‘Movie Corner’ Archives
Is the horror genre improving?
By HOWARD McQUITTER II oldschoolmovies.wordpress.com howardmcquitter68@gmail.com Over the last few decades, I generally have distanced myself from the horror genre because of the gratuitous violence and absence or weakness of plots. I still can say with conviction I really like John Carpenter”'s “Halloween”(1978),though, I begin to peter out in interest with the inglorious sequels (by an assortment of directors”“Rick Rosenthal, Tommy Lee Wallace, Rob Zombie, etc.). I think I can live quite well with “Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984), but the sequels get down-right crass and redundant. I remember back in the 1950s and 60s, one horror director in particular, William Castle, scared us kiddies pretty well with flicks like “The Tinker” (1959), “House on Haunted Hill”(1959), “13 Ghosts” (1960) and “Macabre” (1958) without all the sanguinary stuff that could at times make you skip dinner. By the 1970s, [...]
Movie Corner
By HOWARD McQUITTER II oldschoolmovies.wordpress.com howardmcquitter68@gmail.com “A Quiet Place” (2018) Drama/Horror/ Thriller Paramount Pictures 5/5 Stars Silence is the key to survival in a post-apocalyptic world where carnivorous creatures have caused worldwide panic. The movie never tells you how the creatures came to be; whether from outer space (like in the original sci-fi movie “The War of The Worlds” by Byron Haskin in 1953) or some biological mishap such as testing too many nuclear bombs or radically changing the environment with over-industrialization. “A Quiet Place” is just that, quiet. The movie focuses on one family, the Abbotts: Lee (John Krasinski), Evelyn (Emily Blunt), Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe) and Beau (Cade Woodward) who live in an abandoned farm, they fixed up, using it as a safe haven from the creatures who are blind but respond quickly to sound. (more…)
Movie Corner
By HOWARD McQUITTER II oldschoolmovies.wordpress.com howardmcquitter68@gmail.com “Isle of Dogs” (2018) Animation/Adventure/Action/Comedy Fox Searchlight Pictures 5/5 stars Those who are fans of Wes Anderson and love dogs are very likely to appreciate “Isle of Dogs”. The last film Anderson did is “The Grand Budapest Hotel”(2014), and before that, as a full-featured film, “Moonrise Kingdom” (2012). A flu epidemic has broken out in make believe town Megasaki, Japan, the dogs are blamed for the scourge and exiled to Trash Island. Kobayas (Kunichi Nomura), the mayor of Megasaki, is up for reelection sending all the dogs to a landfill where food (most of it rotten and radioactive) is scarce and survival is dire. (more…)
