Oculus

TAKE 1: One Man’s Opinion

…because film is largely subjective

 by Frederick William Springer III

Oculus

Release Date:   11 April 2014                                                               Runtime:  104 Minutes              

Review Date:  27 May 2014                                                                  Rating:  4 (of 6)

      After my negative experience with The Call, when I saw the WWE Studios logo before this movie started, I sighed, wondering what I had gotten myself into.  Luckily, with Oculus, the fret was misplaced.
 

     This film goes back and forth from past to present A LOT, so if you find you often have trouble following such things, this movie isn't the one for you.  Otherwise, sit back and enjoy.  It's a solid enough story with some chills mixed in.

 

     For me, though, the real heebie-jeebies began AFTER the film.  Sitting through all the credits, I was the last person in the theater, minutes to midnight.  As I went to exit the door that was propped open, it suddenly slammed in my face.  To happen to someone who just finished watching a horror movie, NOT COOL!  To top it off, when I got in my car--after the door slam, you're damn straight I checked the back seat before going anywhere--and started the engine, I was greeted by "Evil Woman" on the radio, the movie just being about an evil woman in the mirror.  While this coincidence was a little more laughable, it did add to the overall supernatural ambience of the night.

Neighbors

TAKE 1: One Man’s Opinion

…because film is largely subjective

 

by Frederick William Springer III

Neighbors

Release Date:  9 May 2013                                                                     Runtime:  96 Minutes              

Review Date:  22 May 2014                                                                    Rating:  3.5 (of 6)

      While Neighbors had its moments, there was nothing particularly engrossing about this film.  There were some major issues with the premise from the start--there's no way if you're blasting music every night at 4AM that the other neighbors on the block aren't going to complain or call the cops unless you're bribing them with $1,000 bills daily, which this fraternity clearly can't afford (not to mention the rarity of $1,000 bills) nor is it realistic for a policeman arriving on the scene when a party was still in full effect turning around and telling the complainer that he's crying wolf because the complainer had partaken in the party himself and therefore he won't respond to any future calls.

     Furthermore, I love Rose Bryne but her performance here is weird in that she is Australian, has spoken with a convincing American accent all these years but now when she tries to speak in her native tongue there are times when she's switching back and forth, her words coming out American.  I love foreign accents.  But here it's like she's been talking American so long she's forgotten how to speak like an Australian!  Slipping back and forth between the two is distracting and not pleasant to the ear at all.  Pick one!

     Seth Rogan doesn't usually do anything for me and this picture doesn't change that sentiment any.  This role can almost be an extension of any other character I've seen him play from Knocked Up to Zack and Miri Make a Porno.  This may be an over simplification, but that's also to say the individual performances aren't all that memorable.  The only real thing Neighbors has going for it is the authentically played relationship between Bryne and Rogan's characters but that alone doesn't make a movie worthwhile.