Tag: Reviews

Review: The Haunting of Hill House, Season 1

Posted November 13, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments

The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Starring: Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, Henry Thomas, Elizabeth Reaser, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Kate Siegel, Victoria Pedretti
Creator: Mike Flanagan
Release Date: 12 October 2018
Rating: TV-MA
Run Time: 50 min per episode
Genre Type: Drama, Horror, Thriller

Explores a group of siblings who, as children, grew up in what would go on to become the most famous haunted house in the country. Now adults, and forced back together in the face of tragedy, the family must finally confront the ghosts of their past, some of which still lurk in their minds while others may actually be stalking the shadows of Hill House.

I had seen the trailer for this show online but because I’m not a huge fan of horror and scary movies in general, I had no plans to actually watch it. But my coworkers each took a turn convincing me that I should give it a try and I’m glad that I finally listened to them because holy cow, this show was the bomb!

So this show tells the story of the Crane family. The Crane’s buy a house for the summer with the intent to fix it then flip it for money. The house is known for being haunted but the Crane’s ain’t afraid of no ghosts so they move their kids into that big ol’ haunted house and deflect, deflect, deflect when the kids are scared at night because of the ghosts.

For the most part, I was glued to my seat anxiously waiting for more information on this house, on this family, and just everything but there were a couple of episodes where my attention was divided because the storytelling was on the slow side but episodes 5 & 6 more than made up for the slowness of the beginning episodes. I thought that the writing of this season was pretty neat. I liked that the first episode triggers the events that take place throughout the rest of the season. I also really liked that it set the tone for the madness that was to come. I also really liked that each episode seemed to build on the story and brought to light different things that surrounded the same night (both past and present).

So each episode follows a different character and shows things from their perspective in the past and the present. It shows how their part of the story leads up to where things are in the present and from the jump, I had so many questions. I still have so many questions and I’ve seen the entire season, three different times already. Each episode gifts us with a piece of the story until we get to the end and are gifted with the entire story.

Each of the Crane siblings are dealing with different things and my favorite sibling was Theo, though it was Nell’s episode that was my favorite of all of the episodes. I won’t go into much detail about each episode, or even each sibling because you need to watch the show for yourself to really get it and I don’t want to spoil anything so for the purposes of this post, I will say that this show really knocked me on my ass. The creativity behind the storytelling, each episode building on the next was fantastic and I was entertained left and right.

This show is really worth the hours you’ll invest in viewing it. Each character brought something different to the overall story arc and I quite enjoyed how everything came together. I still have hella questions about the house, the ghosts and other things but I’m hopeful that a new season is forthcoming and we’ll get more answers to those questions? Fingers crossed, anyway.

Still, if you’re looking for a new show to binge on Netflix, you should try this…it’s more suspenseful and thrilling than scary and the story is just too interesting to not watch. I promise you’ll enjoy it…everyone that I’ve forced to watch this has loved it. 🙂

Movie Trailer

My Rating

4.5 out of 5

2 Comments
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Review: Good Kids

Posted July 5, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

Good Kids (2016)
Starring: Zoey Deutch, Nicholas Braun, Mateo Arias, Israel Broussard
Director: Chris McCoy
Release Date: 21 October 2016
Rating: R
Run Time: 1:26
Movie Type: Comedy

Four overachievers, eager to shake off their high school labels, set out to reinvent themselves following graduation.

I had one of those lazy weekends where I didn’t do much but read and watch movies. This movie was one of the many movies that I watched this past weekend. I thought it was going to be one of those mindless, dumb movies that only young folks would like but surprisingly, I enjoyed this one. I didn’t LOVE it but it was a solid movie.

This movie follows a group of friends who nerded out in high school and didn’t make time for young people things like partying, drinking, trying drugs and messing around so after they graduate, they decide that their last summer together is going to be spent turning up. The four friends are Andy, Nora, The Lion, and Spice. Andy wants to do it all, Nora wants to experience being in a relationship, The Lion wants to try all of the drugs and Spice just wants to hook up so they make a pact that for the entire summer, they were not going to say no to the fun. High school was spent studying and getting good grades and staying focused. They wanted their last summer to be lit and they wanted to experience everything together so that’s what they did.

Throughout the movie, each kid is going through something. Andy is boinking all of the tennis Moms who want private lessons and getting all of the hooking up lessons he can ever want. Nora is dating an older guy from work who is all kinds of sexy, the Lion is teaching some kind of martial arts class and getting high at every turn while Spice is…still just Spice. I liked seeing each of the kids figure themselves out and throughout the whole movie, even when Andy was being a completely douche canoe, I low key wanted him and Nora to hook up. That’s the romance reader in me, always trying to hook people up. Still, I wanted them to be together because they made sense.

Anyway, this movie packed in laughs I wasn’t expecting but enjoyed. It also brought character development that was enjoyable without being completely corny and when all was said and done, I wasn’t mad that I watched it. Sure, it’s not the best movie in the world but it entertained me for a couple of hours so I was a happy camper.

Movie Trailer

My Rating

3.75 out of 5

4 Comments
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Review: Incredibles 2

Posted June 27, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 6 Comments

Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner, Eli Fucile
Director: Brad Bird
Release Date: 15 June 2018
Rating: PG
Run Time: 1:58
Movie Type: Animation, Action, Adventure

While the Parr family has accepted its collective calling as superheroes, the fact remains that their special heroism is still illegal. After they are arrested after unsuccessfully trying to stop the Underminer, their future seems bleak. However, the wealthy Deavor siblings of Devtech offer new hope with a bold project to rehabilitate the public image and legal status of Supers, with Elastigirl being assigned on point to be the shining example. Now having agreed for now to stay at home to care for the kids, Mr. Incredible finds domestic life a daunting challenge, especially with baby Jack-Jack’s newly emerged powers making him almost impossible to manage. However, Elastigirl soon has her own concerns dealing with the menace of a new supervillain, Screenslaver, who is wreaking havoc with his mind control abilities. Now, Elastigirl must solve the mystery of this enemy, who has malevolent designs on the world with the Parr family and friends key targets of this evil.

Every Tuesday, my family chooses a movie and heads to AMC’s $5 Tuesday movies and last weeks movie was Incredibles 2. I’m not even going to lie, I’ve been looking forward to this movie all freaking year and I’m happy to report that it was everything that I hoped it would be and a little more.

So, we’re back in the Parr’s world and they’ve come to terms with their superhero powers but they have to keep everything under wraps because superheroes are illegal. They’re staying in a motel and trying to figure out their next move after an undercover superhero save goes bad. They need to get back to work, the kids need to get back to school and they need to find a more permanent place to live. When ElastiGirl is offered a superhero job that will help change the world’s view of superheroes, ElastiGirl goes to work and Bob becomes a stay at home Dad.

Most of the movie is set around ElastiGirl trying to save the world without making a huge mess and Bob trying to figure out how to be there for his kids and handle the home life. Their worlds are flipped on their heads because Helen is usually the one that stays home with the kids but I really enjoyed seeing the two of them figure things out as the movie progressed. Seeing Bob realize that Helen’s Mom gig is hard was funny and it was heartwarming to see him develop relationships with his kids. And seeing Helen kick ass at every turn was fantastic.

I loved seeing everyone again and it’s hard to pick a favorite because I adored them all…well, except for the bad guys.

Jack Jack seriously stole the movie though. He had me laughing in every single scene that he was in and finally seeing what his powers were was freaking great. I loved seeing Violet again and seeing her be a hormonal teenager was great fun, especially seeing Bob deal with that on top of Dash’s commo core Math problems and his overall billy bad ass tendencies, it was all just one laugh out loud moment after another and I was so here for it. When the movie ended, I was super happy with the entire thing. I loved seeing the Parr’s kick ass again and take down the bad guys. I loved seeing FroZone, meeting the new Supers and just everything. I really enjoyed this movie and highly recommend.

Movie Trailer

My Rating

5 out of 5

6 Comments
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Review: Set It Up

Posted June 20, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 6 Comments

Set It Up (2018)
Starring: Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs
Director: Claire Scanlon
Release Date: 15 June 2018
Rating: TV-14
Run Time: 1:45
Movie Type: Comedy, Romance

Two young assistants in New York City realize they can make their lives easier by setting up their workaholics bosses to date. While trying to perpetuate this romantic ruse between their nightmare bosses, the assistants realize they might be right for each other.

I haven’t been in the mood for movie watching lately but while bored and browsing Netflix’s catalog, I came across this movie on Saturday night and before I knew what was what, I hit play and sat back, prepared to not be impressed with this one.

I’m super glad to report that I was wrong because I was impressed with this movie. I thought it was super cute and Zoey Deutch is a great romantic comedy lead. I seriously hope that we get more rom-com’s from Netflix because I enjoyed this one a lot.

So Harper and Charlie are assistants to some pretty big deal bosses and their bosses are at the top because they never leave the workplace. And since they don’t leave the workplace, neither do Harper and Charlie. Both Harper and Charlie respect their bosses and understand their drive but they also miss having a personal life so when the opportunity to set their bosses up presents itself, they take it. Once they’re on that road to true love (for their bosses), there’s so turning back and the movie really takes off once they’re on this path.

Harper and Charlie are both motivated by different things. Harper wants to become a writer and working for the best sports writer out there is a big deal for her because she learns so much from her hero day in and day out. Charlie is motivated by being promoted and working for the top guy that can help him get in the door. Charlie is also dating a hotshot model that he never has time for because he’s always working. Hooking his boss up with a girlfriend will free up time for him to spend with the girlfriend.

Harper and Charlie put in a lot of work, getting their bosses together and then pushing them along in their romance and during that whole time, they’re getting to know each other and they’re becoming friends. It was during this part of the movie that I laughed a lot. I couldn’t help it, they were too cute.

I really enjoyed seeing Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell’s action chops. There were some moments when I thought Glen Powell was being hella extra (like his cheering for the kiss cam at the Yankees game? Haha, go easy there bro!) but for the most part, I was wrapped up in the story being told and I thought Zoey and Glen were a great acting pair. Their on screen chemistry was charming and when the movie ended, I had a smile on my face so, I definitely recommend this if you’re in the mood for a cute romantic comedy. This is a great one.

Movie Trailer

My Rating

4.25 out of 5

6 Comments
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