Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark Lives Up to its Name

Like with Goosebumps, Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark, were a series of horror books I was too chicken to read when I was a kid. The terrifying illustrations only added to keeping me away. Reading it years later, Alan Schwartz's anthology series, serves as a good introduction for young readers to horror; my favorite excepts include High Beams, The Haunted House, and The Girl Who Stood on the Grave. With Goosebumps getting the big-screen treatment, Scary Stories goes through a somewhat similar procedure of using the books as a plot device, rather than adapting a particular story.

The Angry Birds Movie 2 Take a Wobbly Flight with Dignity

From Left to Right (Top): Leonard (Bill Hader), Mighty Eagle (Peter Dinklage) and Bomb (Danny McBride)
From Left to Right (Bottom): Courtney (Awkwafina), Chuck (Josh Gad), Silver (Rachel Bloom) and Red (Jason Sudeikis).  

Video Game movies don't have a good reputation; awful adaptions at worst, guilty pleasures at best. Out of this arcade cavalcade, The Angry Birds Movie is shockingly the best video-game based movie. It's by no means good, (I'd rank it at a C grade) but compared to its pixelated predecessors, it's a masterpiece. A passable plot, decent protagonist, funny antagonist, and best of all, carrying what made the app fun from its zippy and bright energy including the signature slingshot. What weighs it down are the annoying side characters and obnoxious humor; most of which I'm surprised they allowed in a children's movie.

Triple Review Vol. 2

The ninth movie from Quentin Tarantino, James Bobin's second try on bringing a television icon to the big-screen and a personal story from Lulu Wang. Worth the watch or skippable flicks?

Cinema Spotlight VI - Jon Favreau (Part 9): "The Jungle Book"

This isn't the first time Disney's tried to do a live-action re-interpretation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. Back in 1994 Stephen Sommers did his take on the classic story of Mowgli in Disney's first live-action remake by making Mowgli a grown-man and the animals never talking. As a kid, it was a traumatic experience, re-watching years later its a film that would have fared better with a PG-13 rating instead of being advertised as fun for the whole family. If anything, it prepared Sommers to apply his action/adventure skills with The Mummy movies. As for Disney's animated version from 1967, its cute with a catchy soundtrack (who doesn't know The Bare Necessities), and plenty of memorable characters from Baloo, Bagherea, Kaa and Shere Khan.

Cinema Spotlight VI - Jon Favreau (Part 8): "Chef"

Emjay Anthony as Percy, Jon Favreau as Carl Casper, & Sofia Vergara as Inez.

When I think of Jon Favreau's best work, I think of Swingers, Made and Chef. Movies where Favreau serves as writer, director and lead actor. The characters he inhabits are sad sacks going through a personal crisis. As Mike Peters in Swingers, he's a comedian trying to make it in Hollywood while going through a break-up. In Made, he's Bobby Ricigliano, a boxer working with the mob to support his family.