SHE WAS TRYING TO CONVINCE ME that I would not even taste the vegetable, but I was not convinced. In the past, I have mentioned I am a texture and visual eater. Certain food textures, like aspic, can make me gag. Something like sauerkraut is a double whammy; I do not like the texture or how it looks, let alone the taste. I was seated at my friend’s dinner party when she came out with this casserole dish and proceeded to tell me about the ingredients, I would not notice in the side dish. I did not want to come across as being rude, since they made a point of announcing this in front of all the seated guests around the dining room table. When the serving plate was passed to me, I took the tiniest of helpings; no reason to let food go to waste when I was sure there were others who might enjoy it. Once all the food was placed on the table and the hosts were seated, we began to eat. When I finally took a bite of the vegetable casserole on my plate, I immediately did not like the taste of it. I could taste the disliked ingredient, but that was secondary to the all-around bad taste I was experiencing. There was such an odd blend of tastes; I could not figure out if it was due to the spices or the ingredients, because there were so many textures going on. The bottom line: it was nasty.      I LOVED MY FRIEND, AND DO not get me wrong; I was appreciative of her dinner invitation. Having known her and her family for years, I understood her cooking was not something I cared for. It made sense to me because I thought her mother was an awful cook and baker. It was not a surprise for the mother to serve a cake for dessert that was rubbery with no flavor. One holiday, she came out with a turkey that was undercooked; it got to the point where I had to be extra cautious on what foods I would eat at their house. So, my friend not being a good cook was not a shock to me. It was never a big deal; I am aware that some people think some foods taste good, while others do not. With this in mind, I always know what to expect and from time to time I will eat something of hers that will surprise me because it was not too bad. It may not have been great, but it was easily edible. I had a similar mindset when I decided to see this film because I have not been a fan of the director’s father for a long time.      GETTING STUCK IN A FOREST, A young artist finds herself trapped alongside three mysterious strangers in a structure that looks like a glass enclosed cage. There was a reason for it. With Dakota Fanning (The Secret Life of Bees, Man on Fire) as Mina, Georgina Campbell (Barbarian, Suspicion-TV) as Ciara, Olwen Fouere (The Northman, The Survivalist) as Madeline, relative newcomer Oliver Finnegan as Daniel and Alistair Brammer (Les Miserables, A Call to Spy) as John; this fantasy, horror mystery written and directed by Ishana Shyamalan had a wonderful look and soundtrack to the film’s story. The cast was good, and things started out interestingly enough, but after a while I felt the script fell into a rut, leaving me bored. It seemed as if this picture could have been her father’s film, where interesting vignettes were shown and then they either did not go anywhere relevant to the story or made no sense. As the story was closing in on the end, I felt nothing was working in this picture which left me disappointed and confused. There may be promise for this director/writer, but based on this first outing, things are not looking up. I may wind up with the same mindset going to see her future films; not expecting much but knowing I will somehow make it through to the end of the movie.               

1 ¾ stars