Bug (2006)

William Friedkin's psychological thriller Bug is something. I believe that is the best way to describe it. I have seen this movie about 3 or 4 times before and every time I watch it, I keep wanting to find something that I like about it. I mean, this comes from the director of The French Connection, The Exorcist and Killer Joe. There has to be some redeeming factor to this movie. But no matter how hard I search I still cannot find it.

Bug is about a single bartender Agnes (Ashley Judd) who eventually invites a military veteran Peter (Michael Shannon) to stay with her in her hotel apartment. But little does she know that it turns out that Peter believes that he has been put through military experiments, and now is on the run from the government. He also is infected with some sort of parasite (or as he calls them, aphids). I just don't know what to think with this movie. When I had initially saw this on the shelf of Blockbuster I was hoping for maybe a Starship Troopers type of bug movie but instead I got this. I was quite disappointed.

Do not get me wrong. This film is really well done. The acting is top notch. Judd and Shannon work really well together and the chemistry they have just works. Friedkin does a great job here. The problem with this movie is that it just doesn't know what it is. Is it a horror film? Body horror? Psychological thriller? There are so many unanswered questions left at the end that they fail to deliver on. I am all for the audience making up their own minds about a movie but this one is so bizarre and just contradictory of itself, it is hard to see anything beyond what's on the screen. This includes the random cuts of insects that flash on the screen like I am watching the cursed tape from The Ring.

Now I do not know how this movie actually ends up at the climax, but it is so far off the original context of this movie that it is almost like I am watching a something different. I doubt that anyone who is reading this cares about the ending of a 12 year old movie but long story short they commit suicide. By burning themselves. Then cut to black. Roll credits. This movie was a bug movie without any actually bugs in it. Quite boring and anti climatic if you ask me. Just more of a "WTF did I just watch" feeling.

This movie does come in at only 1 hour and 42 minutes which is a godsend because I don't know how I keep making my way back to it. I just see it on a streaming platform and I just decide to re-watch it. Maybe I'm the one who just isn't understanding what this film is trying to bring. Maybe it has to deal with the insecurities that follow our American Veterans when they try to acclimate back into society or eventually coming to terms with your life and realizing what your true purpose is. Either way it's very farfetched. This movie at the end of the day is just about paranoia and manipulation. I can honestly say that I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

Grade: D

Genre: Horror, Drama

Cast: Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Harry Connick Jr.

Rated: R for some strong violence, sexuality, nudity, language and drug use.

Director: William Friedkin

Veronica (2017)

I had recently heard that the new horror film on Netflix Veronica was supposed to be so scary that the majority of people who watched it, had to turn it off half way through. Now it did have it's scary moments but it was not as bad as all that. It was a very put together and thought out film that delivered on both scares and competency. Paco Plaza's based on true events film was a very welcome surprise that I was not that well aware of. It was not covered in cliches which always is a nice touch in modern day horror.

At it's roots Veronica is a Ouija board experiment gone wrong. This has come up multiple times in movies, including Paranormal Activity as well as it's own two movies based just on the Hasbro game. But what Veronica does different is it involves different elements into it. Veronica (played by Sandra Escacena) and her friends decide to try to contact her dead father and a deceased boyfriend on the solar eclipse back in Madrid, Spain 1991. After the seance, it seems that Veronica has brought something back from the nether-realm and it has attached itself to her.  Now it is up to her to try to save herself and her siblings from certain death and damnation. Not a bad little story right? Especially when at the beginning it gives the "Based on a True Story" disclaimer.

What makes this movie work so well is the use of atmosphere. It really does not do a whole lot of explaining what has followed her or why it is doing these things. It seems like Plaza knew that everyone is already aware of this type of movie so why waste time on things we already know. The use of shadows and music really helps this film. It's almost as if you start to search for things to jump out but when nothing does you still feel that satisfaction of your body tensing up. Sure this movie had its fair amounts of jump scares in it but I feel that it was able to maintain a level of uneasiness all throughout.

What Veronica also does well is as the movie is setting up the story with exposition, it still maintains a really good pace and keeps you intrigued throughout the whole thing. You are already shown the situation the house becomes at the very beginning but it is almost as if, even though you know the end, you are interested in the journey. I did not see the the ending coming though. They changed it up and only showed enough at the beginning to where you wanted to know what happened.

Does this film have a deeper meaning to it though? What was Plaza trying to tell the audience? I personally believe he just wanted to make a scary movie loosely based on a true story. I looked up the original story and the only thing that this is based on is names and a few pictures basically. Although that was a little disappointing, I was still really thrilled by how much I enjoyed this movie. Especially after most of the moronic horror movies that have come out of late. Definitely a recommend but don't expect for this to be unwatchable because it's so scary. Just a fun delight in its 1 hour and 45 minute runtime.

Grade: B+

Genre: Horror

Cast: Sandra Escacena, Bruna Gonzales, Claudia Placer

Rated: MA

Director: Paco Plaza

Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic Park is one of my all time favorite movies. I could honestly not wait to see it's return to the big screen with Jurassic World. Sadly my cravings for dinosaurs was not fulfilled. Now when Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was announced I couldn't help but hold onto hope. Could this be the return? Sadly and frustratingly I can say that this was nowhere close. The series has now hit an all time low. I can honestly say this has been one of the worst movies I have seen in awhile and it hurts my heart to say that.

Fallen Kingdom starts some time after the ending of Jurassic World with the park being shut down. Both Clare (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen ( Chris Pratt) have gone their separate ways. Suddenly nature decides to take matters into it's own hands and have a volcano become active on Isla Nublar. Now it is up to our two heroes to go and save some of the dinosaurs from the island to bring to a sanctuary that the unknown partner of John Hammond, Mr. Lockwood ( James Cromwell) has created for them. It just turns out that their are other nefarious motives at work.

Now not only is this movie just a cut and paste of the others in the series, it lacks everything that you want in a Jurassic Park movie. First the characters aren't really that enjoyable. I remember back in the original when you were concerned for all of them. This one features new characters with names I didn't even bother to remember because they were so insignificant. For example the character Franklin Webb (Justice Smith) was only put into this movie for comedic relief and if thats what they want to call it, thats a huge stretch. Everything that he says or does is so eye rollingly bad that its difficult to watch. It was almost as everyone else in the movie knew it was a joke as well. Nobody seems to really be trying.

What this movie does have is incredible CGI. Everything on that front is really well done. The actions are fluid and everyone does okay acting against a blank screen. But that is where the magic falls flat. Being a huge fan of practical effects and Stan Winston's work, it still holds up so well. This just feels extremely stylized and almost video game like. I realize that with a lot of what they wanted to do with this movie could only be done with CGI but the entire movie and every dinosaur was done that way. But lets get on to the most ridiculous part of this movie. The Indo-Raptor. I still do not understand the reason why in these series reboots they have to create new dinosaurs? There are plenty of other ones that they could have chosen but instead they want to just ignore real dinosaurs or throw their name in just for exposition. Finally they decided to have carnosaurus and a baryonx thrown in but for basic cameos. Plus now the movie has taken the villains of the first movie, the raptors and have turned them into man's best friend. It just doesn't make sense.

The first act of this movie is a repeat of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Go back onto the island to "save" the dinosaurs but they get taken but the big bad corporation and brought to the main land. Act two changes into exposition of the true reason why this is happening and the bad guy emerges out of the shadows twirling his mustache like a Bond villain. We find out there is no sanctuary and the advisor wants to hold an auction and sell the dinosaurs to private bidders. Third act is just boring nonsense. Lets just say that the "Jurassic Park" has now been replaced by a surprisingly huge mansion. It's almost like playing Clue and finding out how someone got murdered in the study. I don't want to tell the ending but let me just say that I could not have been more disappointed with the twist. The whole thing just has no heart.

Now before everyone accuses me of being too hard on this movie, I am aware that it was just a cash cow going to set up a sixth movie in the franchise. I know that. I really tried hard to like this movie. Who doesn't like to see dinosaurs brought to the big screen? Who doesn't love to hear the roar of the king of the dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus Rex? Now the snippets where they just had the dinosaurs eating people were fun. The cold open was pretty awesome and a few moments throughout were very exciting. There was too much drama from the people here and not enough of the dinosaurs. The cinematography was boring. Just pointing and clicking the record button and when substance was brought in, it just felt like a John Woo slow motion fight without the pigeons. It really hurts my heart but if the series continues on this path I am afraid of how much further it will sink.

Grade: F

Genre: Action

Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of science fiction violence and peril.

Director: J.A. Bayona

City Of God (2002)

2002's City of God is a movie that isn't so much a film, but a story that has to be experienced and then digested. An experience full of heartbreak, murder, corruption, greed, and poverty. Fernando Meirelles with co-director Katia Lund, bring the real life trauma of living in the City of God to the big screen in fantastic form. Now, is this approach of showing the depravity of their living conditions over the top or explicit? I would disagree. It gets into the nitty and gritty of life.

The film's plot follows a group of impoverished children who grew up in the City of God, Brazil, during the 60's and 70's and all of the trials and tribulations that come with it. The two characters we follow are Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) and Lil Ze (Leandro Firmino) who started out their lives in the very beginning of the City of God. Rocket follows the more honest, stay out of trouble lifestyle, which includes hanging out with friends, doing photography and occasionally smoking a joint. Lil Ze on the other hand has embraced the violence and drug lifestyle. I don't want to give too much away but Lil Ze's introduction to his future endeavors is pretty intense. Lil Ze's story is almost like a Brazilian version of Michael Corleone's rise to power in Godfather Part II. He starts off small until he gets a huge gang of thugs and eventually takes over all the other businesses besides one section whom he leaves Carrot (Matheus Nachtergaele) in charge.

This movie, first and foremost, is about the characters. There are so many different stories being told within the grand scheme but Meirelles carefully makes sure that you understand each character's motivations, who they are, and why they are pertinent. It is so easy to tell if you are watching a movie and you cannot remember any of the characters names, that is because you don't care what happens to them. This movie is very different. Watching it I was concerned with each character's life and what they were doing to stay alive, watching how everyone adjusted to this lifestyle, and why they wanted to stay in it or leave it.

The movie eventually takes a different turn (following some very unfortunate events) and becomes an all out war between the two factions of Lil Ze and Carrot for control of the City of God. This is where the brutality of the characters starts to shine. A very powerful scene is where a group of kids, known as The Runts, have been thieving and doing hold ups to the different stores in Lil Ze's territory. Eventually he becomes fed up with it and decides to take matters into his own hands. Lil Ze, Steak and Fries (a young kid who hangs out with Lil Ze sometimes) and some thugs go to the Runts hang out. The older thugs catch two of the Runts and Lil Ze gives them a choice. Choose to either be shot in the hand or in the foot. Considering these kids are around the age of 6-10 it is very traumatic for them. Both of the runts agree to be shot in the hands after deliberation and coming to terms with their decisions. Of course Lil Ze shoots them both in the foot instead. As the younger one is crying and screaming out for help Lil Ze brings over "Steak and Fries" (approximately 12 years old) and tells him in order to become one of them he has to shoot and kill one of the Runts. This scene is so incredibly deep and telling because it shows how these kids get trapped into this lifestyle and decide to accept it. Eventually Steak makes his decision and a little boy is dead while the other is crying and bleeding his way home.

But in the end what is this movie trying to tell us? That this life exists? To count our lucky stars that not all of us are in these conditions? Or trying to show what true human nature can turn into with poverty, neglect and a dash of drugs? The most insane part is at the very end when those five words jump up onto the screen "Based On A True Story". Personally I think it was trying to show how depending on the decisions that are placed in front of you, your life can go one of two ways. This is one of those stories that reflects the Boys In The Hood afternoon specials, the "if you stay on the right path" you can escape hell story. But sadly both show that no matter how much you try and stay on the straight and narrow your surroundings do have an impact on you and majority of the time it does not work out in your favor. Overall a very deep, emotional and impactful story that has stayed with me.

Grade: A-

Genre: Drama

Cast: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Matheus Nachtergaele

Rated: R for strong brutal violence, sexuality, drug content and language

Directed by: Fernando Meirelles, Katia Lund

Wish Upon

Wish Upon is your typical PG-13 horror movie with typical ideas, tropes and cliches. While watching it, it does enough to keep you interested in it but not enough for you to actually care about anything. There aren't really any scares that come along with this movie so the most it can become is a immature thriller with thoughts of grandeur and excitement.

John R. Leonetti creates the tone for the movie right at the very beginning showing a mother hanging herself in the attic and then having her young daughter find her. Now I will say this movie does have all the right elements, even though most of them have already been played out. It follows a high school girl Clare (Joey King) who after the fallout of her mothers suicide is having a difficult time in school and life. She is one of the "nerds" with her two friends and gets picked on by the popular group whom she has a crush on one the jocks. Sounds pretty familiar? Thats because you already saw this movie back in 1996 with The Craft. Her father played by Ryan Phillippe (who is always fun to watch) is a dumpster diver and eventually comes across this mystic sound box. Well it just so happens that this cursed sound box will deliver you seven wishes but upon each wish that you ask for, someone in your life is going to die.

Now I will not fault this movie completely for all of its cliches. It is adequately done. The acting isn't really there yet but what can you ultimately expect. The deaths are pretty interesting and well done but the real problem with this movie is the character development. The main character just becomes so detestable that the viewer does not even care what happens to them. She becomes so selfish that she is willing to put everyone she knows and loves at risk. It is ridiculous. Let alone the totally predictable ending but if you choose to watch this movie you will know whats going to happen before it gets there.

This movie at the end of the day is trying to say "enjoy what you have because when its gone you will miss it. Just enjoy life. Do not take your life for granted." Now there are plenty of other movies that are competent enough to get this point across but I guess for the young generation now, this is the way. You have to throw stereotypes at them and shove it in their faces. I may be getting preachy but this film brings nothing to the table and all I was waiting was for the next death during its 90 minute runtime. I can honestly say that is one of the positives of this movie. Overall it's just a boring movie that the viewer has seen before. I know I had.

Grade: D

Genre: Horror

Cast: Joey King, Ryan Phillippe, Ki Hong Lee

Rated: PG-13 for violent and disturbing images, thematic elements and language.

Director: John R. Leonetti