Flowers in the Attic 1987 & 2014

Based on V.C. Andrews series about Dollanganger children. Tennant (Best Seller) was psychologically and physically tortured by her crazy mother who was jealous of her daughters good looks. When he daughter falls in love and gets married her parents disown her. She and her husband have four kids. When he dies the mother is not able to take care of herself and goes back to her parents. She hopes to get back into the good graces of her father in order to inherit his money. Her mother tells her that she must hide her children away until the death. The kids are locked in the family attic. They are slowly being poisoned by their grandmother - the youngest boy dies. Fletcher (Cruel Intentions) is the grandmother who also attempts to break the kids spirit because they too are very pretty/handsome. With no human contact except each other the oldest boy and girl (Swanson from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) form an intimate relationship. Not too long after their brother dies they decide to escape and discover that their grandfather died a long time ago, and their mom has left them and married another man. All in all, I say: READ IT and then WATCH IT if you like that kind of horror. I do classify it as horror - you have to remember the time period as you read/watch.

I foolishly thought that Lifetime would only remake the movie if they were going to update it or make it into a series. Did I mention I was fooled. So, it was remade and it was worse than the original. There was a lot left out and the acting was so bad. Graham (Twin Peaks) was bad as the mother, Burstyn (The Exorcist) was bad, and Shipka (Mad Men) was bad. She acted the way she does in Mad Men which isn't go great. I thought it was boring. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

Jack Ryan Series

Reboot! This is the most recent int he series, but it goes all the way back - Origins! He is in college when this begins. All the others below are after. Problem - the ones below take place in the 90s. The new one above takes place after September 11, 2001. Don't let that hold you back - go with the flow. Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet) directs and acts in this film. Pine (Star Trek) takes on the role of Jack Ryan. The second role where he has big shoes to fill. He decides to play it more like Alec Baldwin than Harrison Ford in my opinion. Knightly (Love Actually) plays his fiance - American accent horrible as usual! Costner (Dances With Wolves) is the man that has recruited him for the CIA - he is not Greer (the character played by Jones or Jackson). The action scenes are good. Pine is believable in the role. It is a relevant plot. All in all, I say: SEE IT - I saw it in theatres and I have to warn you - I got dizzy a lot with the camera work.

Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) played Jack Ryan in Hunt for Red October. He played it as a reluctant CIA analyst that would rather be behind a desk and go home every night to his wife and young kid than be in the field. It took place during the Cold War. He knows the most about the situation, so he has to go on board a US submarine and help a Russian captain defect to the US with a state if the art Russian submarine. Connery (The Rock), Glenn (Silence of the Lambs), Neill (The Piano), Jones (Click), Firth (MI-5), Curry (Young Justice), Skarsgard (Thor), and Vance (Dangerous Minds) all appear in this 1990 blockbuster. Director was John McTiernan (Die Hard). All in all, I say: SEE IT - and see it first.

Harrison Ford (Regarding Henry) played Jack Ryan the longest starting with Patriot Games in 1992. He gets involved with an IRA plot and they seek out his family for revenge. He is an older and his kids are older in this sequel to Hunt for Red October. Archer (The Art of War) is his wife, Bergin (Sleeping with the Enemy) is the main bad guy, Bean (Game of Thrones) [honestly who cares what part he plays - yummy], Birch (American Beauty) is Ryan's daughter, Jackson (Pulp Fiction), and Jones (Star Wars), and Walker (Enchanted April) also appear in this blockbuster. Director is Phillip Noyce (Salt). All in all, I say: SEE IT.

Next, Clear and Present Danger in 1994 has Jack Ryan dealing with the Colombian drug cartels and corrupt government officials. Dafoe (Finding Nemo), de Almeida (Fast Five), Archer again, Birch again, Moffat (The Thing), Sandoval (Medium), Bratt (Miss Congeniality), and Cruz (Major Crimes) also appear. Director is Phillip Noyce (The Bone Collector). All in all, I say: SEE IT.

Would You Rather

I don't usually even try horror movies that are in the form of games like Saw. What caught my eye - pun intended - were the actors in this. Snow (Pitch Perfect), Gilliard (The Machinist), Gjokaj (Dollhouse), Heard (Home Alone), and Steeples (Akeelah and the Bee). A group of people who have needs greater than they themselves can fill agree to meet at a house and play the game, would you rather. There are four rounds: 1) electrocute yourself or someone else 2) stab someone in the leg or cane someone 3) pick a punishment from a card [the picture above] or be submerged in water for 2 minutes and 4) only 2 people left shot the other person and win or you both go home. Round three was horrific (I know it's a horror movie) the other rounds were more psychological than horrific - if that makes sense. Stop reading now if you don't want to know the end

Spoiler: Snow is the main character. She goes to get bone marrow and money for her brother who has cancer. She shoots, Gjokai which goes against her character. When she gets home with her winnings, her brother has killed himself so he isn't a burden for her.

All in all, I say: SKIP IT unless you like this kind of horror. I saw it on HBO

Broken City

Wahlberg (Executive Producer of In Treatment and almost every other series on HBO past & present) is a cop who killed a rapist and was taken off the force. He then works as a PI, and gets a good paying job when the mayor (Crowe of Gladiator) of NY calls him up to catch his wife (Zeta-Jones from Chicago) in the act. What he does catch is a group of people trying to put the mayor's illegal activities out to the press. Wahlberg succeeds but at a high cost. It was ok - not bad, but not great. I saw it on HBOGo. All in all, I say: SEE IT if it comes on tv otherwise SKIP IT

Dragon Eyes

Netflix writes, "When a neighborhood is taken over by feuding drug kingpins and unprotected by corrupt cops, a newcomer with superior martial arts skills and a strong moral vision steps in to help the terrorized residents in this high-octane actioner." Van Damme (Mortal Kombat) only has a small part as the man who trains Le's (The Man with the Iron Fists) character to fight. The fight scenes are nothing spectacular. Weller (RoboCop) plays the bad cop - haha. I got bored about minutes in. All in all, I say: SKIP IT - it''s on HBO if you are interested. 

Jack the Giant Slayer

Hoult (Warm Bodies) is Jack from the fairy tale. Tomlinson (The White Queen) is the Princess whose ancestor got rid of the beanstalks and protected the kingdom from giants - according to a legend. McGregor (Haywire) and Marsan (Ray Donovan) are guards for the Princess. McShane (Deadwood) is the King. Tucci (The Hunger Games) is the bad guy. It's not too immature - the giants are designed to keep the kids interested. It's not overly romantic or barbaric. All in all, I say: SEE IT

True Detective

Harrelson (Zombieland) and McConaughey (Lincoln Lawyer) are homicide detectives in Louisiana. They catch a serial killer case. The first episode show the two detectives currently being interviewed by other detectives about the past case. It goes back and forth. By the end, the viewer realizes that the cops are being interviewed because the killer appears to be back at it - so to speak. It's gritty and some of the lines that McConaughy has to say are super deep. I don't exactly know why I write this, but it's unique. I can't really put my finger on what makes it unique, you can just tell. The 2 of them together is powerful. All in all, I say: WATCH IT on HBO - I'm going to give it a shot. You can catch up with the 1st episode on HBOGo