We have a new kind of trend that has been going around in Hollywood for the past few years. It seems that a lof of older actors are going back to the past to revisit some of the roles that made them famous. We have Arnold Schwarzenegger once again creeping into the role of the “ It absolutely will not stop….ever…until you are dead” Terminator. Sly Stallone is playing Rocky Balboa in Creed 2, and after that he will play his other iconic character John “ my war is over” Rambo. And of course we had Harrison Ford reprising his role as Han Solo in Star Wars Episode 7 as well as Rick Deckard in Bladerunner 2049. I have seen online arguments where people were asking the question if this is a good thing. If these actors are just not simply past their prime and should stop acting. I for one am not one of them. I loved Creed for instance and Stallone did an amazing job in reprising his role which even gave him an Oscar nomination. Blade Runner 2049 ended up becoming my favorite movie of last year. So no, as long as they keep making movies that are as good as these, they can keep making them in my opinion.
Jamie Lee Curtis was 19 years old when she played the role of Laurie Strode in the classic John Carpenter movie Halloween. It immediately made her famous, and the movie itself was of course a huge succes. Now exactly 40 years later, Jamie again plays the role of Laurie and as such she is also going down the road of the aforementioned trend. Now Halloween has been a franchise that has had it’s ups and downs. A lot of the sequels that were made weren’t very good (although there were a few that I did like like Halloween H20 for instance), and this new version just pretty much resets the timeline. Meaning it dismisses all the events from the previous installments, and just acts as the true sequel to the original movie. After the events from Halloween it appears that Michael Myers has been living out his life in a rehabilitation hospital for the last forty years. Laurie herself has not been doing well. She has had two failed marriages, a daughter that she hardly speaks to, and she has become kind of a recluse preparing for the potential day that Michael returns. Her daughter Karen ridicules her for that, and tries to keep her own family away from her mother as much as she can.
However when Michael is about to be transferred to a new facility the proverbial crap hits the fan. The bus he was being transferred on crashes, and the serial killer escapes heading for Haddonfield. The unsuspecting town has no idea what’s coming. Because on Halloween night, Michael comes home. But this time, Michael himself might also not really know what’s coming for him…..I was quite excited for this movie, especially since the film so far has been gathering mostly positive reviews. But at the same time, there is always this small warning voice in my head that tells me to not get too excited. And guess what, the voice was right. While I would not call this one a bad movie, that would really be taking it too far, I also don’t quite understand why there are so many positive reviews for this film. In keeping with the positive things first, I like the fact that there are quite a few nods to the original. Some of them are very subtle, and easy to miss if you have are not very familiar with the original. But for fans, it’s definitely fun to see those.
Another positive is Jamie Lee Curtis herself. She pulled a, what I would like to call Ellen Ripley in this movie. Meaning that she was just being a very tough bad ass chick, just like Sigourney Weaver was in Aliens. First being dismissed as a bit of a loon by most people (and something that I honestly don’t really blame them for) when the threat of Michael becomes real, she is the one that people turn to. Despite the fact that Laurie appears not to have all her marbles in working order, she definitely knows what she is doing. Jamie really seems like she has been having a lot of fun playing this part, and it’s definitely the one thing that keeps this movie just on the side of a positive score. What this movie really lacks though is the nailbiting tension. Except for maybe one scene, this film just never really got thrilling. And with a horrormovie that is always a bad thing in my opinion. We see Michael killing people but it never gets tense. Because we can see the kill coming from a mile away, and most of the people getting killed are just very stupid.
Which is another thing that is not done well in this film: the people. Except for Laurie herself, most of the characters in this film just lack any real substance. Even Laurie’s daughter and grand daughter hardly have any background to them, and just aren’t really persons that you can form any attachment too. You just don’t care about them, like at all. Which is also important in a movie like this. You want to be able to feel something for them, anything, when Michael is doing his hunting. It just never happened. Halloween felt like an empty movie to me. While not everything in it was bad, without Jamie Lee Curtis this film definitely would have gotten a negative grade from me. I have to say that I honestly liked Halloween H20 a whole lot more. Made 20 years after the original, it also featured Jamie Lee, but that one really had some good tense scenes, and very fun characters as well. As always though, don’t take my word for this. For the most part Halloween has so far been received very positively, and you know that means we will undoubtedly get yet another sequel. Probably won’t even have to wait another 40 years for it either.
I give Halloween a 6 out of 10 score.
I don’t think there’s such a thing as past your prime when it comes to acting & it’s fun when the same actor relives their role many years later.
I don’t think I’ve seen the original Halloween 😅 but it’s a shame that there’s not really any tense scenes. When I watch a horror movie I want to feel scared & invested in the characters survival, so I will pass on this film until it maybe comes to Netflix haha
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I have exactly the same feeling. As long as the actors are having fun themselves, and the movies are good to…I don’t care what age they are. I mean look at Clint Eastwood. He’s still making films, and they are still good.
As for this…yeah, I would definitely hold out on this one until it comes to Netflix…or watch the original which is a whole lot better, that’s for sure 😊😊
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Exactly! Unlike in sports where your body needs to be perfectly fit so there’s a prime, that can’t be said about actors where they’re most likely the same or even better the older they are!
I’ll try to figure out where I can watch the original 😊
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I don’t think actors necessarily get past their prime for acting itself. Doing some of their own stunts maybe but not the acting.
Regardless, this has had a mixed response. I thought I may only have seen the other Jamie Lee Curtis one though, as it’s not a series I really followed.
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I agree. I don’t think any actor is ever past his prime, except for as you rightfully point out, doing stuntwork. (Although Jackie Chan would probably disagree with that😂😂)
As I said this is not necesarrily bad, but considering the very positive viewpoints on this, that for me was pushing it a bit too far😊
Well, at least Jamie Lee Curtis was good again so there is that 😉
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I liked it. Direction and production were excellent.
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Fair enough😉 As I mentioned, there were quite a number of people that did enjoy it😊
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This kind of dialogue is the beautiful thing about living under the kind of political structures that we do
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The first Halloween is why I never watch horror movies, it really had me scared the whole way through and didn’t leave me for months. Consequently I’ve never watched another, so won’t be doing this one either! BTW enjoy TWD tonight, won’t spoil it for you but I will say we are going to watch it again tonight, was not expecting how it panned out!
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Haha😂😂 Fair enough, although I would say that you could safely watch this one, as except for a single scene it wasn’t really scary (at least for me it wasn’t).
Well…TWD was awesome. I didn’t expect it would end like this either…but…I’m glad it did. Really…I am 😊😊 Did you hear the news already about the three films with Rick? 😊😊
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Yes I did, so now the ending makes sense I suppose. I had theorised that they kept him alive so he could come back in a couple of series when he’d gone off and done something different for a while, and spent time at home with wife and kids ( which was supposedly why he was leaving) but boy was I wrong.!
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Well, I for one am really glad that Rick hasn’t died. I do think that he probably won’t be returning to the show itself, and his arc will come to a close with the three movies. But, one never knows. I have also heard that both Daryl and Carol (well the actors of course lol) have signed a three year deal with AMC…which means that we are going to get three more seasons at least 😮😮 So…great news all around 😊😊
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Absolutely! Look forward to your posts on it all!
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Great review 😆
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Thank you so much 😉😊
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I honestly can’t remember if I’ve seen the original or not…
However it would seem that Hollywood is the only film industry that still won’t cast older actors in leads where they play their age not not dine off past glories. Another reason why World Cinema rules! 😛
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Ah! ‘Walk in closet’ I see what you did there! Also a great review. 🙂
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Haha: yeah, pun intended I guess lol😂 Thank you very much😊
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As you know, I am not a fan of all this ‘re-visiting’. That said, JLC is usually worth watching, but I will definitely wait for this to arrive on TV. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Yeah, sometimes a revisit can be good (there are at least a few rare exceptions). But…for me this one certainly wasn’t one of them. JLC would certainly the biggest reason for watching this one 😊😊
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I saw it with my mom! it was pretty good, I wanted more though. Hopefully the next one will be better!
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Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it 😊😊 It was certainly a film that I expected more from myself as well. And given the succes a sequel will of course be made. FIngers crossed that it will be better 😊😊
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…. I can’t believe that I still haven’t seen BladeRunner 2049… 🤔🤔 I meant to go see it in theatre… But, never seemed to make it. Then I just sort of forgot about it…
Well, I’m not surprised this movie wasn’t great… I just had this feeling. I completely agree about your thoughts on the depth of character in a horror movie. You definitely have to care about the characters for it to be good. It the people who are being murdered are just skin deep idiots you’ll just find yourself either bored, or asking “… Who was that, again?” which is possibly even worse than bored!
I’m frankly a little surprised this movie made it over the middle ground with a 6! (I’ll still probably watch it one day… I’m a masochist like that) but, from the sounds of it, I probably won’t enjoy it! 😂😂
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I can’t believe that either lol 😮😮 Well, it’s a long movie…but…I can hear a watchalong is pretty good for things like that 😂😂For me, it was certainly a totally terrific film and became one of my all time favorites 😊😊
Yeah, i really thought the characters in this film just were the weakest part of it. Every single one of them you just really didn’t care for, like at all. I wouldn’t have minded that so much, if the film was at least a little bit more scary…but…it wasn’t. At least for me it wasn’t. Oh well…nothing to be done about it I guess 😊😂
Well…as I said, it certainly isn’t a bad film, there were some things in it that were enjoyable, but yeah overall…for me at least this was pretty disappointing 😢
Lol…well…as you know I’m a masochist too…so there is that 😂😂
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Booo….. A “Halloween” movie that’s not scary?? (ok… So, I don’t find ANY of them scary..) but, I can still tell that it’s supposed to be scary and would probably scare some… This one just sounds flat.
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Haha…well…the first one is pretty scary (although tense is probably a better word for it 😂😂).
But yeah..flat is exactly the correct word for it….sad…but true (and I don’t mean the Metallica song 😂😂)
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My husband saw this one and enjoyed it mightily. I’ve seen the first three films and the Rob Zombie films, and I gotta say–this one certainly sounds better than “let’s just make Michael Myers an abused kid. Then we totally understand why he’d become a psycho.” I was happy to hear the Halloween 3 masks (I liked that movie!) made an appearance, and that the score was used well. Yes, this film def has its faults, but at least it sounds like it was a movie made with love and effort, unlike most of the other Halloween films. I think that’s all we can ask for. 🙂
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Well, that is definitely something I totally agree with. The Rob Zombie versions of Halloween were pretty horrible, and seriously not even worthy of the name Halloween. This one is much better, and certainly was made with love for the original movies. But..all in all I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped for. Still, as I mentioned in the review, a lot of people did enjoy it, and I always think that is awesome. As with pretty much every movie/book/tv show, it’s all a matter of personal opinion: and one of the reasons I love movies so much in the first place: everyone experiences them differently 😊😊 Thank you for your comment! 😊😊
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Quite true! Take that film ANNIHILATION–critics were gushing about it, but I absolutely hated it (“you just don’t like it because it’s a hard movie and makes you think,” critics say. Me: Ye GODS, have you read the books?!? This movie’s as diluted as it gets!). But as you say, everyone walks into a theater with his/her own experiences, and those experiences are going to lead to different reactions to a movie. We all need to respect these reactions and opinions…
Except where DIE HARD is concerned. Only a fool hates DIE HARD. 🙂
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Lol….well…then I am very glad that I am not a fool because of course I love Die Hard 😂😂
I pretty much all the time disagree with critics. When they bash something I love it, when the praise it I (sometimes) hate it 😂😂 But true, a movie will always be a personal experience no matter what.
As for Annihilation: totally agree with you on that one! I really didn’t like it either 😂😂
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Yay, we’re friends! 🙂 Did you read the Southern Reach trilogy? Can’t recommend it enough. Such a powerful novel, and you gotta read carefully, esp the 3rd book, to fully appreciate the crazy timeline. Do you have a favorite book/series?
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Haha, yay🎉🎉🎉 No, I can’t say I have read that one, but I’ll add it to my to read list 😊😊Thanks for the recommendation.
One of my favorite book series is the Dragonlance saga written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman 😊😊
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Hmm. Don’t know that. I’ll have to add it to my Goodreads list! The publisher keeps pushing me to read only YA Fantasy Romance because that’s what I write, but I like to READ other stuff–cozy mysteries, the occasional nonfiction or humor. Don’t readers get sick of the same genre all the time? I do…
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Haha…yeah, I definitely like to mix it up myself as well, and try to read books in different genres. Else things would get way too boring 😊😊
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Exactly! Do you find yourself mixing it up with your films, too?
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Absolutely! I of course do have my preferences, but I have a really wide taste in movies, and watch pretty much everything 😊
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You’re far braver than I! I cannot handle rom-coms worth a bean, or musicals. Everyone’s always, “Oh, Marry Poppins was so magical,” and I’m all, “What about Bedknobs and Broomsticks?” And I will never forgive the high school friend who had us for a birthday sleepover and put these three country rom-com films on over, and over, and over THE WHOLE WEEKEND.
Traumatized for life, you see. 🙂
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Haha…okay, well…admittedly, rom-coms are on my to avoid list lol. That is the only genre of films that I have to say that I avoid😂 Musicals can be good. Definitely not a genre that I would say that I watch a lot, but sometimes they can be alright.
Lol….and I think I would be traumatized for life as well if something like that would have happened to me as well. One is already enough, let alone an entire weekend with three of them on repeat. Ugh……😱😱😱 The horror…😂😂
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OH MY GOSH. And that they were COUNTRY rom-coms, with girls tryin’ to be stars, and boys all rogue-ish and the constant twangy soundtrack. As Patton Oswalt says, “I hate, I HAAAATE!”
I’m trying to think of one rom-com I can stand…hmm. Well Princess Bride can sorta count there, being also a fantasy. I feel like there’s one other one I’m forgetting, but it wasn’t a straight up rom-com, but another fantasy, too, or a mystery. Hmm. You know, I even tried Steve Martin, whom I love, but I couldn’t even handle LA Story. I just get so bored when romance is the only area of conflict and change.
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Haha….😂 I seriously don’t know how you even survived an ordeal such as that. You are very brave 😂😂
Hmm…I guess now I’m trying to think of a romcom that I can stand too. Erm….🤔🤔 Stil thinking….erm……🤔🤔 Nope…sorry mind draws a blank lol 😂😂
I haven’t seen Princess Bride (I know it’s terrible, everyone keeps insisting that I should check that one out), so maybe I should give that one a go. I never say never (wel almost never anyway 😂).
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Ha! It’s got enough humor in it to stomach the rom-ness. Casting’s spot on, right down the Grandfather Peter Falk. There’s a reason so many lines in there are so quotable. 😉 I don’t love the movie enough to watch it regularly, but it’s fun to catch once in a while.
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Haha 😊 Okay, I guess you have convinced me enough to go and check this one out. Probably won’t be this month, but hey, maybe this is a good watch for December 😊
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It’s relatively safe in case little relations are around. 😉
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An excellent overview of this movie 🙂 Of course, being horror, I’ll be passing on this one. I’m all for actors reprising their roles though. I think it’s hard to compare these reboots to the originals many times, but they can still be a bit of nostalgic fun 🙂
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Thank you as always for the kind words 😊 Yeah…I definitely have seen plenty of examples of actors reprising their roles (two of course having already been named in this post). While Jamie Lee did a great job with this film, it’s sadly the film itself that didn’t do such a great job. Oh well…can’t win them all I guess. 😊
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Great review and a surprisingly good Halloween! One of Jamie Lee Curtis’ best performances in a long time. I actually have the Halloween series scheduled for next year, but I wrote them all a year in advance.
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Thank you 😊Jamie Lee did a very good job with this, that’s for sure, and certainly the main reason that I still kind of enjoyed this one.
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It’s always great to have a standout, but it’s too bad the rest of the cast can’t match their performance.
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Yeah, so true… I just didn’t find any of the characters, besided Jamie Lee, that I liked. And that for me was one of the biggest reasons why I didn’t like this film 😔
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So, my co-worker said she loved Halloween. Then my friend said she loved Halloween. I’m still undecided whether I should see this. I’m just past Hollywood not having any new ideas so they recreate old films. I’m not sure.
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Well, as I said, I seem to be in the minority with this, so don’t take my word for it lol 😂😂
But yeah, when compared to the movie from 20 years ago (Halloween H20) I really liked that one a lot more. For me this film was just very mediocre, but hey lol, what do I know 😂😂
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I agree with your views than theirs. They think everything is good
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Like you Michel, I loved Halloween H20. I’m disappointed, but somehow not surprised that this new installment didn’t live up to it. I’ll still watch it though when it comes out on dvd just for the pleasure of seeing Jamie Lee Curtis/ Laurie go another round with her brother.
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Well, it’s not a bad film. But certainly (at least in my opinion) not worthy of all the very positivity it has been gathering so far). Halloween h20 was fo me at least, a much better film. Jamie Lee did a very good job, and it’s definitely because of her that the film is at least good enough to watch. But yes…it’s a good thing to wait for the dvd 😊😊
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I saw this too and thought it was pretty good! Great review!
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Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed the film. I was a bit disappointed by it unfortunately, but I’ve definitely seen worse movies 😊
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It was better than Halloween Resurrection! 😂😂😂
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Haha..that is for sure 😊😊
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Yeah I agree that if they make good movies, they can keep it up 😉 (not that they need my say-so 😉 ) I have heard this series has had some ups and downs. Pity so much of this was not done well- particularly the people It’s so pointless if you can’t care for them at all. Shame this didn’t live upto the original.
Fantastic review though! 🙂
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Thank you so much for the kind words 😊😊
I think one of the most important things in movies or books is characters. And if you have characters that you can’t relate to in any way…that for my always substracts points of a final score.
But yeah…this for me was definitely a disappointment. I really expected more of this one. But at least Jamie Lee’s performance was very good.
And true lol: I agree with you, they definitely should keep it up 😂😂
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Even I like it when old characters come back. It’s interesting to see what happened to those characters over the years,and how their character buildup adjusts with the current storyline! Again great post!
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Yeah…absolutely. I loved Creed for instance. Stallone returning to reprise his role as Rocky in that one, was such a terrifc moment.
And the one good thing about the Halloween film was at least Jamie Lee’s role in it. That at least made it a bit worthwhile 😊😊
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A bit of a random question popped into my head when reading that first paragraph and I thought it would be interesting to ask. If Blade Runner 2049 was your favourite movie of last year, what is your favourite movie of this year so far?
The original Halloween scared the bananas out of me, so when I seen this movie’s trailer I was really excited, too. I haven’t seen it yet, but I suspected it wouldn’t be as good as it was being made out 🙂 Still looking forward to watching it though 🙂
Great Review 😀
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Haha…well…that is a very good question honestly 🤔🤔 I really enjoyed the last Mission Impossible movie. I don’t know if it’s my favorite film of the year, but it certainly comes close. I will have to think a bit more about it. Will get back to you on that lol 😂
The original Halloween is a classic, and to this day it just is still a very good movie 😊😊
As for this one…well…as I said, there are a lot of people that did enjoy this, so definitely don’t take my word for it 😊😊 Thank you as always, and if you do get to watch it, I look forward to gearing your thoughts on it 😊
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Actors returning to an old role can be hit or miss. Stallone in Creed worked, Hamill in the last Star Wars didn’t. Sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy this movie. At least Curtis acquitted herself well. I have heard some people compare her to Hamilton in Terminator 2, as they play mothers who toughened up.
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Well…the reason Hamill didn’t work in the last Star Wars, was because the script sucked lol 😂😂Hopefully in the next installment, he can at least take some sort of redemption for that role.
Definitely a good comparison by the way: Curtis’ role certainly did feel a bit like Hamilton’s Sarah Connor. It was a great role, and definitely the one thing that I DID like about this film 😊
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Great review! I hadn’t planned on watching the movie myself but should I happen to come across it on TV some year(s) in the future I am sure I’ll remember your review of it 🙂
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Thank you 😊 It was a bit of a disappointment for me, but there are certainly worse films out there, and I guess it’s a good one to watch when you have some time (on tv that is, it’s certainly not one that you just HAVE to see in the theatres 😊)
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Great review, Michel! I too don’t mind that these older actors find themselves in the movies part of the franchise that they started too. As long as their roles are justified and that the story is good. Creed being the perfect and BEST example of them all. Can’t wait for Creed II by the way, although I fear it might not live up to the hype. I haven’t seen any of the Halloween movies though, and I fear checking them out cause of the story and character development, but I’m keeping the original Halloween movie on my list of movies to watch at least once in my life. The character is way too iconic for me to not at least watch that one! Great review, sir! 😀
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Thank you so much as always for another terrific comment! 😊 The original Halloween is an amazing and very iconic horror movie, and one that is definitely a film that’s worth the watch. This one though, not so much unfortunately.
Creed 2 is looking great, everything I have seen so far from it, makes it look even better than the first one…but….it’s just trailers, and they always show the best parts. So…not too sure about it being as good as it’s looking now. FIngers crossed it will be though😅😊😊
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Ohhhh not fair, I haven’t watched most of the movies you’ve written about… And I can’t say much (not my favourite position to be in as you can tell I’m sure).
But I’m surprised no one has talked about the amazing picture captions 😂
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Whoa….I just woke up and saw all the comments and likes. You have been busy😮😮 Thanks so much for visiting Auri, I appreciate it😊
Haha…no worries: I’m in that same position now, as I have missed out on a lot of movies myself lately. The good thing about it though? We can catch up again right? Lot of cool movies to watch😊 Lol, and thanks! The captions I always find the hardest thing to do, but I’m glad you liked them 😊
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Hahaha yessss a year backlog is quite a bit…
Oh yeah, I’m going to binge till College starts, I’m already doing it for books and manga so
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Well…still: it’s very nice of you to do, so thank you 😊
Have fun binging! 😀😀
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