Tag Archives: Rebel Wilson

WORST MOVIES 2019

0
Posted on by

it chapter two

Here’s a look at my picks for the Ten Worst Movies of 2019:

10. PET SEMATARY

Coming in at #10 it’s PET SEMATARY, which is both an inferior remake of the 1989 movie and a pretty tepid take on one of Stephen King’s scariest novels. The changes made to King’s story here have potential but sadly the filmmakers do little with them. And as much as I like John Lithgow as an actor, he did not make me forget Fred Gwynne’s memorable performance as Jud Crandall in the 1989 film.

9. THE DEAD DON’T DIE

Fans of writer/director Jim Jarmusch seemed to really like this one, but for me, this zombie comedy just didn’t work. For starters, it had no sense of the genre, as its zombie/horror elements were weak and uninspired. In spite of an impressive cast which included Bill Murray and Adam Driver in lead roles, the deadpan breaking-the-fourth-wall humor I found obvious and mundane.

THE DEAD DON'T DIE

8. THE PRODIGY

One of the more forgettable horror movies of 2019. Another evil child chiller that offers nothing new.

7. ISN’T IT ROMANTIC

No. It isn’t. It’s not even that funny. This rom com starring Rebel Wilson as a cynical romantic who suddenly finds herself living in a romantic comedy can’t seem to move beyond its clever gimmick. While some of the humor works, most of it doesn’t, making for a lukewarm entry in the rom com genre.

6. IT CHAPTER TWO

This long, overblown, and slow-moving horror “epic” which clocks in at two hours and forty-nine minutes would have struggled to be scary even in half the time. Simply put, the main characters here were far more interesting when they were children, which is why part one of this flick was more entertaining. A waste of a good cast, as even the presence of James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain can’t save this one. Even worse than the incredibly long running time is how not scary Pennywise is in this movie. Based on Stephen King’s novel.

5. RAMBO: LAST BLOOD

Bottom of the barrel entry in the RAMBO series, this uninspired revenge flick is just that: Rambo exacts vengeance on thugs who abducted his niece. The ridiculous ending seems to be inspired by HOME ALONE (1990). The film makes no effort to lend credibility to the idea that Rambo at his advanced age could take down a gang of violent drug heavies singlehandedly.

rambo last blood stallone

4. ANNABELLE COMES HOME

Another awful horror movie from 2019.  In spite of the fact that Annabelle is one creepy doll, filmmakers continue to struggle to write worthwhile stories about her. This one wastes the talents of Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, who show up only for the beginning and end. Someone should lock Annabelle in her glass case and throw away the key. The series just isn’t very good.

annabelle comes home

3. THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA

My pick for the worst horror movie of 2019. No surprise, this one also takes place in THE CONJURING/ANNABELLE universe, which simply put, is not the universe you want your horror movie to appear in. I loved the original THE CONJURING (2013). The ensuing movies just haven’t been very good. Here, we have a demon that preys on children, and a priest who does battle against it in scenes that are laughably bad.

2. COLD PURSUIT-

The Liam Neeson actioner may have worn out its welcome with this movie, in which Neeson plays a snowplow driver who seeks vengeance against the thugs who murdered his son. Blah, blah, blah. Been there. Done that. This one also makes some bizarre attempts at humor, with some over the top superimposed captions following each character’s violent demise. My least favorite Liam Neeson movie in quite some time.

1. THE LIGHTHOUSE

Yeah, I know. For some folks, this was their pick for the best movie of the year. And yes, I can’t take anything away from writer/director Robert Eggers’ masterful black and white cinematography. This might be the best made movie I’ve ever loathed so much. Photography looks awesome, but this tale of two lighthouse keepers, played by Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, who become stranded there together for an extended period of time, and hence have to deal with each other, is a story of boredom and madness, and for me, it provoked just that. I wasn’t interested in either character, and watching them simply deal with each other over the course of this film was a maddening experience that left me completely bored. Story matters. Magnificent cinematography on its own does not a movie make. I often judge a movie by how soon I’d want to see it again. I never want to see THE LIGHTHOUSE again.

the lighthouse

Hence, it’s my pick for the worst movie of 2019.

And there you have it, my picks for the worst films of 2019.

As always, thanks for reading!

—Michael

Books by Michael Arruda:

DARK CORNERS, Michael Arruda’s second short story collection, contains ten tales of horror, six reprints and four stories original to this collection.

Dark Corners cover (1)

Waiting for you in Dark Corners are tales of vampires, monsters, werewolves, demonic circus animals, and eternal darkness. Be prepared to be both frightened and entertained. You never know what you will find lurking in dark corners.

Ebook: $3.99. Available at http://www.crossroadspress.com and at Amazon.com.  Print on demand version available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1949914437.

TIME FRAME,  science fiction novel by Michael Arruda.  

How far would you go to save your family? Would you change the course of time? That’s the decision facing Adam Cabral in this mind-bending science fiction adventure by Michael Arruda.

Ebook version:  $2.99. Available at http://www.crossroadpress.com. Print version:  $18.00. Includes postage! Email your order request to mjarruda33@gmail.com. Also available at Amazon.com.

IN THE SPOOKLIGHT, movie review collection by Michael Arruda.

InTheSpooklight_NewText

Michael Arruda reviews horror movies throughout history, from the silent classics of the 1920s, Universal horror from the 1930s-40s, Hammer Films of the 1950s-70s, all the way through the instant classics of today. If you like to read about horror movies, this is the book for you!

 Ebook version:  $4.99.  Available at http://www.crossroadpress.com.  Print version:  $18.00.  Includes postage. Email your order request to mjarruda33@gmail.com. Also available at Amazon.com.

FOR THE LOVE OF HORROR, first short story collection by Michael Arruda.  

For_the_love_of_Horror- original cover

Print cover

For the Love of Horror cover (3)

Ebook cover

 

Michael Arruda’s first short story collection, featuring a wraparound story which links all the tales together, asks the question: can you have a relationship when your partner is surrounded by the supernatural? If you thought normal relationships were difficult, wait to you read about what the folks in these stories have to deal with. For the love of horror!

 Ebook version:  $4.99.  Available at http://www.crossroadpress.com. Print version:  $18.00.  Includes postage. Email your order request to mjarruda33@gmail.com. Also available at Amazon.com.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ISN’T IT ROMANTIC (2019) – Rom Com Spoof Short on Laughs

0
Posted on by

isn't it romantic

Isn’t it romantic?

Sure is.

But is it funny? Er, not so much.

And therein lies the problem with ISN’T IT ROMANTIC (2019), the new rom com starring Rebel Wilson as an architect disillusioned with love, who after a bonk on the head wakes up and finds herself living inside the world of a romantic comedy. While the gimmick here is that Wilson’s character has to deal with the very world she’s spent her life making fun of, the problem is the film is funnier when it takes place in the real world because it’s more fun watching Wilson taking potshots at reality than soaking up life in a romantic fantasy.

While architect Natalie (Rebel Wilson) is down on love, she actually has a pretty happy life. She’s got a good job, a best friend at work, Whitney (Betty Gilpin), as well as a best guy friend at work Josh (Adam Devine) who tries but fails to catch her attention. So, while she slams both true love and romantic comedy movies, her life is a good one. She doesn’t really need a romantic fantasy to save her, which definitely gets in the way of the film’s major plot point.

After the clonk on the head, she awakes and finds herself living in a movie world, specifically the rom com. The handsome hunk she met briefly at a meeting, who was a complete jerk, Blake (Liam Hemsworth), now falls madly in love with Natalie. At this point, the film goes through all the rom com clichés with Natalie commenting on them throughout, since she knows these films inside and out. And it’s in this fantasy world that she finally sees the light about Josh and realizes that perhaps it’s with him that her future lies.

ISN’T IT ROMANTIC is an amiable enough movie but it’s simply not all that funny. Again, the funniest bits are when Natalie is in the real world, at the beginning and end of the film. The main part of the film, where the story employs its gimmick of Natalie living inside a movie, is playful and light, but the laughs simply aren’t there.

There’s plenty of romance to be sure, but it’s the kind that’s superficial without resonance.

Rebel Wilson is a fun actress to watch, going all the way back to her role in BRIDESMAIDS (2011), and she’s certainly enjoyable here, even if the material isn’t all that sharp.

Liam Hemsworth chews up the scenery as handsome hunk Blake, and it’s clear that he’s having a good time throughout. Betty Gilpin is very good as Natalie’s best friend Whitney, but her best scenes also occur when the film takes place in the real world. In the fantasy sequence, Whitney becomes Natalie’s rival, a trope of the rom com, but sadly, it’s a trope that isn’t funny here.

Adam Devine is enjoyable to watch as Josh, the likable co-worker who has eyes for Natalie. Interestingly, his character remains the same in both the real and fantasy worlds.

Priyanka Chopra impresses as Isabella, a beautiful model who Josh saves from choking and then marries during the rom com scenes. Like Hemsworth, it’s clear that Chopra is having fun throughout.

Probably my favorite performance in the movie belongs to Brandon Scott Jones who plays Donny, Natalie’s irritable neighbor who in the rom com sequence becomes the stereotypical flamboyantly gay best friend. It’s the liveliest performance in the film.

Screenwriters Erin Cardillo, Dana Fox, and Katie Silberman’s main premise of Natalie entering the world of a rom com movie is okay, but it would have worked better had Natalie needed it more. Sure, her friends tell her she needs love, but she seems perfectly content without it. And the jokes just aren’t all that funny.

Some of the jokes do work however, like the running gag of Natalie not being able to swear since she’s living inside the world of a PG-13 romantic comedy. Likewise, the sequence where she’s trying to have sex with Blake, but the film keeps cutting away since again it’s rated PG-13 is good for some laughs. But there aren’t a whole lot of these moments.

Director Todd Strauss-Schulson keeps things bright, happy, and romantic, but since this is supposed to be a rom com that pokes fun at the genre it’s disappointing that the humor isn’t all that sharp. The liveliest sequence in the movie is the closing dance number, a bit late in the game.

ISN’T IT ROMANTIC is a likable enough movie, but it falls way short of being the kind of send-up to the genre which it purports itself to be. Which means, at the end of the day, ISN’T IT ROMANTIC really isn’t anything more than just another cliche-ridden rom com, even if it surrounds those clichés with lots of knowing winks and nods.

—END—

Books by Michael Arruda:

New in 2019! DARK CORNERS, Michael Arruda’s second short story collection, contains ten tales of horror, six reprints and four stories original to this collection.

Dark Corners cover (1)

Waiting for you in Dark Corners are tales of vampires, monsters, werewolves, demonic circus animals, and eternal darkness. Be prepared to be both frightened and entertained. You never know what you will find lurking in dark corners.

Ebook: $3.99. Available at http://www.crossroadspress.com and at Amazon.com.  Print on demand version available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1949914437.

TIME FRAME,  science fiction novel by Michael Arruda.  

How far would you go to save your family? Would you change the course of time? That’s the decision facing Adam Cabral in this mind-bending science fiction adventure by Michael Arruda.

Ebook version:  $2.99. Available at http://www.crossroadpress.com. Print version:  $18.00. Includes postage! Email your order request to mjarruda33@gmail.com. Also available at Amazon.com.

IN THE SPOOKLIGHT, movie review collection by Michael Arruda.

InTheSpooklight_NewText

Michael Arruda reviews horror movies throughout history, from the silent classics of the 1920s, Universal horror from the 1930s-40s, Hammer Films of the 1950s-70s, all the way through the instant classics of today. If you like to read about horror movies, this is the book for you!

 Ebook version:  $4.99.  Available at http://www.crossroadpress.com.  Print version:  $18.00.  Includes postage. Email your order request to mjarruda33@gmail.com. Also available at Amazon.com.

FOR THE LOVE OF HORROR, first short story collection by Michael Arruda.  

For_the_love_of_Horror- original cover

Print cover

For the Love of Horror cover (3)

Ebook cover

 

Michael Arruda’s first short story collection, featuring a wraparound story which links all the tales together, asks the question: can you have a relationship when your partner is surrounded by the supernatural? If you thought normal relationships were difficult, wait to you read about what the folks in these stories have to deal with. For the love of horror!

 Ebook version:  $4.99.  Available at http://www.crossroadpress.com. Print version:  $18.00.  Includes postage. Email your order request to mjarruda33@gmail.com. Also available at Amazon.com.