Halloween (1978) Review

Halloween 1978 (9/10)

Director: John Carpenter

Runtime: 91 minutes

For more reviews like this please visit my main page at Insane Reviewer on Facebook. I review a new film every two days and push myself at delivering thought out and detailed reviews.

With the trailer just dropping and a new Halloween movie coming this October I figured what better time than now to start reviewing the entire franchise. So starting from today I'm going to be reviewing each Halloween movie every 2 weeks, starting with John Carpenters original classic and working my way up to Halloween 2 by Rob Zombie. Safe to say these reviews are going to get more painful to write as the movies go on.

On Halloween night of 1963, a young Michael Myers murders his older sister. 15 years later, Myers escapes the institution he's in and goes back to his old town searching for people to kill. This was back when slashers meant something, before Ghost face, before Freddy, even before Jason. There was Michael Myers. There had been prior slashers to Halloween but it was the first to revolutionise the genre. I hadn't watched Halloween prior to this review for years, the movie was released in 1978, that's 40 years ago and it still holds up surprisingly really well. It's a feat to be able to say that after 40 years it's still one of the greatest Horror movies ever made. The Horror genre most likely wouldn't be what it is today without the influence of Halloween.

The film triumphs greatly over its narrative, little is explained to the audience and we're left to piece together the parts ourselves. On the surface this is a story about the Boogeyman, Carpenter takes this tale and squeezes everything out he can for his audience. The brilliance of this movie lies within it's main centre piece, we know little to nothing about Michael Myers and although the sequels tried to add more and more layers of backstory to the character and give him a reason for killing. I prefer the simple fact that he's just plain crazy. This movie is really, really dark, but in a good way because it was shot on a small budget Carpenter knows how to utilise his lighting to create and dark and menacing figure. Michael materializes in and out of shadows, you're never quite sure where he is or where he's going to pop out. I've always loved just seeing his white pale face slowly peaking it's way through the darkness.

The movie also has one of the greatest opening scenes ever. It's one extremely long take as we witness a murder through the eyes of a killer. As it progresses we realise this killer is a little boy and is a young Michael Myers. It must have took them ages to get everything just right in that one scene. Halloween also has one of the greatest, and my personal favourite horror theme of all time. It's so scary and memorable, it's played to highlight something the audience should be paying attention to, whether this be Myers car or Michael standing watching someone. As much as I love the theme, 're watching the movie did make me think that in the first half it's way to over played. I absolutely love the theme but there's literally a theme playing every 5 mintues or so and I just felt that it became to much and slightly overpowering at times.

Halloween is an absolute classic, if you haven't seen it then definetely do yourself a favour and do. It paved the way for all the slashers to come and is still one of the best in its genre. Although many slashers came after him, Michael Myers is still an extremely effective and creepy villian. The theme is downright amazing, even if played a little too much throughout the film. Overall I think Halloween is an amazing movie that deserves all the love and attention that it gets.

Hereditary Review

Hereditary (5/10)

Director: Ari Aster

Runtime: 127 Minutes

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Why are people calling this the scariest movie in years? Why is it being marketed as a horror? These are questions I left asking myself at the end of Hereditary. The debut movie by Ari Aster, Hereditary tries to be grisly and genuinely frightening and for me it never was. I'm not the biggest fan of subtle horror, nor am I a big fan of arthousr horror. This movie never had me on edge, even though the trailers leads you to believe it'll be extremely intense and have a grim atmosphere but it never does. This is where my biggest issue with the movie lies, there was a never a moment that I felt scared and all the moments that should have been intense weren't because I never felt like there was something to be afraid off. Maybe some people might consider this a good thing as the story keeps you guessing, I personally never got invested in the story enough to care.

I've heard this from a lot of other critics and I completely agree with them, the marketing for this movie was awful. It leads you to believe you're going into an intense horror movie. When in actuality you're walking into a drama, and a slow burner one at that. A lot of people might consider this off putting and I can definetely see why. Going into this movie I pretty much knew I wasn't going to like it, I really did want to but I knew it didn't look like my type of horror movie. It reminded me a lot of The Witch and The Babadook, both movies that I really didn't like but the majority of critics loved. Give credit where it's due, the performances in this movie are outstanding. Toni Collette is brilliant as the mom stricken with grief at the death of her own mother. Alex Wolff gives his break out performance here and I truly do hope he starts to get recognised as an actor to be reckoned with. I hated his crying in the movie as it sounded ridiculous but the rest of the movie he is top notch. The movie also goes on for far to long, clocking in at a little over 2 hours it drags during act 2 and there were many scenes that lingered for far to long, not adding anything to the overall plot and could easily have been cut.

Overall I haven't got a whole lot to say about Hereditary. I feel people who like subtle horror, movies like The Babadook and The Witch then you'll definetely like this. Personally I don't think it's a great movie and if it wasn't for the stellar performances then I'd probably give it lower than a 5. I went with two people who loved this movie so I might just be on my own when saying if wasn't a great movie. I'd definetley say give it a watch but be prepared that you're going into a drama/thriller and not a horror.

The Greatest Showman Review

The Greatest Showman (8/10)

Director: Michael Gracey

Runtime: 105 Minutes

For more reviews like this please visit my main page at Insane Reviewer on Facebook. I review a new film every two days and push myself at delivering thought out and detailed reviews.

I was listening to "Rewrite the stars" on my way home today and realised I haven't done a review for The Greatest Showman. Considering it was one of my favourite movies from last year I felt it only right to write one for my page. I even remember my first time seeing this movie, as it was also my first time ever having to sit in the second row from the screen because the room was that full. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I didn't mind sitting that close, and the movie was also really good so overall I had a really pleasant experience.

P.T Barnum (Hugh Jackman) is a near penniless dreamer determined to build a better life for himself and his family. After struggling to establish himself, Barnum launches out on his own, creating a theatre in the heart of New York City. He gathers together people with special talents as well as those with physical abnormalities. (a giant, a bearded lady, Siamese twins, a dwarf, etc) He also hires the likes of Zac Effron as an overcompensated apprentice. But as we all know, in the end showbiz always goes to your head and this is where Barnum gambles on an all out tour with opera singer Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson). Leaving all his old talents behind.

The film starts with the title song "The Greatest Show" A showstopper of a song that never stops the rhythm with a repetitive thumping that throws the audience straight in. The cinematography here (much like the whole movie) is so good, keeping the movements fluid which gels well with the rhythm of the song. All the actors feel connected by their actions and everything comes together so the audience is plunged straight into the centre of the ring. At the centre of this whole story is Hugh Jackman, who greatly carries this whole movie. He's got such a flamboyant charm that it's just impossible to hate him, you realise that everything he has done has been for his family even if his own selfish needs to get in the way at times. Plotwise this movie is very thin, its simple told story but told tremendously through its lavish production numbers and crafted sets.

I feel like most people I have the same issues with this movie, the film tries to get through its plot as quickly as it can so they can show us the next big set number. All of the pieces look incredibly good, however, it's just a shame that they rely too much on CGI during these moments when they could have recreated everything with real stuntmen. I mean we see it all the time at real-life circuses. Although I do realise some of the trapiz moments do defy the laws of psychics so sometimes the storys own narrative does stop it from being greater than it could be.

People come to see this movie for the music and here is where it does everything so well. Every single one of the tracks is great and are placed so perfectly throughout the narrative. You can count on at least one to stick in your head for ages, for me its "Rewrite the stars" which is a beautiful song that tells the struggles of both these characters who just want to be together but society stops them.

Overall I still love this movie just as much as I did the first time I saw it. Hugh Jackman is brilliant and so is all the supporting roles. All of the songs are so catchy and sometimes beautiful, they're placed perfectly in the narrative of the story. Everyone is deeply committed to entertaining the audience, in and out of the film. This is most definitely the greatest show on earth.

Oceans 8 Review

Oceans 8 (7/10)

Director: Gary Ross

Runtime: 110 Minutes

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I love the original Oceans trilogy, I felt Soderbergh was able to craft 3 incredibly enjoyable heist movies. It's pretty obvious by now that Hollywood is remaking loads of classic movies but replacing the men with women. This can either work or it doesn't, I appreciate Oceans 8 for not being a remake but rather a sequel. It's simply building on everything that's came before, it's more of what we've come to enjoy about these movies so if you didn't like any of the first 3 movies then you certainly won't find much to like about this one.

This time around we follow Danny Oceans sister, Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock). She's looking to pull of the biggest heist of her career, steal $150 million worth of diamonds concealed around movie star Daphne's (Anne Hatheway) neck. Before the pulls this off she needs a crew, a crew consisting of 8 females all carefully chosen for specific roles.

We rarely see Sandra Bullock in a lead role anymore so it's a breath of fresh air when we see her leading this heist. And oh does she do it well. One of my biggest joys of the movie was her, she was extremely likeable and determined to pull this thing off. The chemistry between all these character is brilliant, you can really see the friendship blossom throughout the movie. You really get a feel that Bullock and Blanchett have been friends for years, it is a shame that not every character is as fleshed out as I would have liked but I do see why that would have been hard considering the movies runtime. I'm not going to go into depth about every individual character like many reviewers have done because I don't think it's something that needs to be spoken about. If you've seen the trailer then you know every skillset every character has and how they play into the story. I will however say that it's so fun to see all these cast of characters come together and form a team. I especially liked how there's a little line thrown in that atleast tries to give an explanation to the audience about why it's only women working on this heist. I really appreciated the screenwriters for going that extra mile to write something like that into the movie.

Although Soderbergh only produced this movie his humour is still there. For anyone who's seen the original movies, Logan Lucky or Magic Mike. Then you know how unique and silly his style of humour can be. I definetely got that vibe here, watching them have to look at a diamond necklace for far to long that it becomes hilariously suspicious to everyone around them, all because they need to 3d scan it. There's even a scene where we see two of the characters trying out Tinder for the first time, in the midst of all this planning and we have two people swiping on Tinder. Now that is funny.

So how is the heist? The thing that everyone comes to see this movie for. It's incredibly engaging and riveting to watch, not in an action sense but in a Soderbergh type of way. Every character looks cool and slick as their plan works through each and everyone of them. It's just a shame that the heist never turns up the heat, there never seems like there's any danger that's about to happen as pretty much everything goes to plan with not even a small bit of it looking like it might not plan out the way they hoped. It's a real shame there wasn't any jeopardy to the heist, the movie might have really benefited if just for a moment the peril really ramped up,.

Overall there is a lot to like in this movie, otherwise I wouldn't be giving it a 7. The cast ensemble is great, I liked every single one of the actresses and felt the chemistry between them all was fantastic. Especially Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett, but Bullock is most certainly the stand out performance. It's very cliche and does nothing to reinvent the heist formula, but it is incredibly fun and has an upbeat tone that makes for a very enjoyable watch.

You Don't Have To Watch Sicario To Understand The Sequel Coming June 29th

Hello Consumers,
Before I begin I would like to give a spoiler alert warning. If you have not scene sicario day of saldo then this might be an article to read until you do.

The one thing that caught my attention was the fact that this movie started off taking another Jab at Muslim Americans or just Muslims in general. dealing with the Mexican cartels which is the main focal of the first and second movie was enough to move the story along, make it compelling and make it interesting all the way throughout the third Act. but linking cartels with the war on terror  sends signals to a lot of Americans. for good or for bad our relationship with Mexico is ever-changing. There is a lot in this movie to make you field that this movie is a pro Trump or Pro conservative, anti-terrorist agenda field picture. The problem that I had with that was it became a subplot and the rest of the movie was a means to an end.

Using the war on terror war on Extreme Islam as some people call them is creating an environment where some Americans are treating people who happen to be Muslim Americans with the stain and distrust. The fact that the film started off with making the attack on American soil caused by Muslim terrorist and then completely going into the Mexican cartel angle for the duration of 99% of the movie was a little jarring. It was as if the movie was purposely trying to make me more afraid or angry at Muslims and Mexicans equally. I'm not saying that cartels and terrorist have never worked together before or will never work together again but it just did not seem fitting for this type of film. With everything that's going on politically that part of this movie just felt like blood in the water that was already boiling hot.

Once the terrorist angle was out of the way and the focus was on the cartels being pinned against each other the movie became exactly what the first sicario was, extremely mind-blowing. All of the scenes where are the main characters work in conflict was gripping like I've never felt in a long time. You could hear a pin drop during the silent points of the movie. Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro gave a high-quality impactful performance. these two men work very well together on screen. Their friendship on screen is very believable. I remember Benicio del Toro in the movie The Way of the gun and I thought there was very good chemistry there as well. it reminded me a lot of that. Josh Brolin has an unexplainable it Factor that makes you want him to succeed whether he's the villain or hero.

By the end of the film there is no delusion whether or not there will be an attempt at 1/3 sicario. Benicio del Toro is gearing up 2 find the people who gave the order that took away his family. this sequel made the plot from the original film thicken. It's not enough that a lawyer turned Hitman was able to avenge his family by killing the man and family that had his family killed but now it seems that there is a greater evil out there who was pulling all the strings. Halfway through the movie there was a Breaking Point in the cooperation of Brolin and del Toro's characters where they had to go at odds with each other. but I do believe that if a third film is developed there is a lot of space to bring these two back together based on the actions both men took that could be seen as going against their primary directives that would put them at odds with their commanding forces.

There was no Emily Blunt and part of the time I was asking myself I wonder where she is and how she feels about any of these events if her character is even aware of it. I would like to see her return for the third film. maybe she could be the only person to bring these two men in. I want you to see this film but before you go if you have not watched the car your part one in a while go see it again right before you see the sequel all plays like one giant movie. You don't have to see sicario part 1 to understand it sequel but it makes the experience that much more impactful on a grander scale.

I apologize for my lack of energy in the video review posted on YouTube, it was extremely late when I got home to record and the equipment was not cooperating. Despite that, I hope you enjoy it, become a subscriber to the channel and blog, send question.
Till next time consumers.

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AMC Stubs A-List: Will Moviepass go the way of Blockbuster Video

Good artist create great artists steal. That's been a saying for a very long time and it hasn't been for true until now.

AMC theaters is showing their greatness by coming up with their own subscription service much like movie pass. The difference being AMC subscription service is twice as expensive. Check out what you get with AMC versus what you're currently now getting with Moviepass.

According to amctheatres.com via FAQS the membership will launch on the 26th of June 2018. Its being dubbed as the latest and greatest of loyalty programs. Moviepass responded on Twitter

AMC has repeatedly disparaged our model as a way to discourage our growth because all along they wanted to launch their own, more expensive plan. We want to make movies more accessible, they want more profit.

— MoviePass (@MoviePass) June 20, 2018

First I want to make it clear that I am a subscriber to MoviePass I've had my ups and downs with the service but overall I've had Fairly good experiences. My only suggestion is if you have an issue with MoviePass call them during their business hours to fix the situation. I'm critical on the fact that they have stop allowing people to view the same movie more than once, other than that I like the service. After seeing their reaction on Twitter I could do nothing but shake my head. It's very childish and low for a company or any institution to respond unprofessionally. This was the reaction of a four-year-old.

If you have nothing good to say don't say anything at all but it makes them look like if you have nothing good to offer then you're afraid of your competition. their response should have been more on the lines of taking ownership of the new platform that they have pioneers and reminding people that they were the ones who did it first. afterwards you try to be the company who does it best. Microsoft didn't overtake Apple because they make better products Apple started to lose because they took their eyes off of what was important. Once Apple stated that they were no longer in the business of trying to beat Microsoft they were in the business of making the best products then Apple became the best company in computer development.

This may prove that the theory that movie passes on its last legs true. I Can Only Imagine it can survive for a few more months. I would be shocked if it made it to 2019. What movie pass needs to do is focus on its customers and provide the best service. They need to listen to what people are saying and not just be reactionary but just strive to do better otherwise they're not going to last. AMC is a movie theater chain, they've already established name recognition and have so many locations that they can afford this Subscription Service easily. More so than a company who is just doing it as a third party. For them to charge more than Movie Pass is a sign that they are prepared to provide a better service and experience the movie pass can since they control what happens inside of the theaters more than Movie Pass can. Again you can only reach Movie Pass via the app or by calling in. You can easily make a complaint or have a problem solved buy a manager anytime you're inside the theater.

I'm still a cardholder of MoviePass but I will be looking into this further when AMC Stubs a list drops this June 26th 2018. I will test it out and see if the service is superior in any way shape or form and if so I am announcing now that I will be cancelling Movie Pass. it may force my hand to only go to an AMC and I met want to go to a movie theater that may not be in AMC at any given time because it's geographically convenient but what a list is providing it's just too good to pass by. The ends justify the means.

It wasn't long ago that Blockbuster Video was the top video rental retail store in America. they gained so much strength and influence in Hollywood that they even had a blockbuster awards ceremony. in the early 2000 the creators of Netflix offered themselves to Blockbuster and the powers that be refused to buy the company. Their thoughts was people like coming into our stores it's a waste of time to have these movies mailed to people. They did not see the changing of the times and the fact that the average consumer was slowly turning to a we don't want to leave the house mentality. Once Netflix mastered their streaming services online it was already too late Blockbuster chains were closing down and Netflix was too valuable. At one point Blockbuster Video tried to mimic what Netflix was doing offering a better streaming service allowing people to turn in DVDs that they had mailed to them at their change. This didn't change a thing. Netflix's stock is up and Blockbuster is down to two stores in Alaska. If MoviePass doesn't learn from their mistakes they will go the way of the Blockbuster.

People were sad when Blockbuster closed down. It took less than a year to get over it and now Netflix has over 94 million subscribers as of 2017. If you can't pay for your life, you will vanish.

We Got Your Mail Has Returned, Chris Answers Your Questions

We're back and we've got your mail. So this is a run down of all the questions that were submitted. If you want to know the secrets to life or just something about movies, then submit your questions to our blog, Youtube or social media outlets.

Here are the questions that were answered. If you want the responses click the link above.



Questions and Comments Submitted:



mr t: Has anybody ever had a 4D imax movie come up on listing for a theatre and you didnt know so you chose it?



Godstrumpet2010: Movie Pass sucks. I've been to the movies 4 times since getting Movie Pass. The other 3 times I have wasted my gas driving to specific theaters, trying to check in when I'm at the theater. The app never allows me to check in. I ended up paying out of pocket. And their chat did not assign me a representative...after 3 hours I'm ready to cancel this "service". Terrible. If you haven't joined, DON'T BOTHER. Their customer service SUCKS.



YouTube

Time_Nerd !: 1. Who is your favorite superhero? ()

2. If you had to watch only one superhero movie for the rest of your life what would it be?



Melanie Shannon (fb): I have a lot of thoughts about desperate Housewives.



Karrington Burnnet (fb): why do people think that the thomas jane punisher film is good?



jserio613

(regarding Truth or Dare)

Are you sure this demon can not be stop? Look and listen carefully at the end of the movie. It something hide at the end



Rebecca (fb)

mistaken question: 60 what size do you need? (then left the group)



Karrington (fb)

has hollywood forgotten how to market or have they gotten lazy?



Renee (fb)

why are movies going to video, 2 months after the theater release?



MrAaaaaaaaa9

Hey bro this isn’t a reaction this is a review! A reaction video is where you watch it and react to it while on video then review it! Anyway I agree with you this looks good



Les Anderson jr

They always had the restriction to see it once until August., they just brought it back. It is ment to see a new movie a day, not the same movie over and over  I agree that if you love a movie enough to see it again pay out of pocket.



Vince

I have 2 movie pass accounts plus sinemia.  This way I can see 19 movies a month for $33. Bring my dads phone to theater to re watch movies with his movie pass account.



Luis Claudio

(hotel artimus trailer)

I would like to see John Wick here as a surprise twist as an after credit scene or towards the end of the movie.  I know it won't happen, but I can dream.



Claymore_One

(wonder woman review)

What I don't understand is, when superman tossed her and the other members in the air, she was just floating in the air, superman can react to the flash and she can't? She's a very fast character too for her to be just frozen like that.





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