The blog of author Stacy Kingsley

Movie Review - THE BABYSITTER

10/21/2017

THE BABYSITTER is a 2017 original established by Netflix. The movie follows teen boy, Cole, as he lives through one night of hell and hilarity.

Cole is a teenage boy who no longer needs a babysitter, but who gets to have one anyway. And as babysitters go his is a dream. Blonde bombshell Bee is his babysitter. She is a no nonsense young woman who watches Cole when he needs her and even when he doesn't. She stands up to bullies for him on her off time, and is most likely one of the hottest, and possibly the most protective, babysitter ever.

The night in question is a night full of murder, satanism, traps, accidental deaths, and the sexual awakening of a young man as he realizes he can do all of the things he stopped himself from doing before.

This movie is a dark comedy and it had me rolling on the floor with laughter. Some of the scenes between the protagonist, Cole, and the intruders to his home are fabulous. One in particular stands out between Cole, a jock, and Cole's main bully. It was so incredibly hilarious, and unbelievable, and honestly a lot of this movie reminded me of classics like THE 'BURBS and SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER. The acting by all was spot on, so much so that the father of one of the characters not only annoyed me but personified a divorced father trying to regain his youth quite well, although stereotypically. The movie had many bright spots, and in fact I will likely watch it again. I loved it almost as I loved GET OUT and KEANU.

I can't say too much about this movie without giving a lot away, so I will stop this review a little earlier that I usually would. Just watch this movie. It was hilarious, dark, had some great horror elements, and was all-around a really great movie.

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Movie Review - THE PYRAMID (2014)

10/21/2017

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Have you seen THE DESCENT? How about CATACOMBS? Maybe you've seen BURIED? If you have seen any of these movies then you have seen THE PYRAMID. This movie is about another set of archeologists who stupidly uncover something and forget all safety protocols when they are told to leave. Not only was it predictable, but it was boring and I never really cared what happened to the characters.

This horror film was as predictable as they come. Not only was there a camera crew who shouldn't have been there, but there was a character who kept saying they should not go into the pyramid, a character who kept saying it would be criminal not to go into the pyramid and take a chance at seeing what was in there before everything was lost, but there was also a character who forces everyone's hand and creates a situation where at least someone must go into the pyramid.

The film crew seemed to be around just to be the whiny characters who get to keep saying, "We need to get out of here, we shouldn't be in here." Of course, one of them reaches the end of the film, while the other dies a horrible and painful death near the beginning of the action. The first person to die is of course a love interest who everyone tries to save, and things just go from there.

The characters continue to make horrible decisions, and while watching even I had to question what they were doing. Not only are they not observant, but they keep missing clues around them that there might be danger. While I can suspend belief and watch horror movies that don't always make sense, this one tried too hard to suspend belief. The characters tramp through the pyramid not caring that they are breathing in toxic air, not caring that there are weird skeletal animals eating everything available (I mean what have they been feasting on all this time?), but they also don't care about the fact that they are trying to find a way out with a virus or bacteria running their systems that may, or may not, be contagious.

I almost stopped watching this movie less than halfway through because the idea was unoriginal. This is an idea that has been done and done to death. Now if the end hadn't been so predictable, or the order in which the characters died, it may have been more interesting, but THE DESCENT already did this and it was superior to this movie in every way.

So, do I recommend this movie, of course not. If you want a good movie watch THE DESCENT.

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Movie Review - BLADE RUNNER 2049

10/10/2017

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The future has come and gone and nothing has changed, except replicants, now we use them to do work no one else wants to. The older versions are being retired, and the new versions are created to obey the commands of human

K (played by Ryan Gosling) is a man on a mission to retire those sought after replicants. He seeks them out and hopes they will come with him peacefully, but most of the time they don't. When we first see K, thirty years after the first movie takes place, he is sent to retire the replicants and this is his only job. He reports to Lieutenant Joshi (played by Robin Wright) and she tells him everything he must do. When an interesting artifact is found at his latest capture, he is sent to find the missing pieces and end lives if he must. On the way he is attacked by people who want things from him, and he finds that life isn't as it seems, and maybe it never was.

I enjoyed this movie, but possibly not as much as others after looking at the reviews. While most of the graphics were fascinating and fun, keeping in tune with the original BLADE RUNNER movie, and the scenery is depressing, and a lot like the scenery in the first movie as well, that was possibly the most fascinating part of the movie. I felt that Gosling was miscast as K, and he seemed a little too bland. I felt a lot like I was watching the driver in the movie DRIVE again. The character of K reminded me of the bland, or static, feeling I got from the driver.

There were of course twists and turns, and while Harrison Ford was in this movie, his character wasn't as dynamic as he was in the original. In fact the most interesting character was that of Luv (played by Sylvia Hoeks), a replicant who works for Wallace and the Wallace Company, the builder and creator of the new generation of replicants. Luv was a dedicated replicant, who tried her best to do what she was told, but who honestly had a dark secret.

The biggest issue I had with this movie was the 2 hour and 44 minute run time. There was a lot I felt could have been cut or at least edited down. The second issue I had was not as big as the running time, but it was the ending of the movie. The ending tried to be as emotionally significant as the scene in the original when Rutger Hauers character dies. There wasn't enough to make me care about the person who died in BLADE RUNNER 2049, and yet they even use the same music that was used when Rutger Hauer made his awesome speech and then died.

Okay, not I know some of you might think that because of this review I did not like this movie. This is not the case at all. In fact I enjoyed the movie, it just wasn't my favorite movie. I don't think it had the same feel or emotion as the original BLADE RUNNER, and I really do think not only did it try too hard to be relevant, but it also tried too hard to evoke emotion, especially by trying to give Rachel and Deckard more back story and explanation, which in turn ruins some of the feel of the unanswered questions in the original.

So, do I recommend that you see it? Yes, but I also suggest keeping an open mind and maybe, before you go and see it watch the original movie.

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Movie Review - WONDER WOMAN

10/7/2017

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I finally saw WONDER WOMAN, and it was just okay. I will be perfectly honest and say it wasn't as fun as the first IRON MAN movie. After I watched IRON MAN I couldn't wait for the next one, but with WONDER WOMAN I was like, that was fun, but I am not anxiously waiting for the next film. I don't know if it was because as an origin story it was just meh, or if maybe Wonder Woman is just meh to me as a character, but it didn't grab me.

As a concept this movie was fun. I did enjoy watching it, but I felt that there was a lot that could have been changed to make Wonder Woman a different and enjoyable character, instead she was kept in the same stereotype as most women, tight clothes showing off her figure, high heels, and an innocent persona.

Diana seemed to know a lot when she left her island, but there seems to also be a lot she didn't know. If she could read a twelve volume book on the ways to pleasure a woman and sex she should have been able to learn more about life in general. Instead, she seemed too innocent about a lot of things, while having a surprising amount of knowledge of other things (and this seemed to be added in just for comic relief). Also, I was annoyed that when she got undress and was in a somewhat classic version of the Wonder Woman costume she was wearing high heels. I wondered why she was forced to wear high heels, when a better choice would have been a nice and comfortable pair of flat boots what would make more sense. There were many things like this throughout the movie that bothered me.

She also seems constantly surprised that she has special powers, which was also unrealistic to me. After she learns about one power in a practice battle she never uses it again in the movie, even while fighting with the god of war. I mean Tony Stark has become something of a huge asshole, but at least he understands his abilities. Diana's mother doesn't even tell her daughter things she might need to know when she is leaving the island and entering a land and time she has know understanding of.

One of the other huge issues I had was Trevor. While I don't think Chris Pine is a bad actor, I felt he was playing Chris Pine through a lot of this and some of his comrades were much more interesting than he was. Plus, why did they feel the need to make Pine and Gadot the same height when they were dancing? I mean we all know Pine is a tiny little man, so why not keep that as part of the story, since Wonder Woman is technically an Amazonian woman? It all frustrated me.

Of course, with all of this being said, I still enjoyed the movie, I just don't feel like it lived up to the hype. And while I do look forward to the next one, I could care less if I see it in a theater or not, and I doubt I will go out of my way to watch it. It wasn't a bad movie, it wasn't a great movie, it was an okay movie, and I can say I've watched it, so that is life.

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October 03rd, 2017

10/3/2017

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October is my favorite month. Why? Because I love Halloween, I love scary movies, I love haunted houses, I love the feeling in the air, I love that it provides the entrance to the holiday season, I love everything about October.

Some thing that I love it because I am a horror author, but I love the magic of October. It is a time t0 reinvent yourself. You can dress up on Halloween to be whoever you want. You can start enjoying fancy Starbucks drinks and candy and life. I know everyone has their season, I think mine it the fall.

It is funny though because I really dislike Christmas, and since I have digestive issues Thanksgiving can be hard on me. I am also allergic to apples, so let's say that all of the apple cider, and caramel apples, and delicious apple pies are constant reminders of what I am missing out.... I wasn't always allergic to apples. However, like everything else I make due with what I have been burdened with.

I grew up and lived in San Diego, California, for a long time. The seasons don't change much in San Diego, and the joke that it is 70 all year round, well it is closer to 75 and there are very few seasons. People love this, and I thought I did too, until I visited Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island during the fall. Seasons are magical. Watching the leaves change colors, the crisp feel as the air turns from humid and unbearable to delightful and refreshing, and the beauty of the landscape is awesome. I now live in Virginia, and the leaves are changing. The sky is getting dimmer and the clouds are getting longer and wider. The night isn't as loud as it was all summer as the bugs start to move on.

I love October. I love the weather and the chill in the air. I look forward to winter, when the world slows down and hot chocolate is the drink of the night. I do enjoy Halloween, and it is honestly my favorite holiday, but I love October for so much more than the holiday, I love it because it is October.

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Movie Review - THE BABYSITTER

Movie Review - THE PYRAMID (2014)

Movie Review - BLADE RUNNER 2049

Movie Review - WONDER WOMAN

October 03rd, 2017

Stacy Kingsley

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