It Lives Inside

    

    

      Another entry in the recent slate of horror movies,  "It Lives Inside" adds a new element to the tired "teens in danger" storyline. The main character is Sam, a teen girl of Indian origin who must face off against an evil Hindu spirit to protect her friends and family. In her suburban town, Sam denies her Indian origins to "blend in" at school and avoid being alienated. When she unwittingly unleashes the evil spirit possessing her friend Tamira, she must embrace her heritage to fight the demon. 

      Sam is played convincingly by Megan Suri and the rest of the cast includes Neeru Bajwa as her mother, Vik Sahay as her father, Gage Marsh as Russ, her love interest, and Betty Gabriel as Joyce Dixon, a teacher and friend.

      The film is written and directed by Bishal Dutta and while there are some genuine creepy moments, the horror tropes are pretty standard and lack any real scares. The editing is choppy at times, scenes jump from one to the next, seemingly unconnected. And while it is a horror movie, there are irrational elements to the plot that take you out of the film's reality.

      If the film does well, the ending, while definitive, does leave the door open for a sequel. Sadly, I'm still waiting for a new horror film that will send the popcorn flying out of my lap.

Dumb Money

 

 

     Based on a true story, this new film recounts the crazy story of how the "little guy" took on Wall Street Hedge Fund billionaires trading Game Stop shares. While the hedge funds were betting the Game Stop stock would fail, a group of small-time individual investors, following the advice of Keith Gill, kept buying up stock using a site called "WallStreetBets" a subredditt site managed by Robinhood.

     While he had a day job, Mr. Gill, in his spare time had his own internet site offering stock advice as "Roaring Kitty". He did a deep analysis of Game Stop and began watching the stock very closely buying up shares himself. As he gained more and more followers, the stock price began to rise and hedge fund investors looking to "short" the stock took huge losses.

     The film simplifies the story making it easy to follow even if you are stock market ignorant. I'm sure the real story is much more involved and complex, but director Criag Gillespie and writers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo do a great job breaking it down to its core with humor and unexpected suspense.

     Paul Dano stars as Keith Gill, Shailene Woodley as Caroline, his wife, and Pete Davidson as Keith's brother, Kevin. Also starring as the Hedge fund billionaires are Vincent D'Onofrio as Steve Cohen, Nick Offerman as Kenneth Griffin, and Seth Rogan as Gabe Plotkin. Sebastian Stan and Rushi Kota play the owners of the Robinhood site that causes chaos when they shut down the trading. And while the film can't tell the story of every individual investor, America Ferrera, Anthony Ramos, Myha"la Herrold and Talis Ryder represent the "little guys" that at times, invested their life savings on the advice of "Roaring Kitty".

      The story is unbelievable but true, and the film version, which I'm sure has its fictional elements, is very entertaining. It would make a great double feature with "The Big Short".

A Haunting in Venice

       Directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, this is the third film in the growing series of Hercule Poirot mysteries. Based on the Agatha Christie novel, "Hallowe'en Party", the setting is Venice for this whodunit with supernatural overtones.

      As with his other films in the series, Mr. Branagh surrounds himself with an all-star cast including Camille Cottin, Jamie Doran, Tina Fey, Kelly Reilly, Jude Hill, Riccardo Scamarcio and Michele Yeoh. Only Ms. Fey seems miscast, her performance too modern for a 1947 story.

      Her character sets things in motion when she invites Poirot to witness a seance in an attempt to discover the deception of the medium, played by Michele Yeoh. When a murder occurs during the evening, it is up to Poirot to solve the case.

      Venice itself becomes a character with gorgeous cinematography adding to the natural beauty of the city. Mr. Branagh's direction fills the story with creepy visuals, the camera swirling through dark halls, empty rooms, and hidden cellars while all the characters are locked in for the night as Poirot looks for motives and clues.

       The supernatural element may be suspect, but it's done well and adds to a darker tone than the previous films. If you enjoy the series, you will not be disappointed. If you are new to Ms. Christie's famous detective, you should find yourself, at a medium, mildly entertained.

       

The Nun 2

 

    The sequel to the surprise 2018 hit, "Nun 2" ups the terror by putting a boarding school of young girls in danger.

    Taissa Farmiga returns as Sister Irene, as does Jonas Bloquet as Maurice and of course, Bonnie Aarons as "The Nun". New additions to the cast include Storm Reid as Sister Debra, Anna Popplewell as Kate (the prerequisite young child in danger. I lost count how many times a character askes "where's Kate".) and Katelyn Rose Downey as Sophie, Kate's mom and a teacher at the school.

    A blink and you missed it horror scene from the first film justifies how the demon escaped to appear in the sequel. Director Michael Chaves creates a good sense of fear and tension in almost every scene. And many scenes reward with decent scares.

    If you are a fan, there is a mid-credit scene that ties the story to the rest of "The Conjuring" universe, technically making it the ninth film in the series.

The Equalizer 3

 

    Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua return for a third go round in this action drama. This time the film takes place in a small town outside Naples Italy. Why Mr. Washington's character, Robert McCall is in Italy remains a mystery until very late in the film.

    The plot has a unique structure, starting with McCall having already killed a number of men and apparently captured by some unnamed Italian gangsters. From there it takes a fresh breath in the story until returning to what we've come to expect in these films.

    Mr. Washington spends a great deal of time sipping cappuccino and tea at his favorite cafe, enjoying life in Altamonte, recovering from a serious wound. The action sequences are sparse but when the happen, they are intense and very violent. It's a slow burn as McCall watches the town threatened by gangsters and deciding when and how to "equalize" the situation. Meanwhile, there is a subplot about terrorists and drugs that introduces Dakota Fanning's character Emma Collins, a CIA operative. The film also co-stars David Denman. Eugenio Mastrandrea, Sonia Ben Ammar, and Remo Girone.

     It's always fun to watch Mr. Washington play this character as he methodically goes about his violent business with a cool, calm demeanor.