Tag Archives: Movie Reviews

Movies in Bed: Secret Life of Pets

Post by Mark T. Locker.

Have you ever wondered what exactly happens once pet owners leave for the day? Well, I can’t say for sure but The Secret Life of Pets which came out on DVD/Blu-Ray/Digital release in December has some theories. The story follows the lives of a number of pets in some Manhattan apartments. The main character, Max (voiced by Louis C.K.) is a doted-on single dog whose life is turned upside-down when his owner brings home a big shaggy shelter dog named Duke. Their personal dislike of each other takes a serious turn when the two of them get caught by animal control thanks to a neglectful dog-walker. When they are unexpectedly rescued by a rogue team of abandoned pets (a pig, a dog, a lizard and a surprisingly fierce bunny) they have to pretend to be abandoned as well. Meanwhile, the tiny fluffy dog named Gidget (Jenny Slate) who loves Max realizes something is amiss and pull together a band of pets to go and rescue them.

In a world of so many remakes, reboots, spinoffs and adaptations, it’s refreshing to find some unique content. My favorite parts were really at the beginning as we got to know the animals in the building, from the fat disinterested cat to the guinea pig who has been lost in the ducts for weeks trying to remember where his owner lives. It’s a fun and exciting story with enough humor to keep the grown-ups engaged and enough silliness and adventure for the little ones. Great movie to watch under a heaping pile of blankets as winter trudges on.

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Movies in Bed: The Witches

witchesPost by Mark T. Locker.

Halloween is a little more than a week away. And so, it is imperative that we continue to thumb through the movies of monsters, ghosts, witches and goblins. Keeping with the theme of children’s/family friendly movies, let us turn today to The Witches, based on the 1983 Roald Dahl novel of the same name.

While young Luke is on holiday to visit his grandmother Helga in Norway, she tells him tales of the witches. Real witches, with flashing violet eyes who are repulsed by children, will lure the disgusting things and do away with them. According to his grandmother, her own sister was taken and imprisoned in a painting.

Luke is fascinated but these stories fade as he discovers terrible news: his parents have been killed in an accident. Helga takes over care of Luke and moves with him to England. One day, while in his treehouse, a strange woman with violet eyes comes by and tries to lure him down. Immediately he remembers the stories Helga had told him. Screaming for help, the woman slinks away. Shortly thereafter, Helga and Luke retire to the seaside for some R & R only to discover there is a massive witches’ convention there, under the ironic pseudonym of Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. When Luke discovers their nefarious plan to turn all children into mice, he becomes an early test subject. Luckily he has a very understanding grandma and together they fight to defeat the Witches.

Scary in the way cartoonish witches are scary, this movie is more action than horror. The witches are horrendously ugly when they remove their human disguises but not too frightening. My 8-year-old enjoyed the movie. So if you need something a bit spooky but you still want your kid to sleep in his own bed, The Witches is a great pick.

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Movie in Bed: Something Wicked This Way Comes

something_wicked_this_way_comes_1983_movie_poster

Post by Mark T. Locker.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Disney went in a darker direction than what we have come to recognize as Disney. From Escape to Witch Mountain to The Watcher in the Woods, Disney covered the weird and the creepy with a particular lo-fi flair. My favorite of these darker Disney days was always the adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s creepy Halloween story, Something Wicked This Way Comes. Disney even got Bradbury to write the screenplay.

The movie tells the story of two thirteen-year-old boys, Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway. In the autumn before their fourteenth year, a strange and mysterious carnival rolls into town in the dead of night. Dark’s Pandemonium Carnival is no normal carnival. It’s readily apparent that something sinister is going on there. People enter the mirror maze and don’t return. Dark’s Pandemonium Carnival feeds on the deepest desires of its attendees. Their old teacher yearns for youth. The cigar store owner dreams of riches. Mr. Dark can make their dreams come true, but at great cost. When Jim and Will sneak in after dark and see one of the carnival members turned young on an enchanted carousel, they realize that they’re already in too deep. Knowing the boys know too much, Mr. Dark sets out to find the two boys, by way of magic, treachery or whatever means necessary.

Part horror story, part reflection on youth and friendship, part story of an older father trying to reconnect with his young son, the underlying story is surprisingly deep and complex. But to balance all that out, there are lots of bad special effects. My 8-year-old called the creeping green magic of the Dust Witch “Scooby-Doo effects”. He’s right. This is a creepy but not too creepy movie, a great way to kick off October, the spookiest month of all.

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Movies in Bed: Spirited Away

spirited-awayPost by Mark T. Locker.

This past weekend, my home town of Portland, Oregon threw its annual Rose City Comic Con, a fabulous convention for lovers of pop culture, comics, movies and art. Thousands come dressed in amazing and creative costumes, and many more come to peruse the booths of artists and vendors. This year we came out with a lithograph and some little decals both inspired by the fabulous anime movie, Spirited Away.

This is one of my favorite films by the remarkable animator Hayao Miyazaki, who is also known for Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, and My Neighbor Totoro. All of his movies are worth watching; each one is carefully hand-drawn frame by frame, with an attention to detail that is rarely seen in animated movies these day. But of all of them, Spirited Away is one of the very best.

Inspired by and made for a couple small children he knew, the movie tells the tale of a young girl, Chihiro, whose move to a new town and away from her friends takes an unexpected detour after a wrong turn. Her parents, intrigued by a tunnel that leads to a strange and abandoned town, are lured in by amazing food that magically appears. Chihiro leaves them to explore and discovers an incredible bathhouse, but too late she discovers she shouldn’t be there. This is a bathhouse for the gods, run by an unpleasant with named Yubaba. But night has fallen and she is trapped. Her parents, having eaten food meant for the gods, are turned into pigs and Chihiro must figure out how to save them, and herself.

Filled with many amazing and strange characters, from the many-armed furnace operator and his army of animated soot creatures, to the mysterious and eerie No Face, it’s hard to tear your eyes away from this incredible movie. So snuggle up with your No Face stuffed animal, turn down the lights and enjoy this truly unique movie.

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Movies in Bed: Young Frankenstein

frfPost by Mark T. Locker.

Rest in peace, Gene Wilder. There seem to be two camps of people: those who mostly remember this hilarious, frizzy-haired goofball as Willy Wonka in the 1971 production; his face in one of the final scenes has been plaster across millions of political memes throughout the last few years; and those who remember him as Frederick Frankenstein, grandson to the mad genius who created the Creature, known as Frankenstein’s monster. He was of course in many other great movies: Blazing Saddles; Stir Crazy; The Producers. But the two movies coming back to the big screen this fall are Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Young Frankenstein.

I come from a Young Frankenstein family. It’s both hilarious and beautiful at the same time. It’s got dark mystery mixed with the zany antics you would expect from a Mel Brooks film. Marty Feldman’s Igor is so bizarre and funny that it’s hard to know how anyone manages to keep a straight face.  If you haven’t seen the movie, the basic run-down is that the grandson of Dr. Victor Frankenstein., Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, is a great surgeon and teacher who wants nothing to do with his grandfather’s work. But when he inherits his grandfather’s estate, he must take the trip to see it for himself. Try as he might, he cannot resist the allure of playing God.

Using the set from the original 1931 Frankenstein movie, the eerie old-fashioned feeling is contrasted with the amazing cast of Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Madeleine Kahn, Teri Garr and Peter Boyle. There are a number of raunchy jokes (this is a Mel Brooks movie, after all) so bear that in mind for family viewing.

Autumn is coming; what better way to celebrate fall and honor Gene Wilder than with curling up under blankets and watching this classic.

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