10s Movie Review - I See You

Director: Adam Randall

Genre: Crime/ Drama/ Horror/ Thriller

Runtime: 98 minutes

Year: 2019

Starring: Helen Hunt, Jon Tenney, Owen Teague, Judah Lewis, Libe Barer, Gregory Alan Williams

Description: Strange occurrences plague a small town detective (John Tenney) and his family as he investigates the disappearance of a young boy.

Review: A family in a small American town suffers a series of strange occurrences in their home. Objects disappear, televisions and record players mysteriously start playing, and a repairman claims to have been let in by a daughter, which the family doesn’t have. Meanwhile, the mysterious disappearance of a ten-year-old boy disrupts the peace throughout the community.

There is quite a bit of subcutaneous tension present in “I See You”. The abduction of the young boy brings up traumas from pervious kidnappings in the area. Meanwhile, Greg and Jackie’s marriage is falling apart, while son Connor is pubescent and resisting his mother in particular. The unrest is further intensified when the family starts noticing strange occurrences in their home.

The script is particularly well crafted. The first half focuses on the afflicted family, the second half the perspective changes. With the necessary clever plot twists, everything eventually comes together in a finale that cannot be predicted in advance. Despite some familiar horror patterns, the film offers a fresh take on the genre and is anything but standard.

The downsides are the sometimes clumsy dialogues, which can take the momentum out of the film. But only very briefly and it doesn’t happen often. And the acting isn’t topnotch either.

“I See You” is still worth watching for it’s atmosphere and totally unpredictable plot, which is a big win in the horror genre.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

10s Movie Review - Soul Surfer

Director: Sean McNamara
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 112 minutes
Year: 2011
Starring: AnnaSophia Robb, Helen Hunt, Dennis Quaid, Kevin Sorbo, Carrie Underwood, Ross Thomas, Chris Brochu, Lorraine Nicholson, Jeremy Sumpter, Sonya Balmores

Description: Teenage surfer Bethany Hamilton (AnnaSophia Robb) overcomes the odds and her own fears of returning to the water after losing her left arm in a shark attack.

Review: The true story is about surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her left arm at the age of thirteen due to a shark attack. The start of the film shows us Bethany growing up in Oahu, Hawaii, along with her two brothers Timmy and Noah. It soon becomes clear that she was born to surf and that her parents Tom and Cheri have supported her from the beginning in realizing her dream of becoming a professional.
But when she and her best friend Alana go surfing on the morning of Halloween, a shark attacks her and she loses her arm. She does survive and from that moment on everything becomes a challenge. Yet Bethany is determined to get back into the water as soon as possible.
There is a strong emphasis in the film on faith in God, and how anyone can achieve the impossible through His help. Bethany is a huge go-getter and doesn’t let anything stop her, but this is mainly because she is convinced that God has a plan for her and will use the very loss of her arm to bring something beautiful out of it. For me, that makes the film a bit to sugar-sweet, but might be inspiring for many. It is very beautiful to see how her family and friends support her and give the necessary advice, but also how Bethany responds and seems to do the same in return. This could be a very inspiring film and story for you g boys and girls.
There is one scene, that really made me cringe though. We see that the shark who attacked Bethany (which is not a very spectacular scene by the way) was caught and everyone, including Bethany’s father, stand around it. As he is some evil being. Yeah, the film really lost a point here.
It is inspiring how Bethany Hamilton overcame such a traumatic experience and got back on the surf board to become a successful professional surfer.

Rating: 3/ 5

Movie Review - The Night Clerk

Director: Michael Cristofer

Genre: Thriller/ Drama

Runtime: 89 minutes

Year: 2020

Starring: Tye Sheridan, Ana de Armas, Helen Hunt, John Leguizamo, Jonathan Schaech

Description: A voyeuristic hotel clerk (Tye Sheridan) becomes the subject of a murder investigation.

Review: Tye Sheridan is more and more becoming a name in Hollywood. He already played the rol of Cyclops in the most recent “X-Men” movies and was the lead in Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One”. And he is a pretty good actor. In “The Night Clerk” he had to open a whole new can of emotions, playing a young man with Asperger.
“The Night Clerk” follows Bart Bromley, a highly gifted, autistic hotel clerk who works the night shift. During his work, he uses surveillance cameras to film the guests in order to improve his social skills. When a woman is murdered during one of his shifts, he soon becomes a prime suspect. When Andrea checks in at the hotel, Bart thinks he has to find the real killer, otherwise Andrea might be the next victim.
It's not you typical whodunit. The film is pretty obvious and never really gets compelling or exciting. Aside from the great cast and acting, the film doesn’t have a lot to offer. It becomes very clear who actually killed the woman and how Andrea fits in to the picture. That’s a shame, since the story and cast could be a whole lot more than this.

Rating: 2, 5 / 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 160: Rollercoaster

Director: James Goldstone

Genre: Drama/ Action/ Thriller/ Crime

Runtime: 119 minutes

Year: 1977

Starring: George Segal, Richard Widmark, Timothy Bottoms, Henry Fonda, Harry Guardino, Susan Strasberg, Helen Hunt, Dorothy Tristan, Harry Davis, Stephen Pearlman, G.F. Rowe, Wayne Tippit, Michael Bell, Charlie Tuna, Lonny Stevens

Description: A blackmailer (Timothy Bottoms) threatens to sabotage roller-coasters at various American amusement parks if he isn't paid a huge ransom.

Review: A terrorist causes panic in theme parks by sabotaging rollercoasters. He wants a million dollars or else it will happen again. When he receives marked bills, he promises to strike again on the 4th of July. It’s up to inspector Harry Calder to investigate the case and to prevent from anything happening.

The film starts with some great shots on a rollercoaster, you know something bad is going to happen, but never when. It’s all done very well. It’s a solid thriller and I liked the interaction between Harry Calder and the terrorist. You can also enjoy Henry Fonda and a very young Helen Hunt in her first role ever.

I liked “Rollercoaster”, it was more entertaining than I thought. It could have been more and it’s maybe a tad bit long. But “Rollercoaster” was solid thriller that I probably never saw if it wasn’t for this Scavenger Hunt.

Rating: 3,5/ 5