Kyle MacLachlan | Cinema Parrot Disco

Two more quick October reviews for two current “scary” family films…

The House With A Clock In Its Walls (2018) Review

Directed by Eli Roth

Based on The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs

Starring: Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sunny Suljic, Kyle MacLachlan

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
The film follows a young boy who is sent to live with his uncle in a creaky old house. He soon learns it was previously also inhabited by a nefarious entity.

My Opinion:

This was an enjoyable family film that unfortunately was slightly ruined by a terrible cinema experience. Why are people such inconsiderate wankers?

Let me see if I can remember what happened in this movie in between all the chatting, the guy shining his phone light to be able to dip his nachos into his supermarket salsa, and the kid’s LED shoes constantly flashing and lighting up the entire cinema. I was excited for another “scary” family film starring Jack Black after really enjoying watching the first Goosebumps movie with my daughter. Well, I still prefer Goosebumps but this was at least a lot better than Goosebumps 2 (review below). I don’t think this quite has the magic of other family fantasy films and the characters aren’t as strong as I’d have liked although all the actors did well in their roles. When compared to things like A Series Of Unfortunate Events (my kid loves that series) or to something like Harry Potter, this story feels a bit forgettable. It was fun, however, and I wonder if the book was a bit more in-depth and if this adaptation didn’t fully do it justice.

Fuck it – I was so distracted that I feel like an ass even attempting to “review” this. It was entertaining and Black & Blanchett worked very well together. Slight spoiler but, basically, the baddie wants to make everyone in the world disappear to which I replied rather loudly “Can he start with this audience??“. This is worth a watch if you like a slightly dark family film. It’s not for the very young but there’s nothing at all unsuitable for ages 6 or so & up.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween

Directed by Ari Sandel

Based on Goosebumps by R. L. Stine

Starring: Wendi McLendon-Covey, Madison Iseman, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Caleel Harris, Chris Parnell, Ken Jeong

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
The plot follows two young boys accidentally releasing Slappy the Dummy and the Goosebumps monsters in their town, causing a wave of destruction on Halloween night.

My Opinion:

This was a very big disappointment. I liked the first film a lot, even though I was too old to read Goosebumps by the time R.L. Stine wrote those (I did read earlier stuff of his). But that series of books is very much the type of “scary & weird” stuff that I loved as a young kid and I was happy to share that movie with my own kid and to have her briefly get into reading the Goosebumps books. But she’s off those now. Damn! I’ll probably never manage to get her into the original Twilight Zone or Alfred Hitchcock Hour TV shows that I loved at her age. I was such a weirdo.

The first Goosebumps movie was a great “scary” family film. It was fun and I would imagine that fans loved seeing so many of Stine’s book characters come to life. It had a good story with a great twist for kids (though completely predictable to someone who grew up on The Twilight Zone). The main characters were strong, especially Stine’s daughter, and that relationship was great. The second film is just an inferior copy with weak characters that no one will really care about in the same way. Once again, Stine’s characters are brought to life but on a smaller scale. Slappy is the main star of this one, which is fine as those ventriloquist dummies have always given me the creeps. But so much time is spent on him instead of the character development of the actual humans in the story. Plus, slight spoiler: Jack Black is barely in this film. It’s really not much more than a cameo, which is another huge disappointment if you’re a fan (I am but I know many aren’t). It felt like a TV episode of Goosebumps instead of a movie. Oh well. I’m sure that fans of the books will still get some enjoyment out of it but it feels like a cash grab.

My Rating: 6/10

Inside Out (2015)

Directed by Pete Docter

Starring Voice Actors: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Richard Kind, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan

Production company: Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios

Running time: 94 minutes

Plot Synopsis: (via IMDB)
After young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness – conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school.

My Opinion:

So, I finally saw this Pixar movie on Tuesday – SIX YEARS after its release everywhere else on the planet!!! Okay – I guess it was only about a month’s wait but that’s like a lifetime to me when it comes to waiting to see a new Pixar film. I adore Pixar! I know the UK gets (and will be getting) all the Marvel films before America. But who cares?! Screw Marvel! I’d much rather not have to wait for the Pixar movies. Anyway, I was feeling some bitterness (along with some disgust, anger & sadness) at the long wait so didn’t exactly rush out to see this when it came out last Friday. I figured it might as well wait a few more days so I could go on my cinema’s cheap day. I give you enough money, Pixar, and you make me wait a month just because of the stupid UK school holiday dates! Lol. Okay… I can’t stay angry at my beloved Pixar for long… 😉

Inside Out has a brilliant concept (it’s almost up there with Monsters, Inc in that department) and it’s so cleverly written, which is what we’ve all come to expect from Pixar anyway. I love that they don’t feel the need to dumb their movies down and they don’t treat kids like they’re idiots. Yes, some of the ideas and jokes will be over very young kids’ heads. So what? It’s a movie they’ll grow up with and they’ll learn to appreciate more and more as they get older. So bravo to Pixar once again making a brilliant, timeless classic for all ages. This is why I love Pixar so much and have come to respect their films far more than a lot of the non-animated movies that get made.

However, I’m sad to say that I’m not exactly sure how I feel about Inside Out. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a great film and I love that they’ve made something that will challenge young minds and might actually make the future a better place (well, it’s possible… if anyone can discover the secret to true happiness & world peace, it’s Pixar). But I’m not instantly in love with it the way I was with a lot of other Pixar films (Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc and especially WALL-E). Man, I remember the feeling I had when I walked out of the cinema after watching WALL-E… You know that pure joy you get as a movie fan when you’ve just watched an absolutely amazing film?? I still almost get chills when I watch the opening of that movie and I stand by my belief that the beginning (on Earth) is a masterpiece. There were a few moments in Inside Out that almost reached those heights but it still didn’t pack the emotional punch that the opening scenes of WALL-E and Up did and it doesn’t have any characters that are quite as strong (and instantly loveable) as in Finding Nemo or Monsters, Inc.

Okay – I know I take Pixar films way too seriously so I’ll lighten up a little now. 😉 I know they’re essentially “family” movies but, especially with one as grown-up as Inside Out, it’s hard to not review them as I would any non-animated films. As far as other, non-Pixar animated films go, Inside Out blows them all away. As far as most non-animated films go, Inside Out blows those away too. As far as other Pixar films go, Inside Out is definitely one of the best but may not be quite as instantly loved as some of them. That’s the problem – Pixar has such a huge reputation to live up to! Yet they continue to live up to it. I know Inside Out will grow on me. But I’m an adult – what do kids actually think of it?

My Six-Year-Old’s Opinion: (in my words)

She of course loved Inside Out but most kids will say they love a movie immediately after they’ve watched it. I go more by her reaction to a movie while watching it & how much she talks about it over the next few days. She was completely engrossed throughout the entire film and had a big smile on her face. She entirely understood the overall, basic concept (which is good as the movie was way more abstract than I was expecting – it’s massively clever but also seriously deep at times). She’s been talking a lot about the different emotions she’s been feeling and I love how much the movie has made her think about things. That’s awesome. I think it’ll be a firm favorite of hers for years to come, especially as she reaches the same sort of age as its main character.

As a parent, I’m very happy that movies like this are being made for her generation and I’m a million times happier to let her watch a movie like this than one of those idiotic Barbie movies (which I do let her watch if she wants to. I’m not going to be some movie snob – she’s only six!). However, those Barbie movies usually get watched once and she never really has anything to say about them. That’s the power of Pixar! I think this is proof that kids can handle a more grown-up film with a complex concept and without a load of silly jokes and characters.

My Husband’s Opinion:

This is unusual but the hubby has read my review & actually wanted to state his opinion as he doesn’t fully agree with me. Here’s what he said:

“I consider after all the films Pixar has made, as pure commercial fun, this one is basically a true gift to the world that will fundamentally change how human beings relate to one another. AND they did it in a so-called kids film… I think this is actually Pixar’s most significant piece of work. Not about which movie is their “best movie”. But one that utterly changes the game? This one.”

Summary:

While I may not instantly love Inside Out quite as much as I do some other Pixar films (or quite as much as both my daughter & husband seemed to), you can see I have a massive amount of respect for it. I know I’ve not really discussed any of the specific characters or anything but I think there have been enough reviews of this by now that I didn’t really see the point of being too specific. I’ll say that I was afraid I might find Joy slightly annoying as overly happy people piss me off but that wasn’t at all the case. I also really liked Disgust but Sadness was my favorite. I’m not sure what that says about me… 😉 Finally, I liked the character of Riley and the importance of her relationship with her family. The human characters seem like the background characters in this one but they’re the true heart of the film. As always, I found I cared more about these animated characters than I tend to care about the characters in most live-action films. I don’t quite know how Pixar manages to do this (or why I can’t make it through the beginning of Up without bawling) but they’ve once again made a movie that they can be very proud of. I’ll grow to love it a bit more – I know I will!

My Rating: 8.5/10

Is There A Scene After The Credits?: Well, you should all know this by now but there are some great extra scenes during the credits that you have to stay for. I loved these scenes. There’s nothing after the credits, though.

A very quick review of the Lava short:

As if the main Pixar film doesn’t fill me with enough joy, we of course also get a great short before the films. I always look forward to the shorts! This one, Lava, wasn’t my favorite. It’s of course very sweet and, hey – anthropomorphic volcanoes! I’m a huge fan of anthropomorphism. However, I found the song a little bit annoying and the ending predictable. To be fair, and speaking of those emotions in my head, I was in a very bad mood when we went to this movie so that may have had an effect on how I felt about this sappy little romantic short. Sorry. But it’s still a million times better than that stupid Boundin’. The short I loved most in recent times was Disney’s Feast – that one was brilliant!