Movie Review For May 22, 2015: TOMORROWLAND and POLTERGEIST

TOMORROWLAND
Rated: PG
Stars: George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Hugh Laurie
Plot: A young genius is recruited by smart people from an alternate universe to try to help save the world
Trailer

Clint Says: Wait for the DVD

I would love to be able to tell you that this movie is amazing and you should grab your kids and rush to the theater as soon as possible to see it. Unfortunately, I can't do that. TOMORROWLAND is a 2-plus hour snoozefest that is slow, confusing and preachy.

The first 80% of the film is a slow build-up for the last 20 minutes of action, and the payoff isn't worth sitting through the build-up. Once I finally realized what was going on my reaction was, "Really? That's it? THAT is the reason that all of this stuff is going on?" It was highly disappointing.

Aside from the boring nature of the film it is also preachy and condescending. It doesn't matter if you don't care about environmental issues at all or you are the world's most caring tree-hugger, you will walk out of this film feeling like you just sat through two hours of environment church. At one point there is even a 2 1/2 minute long speech by one of the main characters explaining all that is wrong with our environment thanks to humans.

This is just the beginning of the summer blockbuster season. Save your money for the good family-friendly flicks that will be coming out in a month or so.




POLTERGEIST
Rated: PG-13
Stars: Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jared Harris
Plot: When a ghost kidnaps a family's daughter they must do whatever it takes to try to get her back
Trailer

Clint Says: Wait until after opening weekend, but see this in theaters

When I heard that they were making a reboot of this classic horror flick I had no idea why. The original was so good and so scary. I had nightmares for weeks when I saw that one. This one lives up to its predecessor.

I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre because most of the film use the same hack scare tactics over and over. It's formulaic and insulting to the audience. This film is actually scary. The evil feels real and the stakes are high. The drama and suspense are legitimate and very few things that happen in the film feel like your typical "no, don't walk down those stairs alone at night" moments.

The children cast in this movie are outstanding. The effects are well done. The plot is interesting and compelling. And clocking in at about 90 minutes it feels like it's over as quickly as it began.

POLTERGEIST is a great date night flick.

DVD Review for August 19, 2014

THE QUIET ONES
PG-13
Stars: Jared Harris, Sam Claflin, Erin Richards
Plot: A professor and his students perform experiments on a strange woman and the results are supernatural.

Trailer

Clint Says: If you have to see it let someone else rent it

While the premise for THE QUIET ONES is interesting, the movie is lacking. This film comes from Hammer Films, the makers of THE WOMAN IN BLACK and LET ME IN, both well done horror flicks, but it seems that the film makers may be resting on their past successes with this movie.

If you want to see a good horror flick in theaters this weekend, go rent OCULUS instead.

Movie Review for April 25, 2014

THE OTHER WOMAN
PG-13
Stars: Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton
Plot: Three women find out they are being cheated on by the same guy and, together, they plan their revenge.
Trailer

Clint Says: Wait for the DVD

This is one of those movies that is marketed as a comedy, but all of the funny stuff is put into the trailer. The actual movie is a fairly boring revenge flick with poor editing (you can see several places where the movie was over dubbed and they didn't bother to fix it), and a completely predictable plot.

This movie is entirely forgettable. In fact, this movie was so boring and forgettable that, even though I saw it in a fairly crowded theater, I only heard a few people laugh just a couple of times and during one particularly boring scene I looked around and most of the people were talking with each other, not paying attention to the movie at all.

If you want to see a funny girl movie save your money and wait for MOM'S NIGHT OUT (it comes out in 2 weeks).



BRICK MANSIONS
PG-13
Stars: Paul Walker, David Belle, RZA
Plot: An undercover cop and an ex-con must work together to bring down a crime lord overseeing a walled-in section of Detroit.
Trailer

Clint Says: Don't even bother

BRICK MANSIONS is the last film that Paul Walker worked on in its entirety. Unfortunately it is one of the lamest action movies I've seen in a long time. It is completely cliche and predictable and the dialogue is laughable.

I will say that there are some pretty good fight scenes and some cool parkour, but it's not worth spending $10 to see that.



THE QUIET ONES
PG-13
Stars: Jared Harris, Sam Claflin, Erin Richards
Plot: A professor and his students perform experiments on a strange woman and the results are supernatural.
Trailer

Clint Says: Wait for the DVD

While the premise for THE QUIET ONES is interesting, the movie is lacking. This film comes from Hammer Films, the makers of THE WOMAN IN BLACK and LET ME IN, both well done horror flicks, but it seems that the film makers may be resting on their past successes with this movie.\

If you want to see a good horror flick in theaters this weekend, go see OCULUS instead.