Devil In A New Dress

The devil returns in Lauren Weisberger’s sequel to her 2003 best-selling novel “The Devil Wears Prada” appropriately titled “Revenge wears Prada,” which picks up ten years after the first book and sees Andy Sachs as a successful owner of her own bridal magazine, getting married to a wealthy businessman, and best friends with Emily Charlton. Gone are Alex Fineman, Andy’s boyfriend who broke up with her shortly after she quit Runway, and Lily Goodwin, her best friend who moved to Colorado to attend school. In their places, Weisberger offers a more prominent role for Emily Charlton who was once considered Andy’s most hated person, next to Miranda Priestly of course, has somehow not only become her best friend but co-owner of their magazine The Plunge. Things may seem quite different for Andy, but her character is exactly the same: she is still an over analyzer, over reactor, and just plain annoying.

Although the novel didn’t feature as much Miranda Priestly as previously hoped which makes sense since Andy no longer works for Runway, the scenes she does appear has readers picturing Meryl Streep sashaying through a lavish party on a yacht and completely ignoring Anne Hathaway. Weisberger created an interesting premise that has both Andy and Emily’s former employer looking to purchase The Plunge with a contract that has the two girls working under Miranda again for one full year. Through a series of flashbacks, the reader is slowly given information that fills the ten year gap between the first and second novels and while it was nice to see where all of these characters have been up to, the story was just not believable. Nostalgic readers should definitely pick up a copy before the inevitable film is created which would reunite the entire original cast, but beware the ending might make you cringe.

Tiptoe Through The Tulips

The highly anticipated sequel to the 2010 horror film “Insidious” might have broken records over the weekend opening on Friday the 13^th, but the low budget film has audiences feeling a bit underwhelmed. “Insidious: Chapter 2” finds the Lambert family exactly where we last saw them: on the verge of being murdered by the dark bride who has inhabited Josh’s body, played by Patrick Wilson. But instead of this happening, the family believes that someone else has murdered paranormal investigator Elise played by Lin Shaye and they decide to return to Josh’s childhood home where odd things start to happen. Sound familiar? Rose Byrne returns as Renai Lambert, the matriarch of the family who is trying to believe her husband Patrick Wilson, who promises that everything will be alright if they just ignore the ghosts that keep appearing. Barbara Hershey also returns as Lorraine Lambert, Josh’s mother, who is trying to remember more about her son’s past with the paranormal. While this movie wasn’t a complete disappointment, some of the plot elements just didn’t make any sense.

The flashbacks to Josh’s unexplained childhood was a high point in the movie, as well as the music and the new settings; however, the film’s downfall were the obvious flaws in the premise and the lack of scares caused by keeping audience in the dark by not showing what characters were seeing. Gone from the sequel are the infamous demon with hooves and his creepy rendition of Tiny Tim’s “Tiptoe through the Tulips.” Another odd thing was the PG-13 rating, which was no doubt in favor of getting a younger audience to drive the $41 million opening weekend sales. While there were definitely a few creepy moments that caused jolts, “Insidous: Chapter 2” failed to ignite both the fear and curiosity of the first film by basically repeating the story and adding time travel to the mix. The much campier approach didn’t really help either, with audiences laughing more than screaming. If the first film had shades of “Poltergeist,” the second is filled with “Psycho” references as the dark bride’s past is uncovered. It’s clear that the inevitable “Chapter 3” will introduce a new family and follow Elise as she tries to help victims from the Further.

Born Again

Action-adventure “Bourne Legacy” continues writer Robert Ludlum’s saga of Jason Bourne played by Matt Damon, but replaces it’s lead actor with a new character that’s spices things up in the sometimes slow-paced summer blockbuster. Jeremy Renner stars as Aaron Cross, another member of the Treadstone Project working with the Department of Defense who is trying desperately to stay alive after his company starts targeting him along with every other hired assassin. This time around has much more Science with Rachel Weisz starring as Dr. Marta Shearing, a scientist working for Treadstone and responsible for creating the medication that the assassins take, which alters their chromosomes and heightens their senses, physical abilities and mental concentration. This movie takes place during the events of the past three installments, with Jason Bourne going rogue after losing his memory and ending all ties with his employer.

This causes Treadstone to wipe out the assassin project by getting rid of all evidence including killing everyone involved. While the beginning of the film was very slow-paced compared to the other movies in the series, the story started to pick up once Renner and Weisz came face-to-face. Edward Norton also stars as Eric Byer, an angry supervisor at Treadstone who will stop at nothing to cover up all evidence of the project. “Bourne Legacy” made nearly $40 million in its opening weekend on August 8, 2012 and continues to perform well. While Damon declined to make a cameo in this movie, his presence is still very much noted in the News coverage being watched by the characters. There are also plenty of familiar faces including Joan Allen as Pamela Landy. “Bourne Legacy” succeeds in keeping the original formula of the last three installments intact and adding plenty of new and interesting characters who can no doubt continue the series.

If I Ever Leave This World Alive

Science fiction thriller “Prometheus” brought audiences back to the terrifying world of aliens and gave actress Charlize Theron her second consecutive blockbuster this summer after scoring with “Snow White and the Huntsman” the week prior. Previously helmed as a prequel to the “Alien” series, film creator Ridley Scott chose to portray this as a standalone film with some elements of the original 1979 “Alien” starring Sigourney Weaver. “Lost” writer Damon Lindelof was brought on to rewrite the script after it took several years for this story set nearly eighty years into the future to get off the ground. After a two year voyage in space, a ship named Prometheus arrives on a planet that is thought to be inhabited with aliens responsible for the birth of humans according to cave paintings found in various parts of the globe.

A team was developed with the help of a mysterious, ailing funder to find out if these aliens are alive and how exactly we are linked to them, but after the ship makes its landing it quickly becomes clear that these aliens are hostile toward humans. Noomi Rapace stars as Elizabeth Shaw, an archaeologist with strong beliefs in God and is desperate to find out if these aliens are truly the “engineers” she believes them to be. It was somewhat of a surprise to see “The O.C.” star Logan Marshall-Green cast in such a high profile role as Rapace’s love interest and partner. Theron plays Meredith Vickers, one of the funder’s employees sent to keep an eye on the crew and control the situation, but has her own agenda. The film tackles such issues as Faith and Science just as Lindelof’s ABC show did for six seasons. It was very interesting how Scott chose to develop the aliens in this film as they technically did not have to be replicas from his past films.

Theron was not the only familiar face on board the ship, as “X-Men: Origins” actor Michael Fassbender plays David, an android who acts as the ship’s butler and liaison to the project’s billionaire funder, ensuring that his dying wishes are granted. Fassbender gave perhaps the best performance of the film from his devious actions as a robot obeying his master to his immeasurable amount of knowledge; at one point he toyingly whispers “there is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing.” This movie certainly echoed the original, but lacked character development and actual horror with the exception of a few scenes; whereas the original “Alien” had a cast of five, this one has nearly twenty. Just as in the footsteps of Theron’s previous hit, “Prometheus” made over $50 million in its first weekend after premiering on June 8^th 2012. A sequel seems imminent as the door is left wide open at the end of the film with so many unanswered questions and possibilities to go from here.

All I Have To Do Is Dream

Here is the second part of the top ten scariest movies that can be caught on TV this week with some that you’ll have to pick up at red box.

5 ) “A Nightmare on Elm Street” airing on CINEMAX Sun, Nov 6, 5:00 PM

This 1984 horror film that created seven sequels and a remake tells the story of a murdered child molester who returns to kill his now teenage victims in their dreams. Sporting a Christmas sweater, glove of knives, and third degree burns, Freddy Kruger will surely give you a reason to stay awake; “nine, ten, never sleep again.”

4 ) “Copycat” airing on TNT Mon, Oct 31, 1:00 AM

Sigourney Weaver stars as a criminal psychologist who is bound to her home after a tragic incident that forces her to develop agoraphobia. After two detectives land on her doorstep, she unwillingly tries to help them solve a series of murders that resemble famous killings from the past. This underappreciated thriller can usually be caught on TV late at night, even when it isn’t Halloween.

3 ) “Halloween” airing on AMC Wed, Oct 26, 10:00 PM

John Carpenter’s low-budget 1978 movie was the one that started it all. This slow-paced and suspenseful film is about a crazed lunatic who seeks out his younger sister after spending his life in a mental hospital following the killing of their older sister. Jamie Lee Curtis stars as a babysitter who keeps seeing “the boogie man” while wondering where her friends keep disappearing to on Halloween.

2 ) “Scream” airing on MTV Sat, Oct 29, 8:00 PM

With three sequels and one as recent as this year, this 1996 slasher flick takes the cake as the most suspenseful of its kind and begs the question: What happens when people watch too many scary movies? A ghost-faced murderer goes on a killing spree in the small town of Woodsboro and with so many possible suspects, can Sydney Prescott, played by Neve Campbell, tell who’s the killer and who’s the red-herring?

1 ) “What Lies Beneath” go to red box

Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford star as a married couple who start to see a blonde ghost in their New England home after suffering some marital problems the year prior. From the mystery of the story to the incredible score, this horror film will have you jumping out of your chair every time you hear the name Madison, not to mention the bathtub scene.

Honorable Mentions: “Pet Sematary,” “When a Stranger Calls,” “Saw,” “Paranormal Activity,” and “Final Destination.”