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Crawl (2019)
Crawl (2019)
2019 | Horror, Thriller
Killer Alligators and Buckets Of Blood
Crawl is a 2019 disaster/horror movie directed by Alexandre Aja and written by Michael and Shawn Rasmussen. It was produced by Sam Raimi and Craig J. Flores and also Ghost House Pictures and Raimi Productions with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The film stars Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper.


Beth advises her sister, Haley Keller (Kaya Scodelario), an aspiring University of Florida swimmer to get out of the state, because a Category 5 hurricane is nearing. Concerned for the safety of her father, Dave (Barry Pepper), she goes against police instructions to evacuate, and goes to check on him. Hayley finds Dave's truck at their old Coral Lake home, where she goes into the crawlspace underneath the home to find her father. Now they both find themselves in a struggle for survival as large, ravenous alligators block their escape and they race against time as flood waters rise.


This movie was pretty awesome and better than I thought it was going to be. It was surprisingly delightful the way they built suspense and kept the tension in scenes. It was also pretty brutal with the blood and gore in the kill scenes. Kayla Scodelario performed amazingly and was great as Hayley Keller. Definitely an action-packed blood soaked adventure. The special effects were a little too unrealistic for me, especially in the beginning, which I thought would have bothered me more; but the plight the characters were in was done in such a way, that it just really draws you in. I know a lot of people would probably criticize the alligators behavior in this film too but I'm sure that could be said of movies like Jaws as well. If you don't over analyze it, you'll allow yourself to enjoy a rather exhilarating experience. I give it a 8/10.

This movie was pretty awesome and better than I thought it was going to be. It was surprisingly delightful the way they built suspense and kept the tension in scenes. Kayla Scodelario performed amazingly and was great as Hayley Keller. Definitely an action-packed, blood soaked adventure. The special effects were a little too unrealistic for me, especiallywhich I thought would have bothered me more but the plight the characters were done in such a that it just really draws you in. I know a lot of people would probably criticize the way the alligators behavior in this film but I'm sure that could be said of movies like Jaws as well. If you don't analyze it too harshly you'll allow yourself to enjoy a rather exhilarating experience. I give it a 8/10.
  
Its Fantasy Fest time, a week and a half long party for adults on Key West leading up to Halloween. Hayley Snow is busy covering the event for the magazine where she works. Meanwhile, her mom is in Key West to get remarried. Then a woman dies and Hayley’s co-worker Danielle becomes the prime suspect. Oh yeah, and there’s a hurricane that might be heading to the island as well.

As you can see, there’s plenty to keep your interest. That kept the pages turning although I did feel it weakened the ending of the actual mystery a bit. That’s a minor complaint overall with the wonderful characters and the festive atmosphere of the island. If you need an arm chair vacation, this is the book for you.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2016/04/book-review-killer-takeout-by-lucy.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
  
Christopher Robin (2018)
Christopher Robin (2018)
2018 | Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Pooh and the gang (0 more)
Hayley Atwell is very underused (1 more)
Not really much of a kids movie
A good dose of warm fuzzy feelings
After recently reading a fair few uncomplimentary critic reviews for Christopher Robin, I wasn't sure what to expect from this. But, I was actually pleasantly surprised. And my wife absolutely loved it!

The movie begins with Christopher Robin as the child we all know from the stories. He's having a farewell tea party with Pooh and the gang in the hundred acre wood - a chance to see this latest incarnation of them all, beautifully rendered, different from what we're used to, but still very familiar. Christopher Robin is leaving them to head off to boarding school, so it's going to be a while before we see them all again.

From there we quickly skip through the next few chapters of Christopher's life, while the opening credits play. Boarding school, the death of his father, meeting his wife (Hayley Atwell) and heading off to fight in the war, before returning home. We pick up again with him while working for Winslow, a luggage company. His manager (a brilliant performance from Mark Gatiss) is putting pressure on him to come up with cost saving measures, in order to save the failing company, and demands that he work the whole weekend in order to come up with a solution. Christopher was due to go away with his family that weekend to his childhood home in Sussex, so must let them down once again in favour of work. Hayley Atwell is greatly underused in this movie, but plays the disappointed wife very well. Daughter Madeline doesn't think her dad ever was a child as all he wants her to do is work hard in order to go to boarding school, read her boring books instead of fun books and work instead of play. He's a far cry from the young Christopher Robin we know.

The whole movie is very dark and gloomy looking, with bright vibrant Disney colours rarely to be seen, even more so in this first part of the movie. Aside from some small comedy moments, this isn't really a kids movie at all.

When Pooh arrives in London, seeking out Christopher Robin having lost Tigger and his other friends, the tone of the movie immediately changes. The wonderful, soothing, familiar voice of Jim Cummings bringing this silly old bear to life as he tries to adjust to Lon-don life. There are some wonderfully funny moments, full of heart, even more so when the whole gang are finally reunited and all causing chaos in London.

While never quite reaching the dizzyingly high standard set recently by the amazing Paddington 2, Christopher Robin still manages to provide you with a warm fuzzy feeling inside and a very funny, enjoyable experience. And with a lesson in making sure your embrace your inner child thrown in too!
  
Crawl (2019)
Crawl (2019)
2019 | Horror, Thriller
The dog is cute (0 more)
Pointless death scenes (0 more)
Florida, hurricane season! When dad wasn’t answering his phone, Hayley’s sister pleaded for her to go and check on him.

Hayley drove to her old family home to find dad unconscious in the crawl space underneath the building. But he was not alone! Alligators from the local alligator farm (as an English person, I don’t understand this concept) has managed to access this sub level and were causing some trouble!

Water levels were beginning to rise, and their time was running out! What follows is a loop of escape and then more gator run ins.

I expected a little more from this film, but as a fan of shoddy animal related, creature feature horrors, whilst it didn’t wow me, it was not boring! I had issues with how unrealistic they were acting dispute their injuries. The gators were mostly realistic. And the acting wasn’t awful. It was just a very middle of the range film.