I saw the synopsis of this movie, The Vanished, and it sounded interesting.  So I found it on Vudu today and decided to watch it.

It was original and unexpected for sure.

A seemingly happy family head out to a camping trip in their RV, singing songs and preparing to go fishing.  Paul (Thomas Jane) and Wendy (Anne Heche), with their little daughter Taylor (Sadie Heim), arrive at the trailer camp park, coming across some questionable looking individuals.

As Paul was preparing to head out fishing with his daughter, he is distracted by an attractive woman (Aleksei Archer) who is from a nearby camper.  When Wendy gets back from the store, they realize that Taylor has disappeared.

Panicked, Paul and Wendy get the local sheriff (Jason Patric) involved in search of the woods and the lake for their missing daughter.

There were several red herrings presented to the audience as the police and Paul and Wendy desperately searched for the missing little girl.  The film does a good job of creating an uncertainty of what happened to her.  Jane and Heche do a good job here, but, it was strange because the two of them seemed to be inconsistent with their characters.  They were reacting in strange manners and you could tell that they were keeping something that we did not know.

One minute, Heche was acting strange.  Next minute, Jane was doing something weird.

They were not the only characters who were acting in odd ways.  Sheriff Baker had something going on here too.  I am not sure that we ever effectively discovered what his deal was.  Alex Haydon’s character Alex is another one that has some kind of mysterious underscore to his role.

I do not want to spoil anything, but the ending of the movie is wild and may feel to some that it comes out of nowhere.  I could see where some people may find the ending of this movie a cheat, but I must admit that I kind of enjoyed it.

There are some uneven aspects to the movie, especially the portrayals of the two main characters.  There are tense moments and you are never sure what has happened.  I thought this was better than I expected.  I saw the low Rotten Tomatoes score connected to this film but I thought it was better than that.

3.4 stars 

Chemical Hearts is on Amazon Prime this weekend and it brings a healthy dose of teenage angst and melodrama to the screen.

Riverdale’s Lili Reinhart is transfer student Grace, whose mysterious style draws the attention of senior Henry (Austin Abrams).  Both teens are named co-editor of the high school paper and brings them into each other’s orbit.  Henry discovers that Grace has a tragic past that continues to cause her anguish.

Admittedly, there is not a lot original here.  We have seen other movies handle most of this subject matter.  However, the two leads, Abrams and Reinhart, have a ton of chemistry and bring a distinct rooting quality to the pairing.  Both actors do a fine job and carry much of the story and the script on their shoulders.

The pacing of this film is excellent.  The film has a short 93 minutes, but nothing feels wasted.  There are some side characters that do not receive much development and play a part in the final scene.  That did not feel earned.

Overall, Chemical Hearts is a good, albeit, familiar movie with two excellent young actors in the lead roles.  The success of this movie is squarely on their shoulders and they handle the melodrama of the script in a fine manner.

3.3 stars 

I have the book of The One and Only Ivan by author Mike White in my middle school classroom library so I recognized the title when I saw it was going to be a movie on Disney +.  However, I have not actually read the novel.

Surprisingly, the film starts with a “based on real events” tag so, since this is about talking animals, I immediately doubted that claim.  Turns out, it was the basic story behind the movie that was the true story (as we see in the end credits) and the talking animals part was author’s craft.  That’s fine.

The One and Only Ivan is the story of a gorilla named Ivan (Sam Rockwell)m raised from a little gorilla by Mack (Bryan Cranston).  Mack took Ivan and several other animals and opened a mall called the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, where Ivan was the main attraction.  Among a group of animals that had minor tricks to do, Ivan would come out and growl and pound his chest at the end.

Business was suffering, so Mack bought a cute baby elephant named Ruby (Brooklynn Prince) to amp up the awwww-factor of the show.  Ruby bonded with Ivan and Ivan’s other friend, a nameless stray dog (Danny DeVito).

When Mack’s niece Julia (Ariana Greenblatt), an inspiring artist of her own, passed her old crayons to Ivan and the gorilla showed a propensity to draw.  Through this skill and a promise he would make, Ivan realized that the confines of a cage was not what he wanted for himself or for Ruby.

The story is fairly basic and lacks too much of an emotional punch, outside of a couple of well-manipulated scenes.  Still, the CGI animals are wonderful (especially when compared to works like the dog from Call of the Wild), and there is enough of a connection to the audience to make this a reasonable family film.  There are deeper themes that could have been explored in this, but they do not do so.

The voice and live action cast is stacked.  With Sam Rockwell in the lead role of Ivan, they start off strong.  Bryan Cranston is always great and here he does an admirable job as Mack.  Throw in Danny DeVito, Angelina Jolie, Chaka Khan, and Helen Mirren and you have a great group of actors.

Some of the humor did not work for me (there was a toupee gag that was really out of left field), and the resolution of the story seemed to come about too quickly as well.   It did not allow the film’s conflict to grow much before it was resolved.  Again, that was fine for what it was, but it prevents the movie from going any deeper.

I would not purchase Disney + to make sure I did not miss The One and Only Ivan, but I already have it and I am not unhappy that I watched it.  It is a strong family fare that goes quickly and is worthy of watching on the streaming service.

3.3 stars

This film makes you wonder how long it will be until this is no longer fiction and something like this actually occurs in the real world.

Spree is the story of a 23-year old Spree rideshare driver named Kurt Kunkle (Joe Keery) who is desperately seeking attention for his online blog, Kurt’s World.  He comes up with a deadly plan to make his livestream go viral.

The film looks at the world of online blogging and how these videos seem to be getting worse with every bad idea.  The toxic behavior online continues to grow more negative as the personalities find more horrible things to do, all in the name of followers and internet fame.

Kurt becomes a multiple murderer, escalating quickly as he records his progressively worsening acts,  However, these murders do not appear to be increasing his online status, pushing Kurt to go even further.

Kurt becomes obsessed with stand-up comedian Jesse Adams (Sasheer Zamata), who is much better at the entire social media world than he is.  Kurt is searching for someone to partner with to become an online success, but other people can see the instability he is suffering from, although they may not quite see the level he is at.

Joe Keery (from Stranger Things fame) is our lead character here, and he had a believable level of crazy.  He has had a bad childhood, his parents splitting.  His father (David Arquette) verbally abusive and self-centered.

This film is a dark, comedic satire of the online world which sounded very familiar to the world that I have watched.  The idea that the internet could host such brazenly violence without being noticed is a scary concept.

Most of the characters here are basic, lacking much depth.  However, Kurt has some interesting moments and Jesse complements him well.  Both Keery and Zamata stand out in their performances.

The film is shot almost completely through camera phones, other recording devices etc, much like films such as Unfriended and Searching.  This creates a hectic environment that never ends and it displays the information overload of today’s society.  Spree is a violent and bloody film that can be hard to watch.  It is also darkly funny and ironic.  You may hate this, but you may also see too much of the current world in it.

3 stars 

The super hero genre needs to have new ideas to maintain its run of popularity.  That’s just a fact.  Project Power is a new idea that approaches the genre in a new and intriguing idea, but places that idea in pretty much of a familiar plot.

The film introduces us to a world where anyone who takes a special pill (called power) can unlock a hidden superpower inside of the person for five minutes.  No one is sure what the power would be or if it would be a good power.  It could range from super strength to being bulletproof, or you could explode and die.

Frank (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a cop who is trying to stop the flow of the drug so he teams up with teenager Robin (Dominique Fishback), a young girl dealing the drug to earn money to help with her mother’s health costs.  She supplies Frank with pills and he looks the other way.

However, a former soldier, Art (Jamie Foxx) arrives on the scene, kidnapping Robin, in an attempt to find her supplies.  The suppliers have taken Art’s daughter Tracy (Andrene Ward-Hammond) and he is desperate to find her.

The premise of the film is great.  The idea that this pill gives out a super power for only five minutes is creative, but, even more interesting, is that the superpower may not be a positive thing.  Looking at these powers as something that was potentially ugly was shown in the movie through its CGI and design.  The negative aspect of the pills was played up here and I really like this concept.  I would have liked more of this than what we got.

The performances are really well done.  You have two exceptional actors leading this movie with Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but the real standout here is Dominique Fishback.  She is a troubled teen and her problems lead to her getting wrapped up here and she fits beautifully.  She wants to grow up to be a rapper and she is great when she is showing her skills.  She is filled with emotion.

The problem with the film is that the story itself is generic.  In what could have been a really deep and different tale, the film takes very basic steps.  Art is searching for his daughter.  The villains are completely nondescript and basically dull.  The story is easily the weakest part of the film.

However, there is enough clever writing here and there, and the performances are really good that you can excuse the negatives connected to the plot.  The CGI is used sparingly and looks good.  The action is well directed and feeds the story.  They certainly did not overuse the CGI and the designs are weird.  The film is engaging and entertaining and is a lot of fun to watch.  It is just not the tremendous inspiration that it could have been.

3.9 stars 

There have been a lot of book adaptations over the years, but one of the most adapted books ever has been The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  The latest adaptation has made its arrival on VOD.

The classic story tells us about 10-year old Mary Lennox (Dixie Egerickx), whose parents died of cholera.  Mary was taken in by her grieving uncle Archibald Craven (Colin Firth), whose wife has died and whose son Colin (Edan Hayhurst) was sick.  Mary felt isolated and unwanted until she discovered a secret garden that she believed was filled with magic.

The garden in this film is beautifully filmed and exquisitely displayed.  It seemed to be a mixture of real imagery and CGI but the garden was great.  It had a feel of a character to it and the use of the ghosts from Mary and Colin’s pasts added to the element of magic on display.

Speaking of Mary and Colin, these two, along with Dickon (Amir Wilson), were outstanding.  The kids’ performances were real and compelling, especially Edan Hayhurst, who had a wealth of range for the sickly Colin.  We also got Colin Firth as Colin’s father, but I could have used more from him.  His character seemed to be too inconsistent and he bounced from one level to another quickly.  Still, the ending sequence with the fire was well done and the resolution of the film was moving.

Fans of the classic novel should find this adaptation enjoyable and rich.  There are some deep themes contained in the story and these kids do a wonderful job of playing those out.  The Secret Garden can be a powerful film for the entire family.

4 stars  

I came across this sci-fi/thriller on Amazon Prime this morning and I thought I would give it a shot.

Tom (Jesse Eisenberg) and Gemma (Imogen Poots) are a happy couple in search of their perfect house.  They go to see an agency that is selling houses in the neighborhood called Yonder.  The sales agent Martin (Jonathan Aris) takes the couple to see one of the houses, and they discover that the neighborhood is repetitive houses, all green, as far as can be seen.

As they are looking around, Martin disappears and the couple decide to get the heck out of there.  However, they are unable to find a way to leave and their car somehow always winds back at house number 9, the one they have been shown, as if trapped in a maze.

Finding a box of supplies left out front, Tom decides to try something drastic.  He takes the flap off the box and lights it on fire, torching the house in the process.  As they watch the house burn, the couple fall asleep out front. The next morning, another box appears, this time, containing a baby.  They also find that the house is completely unharmed from the previous night’s arson.

Time passes and the baby grows into a young boy (Senan Jennings), but there are clearly some weird things going on.  Yet, there is no way for Tom and Gemma to escape, so they continue with their life.  The passage of time is very odd in this film as we see that this boy is growing at a considerable greater rate than we would expect.  He seems to be copying the behaviors and speech of the adults.  They have not taken the boy into their hearts as a son as Gemma continues to tell him that she is not his mother.

Things only get weirder from this point on as Vivarium follows this couple’s life.  Wondering what the title was a reference to, I found this definition at Dictionary.com: “a place, such as a laboratory, where live animals or plants are kept under conditions simulating their natural environment, as for research.”  This definition certainly places a new thought about what this movie is all about.

The film also begins with the imagery of a bird’s nest with newly born birds being shoved out of the nest, leading to their death by a cuckoo.  The bird’s mother then raise the cuckoo as their own.

Again, pretty spot on with what is happening in our narrative.

I thought the performances of Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots were well done.  They showed the horrors of the situation without going overboard.  The performance of Senan Jennings was stand out though.  The “young boy” (which is the name IMDB gives the character) is one of the creepier performances you are going to find.  He fits nicely into the genre of horror movie creepy kids.

The middle of the movie is a tad slow, but I liked that.  The development we got was well done and frustrating because you just did not understand what was happening at the time.  There were enough clues dropped throughout the film that made you realize that something was seriously out of whack that it teased the audience effectively.

I personally enjoyed the ending of the movie, but if you are the type who gets frustrated about having everything explained to you, then this one may not be the film for you.

There are some extremely relevant themes of isolation and the repetitive of life in this film that may not be developed as much as it could have been, but they are certainly there.

Vivarium is a cross between an extended episode of the Twilight Zone and Twin Peaks.  There are some really weird events and some great performances, especially from Senan Jennings.  Some may not be happy with the ending, but I thought that worked well for the themes that they were using.

3.8 stars 

I may never do another Zoom meeting.

Host is an original horror film from Shudder and it is frightening and nerve-wracking.

We have seen films like this before.  A group of friends online wind up being tormented by some spirit/demon, but there was something particularly creepy and anxiety creating about this film.

Host is only 57 minutes long, but it certainly maximizes the time to create a ton of horrific scares that leaves you uneasy and disturbed.

Six friends are getting together during the pandemic lockdown on Zoom to have a seance, which includes a real life Medium.  Despite a warning not to “disrespect the spirits, one of the friends, Jemma, makes up a story about a boy and opens the door for a spirit to come into their lives.

The film would fall into the found footage genre, directed by Rob Savage.  While we have seen this type of film from Unfriended to Unsubscribe, Host pushes those button that tap into the anxiety of the audience coming from our current situation of the pandemic, that has kept us isolated in our homes for months now.

There were a lot of jump scares in Host, but they did not feel as if they were thrown in the film.  These scares felt earned for the story that they were telling.

The characters were reasonably well-developed considering the fact that the film was pretty short.  They did a great job providing the information in a concise and effective manner.  The script here is tightly woven and entertaining.

The film is short, but it takes advantage of every second to mess with the audience’s nerves.  The feeling of isolation the film creates is effective.  The performances are good and the effects are impressive for what these filmmakers had available to them.  Host is on Shudder and is a great, frightening time.

4.1 stars 

You Should Have Left is a film released this year on VOD.  However, I had heard some negativity about the film so I decided that I would not pay the $19.99 they were asking on Vudu and the other video on demand sites.  I thought that I might come back to it later as the price dropped.  Tonight, the price was much more reasonable and I gave this a try.

Perhaps it is because my expectations were low, but I liked a lot of this movie.  It clearly has its flaws, but this was much better than I thought it would be.

Theo (Kevin Bacon), a former banker, his wife and actress Susanna (Amanda Seyfried) and their daughter Ella (Avery Essex) need to get away from the world.  Theo had a dark past that haunts him and the chance to get away with his famous actress wife and daughter.  They rent a house in the Welsh countryside, and then things start to get weird.

This is in the genre of haunted house horror and comes from Blumhouse.  The recent run of Blumhouse films have not been as rewarding as others.  Directed by David Koepp, You Should Have Left takes that genre and, well, does not do anything really new with it.  Still, the house itself was kind of creepy and had some solid scenes in it.

Kevin Bacon is great with what he has been given.  Young Avery Essex is very capable as well.  Amanda Seyfried is not given much to do.  Because of the lack of depth in her characters, a plot point that is dropped near the end of the second act of the movie feels just completely shoehorned in and was unearned.  It was so out of left field that it hurt the movie that I had been enjoying to that point.

The ending of the film was also too predictable.  It presented a twist to it that you probably guessed way earlier in the movie.  The movie missed an opportunity to do something creative with the end that took advantage of the skill of these actors involved, but it chose to do the typical stereotypical twist.  Much of the final act brought the film down for me.

That is a shame, of course, because there were quite a few point among the first two acts that I had really engaged in.  The acting was strong, especially from Bacon and Essex.  The house had a creepiness to it that could have been something special, but seems to settle for something simple.

I was entertained by the film, which in the end is an important part, but this could have been so much better.  If you like horror movies and approach this with the proper level of expectations, you could do worse that You Should Have Left.

3 stars 

You know, I’ve always liked a good shark movie.  I have even enjoyed a few of the not so good ones too.  I mean, they can’t all be Jaws, right?

Seeing this film on Vudu, I hoped that it would be a reasonable entertaining way to pass a Saturday afternon.

Nope.

That is, unless, you wanted some of the most laugh out loud moments of shark attacks that have ever been placed on the screen.  Legitimately, I was cracking up at a scene where a group of dolphins seemingly intervened and attacked the sharks to save our kayakers.

Or, worse yet, when the “rogue” shark jumped through the air and ate the guy on a jet ski who had come to see if he could help.  One of the few times in film history where the movie literally had the shark jump the shark.

Three kayakers, Sarah (Paige McGarvin), Meghan (Juliana DeStefano) and Jason (Jack Pearson), paddled out to a group of islands that are quickly being flooded to take photos for something or other.  After the shark attacks, they are stranded and have to decide what they can do…either stay or try to make it to another island nearby.

As her phone is losing power, Sarah calls her father (Michael Madsen), who is involved in search and rescue.  He contacts the coast guard and other necessary agencies to try and find his daughter.

Poor Michael Madsen.  I mean, all he gets to do is talk on the phone and he does not have anything remotely close to an emotionally compelling reaction.  The most he gets in this movie is, every once in a while, he shouts out “that’s my daughter” to someone over the phone.  Perhaps he is meant to look like a calm professional, but he seems more dispassionate than calm.

They tried to provide some background depth to the characters, but it failed pretty massively.  There was a relationship storyline with the three characters, but since Jason dies quickly, it goes off track without much investigation.  Oh.. spoiler, by the way, but… you’re not going to watch this… so spoiler does not matter much.

This one is not good.  Even these shark movies that are dumb, some have decent shark imagery.  Not here.  There are unintentionally funny moments in here and they all involve the shark.

1 star

In a month that kicked off with Hamilton, this is an impressive way to finish July off on Disney +.

American singer Beyoncé debuted her new film, Black is King, on Disney + today and it is visually stunning, showing looks at black culture and history worldwide.

I am not that familiar with the music of Beyoncé, but, apparently, this movie is the visual presentation of Beyoncé’s 2019 record, The Lion King: The Gift, which was released along with the “live-action” Lion King remake.  The music of the film is impressive.  Beyoncé’s vocals are powerful and strong and the mix of other voices and styles throughout the soundtrack provides a broad example of black music.

The story, for what there is, basically follows the concept of the Lion King, even using some voice over from James Earl Jones’s Mustafa to make the link.  However, the story of this film is not what you are here for.  This is more of a visual medium than it is anything else and this is where the film transcends.

The imagery throughout this film is wonderfully eclectic and imaginative.  The colors, the choreography, the fashion, the display of culture blends beautifully with the music to provide a powerful viewing experience.  My favorite reference to this was to call it “musical art.”  That is a perfect description of the breathtaking visuals.

The settings of the film were scattered across the globe and provided a stunning backdrop to the dancing and the glorious movement.

Black is King is a love letter to black culture and stresses a pride in the depth of being black.  Beyoncé goes out of her way to focus especially on children, showing how they can grow into a strong and confident adult, something vitally important as of this time of the world.

As a white man, I found myself moved by the power of the movie, so I can only imagine how the black community will feel.  There is a healing tone to the film and that is something that we desperately need today.

4.6 stars 

Writer/director Karen Maine presents this coming-of-age story of a young Catholic girl who has found the inner desire of personal urges after coming across a racy AOL chat.  These urges made her extremely uncomfortable as she attended a Catholic youth retreat, making her afraid for her eternal soul.

This movie was wonderful and felt real.  The voice of the film was realistic and relatable.  Maine investigates the hypocrisy of the situation and does a great job of showing that many say things that they do not mean and that the sexual urges are common.

There is also a strong message about not believing everything that you hear and know that rumors were not always accurate.

The young girl, Alice (Natalia Dyer), had an innocent aura about her.  She did not even understand what the rumor that was being spread about her and another high school boy meant that she was supposed to have done.  The Catholic guilt was at full steam for Alice, who was feeling ashamed about the thoughts that she was having.

However, she kept seeing others at the retreat committing “sins” despite what they had been saying.

Natalia Dyer was amazing as Alice, as we see her initially uncertain and guilt-ridden and then grow to a confident young lady.  Dyer’s facial expressions are perfectly executed and she draws the audience in to her plight and everyone understands.

The film was paced wonderfully and not one scene in the 78 minute movie was overlooked.

This was a great film with a story that should be able to speak to most watching and was filled with a lot of real-life humor.

3.9 stars

Looking through Netflix the other day for something new to watch, I found this animated movie called Animal Crackers that looked intriguing.  There was a massive voice cast of A-list actors including Emily Blunt, Danny DeVito, Sylvester Stallone, John Krasinski, Ian McKellen, Raven-Simone, Wallace Shawn, Gilbert Gottfried, Tara Strong, and Patrick Warburton.  With that list of talented actors and, what appeared to be colorful and engaging animation, I was ready to watch this movie.

Unfortunately, the film itself is quite the mess and way too complicated in execution.

Owen and Zoe fall in love and want to get married.  In order to be a good provider and to please Zoe’s demanding father, he leaves the family circus to take a job at Zoe’s father’s dog treats plant.  When the circus winds up in his own possession, Owen returns and tries to bring the circus back to prosperity.

When he discovers the secret behind the animals, Owen dedicates himself to the circus.  However, Owen’s uncle Horatio P. Huntington is trying to steal the secret and the circus for himself.

That synopsis is a little off, but that is because there is a lot of convolution involved in the film.  I believe that a young child will enjoy the movie with the colors and the various animals and they will not be bothered by the lackluster tale.  As an adult, though, I need more from my animation than what this movie provides.  Otherwise, what could have been a wonderful film is very empty and half-hearted.

I did really enjoy Bullet-Man, voiced by Sylvester Stallone.  This character’s running joke was the best one of the entire film.

If you need a “babysitter” for an hour and a half + some day, pop this film on Netflix and your little kids will probably be entertained.  In that case, the film works.  If you want to watch it, there is little to engage anyone over the age of ten.

2.6 stars