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PLOT: A bullied teenager girl discovers that a magic box can make her wishes come true, but at a serious cost.

REVIEW: Sometimes a horror film - no matter how generic it sounds - can try and get everything right. They can bring in a few familiar genre faces and give the lead to a really solid actress. Better still is when they offer up some interesting and gruesome kills to keep the gore fans happy. And you know what I wish? I wish that they could have used all that to make a good movie here. WISH UPON is not a good one. It?s pretty damn awful. Joey King is a great choice to headline. It was terrific to see folks like Ryan Phillippe, Sherilyn Fenn and Elizabeth Rohm. And yes, the kills could have been pretty intense had they not cut away before you could actually see anything. In fact, all the things that could have worked make this all the more of a disappointment. What is the problem? Well I?ll get into that soon and frankly, there are many issues.

Joey King is Clare Shannon, a teenager who lost her mother Johanna (Elisabeth Rohm) years before. Clare is a plain girl who only has a couple of friends, and she is constantly picked on by the more popular kids in high school. When her ?dumpster diver? Watch Wish Upon 2017 (Ryan Phillippe) - the dude loves to go through trash and find "treasures" - discovers a strange box, she finds that it may be the answer to her misery. After a particularly intense interaction with a bully, she makes a wish? it comes true. Soon however, Clare comes to the realization that with every wish, somebody she knows and cares about dies. Will she be able to get rid of the box? Will the quest for popularity be so tough that she can't resist? You?ll have to see to find out? Or not.

Where to begin. The opening sequence of WISH UPON is promising. A woman (Rohm) is with her young daughter. Something is clearly wrong, and an actress as solid as Rohm pulls it off. When her daughter rides a bit away on her bicycle, the mother places an object in the trash. It?s a fun scene as the audience is kind of wondering who the victim will actually be. After that, the film quickly sinks to levels of bad horror cliches with characters too selfish or boring to really invest in. One of the strangest things involves the fact that they never explain why Clare?s father never noticed his wife playing with the same damn wish box that he finds in the dumpster and gives to his daughter. This is especially problematic halfway through when we realize everybody close to Clare knows about the damn box. Either Jonathan was never around or he just didn?t pay attention to his wife. Stupid.

This brings me to Clare. Joey King is a delightful young actress, and frankly she makes the most of the role. Unfortunately it is not enough. Sure it sucks to see Clare bullied by the mean girls, but she?s not all that likable either. Once she gets the wish box she becomes a bit too selfish and dim to really give a crap about. The choices she makes are usually pretty terrible, but then again, if her father is too dumg to notice the issues his deceased wife was having it?s obvious where she gets it from. Perhaps it was a supernatural thing, but it's never clear why he is such an idiot. Again, King gives a fine performance, they just fail to write a very sympathetic leading character. She is no Carrie White that?s for sure.

Another huge problem is that we?ve seen all of this before. The kills are lifted straight out of a FINAL DESTINATION film. In fact, Sherilyn Fenn - who plays one of the only characters worth rooting for - suffers a fate that is very close to one sequence in the original FINAL DESTINATION. Now, I wouldn?t have minded all of that, if of course this was an R-rated flick. The PG-13 rating means they cut away from any real on-screen gore so why even create the cool kills. One sequence involving actress Alice Lee - a girl who helps Clare decipher the writing on the box - is actually pretty gruesome. Had they shown it without extremely dark lighting and only a second or two of actual gore it could have been intense. This must be pretty frustrating for the special effects team to have their work slashed more than the characters.

One thing that director John R. Leonetti (ANNABELLE) manages to get somewhat right is the shift in which character will fall victim to the box. There are a lot of scenes where two characters are in extremely dangerous situations because they are connected with Clare. That?s not to say that you will be surprised to see which one gets it, but perhaps with a better script and a better film, he may be able to utilize that a little more successfully.

As stated, WISH UPON has been done before, repeatedly. You have the loner lead who is able to take revenge on those that wrong her, the FINAL DESTINATION inspired kills. and the similarity to the short story 'Button, Button.' You wish to gain for yourself, even though you slowly realize that it will end tragically for others. It would have helped to make the teenage characters a little more sympathetic - they aren't. The only ones you sort of root for are the adults. Phillippe is solid as her dad - even if he apparently pays no attention to anything except digging through dumpsters - and both Fenn and Rohm add a little class and charm. Frankly, as a horror fan, I wouldn?t wish WISH UPON on anyone. This generic PG-13 horror flick is boring, the kills are cut worse than the characters demise and you don?t really care about Clare?s plight. If you must, wait until Netflix.

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There?s an admonition about not poking a bear ? which means poking a mama bear whose mate and cub you?ve just killed might be a much worse idea.

When Riley North?s (Jennifer Garner) husband (Jeff Hephner, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire) and daughter (Cailey Fleming, Better Things, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) are killed in an apparent drive-by ? and she?s put into a month-long coma, her world is, for all intents and purposes, destroyed.

Then, despite her testimony as an eyewitness, the killers are allowed to walk free (following a visit to the North home by a slick guy who turns out to be their lawyer), she goes of the grid for five years and almost literally turns herself into a warrior machine.

Peppermint?s title comes from Riley?s daughter Carly?s favorite ice cream ? which we learn during flashbacks that show us what happened ? but not Riley?s actual training (though there is a fuzzy YouTube video of her winning a brutal Muy Thai/MMA bout in Europe that shows some of what she?s learned).

The film opens with a classic car rocking as though there?s something libidinous going on ? but as the camera closes on the driver?s side window, we see that it?s a woman beating a much-tattooed Hispanic man.

?Remember me?? she asks ? before putting a bullet through his brain.

We flash back to Riley and Carly being thrown some serious shade by a mean-girl mom, Peg (Pell James), and her daughter before she drops Carly off with her father, Chris, and heading to the bank where she works (and where she?s made to close up).

When she gets home, she discovers that Carly?s party was a bust ? Peg?s daughter had a party and all Carly?s friends went to that one.

So, Riley and Chris take Carly out for the night of her life ? pizza, the fair (all the rides and all the games ? and to close, ice cream!). It?s just after that that the drive-by that isn?t a drive-by happens ? on the orders of drug lord Diego Garcia (Juan Pablo Raba, Narcos, Six).

From there the film moves briskly through more illuminating flashbacks and savage action in the present.

Written by Chad St. John (London Has Fallen) and directed by Pierre Morel (Taken, District B13), Peppermint is pretty much a unique taken on well-worn action/revenge movie tropes.

We?ve seen a lot of revenge films with male protagonists and even a few with female leads (Columbiana springs to mind immediately) ? but I can?t recall one where the female lead was a wife and mother and her family was killed.

As Riley tracks and kills the crooked cops, DA and judge who let her family?s killers walk, we meet a number of police detectives (John Gallagher Jr., John Ortiz, Annie Ilonzah and Cliff ?Method Man? Smith) who are pulled into trying to catch this serial killing soccer mom.

As they learn more about her, we learn more about her.

Morel moves Peppermint at a brisk enough pace that the film?s plotholes aren?t really apparent at first glance ? though St. John?s script is, for the most part more intelligent than you might expect.

It?s been a long time since Garner played Alias? Sydney Bristow, but she looks very good here ? and did practically all her own stunts/action sequences. She gives what could have been a rote revenge movie a big heart amidst all the carnage.

As a result, Peppermint is a cut about the average ? a pretty hefty cut.

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Bouncing around before and after the accident, we come to know Callahan as a witty, easygoing man who is altogether dependent on booze. That hasn't changed after his grueling accident recovery or even after he starts attending AA meetings with a welcoming group. Eventually, though, he does get serious about getting sober, inviting the bearded, gay, long-haired Donnie Green (Jonah Hill) to be his sponsor.

Don't Worry is based on a true story, which is somewhat of a surprising reveal if you don't know the real Callahan going in, although the specificity of time and place and the prominence given the real Callahan's often off-color comic doodlings make more sense afterwards.

There is not an abundance of plot here. The film is concerned with following Callahan through downs and ups and that's about it. There are some of both and together they flesh out Callahan and give meaning to his journey, one which undoubtedly will resonate most with those who have battled and overcome addiction by accepting a higher power, making amends, and so on.

There is nothing revolutionary about the screenplay by Van Sant, who shares story credit with the real Callahan (who passed away in 2010) and two others. It is fascinating that this material came to Van Sant via his Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting actor Robin Williams, who optioned Callahan's story back in the '90s

Though he is much older than he is playing, Phoenix, sporting an "electric orange" John Denver look, certainly does the role justice. Hill too impresses, making you almost completely forget that just ten years ago it was tough to imagine him playing anything but the funny fat friend in comedies. Rooney Mara claims third billing in a head-scratching role that doesn't derail anything, while Jack Black is effective in essentially two scenes as the driver of Callahan's ill-fated vehicle.

If Don't Worry was opening in November or December, some tonal inconsistencies and unresolved threads would be easier to pounce on. As a mid-summer theatrical release, though, this is not awards bait but appealing counterprogramming to big, dumb summer blockbusters and thus easy to swallow and recommend. After premiering at Sundance last January and opening in four coastal theaters last weekend, the Amazon Studios-distributed Don't Worry will continue to expand as the season's big budget competition thins.

While the Lutheran Church may be Denmark's national cathedral, Gustav M�ller?s feature debutThe Guilty feels like a deeply Catholic motion picture. From the moment we meet emergency services dispatcher Asger Holm (Jakob Cedergren), it's clear that the civil servant?s conscience is weighed down by the titular spiritual anchor, as his colleagues cautiously eye him, and the former officer condescends to the rest of this deskbound call crew with an air of experienced superiority. Unafraid to present the audience with an unlikable protagonist (who's also obviously been busted back for some sort of infraction), M�ller?s movie then quickly tasks Asger with a quest he?ll stop at nothing to conquer, as if his potential damnation depends upon its successful completion.

Asger's purgatory ? at ThanosTV until his hearing ? is a grey set of cubicles, each adorned with a red light. Whenever a call comes in, the bulb ignites, as a dispatcher tries to calm the civilian on the line. Most of these "emergencies" are rather laughable: unruly doormen getting physical with drunken club patrons, or intoxicated doofuses who just crashed their bikes (and not, say, their cars). Asger answers them all with muted disdain, his fellow desk jockeys side-eyeing him as he drones on, hoping beyond hope that his partner Rashid (Omar Shargawi) sticks to his story at the offical proceeding so that the two can hit the streets together again.

Then comes the call of his life: Iben (Jessica Dinnage), a panicked passenger who sounds like she's being held against her will in a moving vehicle. Being an ace interrogator, Asger is able to extract the make and model of the van she's imprisoned in, and dials dispatch to get a squad car out to try and pull her kidnapper over. In the meantime, the cop can't quit being a cop, and deduces that Iben's captor is probably her estranged husband Michael (Johan Olsen), who's got an assault charge on his rap sheet and isn't legally allowed to see their two kids. But after a ring to their eldest child Mathilde (Katinka Evers-Jahnsen), it becomes clear that something is truly rotten, and it's only a matter of time before the situation gets much, much worse for the scared girl's mother.

Like Steven Knight's Locke(or Brad Anderson's American 911 precursor, The Call), almost the entirety of The Guilty revolves around one individual, on the phone, trying to work through a problem - a scenario that doesn?t really lend itself to captivating cinema. Yet M�ller?s direction allows us to truly feel Asger's desperation, via tight close ups that linger just a second or two too long, as Cedergren visibly grinds the cop's gears and sells the character?s driving panic. Jasper Spanning's cinematography is comprised of a chilly combination of blues, grays and blacks, the office painted as little more than a waystation where employees watch the clock, impatiently waiting for their shifts to be up. M�ller discovers the cinematic in the static, extracts pathos from simplistic formal decisions, and observes with Frankenheimer-esque precision as Cedergren's nuanced turn performs the rest of the heavy lifting.

Seasoned viewers will probably see a dramatic third-act twist coming from a mile away, but it's arguable that the "plot" isn't nearly as captivating as the story of a disgraced police officer building toward a confession of his own. This is what marks The Guilty as being rooted in spirituality that, while still undeniably Christian, veers away from Denmark's nationwide practice. As much as M�ller?s expertly crafted thriller is about a man potentially rescuing a woman from her evil subjugator, it's just as much (if not more) about Asger unburdening himself of sins he's committed in the line of duty. The first-time director is wise enough to let us sit on God's throne for 85 lightning fast minutes, deciding whether or not his actions are noble enough to atone for his own transgressions, allowing the officer to exit this holding pattern, where the weight has become just too much to bear any longer.

Classical cinema makes a return to the big screen in the engrossing adventure-drama See You Up There, a period yarn based on the novel of the same name by ace mystery thriller writer Pierre Lemaitre. Combining imagination, humor and heart to intoxicating effect, director and star Albert Dupontel has crafted one of the fall festival circuit's most winning offerings.

See You Up There begins in the trenches in World War I as French soldiers hunker down a dead man's land away from their German opponents. Though the armistice is declared a bloodthirsty sergeant tricks the Germans into a final conflict anyway, sending hundreds of men to their doom. Among them are Albert Maillard, a middle-aged accountant, and Edouard P�ricourt, a young would-be painter. When the latter almost has his head blown off he begs the older man to fake his death and hide him from his domineering father.

Back in Paris, the pair begin to live together and eek out an existence which leads them down a criminal path as the young man, his face covered in increasingly elaborate masks of his own design, begins to sell fake sketches for war memorials. They enter a competition for a big memorial that will be financed by none other than the young man's father. Meanwhile, his sister has gotten married to their dastardly former sergeant.

Dupontel blends war drama, con artist thriller, comedy, romance and human drama in a film that explores issues of identity through characters that have either been forced to the sidelines (as veterans coming home to a poor job market) or chosen to abandon society as they grapple with their personal issues.

With a thrilling plot that bounces across locations, the film balances several genres through an absorbing atmosphere consisting of ravishing costumes (and masks) and stunning sets. Furthermore, the energy and technical polish of the production are undergirded by an irresistible charm and an emotional ballast owed to the film's rich characters.

Playing the frumpy but endearing hero Albert, Dupontel mines the pathos and sad sack appeal of Chaplin and other silent era comedy stars. His character dutifully looks out for his friend but is also driven by his own desire to live and eventually love.

Playing https://www.thanostv.org/movie/see-you-up-there-2017 is Nahuel P�rez Biscayart, star of the Cannes Grand Prize winner 120 Beats per Minute. Playing a character who has lost his voice, Biscayart uses a range of vaudeville and more subtle emotive techniques to draw out the expressions of his character to delightful and at times heart-rending effect.

Devilishly charming and positively electric as the villain of the piece is Laurent Lafitte playing the war-hungry sergeant who quickly takes advantage of Paris following the end of wartime hostilities. Viewers may recognize Lafitte from Paul Verhoeven's Elle, in which he memorably played Isabelle Huppert's neighbor.

A fulfilling big screen experience that expertly stages a wonderful tale, See You Up There shows us that they can still make 'em like they used to.

With that offhanded Australian sense of humour, this creature horror romp develops some terrific characters as its plot goes increasingly bonkers. Writer-director Chris Sun has a superb eye for earthy detail and refreshingly uses cheesy puppetry rather than bland digital effects to create the biggest boar anyone has ever seen. Which, along with genuine emotions, adds a superb 1970s monster movie vibe. Debbie (Buchanan) is travelling deep into the Australian Outback to visit her hulking farmer brother Bernie (Jones), joined by her husband Bruce (Moseley), children Ella and Bart (Britten and Walso) and Ella's snarky boyfriend Robbie (Sheridan). But a huge boar is rampaging through the countryside, suddenly attacking anyone it sees. Local bar owner Ken (Jarratt) is on its trail, and when he goes missing his daughter Sasha (Tkautz) kicks into action. The question is whether any of these people will make it out alive. The dialog bristles with rough humour, which keeps the audience engaged with characters who interact with witty, salty barbs. Meanwhile, the soundtrack is punctuated by thunderous growls in the distance to remind us that each attack is going to be grislier than the last one. The script teases the audience with the usual tropes like a guy looking for his lost dog in the night, a man telling a creepy vampire story, or a couple fooling around in a tent in the woods. But even if what happens is rather predictable, the film's lively style keeps it entertaining. Cast members play up their characters' quirky senses of humour, building such strong interaction that it's genuinely distressing when the central figures begin to fall prey to this hideous, ravenous monster. Veteran actor Jarratt lends some nice gravity to his scenes. Jones' astonishing physicality and bristling charm are thoroughly loveable, like a human counterpoint to the mutant boar. He certainly keeps Debbie and family on their toes, while each of them has fun creating a distinct character with his or her own quirks. For all the gleeful carnage and boars-eye viewpoints, the movie struggles to overcome the corny exaggeration of a predatory creature who seems more intent on murder than dinner. And the interpersonal drama isn't compelling enough to stitch the entire film together. But the witty filmmaking keeps us hooked, and there are continual touches that make the audience both smile and flinch back from the screen. It's good fun, and the sequel we now need is Boar in the City.

This unhinged horror movie takes its time building characters, which helps pull the audience in even with a steady stream of cliched grimy-nasty visual touches. There's an engaging story in here, which might have been even more gripping without the corny excesses. Big ideas add weight to the script, but director Jon Knautz is trying so hard to be ghastly that he loses the plot. Attending a love addicts support group, Alice (Kendra) is trying to get the strength to leave her married boyfriend Michael (Savante), who can't deliver on his promises. To distract herself from contacting him, she befriends Shelly (Alig), a burn-scarred cleaner who works in her building. Meanwhile, Michael organises a dream trip to Italy to get Alice's attention, which she finds hard to resist. And Alice is too nice to notice that Shelly clearly has her own sinister agenda, linked to her grim childhood (Sohn in flashbacks) with a nutty mother (McGrath). Knautz has a lot of fun with the genre, opening with a disgusting sequence before diving into what looks like a Fatal Attraction-style romantic drama with its lightly plinking piano score and hints of intensity. Then Shelly appears in her tatty clothes, timid voice and exaggerated makeup, popping up unexpectedly and lurking around Alice's flat with her mask-like face and probing eyes. Where she lives is over-the-top creepy, with extravagantly filthy production design (by actress-cowriter-producer Kendra). But her plan for Alice is even more unthinkable. Performances are nicely understated, with Kendra particularly sympathetic as a woman trying to take control of her life and oblivious to this new threat. Her inability to pull away from Savante's likeable Michael is easy to understand, as is how bad she feels about it. Opposite her, Alig is a bit too otherworldly to take seriously, gazing blankly and speaking hesitantly. It's the kind of performance that constantly hints at something much more horrific to come. So while the payoff brings a nice jump, it's not really a surprise. There are elements of a strong thriller in here, even if Knautz and Kendra can't resist ramping things up beyond reason. Shifts in perspective are somewhat disorienting, from Alice to Shelly to Michael's suspicious wife Helen (Sandy). But at least the female angle adds a kick to the horror stereotypes the filmmakers are juggling, even if there's ultimately no thematic point. Still, genre fans will love the torturous climax, especially since there are still 20 more minutes of violent mayhem to come.

For his feature directing debut, Matthew Holness has crafted something that's so resolutely artistic that it leaves the audience rather cold. It looks simply amazing and features committed performances from a fine cast. But there's very little definition to the characters or situations, which leaves the film feeling like it wants to be a horror freak-out. It's definitely creepy, and often very yucky, but it's far too pretentious to be scary. Former puppeteer Philip (Harris) has returned to his grimy, fire-damaged childhood home in Norfolk, feeling menaced by his ventriloquist dummy, a head on gigantic spider legs that he calls Possum. He shares the house with his abrasive stepfather Maurice (Armstrong), who also has a rather hideous dummy and delights in tormenting Philip. Overwhelmed by all of this, Philip decides he needs to destroy Possum, but that's proving a lot more difficult than it should be. Whether left in the marshes or the forest, Possum always seems to find his way back to Philip. Woven through this are two vague subplots. All that's on Philip's staticky television are updates about the case of a missing teen (Eales), and the police suspect someone who matches Philip's description. And as Maurice taunts Philip, elements of his childhood begin to emerge, including bullying, abuse and serious trauma. Neither of these things quite comes into focus, since the film remains a somewhat fantastical emotional journey, with highly stylised people and settings. Harris brings so many quirks to Philip that he seems like a shell of a human being. And clearly that's the point. This is a man so scarred by his life that every moment is a struggle. His breakdown is very moving, even if there's very little resonance due to the lack of detail. Armstrong is also terrific, portraying Maurice as a growling terror who delights in causing discomfort and pouring salt in old wounds. This is the kind of movie that high-minded cinema lovers adore, simply because it's so offbeat and original. And Holness proves to be adept at creating a striking visual atmosphere with a series of eye-catching sequences. But there's a point where all of this surface needs to connect with the audience, and the lack of even the most basic story information leaves this as a movie you look at but struggle to engage with. It's definitely full of emotion, but even that is never clear enough to linger. So the film is admirable, but not very memorable.

Set at a recognisable point in the not-so-distant future when computers have taken over every aspect of life, Leigh Whannell's slick thriller fires up the audience's imagination. Yet while it looks seriously cool, this movie is much more standard than it wants to admit. There are nods to technological, political and moral themes, but it's actually little more than whizzy revenge horror. With computers running everything, old-school Grey (Marshall-Green) is struggling to come to terms with his drastically changed life after an attack kills his wife (Vallejo) and leaves him paralysed. His mother (Cropper) tries to help, and pursues his assailants with Detective Cortez (Gabriel). But the criminals are somehow eluding capture. Then Grey's last customer, young tech genius Eran (Gilbertson), offers him a computer-based cure secretly developed in his extravagantly high-tech home. Now there's a system called Stem (voiced by Maiden) operating Grey's body under his control. Mostly. The film looks great, with a strongly visual sensibility that combines striking technological wizardry with gross-out nastiness. The fights and action sequences are particularly flashy, packed with inventive touches. The interplay between Grey and Stem is enjoyably tetchy, offering twists and turns to the story as they investigate Grey's attack and track down the perpetrators. Stem continually points out details and gives advice that only Grey can hear. And when Stem is in control of Grey's body, things can get seriously freaky and often very grisly. Marshall-Green brings a skilful physicality to the role that makes the way he's controlled feel eerily mechanical. This allows him to maintain Grey's likeable humanity and emotional resonance even when he does something seriously vile. Gilbertson is effective as the weedy genius, while Hardie gets the thankless villainous cyborg role as the relentlessly nasty Fisk. Thankfully, Gabriel and Cropper add a welcome female touch, including some tenacious compassion. And https://www.thanostv.org/movie/possum-2018 is strong enough in the opening scenes and flashbacks to underpin Grey's quest. There are hints of a much more interesting movie lurking here and there, as the script occasionally touches on both Grey's grief and his moral paradox, as well as some Black Mirror-style commentary on runaway tech. And the interplay between digital and analog is very clever. But Whannell is far more interested in playing with the genre than exploring something deeper. So even though the film is ultimately rather predictable and pointless, these underlying ideas make it entertaining and darkly intriguing. And the final scenes makes it hauntingly provocative.