the problems in the final product may have been removed altogether. Seriously, this movie is harmless. It is a great way to spend your afternoon. There is excitement and suspense. The sex scenes are...well, sexy! Grab a date, turn off your brains, and join in the fun!
Leprechaun: Origins (2014)
This is NOT the "Leprechaun" you are used to...
...and if you go into this film expecting Warwick Davis and his wise- cracking Leprechaun antics, you're going to be disappointed. The filmmakers responsible for this film have stated NUMEROUS times that they wanted a complete reimagining of the Leprechaun character and backstory (despite the "Origins" subtitle). This film was always meant to abandon the slapstick approach of the original series in favor of something a little more dark and primitive, which in my opinion, they were successful with, and if you leave your brain and quibbles about Warwick's interpretation of the character at the door, "Leprechaun: Origins" is a hell of a fun ride. Sure the story is a little silly and far-fetched, but suspension of disbelief is necessary to begin with...if you're trying to make a movie about a killer leprechaun. "Origins" is everything that a film like this should be! Its fast-paced with jump scares and suspense spaced throughout the run time. And even though the "gore" in the movie is next to non-existent, the death sequences and setups more than make up for it. Its evident that the film is low budget, but the production values are able to rise above that. Similarly, the cast is better than they should be for a film like this. Genre veteran Brendan Fletcher (Freddy vs. Jason) turns in an excellent performance as the lovable "blockhead" of the group. I actually found myself rooting for him to survive! And none of the other cast members were distractingly bad (as is normally the case with DTV horror films). Dylan "Hornswoggle" Postl does just fine as the new Leprechaun. With the new approach for the character, there actually isn't much acting required from the WWE veteran. Unlike other reviewers, I will not criticize director Zach Lipovsky's decision to keep the creature mostly in the shadows. A lot of better, smarter creature features have utilized this approach and no one gives them any flack for it. In my opinion, we see the creature just enough to leave us wanting more! (And isn't that what a film of this nature is supposed to do?! I mean SEQUELS right?!)
Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (2013)
"Legends of Oz" is a very mixed bag...
Going into "Legends of OZ", my expectations were already quite low due to a lot of negative reaction from critics and Oz fans. Having now seen the film, I was pleasantly surprised by some of it. I found the writing and concept of the film to be quite good. The film managed to be funny when it needed to be and was even able to pull off a few heartfelt moments. The cast of new characters who become Dorothy's traveling companions, as well as the new villain, all were able to hold my attention and deserve their place in the Oz canon. All the vocal talents in the film, particularly Martin Short & Megan Hilty, are pretty much spot-on with their interpretations of the characters in Oz, even the iconic ones we've come to know and love. The design of Oz and its inhabitants, while not particularly revolutionary, was sufficient and "magical" enough to not be distracting. Unfortunately, once those designs begin to move (as this IS a "motion picture") the film begins to run into problems. Some of the animation, especially in the Kansas scenes at the beginning and end of the film, are on par with the old Sims computer game renderings, which were impressive for their time, but CGI has moved FAR beyond that. But the biggest misstep of all is the original music written to make the film a "musical". The concept, production, and placement of these songs are so bad that they almost felt like an afterthought. I expected Bryan Adams to deliver something much better than the finished product and was quite disappointed. The only saving grace on the soundtrack is "Even Then"....which "even then" had terrible moments of mediocrity. Perhaps Bryan Adams just isn't capable of delivering that twinkly, magical, Disney-ish feeling music ala "Frozen" that (in my opinion) was needed for a film like this. As the title summary states, its a mixed bag, but still at least somewhat enjoyable for fans of the original and of L. Frank Baum's novels.