Halloween Marathon: Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

The light at the end of the tunnel is how I feel right now.  Its just right there! This month has been a bit intense with work and keeping up with the blog.  The first time its really gotten to me.  This time really went completely spontaneous and ended up being hectic to finish up the focus of the marathon: the Halloween series.  I had a list before I started the marathon and lets say I pretty much tossed it out the window.  Last night, at something like 11pm, I finally turned on Netflix and saw Halloween H20. I’ve mentioned it, but I will again, I’m not doing the final one due to time constraints.  I will eventually, just not immediately.  So, lets see whats up with this one!

Director: Steve Miner

Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Michelle Williams, Adam Arkin, LL Cool J, Adam Hann-Byrd, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe

Laurie Strode, now the dean of a Northern California private school with an assumed name, must battle the Shape one last time and now the life of her own son hangs in the balance.-IMDB

The only relevance Halloween H20 had was to the very first (and well, second) Halloween.  That makes it kind of meh, because then its like, should I take in account that 4 to 6 happened then.  I mean, from what I got from the 4th one, Laurie either died or left her daughter.  So  now, she has a son, why did she choose to keep her son but leave her daughter and then her daughter gets stuck with that ridiculous fate and happened from 4 to 6.  She has issues and we know that already. Who wouldn’t, right? Lets say we forget about Laurie. Michael Myers makes no sense either.  He always struck in Haddonfield, so what makes him leave that comfort zone 20 years later and head to kill Laurie in North California now? I mean, if he was all high and mighty and knew all, as he seems to be in the previous instalments, then why not just go straight for her after his first escape back in 4? I know the technicalities are probably they couldn’t get back Jamie Lee Curtis to do that role or whatnot, but still, doesn’t matter who really gets slashed as long as they get hunted by Michael Myers, no? Either way, my head hurts from all the questions.

I’m not saying that I hated Halloween H20, I really am not. I watched this by myself so my imagination went running wild, as always so there were times I’d be tense but then this one was so predictable. I think its the fault of how they shot this one. Somewhere along the way, I started thinking that the purpose of Halloween H20 was to show why the first (or any of the others) was so creepy. For one, even when this movie was dark, it was still pretty bright.  Second, we aren’t supposed to see Michael Myers up close and personal.  He was scary because he was lurking around, and we never got a good look at him.  The shots were quick and we never knew when he’d attack.  This time, Michael was walking faster and always visible.  Plus, the mask was not scary and excuse me but blackest eyes, no they aren’t.  Are you lying to me Dr. Loomis or did his eyes change over the years? Maybe he’s softened up, but then, he hasn’t.

I went into this with little expectations that I was so happy to actually see JGL little role at the beginning.  I’m not exactly sure that part was supposed to yield that much excitement.  And then there was LL Cool J.  Hey, I thought he was pretty awesome in Deep Blue Sea and he was pretty hilarious in this one.  That was probably deliberate.  Not very fitting for Halloween but I liked it! Another thought going through my head for the cast was that I never saw anything with Josh Hartnett since Pearl Harbor and now I have 2 in a week.  I’m indifferent to Josh Hartnett but at least he wasn’t a brainless teenager in this one along with a young Michelle Williams.  So many familiar faces does give it a few extra points, right?

I think at this point, my review is already way out of hand.  Its just a lot of ranting and sarcasm.  Okay, I’m serious, I didn’t hate it because I was tired and by myself.  Overall, some tense parts but not a coherent storyline if you look at this in a whole.  Its predictable and doesn’t really have many scares.  I’ll leave it up to you whether you want to see this.

Happy Halloween everyone! I should have one more post up if everything goes as planned to do this my own way! 🙂 I’m getting that together right after dinner!

There you go! Seven Halloweens done! Have you seen them all? Which is your favorite? Is there something I’m missing in the story to link it better?

Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013)

I’m super happy that I got to watch this opening weekend.  I rarely ever do that because my boyfriend and I aren’t crazy about crowds.  However, we both wanted a little date night at the theatres since the last movie we saw was Les Miserables on New Year’s Eve.

Director: Sam Raimi

Cast: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff, Joey King

In 1905, an ambitious yet unsuccessful magician, Oz (James Franco) finds himself carried into a tornado and landing into the enchanted land of Oz.  There he meets Theodora (Mila Kunis) who is convinced that he’s the wizard mentioned in the King’s prophecy to save Oz from the powers of the wicked witch.  She then takes him to meet her sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz) who is taking care of the kingdom while there is no one on the throne.  Evanora shows Oz the benefits he would reap if he were to become the King after he’s proved himself as the wizard.  The one thing he would have to do is to destroy the wand of the wicked witch residing in the Dark Forest, Glinda (Michelle Williams).  On his adventures, he takes on a flying monkey Finley (voice by Zach Braff) and saves a little China doll in China Town (Joey King), who ends up joining him in the quests to prove his greatness, they get whirled into the problems of the land of Oz and he needs to not only figure out who to believe, who is good and evil but also how he chooses to become: good or great

I’ve been anticipating this movie a lot and I haven’t actually seen any of the trailers.  Its just I’m into the Wizard of Oz story and the cast seemed fantastic.  The CGI fantasy world looks so beautiful in the poster.  I watched this in 3D because the normal version had ridiculous hours where my boyfriend was still at work.  It was worth it even with a stupid ticket issue before the movie at the theatres.

One of the best part of the movie was its visuals.  It started in the 1905 real normal world in black and white. Everything was black and white till he got spun around literally and whisked into the enchanted world. Let me say that the landing sequence in 3D was super awesome and fun.  If you saw it, you know what I mean. It was a pretty rough landing but it was just beautiful to look at as well.  It gave the audience (and Oz) a general view of everything around him and when he got out, he got to see the enchanted world around him.  The vibrant colors they used and it had this slight cartoon-ish touch to it that reassured us of the magical world around us.  I really  loved it a lot!

Next, I loved the cast.  James Franco was amazing and he really shone as the lead.  I haven’t seen a great amount of him doing comedies.  I’ve seen him in drama (127 Hours) and action (Spiderman).  However, I felt he fit right into the role and brought out all the charisma that he needed.  Man, did he kiss a lot of girls in this movie! And he had a lot of funny moments as well!

As much as Oz was a great part of this, the conflict between the three witches were a huge chunk as well.  Lets start with the order they appeared.  Mila Kunis as Theodora was gorgeous.  Its probably one of the best roles I’ve seen her in and she looked really pretty.  She took on an innocent believer, just the type that Oz would prey on to help him and her love ended up changing her into the total opposite of the spectrum.  She did it really good. Rachel Weisz played Theodora’s sister Evanora, a manipulative witch that holds a lot of hidden secrets.  Prior to this, I’ve only seen Weisz in The Lovely Bones and I don’t really remember much of it.  She is a very charming woman as well.  She portrayed really well the elegant yet manipulative and slightly evil role she was given.  Her expressions and tone of voice was spot on.

Last we have Glinda played by Michelle Wiliams. I haven’t known this actress before however she played the sweet and soft but had strong will and inner strength.  She was convincing not only with how she represented that character but she had a very wonderful smile to match it. I think for all the 3 witches, they did cast the right women.  Charming, pretty and elegant embodied each of them. Many times where the witches were involved, it was the most intense and dramatic moments in the movie.

The comic relief in this movie other than Oz himself had to be the addition of his flying monkey, Finley.  I don’t watch Scrubs personally and I’m not really familiar with Zach Braff but his dialogue and facial expressions that they gave for this animated character was just hilarious.  He was my boyfriend’s favorite part of the movie, I think.  Aside from that, another character worth mentioning was the Chinadoll that was rescued from China Town.  I love the name, a twist on what we know as Chinatown 😉 That little girl was super awesome. The detail in the character and the voice was done by Joey King.  It showed perfectly at times, how she was fragile but courageous at the same time. Very well depicted characters!

 

I could go on and on about this.  I love this movie and its a great choice for seeing in theatres.  The CGI, the characters, and the whole animation was gorgeous and well-portrayed.  The story itself had a twist from the Wizard of Oz story that we know.  It wasn’t too dramatic or tense and had a balance of fun and comedic moments, which makes it highly enjoyable!