All posts by Timothy English

‘The Conjuring’ is a scary movie that dares to be scary

Releasing a horror movie in July may seem like the first sing of a terrible movie. In fact, I’m probably in the majority that feel that most scary movies today aren’t even scary. This my friends, is where “The Conjuring” separates itself from the rest of the pack and establishes itself as one of the scariest movies in recent memory.

conjuring5Based on real life events — yeah, it’s one of those — The Conjuring tells two stories. One is the story of the typical family, the Perron Family, who move into a new house to start a new life, etc. The other story is that of Ed and Lorraine Warren, the real life paranormal investigators who witnessed a demonic possession in the Perron’s house.

It may sound like the typical and generic set-up and it may be…but the results are anything but typical. Continue reading ‘The Conjuring’ is a scary movie that dares to be scary

‘RED 2’ is more of the same but not in a good way

This happens with sequels.  A studio catches lightning in a bottle, makes money, tries to duplicate formula and gets mixed but disappointing results. That seems to be the biggest problem with “RED 2”, starring Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren.

RED2picEveryone is back, which is good I guess. But they don’t seem to be having as much fun. Maybe it’s the plot, which involves Marvin (Malkovich) trying to convince Frank (Willis) their lives are in danger when they are framed for something to do with an old weapon program during the cold war.

So once they are on the run, they have to drag Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) along, because all she is doing is complaining she wants a gun and wants something to do. This is precisely what kills this movie. Too many characters and not enough for them to do. Continue reading ‘RED 2’ is more of the same but not in a good way

Disney swings and misses with overly long ‘Lone Ranger’

THE LONE RANGERGrowing up, I loved the Lone Ranger. I just thought it was cool for a cowboy to wear a mask and run around with an Indian seeking justice. I’ve always loved westerns, it’s really too bad they have dropped off the popularity chart. So, I was pretty pumped when I found out they were doing this new big screen adaption of “The Lone Ranger”.

And then they cast Johnny Depp — as Tonto. And then they cast Armie Hammer (no, not the box of baking soda) as John Reid aka the Lone Ranger. Oh boy. Continue reading Disney swings and misses with overly long ‘Lone Ranger’