Movie Review: Lights Out

I don’t remember how long ago it was, a year, maybe two (three?), I don’t think it’s been that long, but I am too lazy to check; anyway, there was a short that made the rounds on social media that was an effectively creepy film that only lasted a couple of minutes. Well, that short caught the attention of Hollywood and it was green lit to be turned into a full length feature film. That movie bears the same name as the short, Lights Out, and while not perfect, proves to be a highly effective movie. Sure, it feels like a stretched out short at times and there is precious little exposition, but it still manages to unsettle and delivers a nice emotional punch at the end.

Movie Review: Prisoners

With his first English language film, Oscar nominated director Denis Villeneuve (Best Foreign Language Film for Incendies) has delivered a finely crafted, intensely atmospheric, and frighteningly believable thriller. It is a movie that feels as if it were ripped right from the headlines, albeit with a dose of movie magic to amp things up to near the breaking point. This, to me, is rather impressive as the trailers, while intriguing, did not cry out as a must see. If you then factor in the two and half hour run time, I found myself questioning if it could possibly be worth it.