What to Watch This Weekend: Early Halloween Horror, Apocalyptic Sci-Fi, Chinese Anime, Enola Holmes, I Still Believe, and Guy Ritchie Comedy

For Horror Fans Looking To Vacation - Death of Me (Theaters and Digital)

Death of Me constructs a convincing horror scenario in paradise, with a great sense of dread, a story that has you constantly worried about the clock, and eerie effects and sound.  For more information, check out our review!

For Anime Fans - Jiang Ziya (Theaters)

Jiang Ziya is a decidedly more epic film than Ne Zha, with more detailed and stunning animation, a grandiose soundtrack, and a larger and more consequential adventure.   For more information, check out our review!

For the Sci-Fi Fans - 2067 (Theaters and Digital)

2067 is a breath of fresh air, with a new take on a post-apocalyptic scenario, strong acting from Kodi Smit-McPhee, and a well-paced story that concludes with a satisfying ending.  For more information, check out our review!

For the Mystery Solvers - Enola Holmes (Netflix)

Enola Holmes gets high marks for Millie Bobby Brown's wonderful, effervescent performance, charming story, and its valuable lessons.  

For the Horror Storytellers - Scare Me (Shudder)

Scare Me tells a spirited, funny story that will entertain viewers, but leaves it up to their imagination to really find the scares in these spooky stories.  For more information, check out our review!

For the Nostalgic Horror Fan - Scary Stories (Amazon)

Get into the Halloween spirit with the retelling of the classic children's tales.  The remake did a great job translating the iconic imagery to the big screen and the whole film was much better than it should have been!  For more information, check out our review!

For the Faith-Forward Fans - I Still Believe (Hulu)

I Still Believe tells an amazing story with solid performances by its two leads and an inspiring message that was tweaked a little too much for Hollywood in the wrong ways.  For more information, check out our review!

For the Heist or Guy Ritchie Fans - The Gentlemen (Showtime)

The Gentlemen is classic Guy Ritchie: a fantastic cast acting in a complicated crime caper fueled by Ritchie's amazing style and sharp, clever writing.  Dignify yourself and don't miss this one.    For more information, check out our review!

What to Watch This Weekend: July 10, 2020

Great New Take On Groundhog Day: Palm Springs (Hulu)
Palm Springs is a fresh take on the Groundhog Day formula, with a charismatic duo, plenty of ridiculous and laugh-out-loud moments, and a story that grows on you as it repeats!  For more information, check out our review!

Glitterfest For The Kids And Adults: Trolls World Tour (Redbox)
I know this has been in back to back recommendations, but my kids still love it and now it's available at Redbox!  Trolls World Tour keeps the same style and characters that made the first movie a surprise hit, and adds a bunch of new and interesting music trolls and locations to the band, while also providing an avenue to talk to your kids about diversity and tolerance.  For more information, check out our review!

The Complete Action Package: The Old Guard (Netflix)

The Old Guard is the complete action package with exciting and brutal fight sequences, a meaningful story, and some amazing special effects.  If there is one action movie you have to watch into eternity, this is a pretty great choice.  For more information, check out our review!

Tom Hanks Doing What He Does Best: Greyhound (AppleTV+)
Greyhound scores a direct hit with Tom Hanks's stellar performance, heart stopping naval action, convincing CG, and explosive sound.  For more information, check out our review!

For Anyone Interested In Creative Endeavors: Gamemaster (Digital)
Gamemaster is a comprehensive, entertaining documentary about the growing board game industry, with diverse viewpoints and a wonderful cast of characters who rolled the dice on the indie board game scene.  For more information, check out our review!

Suspenseful Family Horror Drama: Relic (Digital)
Relic has a fantastic cast, a wonderful commitment to traditional special effects, and a complicated, layered story that drips with suspense.  For more information, check out our review!

Lovingly Crafted Frontier Drama: First Cow (Digital)

First Cow is an udderly charming film; those hoping for something wonderfully different will enjoy the fantastic characters, writing, and setting, as well as how the film milks each and every shot.  For more information, check out our review!

Horror Remake Of Classic Kids Tales: Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (Showtime)
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark brings the classic horror short stories to life.  It’s a great with a long run time and relatively mild scares to keep you entertained at home!  For more information, check out our review!

What to Watch This Weekend: November 8, 2019

In Theaters: Doctor Sleep

Doctor Sleep pairs a stellar cast, with a big score, and enough nostalgia from the original movie to keep you entertained.  For more information, check out our review!

At Redbox: Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark brings the classic horror short stories to life on the big screen.  For more information, check out our review!

Streaming (Amazon): Overlord
The alternate universe war movie tells a different side of Nazi Germany.  It has a lot of good action and what I loved most about it is that despite its clearly unrealistic antagonists, the movie is presented in a way that makes it fit into a plausible WW2 alternate history. 

Streaming (HBO): Glass

if you have the patience for Shyamalan's vision of a super hero universe, it presents an interesting premise and a chance to revisit some fantastic characters.  For more information, check out our review!

Review: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Release date: August 9, 2019

Running time: 111 minutes

Starring:  Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush

Inspired by the iconic series of horror tales by Alvin Schwartz, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark takes us to 1969 in the small town of Mill Valley, Pennsylvania.  The movie follows a group of high school kids led by Stella Nicholls (Zoe Margaret Colletti) and her friends Auggie Hilderbrandt (Gabriel Rush) and Chuck Steinberg (Austin Zajur).  The teens are preparing for their Halloween night, which involves a little bit of mischief and eventually a whole lot of horror.  Stella decides to explore the Bellows mansion, which leads to more of an adventure than any of the kids can imagine: the kids discover a mysterious book that makes a different scary story come to life every night!

If you grew up in the 80s and 90s, you know these stories.  The best thing about this movie is that it stays true to these books, which is an amazing feat since the filmmakers converted a series of short stories into a movie.  You will instantly recognize the illustrations that unnerved you as a kid, and those scary stories are augmented by an equally horrifying score.  And despite the horror and jump scares, this film manages to barely stay in the PG-13 rating.  

Despite the great imagery that the movie invokes, the film does seem to run a bit long.  With a runtime of almost 2 hours, at times it seems like the movie focuses more on character development than on action and horror. Also, the horror might scare a teenager, but an adult might be underwhelmed by the scares this film provides.  If you are a loyal fan of the books, then you will want to check this movie out just for nostalgia purposes, but a casual fan might want to hold off and wait to see it on video. 

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark brings the classic horror short stories to life on the big screen.  It’s a great feat, but the long run time and mild scares might make this a better story too tell at home. 

Rent it.

What to Watch This Weekend: August 9, 2019

In Theaters: Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark
The movie adaptation of the classic children's tales is a faithful recreation that manages a delicate balance of spooky and funny.  It keeps the classic stories but updates them with modern movie techniques and Guillermo del Toro's fantastic vision.  

At Redbox: Detective Pikachu
Speaking of adapting childhood classics, Detective Pikachu brings the Pokemon universe to life with a live action adaptation of the Pokemon universe.  The movie has cameos from many of your favorite Pokemon, but the real driving force here is the fantastic partnership of Justice Smith and Ryan Reynolds. 

Streaming (HBO): The Favourite

The funny, dark, but all around wonderful rivalry between Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz makes the Favourite an engaging royal story.  The story is over the top, the acting is phenomenal, and the plot has enough twists and turns to keep you watching no matter who you root for. 

Streaming (Vudu - Free with Ads): The Founder
Michael Keaton's biographically based drama gives you a look at the founder of the world's most famous food chain and the ruthless and inspiring way he revolutionized both food and business.  The movie is not a happy meal, but the story of the Golden Arch's founder will give you a new perspective on the famous brand.