100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 142: Goosebumps

Director: Rob Letterman
Genre: Adventure/ Comedy/ Family/ Fanstasy/ Horror
Runtime: 103 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Jack Black, Amy Ryan, Jillian Bell, Ken Marino

Description: A teenager teams up with the daughter of young adult horror author R. L. Stine (Jack Black) after the writer's imaginary demons are set free on the town of Madison, Delaware.

Review: Jack Black is the perfect actor for a scary family film like “Goosebumps”, so it’s no surprise that he portrays writer R.L. Stine. He plays a fictional version of the real life author of the book series “Goosebumps”. Here he is a hermit, protecting his daughter Hannah. The new neighbor Zach is very curious about Stine and his daughter and just simply can’t accept that she can not leave the house. But when releasing Hannah, he releases a lot more.
From the beginning the movie is fast paced and has humor. Jillian Bell, as Zach’s aunt, brings some awkward family humor to the show. The young actors are solid and Jack Black is just enjoyable as R.L. Stine.
We don’t have to wait long for the first monsters to appear, that we all know from the populat books. It’s a bit like “Night at the Museum” or “Jumanji”. The horror is mild, because it’s supposed to be suitable for a younger audience. But it can get scary for the really young kids.
Zah and Hanna are the heroes of the story. Their nerdy companion Champ is not as fun. He is supposed to make it all a but lighter, but instead he’s a pretty annoying character that overreacts to every situation. At least Zach and Hannah act more realistic.
It’s actually very smart to use this story for the movie, because how do you pick from all those books. Instead the most iconic monsters from Stine’s book come to life and it works surprisingly well. I liked “Goosebumps” more than I expected and it wasn’t as bad as I thought. It’s an entertaining film, especially if you read the books as a kid.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 141: Beasts of No Nation

Director: Cary Fukunaga
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 133 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Idris Elba, Abraham Attuh, Ama K. Abebrese, Opeyemi Fagbohunge, Richard Pepple

Description: A drama based on the experiences of Agu (Abraham Attuh), a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country.

Review: “Beast of No Nation” is the first original drama film for Netflix. And it’s a big gamble. It isn’t just a serious arthouse film, but also an expensive production with risky shots. And the cast is relatively unknown. But the talented director Cary Fukunaga, known for the first season of “True Detective” and the movie “Jane Eyre”, is someone you can trust with a project like this.
“Beasts of No Nation” opens in an unknown African country. There is a civil war going on, rebels are fighting the government. The country has safe zones, like the village of leading character Agu. He hardly notices anything of the war going on. But that safe feeling ends. The rebels are getting closer and there is decided to evacuate women and children. In all the chaos, Agu is left behind with his father and brother. The government troops mistake Agu and his family for rebels and his father and brother are killed. Agu manages to escape, but ends up in the hands of the rebels. There Agu is trained to be a soldier.
The main theme is the dehumanization of child soldiers. It appears that there are still almost a half million child soldiers on our planet, which makes this film topical. The film is focusing on one boy going through the process of becoming a child soldier.
Agu is played by Abraham Attah. He manages to touch us and projects his emotions very well. But Idris Elba, who plays Commandant, is phenomenal. He is scary in his presence, but he is also a man you will understand and respect. Elba created a fascinating character.
Netflix made a great choice to make “Beasts of No Nation”. The film shows the horrors of war and the sad truth about child soldiers. The result is impressive.

Rating: 5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 140: The Girl on the Train

Director: Tate Taylor
Genre: Thriller/ Drama
Runtime: 112 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Rebecca Ferguson, Luke Evans, Laura Prepon, Allison Janney, Edgar Ramirez, Lisa Kudrow

Description: A divorcee (Emily Blunt) becomes entangled in a missing persons investigation that promises to send shockwaves throughout her life.

Review: “The Girl on the Train” has been compared to David Fincher’s “Gone Girl”. Both movie are adapted from books and are psychological thrillers, where the disappearance of a young woman is the focus. A comparison like this is dangerous, because you go in with very high expectations. For this reason alone, the movie will disappoint.
Rachel Watson is a divorcee that drinks away her tears. A happy couple that she passes every day on the train, is the only comfort in Rachel’s life. She fantasizes about their life. One day, Rachel wakes up coverend in scratches, bruises and blood. She has no idea what happened. And then the police show up, telling Rachel that Megan Hipweel went missing. The woman she has been watching on the train.
“The Girl on the Train” is a thriller that works best when you have no clue what’s it about. I read the book, so I knew what was going to happen. And director Tate Taylor stayed very close to the novel. The only difference is the location, he changed out London for New York. The movie is told from different perspectives, chapters and jumps in time. Thre is really no other way to tell this story, without giving away the twists the story has. So for the people who read the book, there are no surprises.
“The Girl on the Train” is more a plot drive film than a character drive film. The characters sometimes feel like pieces in a chess game, that are moving from one place to another until we get to the climax. The credibility of those characters is a bit lost sometimes.
Luke Evans, Edgar Ramirez and Rebecca Ferguson have strong supporting roles, but it’s without a doubt Emily Blunt that steals the show.
I read and saw so many bad reviews of “The Girl on the Train”. I liked the movie a lot, I just didn’t love it. Like I said before, it’s always dangerous to have such high expectations of a film.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie trailer Sunday (265)

Here are this week's trailers.

Man Down
Director: Dito Montiel
Description: Sia LaBeouf, Kate Mara, Jai Courtney, Gary Oldman, Clifton COllins Jr.
Starring: In a post-apocalyptic America, former U.S. Marine Gabriel Drummer (Shia LaBeouf) searches desperately for the whereabouts of his son, accompanied by his best friend and a survivor.
Trailer: Trailer "Man Down"
Comment: Shia LaBeouf's performance looks really impressive in this trailer.

Split
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Description: Kevin (James McAvoy), a man with at least 23 different personalities, is compelled to abduct three teenage girls. As they are held captive, a final personality - "The Beast" - begins to materialize.
Starring: James McAvoy
Trailer: Trailer "Split"
Comment: Spooky role by McAvoy.

Sugar Mountain
Director: Richard Gray
Description: Two brothers, down on their luck, fake a disappearance in the Alaskan wilderness so they'll have a great survival story to sell, but the hoax turns out to be more real than they planned.
Starring: Cary Elwes, Jason Momoa, Melora Walters, Anna Hutchison
Trailer:
Comment: Looks okay. Alaska is a cool film location anyway.

Burn Country
Director: Ian Olds
Description: After being exiled from Afghanistan, a former war journalist settles in a small town in Northern California and takes a job with a local newspaper. But when he attempts to cover local crime, he stumbles into local corruption that puts himself and others in danger.
Starring: James Franco, Melissa Leo
Trailer: Trailer "Burn Country"
Comment: No one will see this movie, which is probably sad. Because it looks really good.

Neruda
Director: Pablo Larrain
Description: An inspector hunts down Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, who becomes a fugitive in his home country in the late 1940s for joining the Communist Party.
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal
Trailer: Trailer "Neruda"
Comment: I love Gael Garcia Bernal

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 139: Black Water

Director: David Nerlich
Genre: Drama/ Horror/ Thriller/ Adventure
Runtime: 90 minutes
Year: 2007
Starring: Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Andy Rodoreda, Ben Oxenbould, Fiona Press

Description: A terrifying tale of survival in the mangrove swamps of Northern Australia

Review: Like “Lake Placid” and “Rogue”, “Black Water” is a horror movie about toerists that are terrorized by a crocodile. The script is based on an incident from 2003, where three men in Northern Australia were attacked by a crocodile. Because the water had risen, various pieces of land were flooded and the men were attacked at a place that never sighted crocodiles.
In “Black Water” it’s two sisters and one’s husband. After visiting the family, the trio decides to take a trip through one of the national parks. There is no guide available, but a local citizen says he can take them in his own boat. While fishing, the boat is attacked and they have to fight for survival.
“Black Water” was made with a low budget, but the film looks surprisingly professional. The movie has some nailbiting moments, because you never know when the crocodile is going to strike and when he’s watching the group. But most scenes are just the people waiting in the tree, trying to think of options.

Rating: 3/ 5

Top 5 Thursday: Movies That Scared Me as a Kid

It’s almost Halloween and October is always the month to watch lots of scary movies. There are plenty of movies that terrify me and give me sleepless nights. But I took the time to create a list of movies that really scared me when I was a kid. Here are my five picks.

5. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
The book never scared me, but the movie that. And then specifically that psychedelic boat ride. Kids were treated to images of decapitated birds, dead people with worms crawling across their faces and giant flying monsters. And I’m not even mentioning Gene Wilder’s rhyme about hell and the Grim Reaper.

4. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
It’s a fun film, I laughed a lot and enjoyed it. I still do. But that moment where Judge Doom dies freaked me out as a kid. He doesn’t just die, no, he dies slowly run over by a steamroller. Then he comes back to life, has a helium voice and a hacksaw for an arm. He eventually melts away in a pool of acid. Toon Town is supposed to be a happy place.

3. Watership Down
It’s one of the most depressing and sad animated films I’ve ever seen, but still an amazing film. But when I saw this film as a kid (and then already a bunny owner) I was super shocked.

2. The NeverEnding Story
What a scary world, I would never want to live in that universe. All those creepy creatures and off course Gmork, the scariest wolf ever. I can’t believe that my parents let me see this film as a kid, because it was super scary.

1. The Witches
Another film based on a Roald Dahl book. This is a kids movie, about a young boy and his grandmother trying to find out the truth about witches. And those witches aren’t just ugly women with pointy hats. No, they are bald, gruesome creatures with very long nails that don’t even look human. Scarred for life.

They Almost Made the Top 5: Bambi, Labyrinth

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 138: Sully

Director: Clint Eastwood
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 96 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laure Linney, Jerry Ferrara, Ann Cusack

Description: The story of Chesley Sullenberger (Tom Hanks), an American pilot who became a hero after landing his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the flight's passengers and crew.

Review: On January 15th 2009, pilot Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger landed an Airbus A320 on the Hudson River, in order to save his passengers and crew. Because of this act, he saved 155 people and Sully became famous instantly. The fact that the airplane was only in the air for three and a half minutes before the engines stopped working, you ask yourself how a ninety minute movie will captivate you. But the movie does it.
After “J. Edgar” and “American Sniper”, that weren’t that inpressive, director Clint Eastwood decided to turn the autobiographical book “Highest Duty” into a movie. With Tom Hanks as the leading man, who portrayed excisting characters before, it just had to work. And it did, because Hanks carries this movie like no other actor could.
The biggest moment in this movie is the landing itself and Eastwood knows that. It’s and exciting moment and we actually get to see it a couple of times. You really feel with Sully and care for him. But not so much for the passengers on the crew. Eastwood tried to, but the focus is on Sully and not the passengers. That way you don’t really care about any of the other passengers on the airplane, except for Sully and his co-pilot.
The entire film screams hero, how heroic Sully is. Normally it bothers me in movies, but in “Sully” it didn’t. Tom Hanks is probably the main reason for that, because as always his performance is fantastic.

Rating: 4/ 5