"The Lovely Bones" and "Halloween II"

IN THEATERS

Out this weekend in wide release is the drama “The Lovely Bones,” directed by Academy Award-winner Peter Jackson. Based upon the popular 2002 novel, the story follows a 14-year-old girl, Susie (Saoirse Ronan) who is murdered in 1973 by one of her neighbors, George Harvey (Stanley Tucci.) Finding herself in between worlds and not completely at rest, Susie watches her family attempt to move on with their lives while becoming obsessed with bringing her killer to justice.

So after having a good deal of publicity and talk, this one makes it’s way into theaters worldwide today. With mixed reviews, it’s hard to say who the target audience might be. Critical praise has been given to Ronan’s character as well as Staney Tucci for doing so well in a role in which he hasn’t been seen before. To the viewer, his outward creepiness as a person is so obvious and you wonder why he isn’t the focus of the investigation to begin with. It’s quite the performance, though, and it would make anyone nervous to live next door to a guy like this.

As said, Ronan’s performance as well is noteworthy in that she exudes an innocence and sympathy that only further pushes the audience into feeling an extreme dislike to her killer. She’s incredibly stuck in between two worlds due to her inability to find peace among the living side and still feeling so much unfinished business to be had.

The heavenly world that Jackson creates for Susie is impressive, and the interpretation of what that other world may look like is quite a sight. We all may wonder what the afterlife may look like and this vision definitely isn’t one to complain about.

The movie itself was entertaining and engaging all the way through, and all the characters are made up nicely and well-shaped to where you actually have feelings toward all of them whether they’re good or bad. It’s an intense movie for obvious reasons, but still enthralling to watch and without much to complain about.

ON DVD

Out this week on video is Rob Zombie’s sequel to the remake he created in 2007, “Halloween II.” Quite similar to the original films that starred Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode back in the late ’70s/early ’80s, the remake and its sequel now stars Scout Taylor Compton as Laurie who has barely survived a horrific Halloween night as many of her friends and family have been killed at the hands of her brother, Michael Myers.

Picking up right where the remake left off, Laurie has repeatedly shot Myers, and he’s now presumed to be dead. The ambulance has arrived at the scene and she’s whisked away to the hospital to have her injuries of the night checked out.

Now it’s a year later and Strode is a shell of her former self. She’s still terrified by nightmares and hallucinations, and she struggles on a daily basis in simply getting by. Laurie now lives with her best friend Annie, one of the few to make it out of the nightmare of the previous year alive, and Annie’s father, all attempting to work together in hopes of rebuilding a life. Alongside them is Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) who was Michael’s therapist when he was a child and now is cashing in on a book that he has written about the now-legendary events that took place in the town of Haddonfield, Ill.

What they don’t know though is that Michael Myers isn’t dead. It’s almost Halloween again and he has unfinished business that includes Laurie and all the people that escaped him last year. Let the bloodshed begin again.

So if you enjoyed Zombie’s remake a few years back, then this one will do just fine with you. It really is a continuation in every way. For the story and the basic amount of blood, violence, etc. It’s more of the same, but not so much repetitive or boring. Zombie’s take is a good version on the classic “Halloween” movies. And being nicely spread out over two movies, he tells it well and ends it to where you don’t feel there will be 10 more sequels. It’s nicely made, and any fans of the original movies should enjoy these.

Comments (0) |

---

By submitting your comment, you are agreeing to islandpacket.com's user agreement.

Views: