The blog of author Stacy Kingsley - Stacy Kingsley

Are There Any GOOD Movies Out There???

3/22/2018

I know it has been a while since I wrote a blog, but either I've been in a funk or there hasn't been a lot that was interesting to me out there in movie land.

Now, I'll be honest, I haven't really felt like going out a lot, partly because it has been freezing cold where I am, and I am just tired of being cold and spending all of my money on warm drinks. However, there also seems to be a good movie freeze, or the movies I am interested in seeing are not appearing in theaters near me, or for very long. For example, I really wanted to see the movie WINCHESTER. Do you want to know when it was playing? 10pm at might. Now I am a night owl, but I also have to wake up at 6:30am to go to work, so I am sorry I am not going to get my butt out of bed after getting home at 12:30am and be happy to go to work that day. I am usually not happy to get up at 6:30am, I'm not going to push it.

Where are all the good movies at? It seems that all the movies being put out are either remakes (DEATH WISH) or weird romantic movies, or something that is just not a type of movie I am interested in. I mean the last good movie I saw was BLACK PANTHER and I thought it was okay, not great, but okay. I hated the ending. It was dumb. And I hated the ease of what happened to Claw, that was stupid too. I know my opinion is one the the few about the movie, but hey, I wasn't a fan of WONDER WOMAN either.

So, someone, tell me what's good out there! I feel like I am falling behind in my movie watching. I've been catching some good television, like, JESSICA JONES, ALTERED CARBON, 9-1-1, and catching up on MAJOR CRIMES. In fact, I still get the DVD's from Netflix and the next movie I'm getting is KEDI (so super excited!!!!). I mean a movie about cats... HELL TO THE YES!!

Anyway, enough of my ranting. If you have any good movies I should see, in the theaters, on streaming, or on DVD please share them with me! I am so bored and need more movies to watch!!!!

Question?!?!

9/7/2017

I'm wondering if there are movies that I may not have watched that I should watch and review? I generally review almost every movie I watch, but wonder if there are things out there I may be missing?

My last review was of the horror movie AUTOPSY, and most of the time I do review horror movies. I mean, hey, I'm a horror author so I'm tuned into the horror genre. I love horror movies, and horror novels, and horror TV shows, and horror events, and in reality Halloween is my favorite holiday, even if I don't dress up and go out. I do watch other movies not in the horror genre, I don't always review them. I probably should.

Well, now coming to the question of this? Do you guys out there in internetland have any movies suggestions? I want the odd movies, the fun movies, the weird movies, the off the wall movies, the movies no one else has heard of.... but I still need to be able to find them... So it can't be so off the wall that it is hard to find, otherwise I might not be able to watch it!

Movie Review - AUTOPSY

9/4/2017

AUTOPSY is a 2008 movie about friends who crash their car and end up at a local hospital. The hospital is a bizarre and possibly very dangerous place, with a weird front desk nurse and criminal deviants working as janitors and ambulance drivers.

The main character, Emily, is the one that the doctor, Benway, focuses on. She is a young girl who at one point was in med school, and the doctor seems to focus on this about her. He tells her she should go back to med school and get her degree, but he isn't who he seems to be, and behind the scenes he is experimenting, on what the audience doesn't really know.

One by one Emily's friends are taken away to be examined, and treated like experiments. She doesn't know what is happening until the doctor starts asking her some very odd questions during her exam. Emily asks after her boyfriend, Bobby, and is constantly told that he is in recovery, but towards the end of the movie she finds that nothing is that simple.

I will once again be honest, this was not the best movie. There was no explanation of plot, and as a horror movie it wasn't scary. It tries too hard to be a grotesque horror movie with violence and blood, but that isn't what makes a movie a horror movie. A good horror movie has something frightening, it suspends belief and makes one want to watch more. A good horror movie makes one sit on the edge of their seat and anxiously wait to see what happens to the characters. This movie had none of that.

I didn't get to know the backstory of any of the characters, which doesn't help make me care what happens to them. The bad guy, Dr. Benway, wasn't at all scary or menacing (even though the character was played by the excellent Robert Patrick). The scares were mostly of the gore and blood type, showing the inside of a characters beaten skull as another character tries to help them isn't scary, it is just dull since it has been done over and over. The movie just didn't grab me like it should have and I found my mind drifting to other things. It was boring, which is a bad thing for a horror movie to be.

I don't recommend this movie to anyone, not even anyone like me who will watch anything (even when it has bad reviews from others). It was dull, unoriginal, and just bland.

Movie Review - GRAVITY

1/22/2017

I know GRAVITY is an older movie, and some may want me to review newer movies, but I am a little behind on my movie watching so, sorry about this.

GRAVITY stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts doing work on one of the stations. As they are working they are informed by Huston that there is a problem and there is a lot of space trash flying right towards them. They attempt to move to a safe location but things go crazy and they are unable to. Their partner is killed, and they are briefly separated, in fact Sandra Bullocks character is sent hurtling through space, where the lack of air will kill you and the cold temperature of space will cause death in seconds. After a series of mishaps, Sandra is the only crew member left and she is the one who must find a way back to earth, or die in space like the rest of her companions.

The plot of this movie was somewhat lacking. There was almost no character development of any of the characters, so I wondered why I should care about them. If they died, I didn't know them so I wouldn't worry that they hadn't returned to earth, or had their faces caved in by space trash, or any of it all. Even though there was a little character development with Sandra Bullocks character (her backstory involved a tragedy and a child) there wasn't enough to make me wonder anything about her, partly because it wasn't expanded upon, so this little tidbit didn't add much to the story.

I felt as if this movie was made just to show the beauty of space. It was a visually stunning movie, and I did wonder what it would feel like to be basically stranded in space. I am sure I would be beyond scared. If I was hurtling through space with no tether keeping me attached to something tangible I would probably die within the few minutes it would take me to use up my oxygen reserves. The graphics were fabulous, and beautiful. The views of earth as everything was going on was gorgeous. The quick views of space and the rest of the galaxy were superb, and while Sandra Bullock was hurtling through space there were some spectacular images. Even the action scenes were stunning.

So visually this movie was pretty sweet. However, the characters could have used more substance, as they were flat, and honestly I felt that even with the good actors the acting in this movie was sub par for both Bullock and Clooney. This, for me, was not even close to the best work for either of them.

Movie Review - THE ABANDONED (2015)

8/14/2016

This is the summary on IMDb - Take a terrifying plunge into the warped mind of a disturbed young woman. Desperate to get her life back on track, the unstable Streak takes a job as a security guard, working the graveyard shift at a once upscale, now abandoned apartment complex. But on her first night on duty, she discovers a horrifying presence lurking deep within the bowels of the decaying building. With her nerves already on edge, Streak must confront demons both real and imagined as she struggles to keep a grip on her sanity.

This is a basic summary and after watching this movie it is so much more. A young woman, Streak, discovers the truth about what is behind a locked door in an abandoned apartment complex. She struggles to fight through her own delusions and the issues she is struggling with. In reality, she is the person with the answers, all she has to do is realize who she is.

This wasn't a great movie, I will admit that there was a bunch of stuff which could have been explained. The entire reason for part of the building to be locked was not really explained, and neither was the reason behind the bad thing that happened to all of the people who were residing in the area behind the locked door.

The stand out performance in this movie was by Jason Patrick, who I haven't seen in much since he was in THE LOST BOYS (I know there was more stuff but I haven't watched him in a lot of stuff). He portrays a security guard with physical disabilities very well. There was some humor with Patrick's character, which was a welcome break in a movie that took itself a little too seriously.

I wouldn't say I disliked this movie, it was an okay, it had few new scares. I enjoyed the plot of the movie, and didn't see the twist coming to the end, this was the only redeeming factor and the only reason I liked this movie.

In all honesty, it is hard to come up with new ideas for a horror movie. Most movies recycle the thrills and scare tactics. This movie was no different.

Now onto SHARKNADO 3, and tonight I am off to see the movie LIGHTS OUT so I should have a review of that tomorrow. Then back to work.

Movie Review - CONJURING 2

8/1/2016

Let me start this review off not with a review of the movie, but a review of my fellow moviegoers.

To the two large women sitting next to me: if someone is bothering you say something, don't keep whispering back and forth like no one can hear you.

To the teenagers next to me: Sure if you want to make out in a dark theater, go for it, just stop talking about it. I mean seriously teenage girl just freaking kiss the boy, stop asking "will you kiss me" and "kiss me now" it's stupid. Also, if you want to text and play snapchat in the theater, don't. Even if you turn your phone the other way so it isn't glaring in my face I can still see the little glowing light, so go outside if you MUST text. But you're in a movie, so why are you texting? It isn't that important since you didn't rush out of the theater for an emergency.

To the grandparents in front of me with three children only one of which was probably in the theater appropriately. First turn your stupid cell phone off. I get it, you don't get technology by the look of your old flip phone, but I am sure you can still turn it on silent, so it really shouldn't be ringing in the theater. And honestly it shouldn't be given the chance to ring twice, that's just dumb. Also, if you are bringing kids to a horror movie and they are going to talk and laugh the whole time, maybe choose a different movie. During quiet scenes it is very annoying to have two little boys chatting and laughing right in front of me. If you tell them to be quiet, then freaking make them be quiet, or leave the theater. Some of us want to watch the boring horror movie.

Lastly to the couple who decided to sneak into the theater when the movie was already an hour and forty minutes in, if you are going to sneak into a theater do it quietly. I don't want to hear you playing with your popcorn, or discussing which seats to sit in, or trying to figure out if there is gum on the floor. Plus, if you are going to sneak into a theater maybe don't dunk yourself in an entire bottle of perfume. I mean seriously, I am pretty sure the actors on the screen could smell you and were distracted.

Now let's get to the movie review. Okay, this movie relies heavily on jump scares, things popping or jumping out at you to scare you. There were some creepy moments and I felt that they could have done more with those and maybe frightened the viewer a little more slowly. The movie begins with the Warrens doing a reading in the Amityville house and walking through the house reenacting the moments of the murder. Then we head to England where another family is slowly haunted and tortured.

Okay, so as a horror movie this was boring, the scares were so planned and obvious that only one got me. It also had a very slow buildup and took forever to get anywhere. I actually almost fell asleep in the theater, which I have only done once. I love horror, so if this tells you anything it has to be how dull this movie was.

As for the story, it is hard. We don't know how long the family was in the house before things started happening, which bothered me. I wanted to know why this poltergeist was suddenly after this family and why it chose the one child it did to influence or attack. The lives of the Warrens weren't sympathetic to me and I questioned what this movie was really about. None of the haunted characters were really portrayed with any depth, they all seemed two dimensional. The mother Peggy was so flat I didn't know anything about her, even if she had a job. All of the characters were pretty much the same, and the only one who stood out was Morris, a man trying to prove that the afterlife exists, and he had very few scenes.

I can't say I would recommend this as a horror film. If you have watched the first CONJURING movie or ANNABELLE you will know what to expect, a slow buildup, lots of jump scares, and not a lot of backstory, or plot, or story.

I hate to say skip it, but skip it. If you want a good horror movie that is quiet with a slow build up, go watch SESSION 9, one of the best horror movies I've ever seen.

Movie Review - INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE

7/23/2016

I suggest watching the original movie before going to see this one or you may not get some of the references to the past and things that happened in the previous movie. Just a tip.

This movie takes place two decades after the original invasion on Independence Day. The threat is the same, and the aliens are back because they weren't able to finish the job they originally came to do. The people of earth have tried to make sure their defenses are better in case the aliens did come back, but the question is if it is enough.

This was a good movie for a really hot summer day, otherwise I wouldn't recommend it. The first movie was entirely better, and this was a shadow of that one. It used several of the same jokes, and it tried too hard to be too much like the first one without all of the charm and humor of the first one. Will Smith was not back in this one, and while some people may applaud that the reason the film gave for him to be out was just so stupid.

Another reason I had a problem with this movie was that the producer, writer, and director, all tried way too hard to pull on the audiences heartstrings with sappy language and scenes meant to be heartbreaking. I honestly thought they over played it in several areas.

There were of course other issues, for example the plot holes were annoying and I wish that they had been filled or addressed better. Unfortunately they were not addressed which caused the movie to be a little disjointed from the original. It was unfortunate and very annoying.

I personally didn't care for this movie. It was fun as an action movie, but it tried too hard to be higher than what it was made to be. It was made to be a silly movie about aliens invading the earth, but it took itself too seriously and went a little too far into being a serious alien movie (with explanations to boot).

Movie Review - THE CANYONS

7/18/2016

I don't know why this movie was made, and I don't know why people (even me) watched it, and I really think it was a terrible waste.

So this movie is about a bunch of people who treat each other terribly and have lots of sex with everybody. It has almost no plot even though it tries with the premise of a these people all being involved in the making of a movie. IMDb had this as a summary: When Christian, an LA trust-fund kid with casual ties to Hollywood, learns of a secret affair between Tara and the lead of his film project, Ryan, he spirals out of control, and his cruel mind games escalate into an act of bloody violence. Yeah, if only it was that interesting.

I am pretty sure this was a movie made only to see how far porn could go in mainstream movies. I think I saw more of Lindsay Lohan naked than in all of the "accidental" publicity shots of her getting out of her car. The acting was so dull, no one showed any emotion, and I don't know who's idea it was to cast James Deen but he was terrible, just terrible. I understand he is a porn star and I can see why, when he talks I just want to scream. He was bland and boring. I hope he doesn't have many lines in the porn movies he is in.

The rest of the cast is just forgettable. I don't even remember the names of the characters, and the ending was just boring and terrible. It made no sense, and the violence of the main character was just not obvious. I felt nothing towards him, and none of his actions made me fear for the other characters. I felt all of the characters were narcissistic assholes (sorry language here), and I was bored, so bored, and wish I had not had the desire to see how bad this movie really was.

So, in my opinion you should just skip this movie. It is a waste of time. I'd like to say it was a waste of talent but the only big name actor is a porn star by trade and should stick to saying "suck it" or whatever the hell he says in his movies, and the only big name actress was Lohan and she was just boring. She obviously did not really want to be in this movie at all. Skip it, just skip it.

Movie Review - PREDESTINATION

7/13/2016

PREDESTINATION is a 2014 Australian science fiction movie based on a short story by Robert Heinlein. The summary from IMDb reads For his final assignment, a top temporal agent must pursue the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time. The chase turns into a unique, surprising and mind-bending exploration of love, fate, identity and time travel taboos. The movie stars Ethan Hawke as The Barkeep and really the main character in the story if you follow and watch the entire movie.

I watched this with someone who has read a lot of science fiction, and apparently knows a lot about the rules of science fiction time travel. Once the movie was over I turned to them and asked what the hell we just watched. They answered with you need to read more science fiction. I guess that maybe I do, since my head literally hurt after watching this movie. I wasn't sure what the point was, so I took the night and thought about it, trying to figure out what the point of the movie was. I didn't, but I realized that it was a thinker and I didn't hate it.

How do you travel through time in a casual loop when you yourself have no origin? This was the question asked in the movie, and it was never really answered. Another question, can you change the future if you travel to the past to change the future? The answer to this is apparently no. If you try to change some things you can't because some things are destined to be, hence the title PREDESTINATION. This presents a problem to me. If a movie is all about the question "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" What is the movie really all about.

Is it asking if we are all in a time loop? Is is trying to tell us that we all just do what we were predestined to do, like zombies? Changing one thing never changes another and you can't change what you do in the future or the past.

I recommend this if you are a science fiction fan, also think you might enjoy this if you aren't a science fiction fan. I can't say I understood all of this, but it really made me think. And movie that make me think are always my kind of movies.

Movie Review - CAPTAIN AMERICA CIVIL WAR

5/14/2016

Iron Man used to be my favorite Avenger, but after watching CAPTAIN AMERICA CIVIL WAR I think my new favorite has to be Captain America.

This movie really was all about Captain America. Which was great because the last one, CAPTAIN AMERICA WINTER SOLDIER was not really about the Captain but about his friend and their relationship. The reasoning behind this movie wasn't the best, and at the end I was like, for real? This is what the movie is about? This is why we sat here for hours? Ugh.

This movie showed how much heart and soul Captain America has, and how little control Iron Man does. Iron Man is full of himself and only thinks of himself when he is doing stuff. He doesn't really think fully of his people, the other people with super human powers. For example, Wanda, she is really just a misunderstood kid and yet Tony Stark doesn't take this into consideration. He doesn't even really try to understand her, and he pushes Vision to help him, even if that means hurting her.

Captain America see everyone. He thinks about everyone. Before he makes a decision he considers how it will affect everyone, even characters like Wanda, who needs all the protecting she can get.

This movie showed how much his code of justice affects his decisions, and because of his code I found a new respect for Captain America. He thinks with his head and constantly tries to do what it fair and just. He kills because he has to, not because he is seeking revenge. He hurts people to stop them from hurting someone else or themselves, not because he likes it and it gives him power. He understand that sometimes people die, but he constantly feels bad about it.

This was a bigger side of the Captain. I like him more. The one problem I had with this movie was they put too much lip gloss on Chris Evans. There was one part of the movie that just had me questioning why they put so much lip gloss on him, it was so distracting.

Lastly, you really should go see KEANU!