The brand new video game adaptation was released this week. It is called Five Nights at Freddy’s. I originally was planning to go to the theater to see this, but I discovered that it is also streaming day and date on Peacock so I decided to save myself some gas, make it a weekend lounging at home, and watch it on the streaming service.

I’m glad I did not drive down to the Quad Cities to watch this because it was not that enjoyable.

I have no background with the video game, but, for me, there was a better version of this released a few years ago starring Nicolas Cage that was called Willy’s Wonderland. It is not a literal adaptation, but the idea is very close.

Five Night’s at Freddy’s starred Josh Hutcherson (from Hunger Games fame) as Mike, a troubled man struggling to overcome a haunting memory from his youth and take care of his little sister Abby (Piper Rubio). As part of a way to move forward, Mike is hired by Steve raglan (Matthew Lillard) as a security guard for a closed down restaurant that had been popular in the 1980s. His job, just keep people out.

Desperate to discover the truth of his younger brother, Mike found that the animatronics from the restaurant where more than what they seemed.

Overall, the story in this movie was messy, did not have enough moments that paid off for what it as asking us to watch and included a bizarre ending that felt out of place.

Hutcherson’s character did not give us the required emotional depth for us to really connect to him. I never believed in this character’s arc and found him to be disposable. Hutcherson did not elevate this role with his performance.

The movie featured a lot of dull moments with the monstrous animatronics really being regulated in the film. There were a few fun horror moments, but nowhere near as creative or enjoyable as it should have been.

The film added a character named Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) who was absolutely terrible and the film utterly wasted Mary Stuart Masterson in a throwaway ‘evil aunt’ character that was completely unnecessary and one-dimensional.

I have seen comments on how this could be used to introduce kids to horror. To that I would say that there are considerably smarter movies and TV shows that would do that better than this.

I was disappointed at Five Night’s at Freddy’s as I hoped that this would be more than what it was. Watch Willy’s Wonderland instead.

2.4 stars

“Time travel! … What? I see this as an absolute win.” – Bruce Banner, Avengers: Endgame.

Time travel movies are crazy. And they all have rules that change. Back to the Future. Avengers Endgame. LOST. 12 Monkeys. Dozens more.

You can add another time travel movie to the list with the film Totally Killer, which is available on Prime. And it is a total hoot.

This was a really fun and inventive movie with a lot of humor and creativity. Does the time travel rules get broken? Oh yeah. Are there a few weird plot points that do not make sense? Sure. Did they leave a dangling plot or two? Yes. But I had an absolute blast watching it and was totally engaged all the way through.

According to IMDB, “When the infamous ‘Sweet Sixteen Killer’ returns 35 years after his first murder spree to claim another victim, 17-year-old Jamie (Kiernan Shipka) accidentally travels back in time to 1987, determined to stop the killer before he can start.“

Kiernan Shipka was great as out protagonist who was desperately running around in the past trying to use the information that she knew in order to prevent the three killings and to change the future that she left.

The film wisely alluded to several of the time travel movies, comparing what was going on to the situation they were in. Every time Jamie made an allusion to a movie, she was like the audience, who must have been thinking the same thing.

The final showdown with the killer was not the best moment of the film, but it did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the film. I have said this before, but when a film is funny, it gets extra grace when dealing with storyline. This movie was funny.

Some of the best jokes were about the 1980s and how people kept doing things that she thought, in her 2023 mindset, was just crazy or dangerous. There was a scene with the red rubber dodgeballs that I literally screamed out about. Our generation knew what it was like to be hit in the face with those red dodgeballs and get past it. That does not happen in today’s schools.

This film knows that it is silly and slight, and it plays into it big time. By doing so, they have given us a spectacularly good time in a film that is like Back to the Future combined with Scream combined with Happy Death Day. I loved this.

4.5 stars

The newest epic film from Martin Scorsese was widely released this weekend, based on a true story. The film is entitled Killers of the Flower Moon and it is set just after World War I in Oklahoma and featured the Osage nation.

The Indians of the Osage nation discovered that there was oil beneath their land and they became incredibly wealthy. However, this led to a series of deaths and murders of the Osage people in an attempt to get the land and oil money away from them.

Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) returned from the war to go work for his uncle, William “King” Hale (Robert DeNiro). He met up with one of the Osage Indians from the family that owned the land, Mollie (Lily Gladstone), fell for her and married her. There was some inkling early in the film that perhaps he had married her for the oil.

As their life together progressed, other members of her family started dying off in suspicious manners. It became clear that Hale had been calling the shots and had been using Ernest to do his dirty work along with several other men.

I will say that I thought this film was good. I was not as blown away by it as I thought I might be. There are a lot of strong parts of the movie that just have enough problems to keep it from being a masterful film.

One issue is that the film does feel its length at times. Killers of the Flower Moon is nearly three and a half hours long, which is a marathon of a film and it is not brimmed full with action or dramatic moments. It is definitely a slow burn. Even though I think the film works as a slow burn, I do think they could have condensed some of the scenes in the middle to trim off 10-15 minutes and it would be for the film’s benefit.

Another major issue I had is a spoiler so I will have to just touch on it generally. It feels like something that is a creative swing that may work for some people, but that will be a problem for other. I fall into the latter category. This is the conclusion or the wrap up of the story. The way they wrapped up the movie did not work for me at all and I even think it damaged the narrative that had been constructed.

Positives of the film included some excellent acting. Standout performances came from Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro. Lily Gladstone has been called the heart of the picture, and I can see why. She does an amazing job as Mollie, a woman suffering form the pain of losing family members while dealing with her own health issues. You could feel for her constantly as she tried to take strength from her marriage, despite her husband being a conflicted a-hole.

That a-hole was Leonardo DiCaprio, who does a really great job playing this conflicted and manipulated man. Truly, I found my own opinions on Ernest to be filled with hatred as he continued to make poor choices in betrayal of his wife and her family all for the money.

This was the best performance of Robert DeNiro has given in years. His portrayal of William Hale is creepy and full of sinister behavior as he manipulates everyone to do what he wants them to do.

The technical aspects of Killers of the Flower Moon was exceptional. The film looked great and the directorial job from Scorsese is awesome.

This movie is good, but not great. Th length can be an issue, but it is a interesting story with some top notch performances.

3.5 stars

I was not sure if I was going to go to the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour so I asked my NEST/home room class if I should go. I told them that I did not know much about Taylor Swift but that I would be interested in reviewing the film for the EYG site. They told me that I should go…so I bought my ticket.

As I said, I know very little about Taylor Swift. Honestly, outside of Shake it Off, I could not name another Swift song. I did recognize the tune of the one song that Weird Al had parodied into the song “TMZ.”

I am going to be honest, a lot of these songs felt the same to me. I do think that most of that is because I do not know the songs. I did like the transitions between songs because many times, they just moved into a different song and you could tell the change.

Hearing some of these other songs, I realized that Taylor Swift was a real storyteller with her lyrics. There were some surprisingly deep words in these lyrics. I was actually impressed. However, I counted at least three F-Bombs and I wondered as I was watching the movie what the rating was, since usually one F-Bomb is allowed for PG-13.

The stage set up for this concert tour was spectacular. The LED screens and the stage craft was wonderful and some of the most creative ideas in execution. The moment Taylor Shift dove into the stage and started ‘swimming’ in the water beneath was a stunning achievement.

I also loved the back-up dancers, especially the black, heavier set man dancer. I was so impressed with him and the fact that they gave him a primary spot among the dancers. You normally do not see a man with this type of body style as a back-up dancer. However, I could not take my eyes of this gentleman when he was front and center. He was impressive.

I enjoyed the experience of watching this too. There was some singing in my theater and some waving arms etc. I would have liked more of that from the crowd I was with. I had expected more of that and I was looking forward to the energy that the audience was going to bring. I saw this in XD theater and the sound was amazing… rocking loud.

I had a real good time with this concert movie even with a performer that I did not know much about. Her music was entertaining and the shots of the concert by director Sam Wrench were excellent. If you are a fan of Taylor Swift, this will be an amazing experience. If you are not, give it a chance because you may become one afterwards.

4.2 stars

I am not sure what some people are thinking.

This documentary tells the tale of Russ McKamey and the McKamey Immersive Horror Haunted house, a place where the former US Navy veteran ‘hosts’ people who come to his house and he puts them through torturous situations.

The doc used only real footage, footage that was filmed during these events at the house and it was shocking what people would allow him to do to them. Waterboarding, burying them alive, or exploiting the guest’s deepest fears.

I was shocked at how many people appeared on the doc to support or defend Russ. There were several people who had signed up for the immersive house only to realize how wild and horrific and sadistic the situations would become.

I could have used more specifics or background on Russ McKamey, who appears in the videos as well, because it would be good to know more about him and his choices.

I wanted more from the doc, but the story it did tell was unbelievable.

3.1 stars

There was a new sci-fi/horror film that debuted on Hulu this week starring Lil Rel Howery called The Mill.

A businessman in the corporation Mallard woke up one day in an open-air prison with a grist mill in the center of the cell. An electronic voice indicated that he was here to increase his productivity because his work has been slipping lately. He had to push the mill to reach a quota daily or else he would receive consequences.

Joe (Lil Rel Howery) was desperate to get out of this prison so he could get back to his pregnant wife before she gave birth to his son.

The set up of the movie was interesting, but the premise was about all that was interesting for me. It does become repetitive after awhile with little development.

Howery was passable in the role, though he always felt like he may not have been leading character material. He was okay.

I hated the ending of the movie though. It felt like a giant cop out and there was nothing satifying about the conclusion.

I thought this might be an interesting film, but it did not expand to more than what it was. It was an obvious message film that was just not much to see.

2.5 stars

I finished off the four Wes Anderson shorts on Netflix that adapted stories from Roald Dahl tonight with Poison, a short that was both funny and ridiculously intense.

Benedict Cumberbatch played Harry, a British man in India who had a poisonous snake slither onto his chest and go to sleep as he laid on his bed. Woods, played and narrated by Dev Patel, rushed for help from Doctor Ganderbai, played by Ben Kingsley, while Harry tried to stay completely still and quiet.

This was beautifully played by the three main actors in the short. Their interactions and reactions to the situation was glorious. There were several times that I laughed out loud, even though I had that same feeling of trying not to make any noise.

However, the end of the short left a bit to be desired by me. I don’t want to spoil it, but to say that the ending was not what I would have wanted is clear.

In fact, before the end of the short, I would have placed this at the top of the list of the four Wes Anderson shorts released on Netflix, but with the conclusion of Poison, I found that lacking.

This was a cool experiment with the four shorts released on the streamer. These were all very entertaining and great to watch.

4 stars