Dog’s Movie House: Latest “Hunger Games” film skillfully done but lacking something!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog here with a look at the latest chapter in the Hunger Games franchise. It’s called “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” and takes place 64 years before the events of the first film. Here we see the rise of the young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), the struggling son of the inventor of the Hunger Games. Now living on his late father’s name, Snow attempts to win the big monetary prize at the University by taking advantage of the new rules for the 10th Annual Hunger Games and sponsoring one of the “tributes.” He catches the attention of of the Games lead designer Dr. Gaul (Viola Davis) and the ire of the dean of the university (a great Peter Dinklage). His ideas on glamorizing the tributes and enhancing the watchability of the Games conflicts with the feelings he has for his tribute, a fiery young singer Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler). His feelings for Baird threaten to ruin his rise to the top of the capital.
Continue readingDog’s Movie House: “The Holdovers” One Of The Best Movies Of The Year!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog here and it’s nice to see Alexander Payne return to form after the ambitious but uneven “Downsizing.” And boy howdy is he back in a big way, reuniting with his “Sideways” star Paul Giamatti to come up with a fresh take on a familiar tale. “The Holdovers” is a story we’ve seen a million times before, but in Payne’s hands with such a talented cast, the story feels like something entirely original!
Continue readingDog’s Movie House: “The Marvels” Bouyed By The Chemistry Between Its Three Stars!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog here and I can acknowledge that the cinematic world is currently suffering from a case of superhero fatigue. There’s so much comic book content in both movies and television that it’s hard to keep up with everything. That said, the quality of most of Marvel’s films is still quite good and “The Marvels” by the talented Nia DaCosta (“Candyman”) is an example of wonderfully breezy entertainment.
Continue readingDog’s Movie House: “Five Nights At Freddy’s” Has Interesting Premise But Zero Scares!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog here and I have to say after watching “Five Nights At Freddy’s” the latest film adaptation of a popular video game, I couldn’t have imagined it would have made almost 150 million dollars at the global box office in one weekend. All of the ingredients for a terrific horror movie are there, but the execution of an pretty interesting story is slapdash and lacking in any tension. The movie is also rated PG-13, so there isnt even any good old fashioned gore to fall back on. It does have a decent story and good performances, but scary “Five Nights At Freddy’s” is not!
Continue readingDog’s Movie House: “Pet Sematary: Bloodlines” A Chaotic, Misguided Mess That Forgets What Makes Stephen King Scary!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog here and I have to say that many Stephen King adaptations are quite good. Some, not so good. However, when you get to films “inspired” by King’s work rarely do you find a movie that’s even average, let alone good. Unfortunately, this streak continues with the release of “Pet Sematary: Bloodlines” on Paramount Plus, a prequeal to the 2019 remake that no one asked for. This film attempts to tell the tale of Timmy Baterman, the unforunate Vietnam vet whose father buries him in the titular pet cemetary to bring him back to life. Set in the 1960s, it features a young Jud Crandall (Jackson White) who is played in the 2019 film by John Lithgow, finding out first hand about the lore of the cemetary and the chaos it seems to cause every few years. Add in dashes of confusing mythology and the idea of a curse keeping the townsfolk from leaving and you have a headscratching film that is neither scary nor interesting, with jump scares that seem to exist with the sole purpose of keeping the viewer from falling asleep!
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