Mama Review
RYAN: You know I love a good horror film; good being the operative word here.
CAROLINE: Oh so do I. But sadly, they’re mostly appallingly un-frightening.
RYAN: True. And we’re coming off of such a drought. 2012 brought nary a good scary movie. I loved The Cabin in the Woods, but that was about it.
CAROLINE: How how’s Mama?
RYAN: It’s better than all of 2012 but still not brilliant. There are some very cool things about it and I certainly jumped a few times and felt the suspense but it didn’t stay with me after leaving the theater. And it’s somewhat confusing.
CAROLINE: Oh I hate that.
RYAN: Yeah. It’s also totally derivative of other movies which are the japanese remakes… this one is based on a Spanish short though.
CAROLINE: And this movie was originally supposed to come out last October but was pushed back to now.
RYAN: Yeah in many ways it’s a typical January release. I did jump several times but they were only during manipulative devices because of sound and editing. Even I can do that with home movies.
CAROLINE: [laughs’ I’m sure you can. What about Best Actress nominee Jessica Chastain?
RYAN: You know I love her but this is certainly not her finest work. She’s good not great and the timing of this film is actually bad. It could sway some academy voters in the other direction. Just sayin’.
CAROLINE: Whoa that bad?
RYAN: Well it’s not all her fault. She plays a rock chick. The Gothic eye makeup and attitude was ok but that hair! It’s the worst wig this side of Twilight.
CAROLINE: [laughs’ Totally. It looks pretty bad even in the trailer.
RYAN: The two littler girls are good and I wonder how they choreographed them to move all twisty like that. It’s crazy. Some of it had to be Guillermo CGI. He’s so great with effects.
CAROLINE: Yeah his creature work is unparalleled.
RYAN: And the main monster reminded me a bit of a dementor from Harry Potter.
CAROLINE: Of course it did.
RYAN: No – in the design of the movement.. the hands and flowing fabric moved similarly.
CAROLINE: Anyone else of note in the cast?
RYAN: Not really but the guy who plays Chastain’s boyfriend is hot. His name is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. He’s Danish.
CAROLINE: Ya. Good to know.
RYAN: I am always rooting for the horror movies. I so terribly want them to be good and by good I mean actually scary. This movie is on average good only in comparison to how bad everything else has been. And it’s slow moving too. I said Skip It to practically all of the films in this genre last year. This one’s a rental.
