The House With a Clock in Its Walls (2018)

The House With A Clock in its Walls

Directed by: Eli Roth

Written by: Eric Kripke

Starring: Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Kyle MacLachlan

Classification: PG

104 minutes

3/5 Stars

This film is pure fun. The House With a Clock in its Walls is an adventure film I believe truly anyone will enjoy.

Lewis Barnavelt is an orphan who goes to live with his uncle (Jack Black). Lewis's uncle is a warlock who lives in a magical home and is best friends with the witch next door Mrs. Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett). There is a mysterious clock hidden within the walls of the house though, and this is causing major problems.

Our heroes have to find the clock before times runs out, if they do not the end of times will begin. Uncle Barnavelt and Mrs. Zimmerman are unable to find it as there is a hex preventing any witch or warlock from finding it. It is up to Lewis to find the ticking clock before time runs out. 

The cast all have great chemistry with each other. The film also has surprisingly dark imagery and characters for a children's film. Still, it is worth watching.

The Darkest Minds (2018)

Maybe I'm finally outgrowing the YA genre. I'm 27 years old and when I walk into any bookstore, that's the section I'm first drawn to. I see books that incite my interest and I'm dying to read them. Maybe I'm outgrowing the cliches found in every single YA dystopian novel. I haven't read this book though and I'm basing it purely off of the film adaptation. If the book is anything like the film adaptation though.... maybe I truly have outgrown the genre. In The Darkest Minds a disease kills off half of the US children's population. Those children who have not been killed off now have some sort of super skill or power. The government fears them and all the children are rounded up and sent to camps.

Ruby Daly (Amandla Stenberg) is our heroine in this film and is rounded up after she accidentally wipes her parents' memory of her. Ruby is an "orange" which means she has mind control powers. Children in the orange and red categories are killed immediately so Ruby mind controls a doctor in categorizing her as a "green". Greens are the least dangerous as they only have heightened intelligence. Six years later, Ruby is discovered as being an orange and is smuggled out of the camp by an undercover doctor (Mandy Moore). This doctor is part of an organization called the Children's League and their mission is to uncover the truth of the camps while growing an army using all the children they rescue. Ruby immediately becomes suspicious and runs off joining a group of kids on their way to a safe haven.

The adaptation is not interesting. The kids do one thing and then they do another and then they do another and so on and so forth. The four main actors play off of each other well, but their characters are woefully one-dimensional. Ruby and Liam (Harris Dickinson) have a romance going on, but at some points it feels incredibly forced. This has nothing to do with the actors themselves, it is simply poorly written. This is also an instance of where the plot twist isn't much of a twist as you can see it coming a mile away.

The film ends with the idea that there will be a sequel involved. I think a sequel could be interesting especially if there is a war as hinted in the ending of this one. No matter what I hope it would be higher stakes than this one. Even when they fight the antagonist in this film he was defeated way too easily.

The Play That Goes Wrong

When everything seems to be going wrong with the world and constant stories of racism plague your newsfeed, it feels good to unplug and just laugh.

The Play That Goes Wrong, currently running at the Lyceum Theatre, is a British farce. It opened in London before transferring to Broadway last year.

The set is gorgeous, but oddly cheap looking. Done by Nigel Hook the set fits the aesthetic of the show perfectly.

The Play That Goes Wrong is similar to Noises Off. If you've seen Noises Off and you enjoy it, then you'll enjoy this play. If you've never heard of or seen Noises Off then everything you need to know is in the title of this one.

The Play That Goes Wrong actually follows the Cornley University Drama Society (from England) as they present their production of "The Murder at Haversham Manor".

Upon entering the theatre, we got a glimpse of the crew of the play putting the final touches on the set and being helped by a member of the audience.

Before the start of the play, director Chris Bean (Mark Evans) introduces us to the Drama Society as well as the show. Evans delivers his lines with great comedic timing as we learn more about the problems that have plagued the Drama Society in the past.

Mr. Bean is of course the director of "The Murder of Haversham Manor" (as well as the designer) and not of The Play That Goes Wrong which is directed by Mark Bell. The Play That Goes Wrong is written by Henry Shields, Henry Lewis, and Jonathan Sayer. "The Murder at Faversham Manor" is written by Susie H.K. Brideswell. The playbill has the fun detail of including the information of the actual play and the fictional one we are watching unfold.

If this is all confusing, I promise it is not once you are watching it. You are watching a play within a play and the play within the play is getting shown from beginning to end. This is different from the aforementioned Noises Off which focuses more on the backstage antics of the performers.

As the title states everything goes wrong. Doors stick and the set falls apart. 

The play within a play begins with a corpse of Charles Haversham (Jonathan Fielding) who cannot stay still. Of course you can't have a dead body without suspects so we are then introduced to Charles's fiancee (Amelia McClain), the butler (Harrison Unger), Charles's brother (Alex Mandell) and Charles's best friend (Preston Boyd).

We also get glimpses of Trevor (Akron Watson), the light board and sound board operator, and the stage manager (Ashley Bryant). Everyone from the cast and the crew must act "bad" and they do it well.

The show goes horribly wrong from the beginning and only gets worse and worse as the show progresses. It looks like a lot of fun, but as an actor I can't even begin to imagine how exhausted the actors are at the end of each performance. 

It is a lot to take in. Several gags happen at once multiple times throughout the show. It is tons of fun though.

The audience I was with absolutely loved it. They laughed from beginning to end. 

The woman behind me commented throughout the whole show as she noticed the different gags happening. I had fun and as evidenced by those around me, you probably will, too.

The Gentleman Caller

We are first introduced to Tennessee Williams.

He tells the audience who he is and his whereabouts as William Inge prepares drinks in the background. Inge is an unknown journalist preparing to interview Williams in his home in St. Louis.

The opening monologue has some good lines. Juan Francisco Villa delivers them with comedic timing. The Gentleman Caller by Philip Dawkins and produced by the Abingdon Theatre Company is currently running at the Cherry Lane Theatre.  The play takes place as Williams's new play "The Gentleman Caller" (now known as "The Glass Menagerie") is set to open in Chicago.

Williams breaks the fourth wall as he narrates the events of the evening, the evening the play opens and the events that occur after William Inge is discovered. Inge and Williams were both gay men and they did know each other, but as far as I know the events involving the two of them are a work of fiction.

There is not much action in this play, but there is a lot of talk. Inge (Daniel K. Isaac) spends most of the play refusing Williams's advances while also struggling with his wanting to proceed. There many innuendos to keep the audience entertained.

The play is off balanced in terms of the characters. Williams definitely dominates the play with Inge interjecting some lines of dialogue every now and then. Inge does have a final monologue, but it seemed written more for shock value than anything else.

Directed by Tony Speciale, the play was dominated by a strong performance that overpowered the weaker one. The set designed by Sara C. Walsh was gorgeous. Lamps were stacked upon manuscripts towering over the actors. It was beautiful to look at.

Good overpowers the not so good, and in the end deserves an audience.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The Stone Witch at Westside Theatre

The Stone Witch is currently playing at the Westside theatre. It is a good show, but it is overshadowed by the production values. Upon entering the theatre, you are immediately taken in by the gorgeous set which is covered with magical creatures and has a child like whimsy to it. In various parts of the show, you are treated to gorgeous projections depicting the illustrations found in the children's book the characters are working on.

Simon Grundberg (Dan Lauria) is a world renown children book author and illustrator. However not having written a book in twelve years, his editor Claire Forloni (Carolyn McCormick) is desperate for a book she can put out by Christmas. Peter Chandler (Rupak Ginn) is a young hopeful who is sent by Claire to inspire Simon into writing his new novel with the promise of $10,000 and his own chance of being published after the fact.

Peter reluctantly agrees and meets Simon in the latter's woodland cabin. Simon is fighting some demons who are preventing him from writing. Peter soothes these demons, but Peter is also bursting to get his ideas seen. He is unsure how to help Simon, but is willing to try anything once things begin to go awry.

The majority of the play takes place in Simon's scenic cabin. Only two scenes are not set there and one of them is unnecessary. I honestly forgot it existed up until this point! Anyway, it is fun to see the world surrounding the cabin come to life while also seeing Simon's demons projected behind him.

The Stone Witch is a wonderful show, but I did feel there was something missing in the overall story. I am not sure what exactly, but it definitely dealt with the overall storyline. There were some aspects of Simon's that were brought up, but not fully explained. There were also weak explanations for other things brought up about Simon. Simon is an interesting character, but there was too much background in his story and not enough ways to tie them in together.

The actors were great as well. Carolyn McCormick was the perfect blend of professional editor who can intimidate others to get her way while also caring for them. Rupak Ginn was good as well, but there were moments that did not feel authentic. Dan Lauria was fantastic as Simon Grundberg. He had a commanding presence and was able to portray all the aspects of the character in a manner in which the audience was able to sympathize with him.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)

"The Maze Runner" has always been vastly different from the books. I am a book purist and tend to hate movie adaptations if they vary too much from the source material. I didn't mind too much with the first installment, hated the second and having disliked the third book welcomed the changes the third installment had to offer.

This franchise was welcomed overall as it featured a male lead in a dystopian future as opposed to the female leads that seemed to dominate the dystopian young adult franchises. I obviously enjoyed reading the female lead novels and watching their adaptations, but it was interesting and refreshing to read a male authors' perspective.

"The Maze Runner" follows a group of young men as they are dropped into a maze and must find their way out. Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) and his friends quickly discover they are pawns in a corporation called WICKED's trials. Thomas and his friends are immune for the most part to the "flare", a disease that turns humans into zombie like cranks.

Thomas has one simple goal: escape WICKED's clutches with his friends alive. It is difficult to do so as he and his friends are pursued relentlessly by WICKED as they try to find a cure for the flare.

"The Death Cure" opens on Thomas and his friends as they hijack a train in order to rescue their captured friend Minho (Ki Hong Lee). Unfortunately, they take the wrong train car and Minho ends up in WICKED's headquarters. Testing continues on Minho as he is tortured in order to speed up the process of finding a cure. Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), the only female in the maze with them, is one of the scientists involved in torturing Minho which angers Thomas as he had strong feelings for her.

That is the main plot of the film: find a way to rescue Minho and escape with all the other immunes in tow. There are some surprising reunions and fun action sequences.

The film is action packed and the pacing keeps things interesting. There are a lot of coincidences, but there are even more in the book. Yes, these coincidences are annoying and extremely convenient, but if you have read the book they are easy to ignore.

There is a lot to digest in this film and could have had a shorter run time, but honestly I highly disliked the book and so the problems in this film did not bother me as much. I have heard mixed reviews from casual movie goers though. I say the action is fun and the pacing keeps the film moving. It is not the best film in the young adult dystopian category, but it is still engaging and worth a watch.