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Flash Movie Review: The Conjuring: Last Rites
I HAVE A FRIEND WHO NEVER eats leftover food. It drives me crazy. He says the food rarely tastes as good on the second day, which is why he does not bother taking home any “doggie bags” from restaurants or friends and family meals. I, on the other hand, love leftovers. One of my favorite leftover food is pizza. In fact, I prefer eating it cold on the second day and even third when there is a lot of it leftover after a gathering. Another food I enjoy eating for a couple days after is turkey meatloaf or turkey sloppy joe’s. When I think about the type of foods I have eaten after the day they were made, there are very few I even bother heating up. From chicken chow mein, to lasagna, to chicken fajitas; I relish them just as much when they were first served hot from the stove. Maybe because many of my school lunch meals through elementary and high school were brown-bagged sandwiches, I still find it odd at times when someone I am with orders a hot meal for lunch. In my brain, it was trained that lunchtime would involve a cold sandwich and a bag of chips. The only food I can think of that I would eat warm at lunchtime was a hamburger or grilled cheese sandwich. THIS IDEA OF EXTENDING A MEAL beyond a day can be easily translated to other genres; for example, books and movies. Most book sequels or installments from the original story have been just as moving to me. My first introduction to book series were the Hardy Boys’ books. I remember spending hours reading through these detective mystery books. When I was halfway through the series, I began alternating the Hardy Boys with other books because I wanted to extend my time reading about the boy detectives. It surprises me when I think about it since I was more of an “instant gratification” type of boy. Though, these days, I do find myself wishing I could binge watch some of the shows I watch on streaming platforms instead of doing them weekly or biweekly. With the movies I have seen, the opposite is true. There has been some film franchises that excelled with their sequels; however, in my experience, the majority of film sequels I watched were not as good as the original movie. The other thing about sequels, sometimes the first picture that came out was complete and satisfying to me. I did not need to see those same characters again. However, I have been surprised when it does happen and I find myself enjoying the different plots with each installment. Regarding today’s review of this latest sequel, it was not part of my awareness or desire that I wanted or needed to see these paranormal investigators again. HAVING THE MINDSET THAT THEY WERE retired from their work with evil entities, a pair of investigators are drawn into one last case that could lead to serious consequences for their family. With Patrick Wilson (Midway, Moonfall) as Ed Warren, Vera Farmiga (Origin, The Many Saints of Newark) as Lorraine Warren, Mia Tomlinson (The Beast Must Die-TV, The Lost Pirate Kingdom-TV) as Judy Warren, Ben Hardy (Bohemian Rhapsody, Love at First Sight) as Tony Spera, and Rebecca Calder (Love Me Do, Kandahar) as Janet Smurl; this supernatural horror, mystery thriller surprised me. Granted, I walked into it with low expectations, but found it kept my attention as it built up a steady stream of suspense throughout the story. There was less violence and blood compared to the previous movies as the writers used a dual story line that alternated back and forth between the two. At first, I did not understand what was going on, wondering if I was seeing younger versions of Ed and Lorraine, or members of their extended family. But soon after, it became clear that the plots would intersect. The acting was good as well as the atmosphere of the sets and costumes. All in all, I was entertained and glad I saw what I hope will be the final installment.
2 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Talk to Me
I HAVE ALWAYS SAID IT IS easier to say goodbye to a loved one who had been suffering for a long duration than to one who suddenly expires. Seeing a healthy, vibrant person waste away from illness is heartbreaking. On top of it, the person witnessing it feels so helpless. Burned into my memories is the image of a loved one lying in a hospital bed. What used to be thick wavy hair that surrounded their head like a halo, was thin and short as if it were the remains of an electrical flashfire. Their eyes had sunken deeper into their head to the point where they looked like two plastic button eyes from an old, worn stuffed animal toy. I could not get over how their face looked, like all the blood had been drained from it and now it was just a thin veil over the skull of their head. All I could offer them was the ice chips in a cup that were sitting on the portable table pressed up to the side of their hospital bed. I will be honest with you; while looking at them and they were suffering, I thought to myself it would be better to be done with living this life than going through the obvious pain. From that experience, my beliefs became firm that no one should have to endure such suffering. There was a sense of relief when their life had ended. I CANNOT SAY THE SAME FOR a friend of mine. Some years ago, they had a friend who ended their life. My friend did not find out until a relative of the deceased contacted them to let them know. You can imagine the shock of getting such news. They were stunned and this was before they found out the death was self-inflicted. Here their friend was living a good life, with a good job, traveling, going to dinners and concerts; and the next minute, they were gone. The whole thing was tragic, and I felt sad for both. My friend’s sadness and shock soon turned into anger. There was no inkling and as far as they knew, there was no reason they could see that would warrant the ending of life. I accompanied them to the funeral, and it was extremely sad; everyone had this blank look on their faces with a veneer of sadness. What does one say in such a situation except to say sorry for your loss. And even to this day, my friend can get a twinge of anger and hurt when they think of their deceased friend ending their life. Having been a witness to both of these death events, helped me understand the main character’s desire in this mystery, horror thriller. WHEN A GROUP OF FRIENDS BEGIN dabbling with contacting the dead, one friend wants to delve longer into it to find her mother. With Ari McCarthy (Heartbreak High-TV, Deadlock-TV) as Cole, Sophie Wilde (The Portable Door, Eden-TV) as Mia, Sarah Brokensha (Angela’s Decision, Rabbit) as Fiona, Joe Bird (First Day-TV, Rabbit) as Riley and Hamish Phillips (The Pack) as Tyson; this movie surprised me because I enjoyed it. As some of you know horror is not my favorite genre; however, the script and direction in this film captivated me. There was not the usual scary music to let the viewer know something horrible was about to happen; instead, the story unfolded in a way to show the friends living their daily lives. A few scenes did have blood in them, but it was not done in such a way to make me squirm. I thought the twists and turns embedded into the script were smart moves; though I thought the first half of the film was stronger than the last. The writers, I have to say, did a good job of making the story stay more in a reality base than turning it into an extreme horror fantasy. Plus, I loved the ending of the movie.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Ouija
There were no commercials or advertisements as far as I could recall. None of the toy shelves at stores carried it. The only thing I can remember was it being the first game I ever played, not counting tag or hide-and-go-seek. The game was handed down to me, taught by my Mother. We would either sit at the kitchen table or on the sofa to play, with only one thing needed: a deck of cards. After she shuffled them she would lay all the cards out face down in rows. Each player would take turns flipping over 2 cards at a time. If they matched, for example 2 threes or 2 queens, the player kept the cards; if not, they would turn the cards face down and the next player would try finding a match. The winner was the one who collected the most cards. I used to love playing this game and eventually started playing it myself to see how long it would take me to match up all the cards. In turn, I taught the next generation after me this card game that had no official name. As time passed and I transitioned to board games with friends, I never showed any of my friends this card game that was done in the family. Not that it was necessarily a secret, it just remained a game one played with a family member. After seeing this film maybe that was a good thing. BOARD games were supposed to be fun, but not in this horror film. After finding a spirit board, aka Ouija board, a group of friends decided to use it to see if they could find out why a friend of theirs killed herself. They unwittingly introduced a dark, ancient spirit into their lives that only wanted one thing: them. Starting out at a slow deliberate pace, this horror movie never veered from it. First time director Stiles White created a bland, generic piece that seemed to attract only young adults based on who was in the theater with me. If you have never seen a scary movie, then it is possible you may jump a couple of times while watching this picture. With Olivia Cooke (The Signal, Bates Motel-TV) as Laine Morris, Daren Kagasoff (The Secret Life of the American Teenager-TV, Blue-TV) as Trevor and Shelley Hennig (Days of Our Lives-TV, The Secret Circle-TV) as Debbie Galardi being part of the cast, there was no acting worth noting here. Of course having such a poorly written script with no lines worth remembering, the cast could not help but to be boring. I cannot believe I am saying this but a better time would have been to save my money by staying home and playing a game with family and friends. There were several scenes with blood.
1 1/3 stars
moviejoltz 