What to Watch This Weekend: Halloween 2021 Edition

For An Understated, Atmospheric Horror Experience: Antlers (Theaters)
Antlers will hook you with its understated tone, fantastic music and setting, and unsettling use of light and gore to create an atmospheric creature feature with a slow burning, but very unsettling story.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Stylish Film With A Darker Message: Last Night in Soho (Theaters)

Last Night in Soho is a time trip, with a stylish format and some amazing 1960s music to aid this thriller that explores some darker themes than you initially expect.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Unique, Violent Animated Experience: The Spine of Night (Theaters and Digital)

The Spine of Night is an unique, ultraviolent animated fantasy epic, with an all star cast and a style that you just don't see made anymore. 

For A Twisted Aging Story: Old (Redbox)

Old has a mysterious story, some very nice performances and small touches, and a trademark M. Night Shyamalan twist ending, but the quirks and odd dialogue might cast some shadows on this beach vacation.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Meaty Horror Film: Broil (Free Streaming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Vudu)
Broil is a feast for the senses, with meaty characters, a savory simmering style, and an accompaniment of sharp writing and full bodied music.  For more information, check out our review!

For Those Who Want A Virtual Haunted House: Haunt (Shudder)

Haunt's combination of atmospheric, impactful sound, tense and gruesome horror, and unsettling villains makes this a haunted house you will want to explore.  For more information, check out our review!

For The Kids: Paranorman (Netflix)

Paranorman's beautiful art and kid friendly content makes this an artistic and enjoyable way to spend spooky season with the kids.

For The Kids Part 2: Muppets Haunted Mansion (Disney+)

Muppets Haunted Mansion hits Disney+ today and it is a great, family friend way to get your kids into the holiday spirit!

What to Watch This Weekend: Dune, Ron's Gone Wrong, French Dispatch, Protege, Old, Hell House, Zola, Freaky

For A Spicy Sci Fi Drama: Dune (Theaters and HBO Max)
Dune is a stunning visualization of Frank Herbert's world, with a great cast, fantastic special effects, and an epic and otherworldly soundtrack that will suck you in quicker than a great sand worm. For more information, check out the review!

For An Animated Adventure: Ron's Gone Wrong (Theaters)

The film gets high marks for its animation and humor, and the ultimate story of friendship is an endearing one.  

For A Quirky Stylish Comedy: The French Dispatch (Theaters)

The French Dispatch is mangifique, with an all star cast, crisp and witty writing, and a format that allows these two to meld perfectly for a thoroughly enjoyable and unique experience.  For more information, check out the review! 

For An Enjoyable Cat And Mouse Assassin Film: The Protege (Redbox)
The Protege's great cast, fun chemistry between the lead characters, and understated but brutal action make this one assassin film that is on target.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Twisted Aging Story: Old (Redbox)

Old has a mysterious story, some very nice performances and small touches, and a trademark M. Night Shyamalan twist ending, but the quirks and odd dialogue might cast some shadows on this beach vacation.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Bizarre, Hilarious Odyssey: Zola (Showtime)

Zola is something that has to be experienced to truly understand, and the combination of bizarre characters, amazing style, and some intense performances make this film something to like and retweet.  For more information, check out the review!

For The Spooky Season: Hell House LLC (Amazon Prime)

Hell House LLC is a surprisingly good found footage horror entry with a slow build up and plenty of scares to get your Halloween screaming!

For The Spooky Season 2: Freaky (HBO Max)

Freaky is a mash up of slasher, humor, and teen drama, with enjoyable performances from Vaughn and Newton in this stylish, entertaining horror take on the body swap film.   For more information, check out our review!

What to Watch This Weekend: Trollhunters, Old, Last Letter From Your Lover, Sexy Beasts, Sword Art Online, Quiet Place Part II, Spiral, Initiation

For The Timeless Romantic: The Last Letter From Your Lover (Netflix)
The Last Letter From Your Love has two intriguing storylines, some amazing fashion and style, and some wonderful views of the French Riviera to fall in love with.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Ridiculous Reality Show: Sexy Beasts (Netflix)

Sexy Beasts is the most fun and ridiculous reality dating show you can watch, with a silly premise that makes for some interesting dates and lets these individual's personalities shine through!  For more information, check out the review!

For The Trollhunters Fans: Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (Netflix)

Trollhunters: Rise of Titans continues the Tales of Arcadia trilogy with some beautiful animation and larger than life encounters that will determine the fate of the Trollhunters world.  For more information, check out the review! 

For The Disappointed Trollhunters Fans: Sword Art Online (Netflix)

I have heard lots of mixed results with the Trollhunters ending, but for those looking for something else to watch after Trollhunters, check out Sword Art Online, an animated series that features a fantasy setting with some technology.  

For A Twisted Aging Story: Old (Theaters)

Old has a mysterious story, some very nice performances and small touches, and a trademark M. Night Shyamalan twist ending, but the quirks and odd dialogue might cast some shadows on this beach vacation.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Tense, Quiet Evening: A Quiet Place Part II (Paramount+)

A Quiet Place Part II continues the Abbott's story with the same amazing sound effects and trademark muffled horror that made the first movie such an auditory treat.  For more information, check out the review!

For The Next Chapter in the Book of Saw: Spiral (Redbox)
Spiral's star power, brutal challenges and effects, and police procedural story will draw you down into this next chapter from the Book of Saw.  For more information, check out the review!

For A Crazy, Murderous Horror Party: Initiation (Redbox)

Initiation's college slasher party is amplified with great practical effects, brutal deaths, a good amount of tension, and a social media message.  For more information, check out our review!

Old Review: A Beautiful, Dread-Filled Day At The Beach

Release date: July 23, 2021
Running time: 101 minutes
Written and Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen, Aaron Pierre, Embeth Davidtz, Emun Elliott 

This summer, visionary filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan unveils a chilling, mysterious new thriller about a family on a tropical holiday who discover that the secluded beach where they are relaxing for a few hours is somehow causing them to age rapidly … reducing their entire lives into a single day. 

Old is a mixed bag.  It has some really interesting features and some of that trademark M. Night Shyamalan strangeness, and of course the twist ending, but the journey to get to that part is rough and choppy.  First, for the good, the film features several children and their dialogue is strange, but understandably so.  I liked how the kids asked some random questions and how they spoke to each other, which did feel like how kids would talk.  And the great touch is that as the kids age rapidly on the secluded beaches, their bodies change but the dialogue remains simple.  The performances by the adult kids: Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, and Eliza Scanlen helped to suspend your disbelief as it often did sound like children in the bodies of grown ups.  And the idyllic setting of the beach is another nice touch.  The beach is simply beautiful, with a peaceful and otherworldly feel to it.  

But it is the small touches that help to sell this film.  For one, the music has a tribal feel to it, but one that also seems to incorporate the sounds of a ticking clock.  It was a small but noticeable touch that I really appreciated.  And the cinematography is a mixed bag, but often it is stellar.  There are some great long takes of the characters as they process what is going on and try to make sense of this strange situation.  And you have some very artful shots that frame the terrible acts happening with this wonderful view of nature.  And one thing that was a subtle but appreciated touch is that the trees around the beach are all aged and dead.  As you're looking past the beach, the trees are beautiful and lush, but they turn brown closer to the actual area.  These little touches do a great job of selling this world and the overall story.

But Old does have some odd quirks, first and foremost with the dialogue.  The film has some lines that just feel random and questionable delivery.  Sometimes the characters sound flat and sometimes the responses just aren't in the same tone as the conversation that is happening.  And the lines can occasionally sound random, like when people offer up information or say statements that don't really relate to the previous conversation.  It's like the film is forcing ideas or plot points onto the screen in an unnatural manner.  And on top of that, there were some weird glitches, like when one of the character's swimsuits changed with seemingly no explanation.  And some of the dread shots just look strange, like a lower budget movie trying to create a sinister effect.  It, like much of the film, was odd and just felt off.  And with the great cinematography, there were some shots that were distracting.  There was one where it had an unfocused view of a character while something else is happening off screen, and another where the shot is of the beach from the water but the waves obscure a small part of the shot every few seconds.  But the film does have a twist ending, and one that was much more acceptable on the spectrum of Shyamalan endings.  

Old has a mysterious story, some very nice performances and small touches, and a trademark M. Night Shyamalan twist ending, but the quirks and odd dialogue might cast some shadows on this beach vacation..

Rent it.

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Old is in theaters on July 23, 2021.  For showtimes, click here.

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Screening: See Old Early And Free Before You Waste Away

We have partnered with Universal Pictures for an early screening of M. Night Shyamalan's next twisted tale.  Find out the mystery of the mystery master's latest film before anyone else!  The film is coming to theaters on Friday, July 23rd but you can watch it early and free!  Details and entry form are below.

Old

This summer, visionary filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan unveils a chilling, mysterious new thriller about a family on a tropical holiday who discover that the secluded beach where they are relaxing for a few hours is somehow causing them to age rapidly … reducing their entire lives into a single day. 

Cast: Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abbey Lee, Aaron Pierre, Kathleen Chalfant, Alexa Swinton, Nolan River, Kylie Begley, Embeth Davidtz, Eliza Scanlen, Alex Wolff, Emun Elliott, Thomasin McKenzie

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Written by: M. Night Shyamalan, based on the graphic novel Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters

Rating: PG-13

Screening Info:

OLD

Wednesday, July 21

7:00pm

AMC Georgetown

Screening Link!

News: Check Out The Trailer for OLD, A New Chilling Thriller From M. Night Shyamalan

Old is a Blinding Edge Pictures production, directed and produced by M. Night Shyamalan, from his screenplay based on the graphic novel Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters. The film is also produced by Ashwin Rajan (Glass, AppleTV+’s Servant) and Marc Bienstock (Glass, Split). The film’s executive producer is Steven Schneider.

 

Genre: Thriller 

Cast: Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Ken Leung, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abbey Lee, Aaron Pierre, Kathleen Chalfant, Alexa Swinton, Nolan River, Kylie Begley, Embeth Davidtz, Eliza Scanlen, Alex Wolff, Emun Elliott, Thomasin McKenzie

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Written by: M. Night Shyamalan, based on the graphic novel Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters

Producers: M. Night Shyamalan, Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock

Executive Producer: Steven Schneider