Film: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

GENRE: Fantasy Adventure

RATING: PG-13 for violence
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 7 minutes

STARRING: Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Ender’s Game)

Eva Green (Casino Royale), Ella Purnell (Kick-Ass 2, Maleficent)

DIRECTOR: Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Batman, Sweeny Todd)

WRITER: Jane Goldman (Kingsman, X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass)

PLOT: A boy visit Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children where the residents have special powers. Unfortunately, he is followed by danger.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Used to love Tim Burton films. Now they’re okay.

STORY STUFF: I haven’t read the book but it is an interesting tale. There are some fun fantastical elements to it but the plot kind of plodded along. I wish this film had a bit more energy and was streamlined.

ACTING STUFF: Some fun roles in this film. I liked pretty much all of the peculiar children and Butterfield is a great kid actor. I thought Green’s role need a bit more pizazz, but again, I haven’t read the book. With Kingsman and now this, Samuel L Jackson just doesn’t do it for me as a comical villain. I don’t know what it is. He was so much better in things like Unbreakable.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Very Tim Burton-y. Some entertaining special effects for many of the peculiar children and the art direction is classic Burton. It’s just chock-full of whimsy.

VERDICT: Two and half out of five

SEE IT IF: You really like Tim Burton films.
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Jack Reacher 2

Film: The Girl on the Train

GENRE: Mystery, Thriller

RATING: R for violence, sexual content, language & nudity
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 52 minutes

STARRING: Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow, Sicario, Looper)

Haley Bennett (The Equalizer), Rebecca Ferguson (M:I5-Rogue Nation)

DIRECTOR: Tate Taylor (The Help, Get on Up)

WRITER: Erin Cressida Wilson (Secretary, Men Women & Children)

PLOT: A drunk ex-wife stalks her ex and their nanny and gets involved in a missing person case.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Didn’t read the book. Definitely won’t now.

STORY STUFF: Maybe the book was riveting but the film was terrible. I found that I strongly disliked every major character in the story, so I didn’t really care what happened to any of them. The story just meandered all over the place. I find it insane that people who cheat on their spouse are surprised when that person cheats again. I also wonder why these people tend to leave their doors unlocked, you’re just asking for bad things to happen.

ACTING STUFF: I guess Blunt played an alcoholic well. Nice slurring. I did enjoy Allison Janney’s detective; I wish she had a bigger role in the film. The rest were pretty ho-hum.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Taylor tried to copy Fincher’s Gone Girl style but only managed to catch his color palette. The cinematography was pretty plain with the odd flickering of memory flashes. Been there, done that.

VERDICT: One star out of five

SEE IT IF: You want a much crappier Gone Girl

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Jack Reacher 2