A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

Director: Chuck Russell. Cast: Heather Langenkamp, Craig Wasson, Patricia Arquette, Robert Englund, Ken Sagoes

By 1987 Freddy had become a household name and people flocked to see him (well, horror fans at least). After the disappointment of the previous instalment (Which still made lots of money), the producers thought it was wise to bring back Wes Craven who come up with this story. They also hired Frank Darabont as a screenwriter (the man behind who would direct “The Shawshank Redemption” 12 years later, the Green Mile in 1999 and eventually became the creator of the hit series “the Walking dead”) and went back to some of the characters from the original film (Nancy and her dad). They also added to the mix a whole array of young actors, including Patricia Arquette in her first screen role and Laurence Fishburne.The moments where the kids are all interacting together in the dreams are definitely some of the highlights in the film and in fact this is probably the best the series will ever be (it’s all downhill from now): the story is rather clever, different but with enough call-backs to the original mythology and after the betrayal of part 2, at least most of the “rules of the game” are restored (i.e. people only get killed in the dreams and Freddy doesn’t walk among real people).

It’s by no means a masterpiece and it just about gets away with it reaching my 3-stars mark. There are plenty of ropey scenes here and there (the stop motion skeleton towards the end is just bad, just to mention one), but the film does have some inventive moments too, mainly centred around the various dream sequences where the special effects are used to maximum effect, especially considering the very low budget: the scenes where one of the kids being dragged like a marionette from his own tendons by a giant Freddy is actually very effective.By now Freddy’s lost some of the mystique and that dark side which was so terrifying from the original. Even though he has already started coming up with a couple of silly one-liners (“Welcome to prime time, bitch!” he says before smashing a victim’s face into a tv screen) we’re not quite there at the completely outrageous levels of clown from the later sequels.The ending comes so abruptly that it really looks like they had run out of money (or ideas) and thought “oh well, let’s end it!”.

Just like I’m about to do with this review.

Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo

Directors: Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich. Cast: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould 

Back in 2003 hardly any animated movie looked as good as Finding Nemo. Fast forward 18 years, this is not only one of those timeless favourite among families, but it’s also still as lush and vibrant as it was. From a story point of view, after starting with a real bang, an unexpected and moving sequence (quite a shock for young kids out there… and probably something of a trademark in the Pixar Universe) the film then moves to introduce its audience to the beautiful world under the sea: the colourful seascapes and the fish, the meticulous details (almost too many to be contained inside a screen, so much so that it becomes almost slightly chaotic), the incredible underwater lighting are all a marvel to watch and they still have the power to impress.

The middle section of the film is probably the weakest (though I am aware that criticising this film feels a bit of a blasphemy), as we move through a series of rather episodic sequences, some more successful than others and most of which rather redundant (Let’s be honest, the shark meeting for example is not as funny as it thinks it is and the bit with the monster in black depths comes and go without many consequences). However once “dad Marvin” gets to Sidney in his search for Nemo and the action kicks in, the film opens up to an exciting third act, with edge-of-your-seat thrills, chases, humour and twists aplenty.

Overall this is an enchanting film, full of lovely characters (probably a bit too many which does harm a little bit their characterisations), beautifully saturated visuals, and lots of heart in true Disney fashion. Though, as you might have gathered, this is not one of my Pixar (or Disney) favourites, it’s hard to dislike it and even harder to criticise it, mainly because it does so many things right. In years to come kids will still be watching Finding Nemo (probably even more than those who go back and watch Snow White) and they will still fall in love with it… and rightly so!

On DisneyPlus.

The Sandlot

The Sandlot ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Director: David Mickey Evans. Cast: Art LaFleur, Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar Patrick Renna, Chauncey Leopardi.

1993 was a pretty good year in movies, with things like “Jurassic Park”, “Schindler’s List”, “The Fugitive”, “Groundhog Day”, “In the Name of the Father”, “In the Line of Fire”, Falling down, Philadelphia, “True Romance”, “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” and who knows how many others… So you will forgive me if “The Sandlot” had completely escaped me. So much so that I don’t think I even remember it being released. Possibly the idea about kids playing baseball would not have appealed much to me at that time anyway (and on paper it still doesn’t today).But I’m happy I finally got around to see it and even happier I was able to do it with Giovanni, because this is actually the perfect kids movie.The 60s summery settings gives it that ‘Stand by Me’ vibe, which I adore so much (obviously not as profound and emotional as that one, but hardly anything is in my book) and the group of kids feels straight out of stories like “It” or even “The Goonies”, just as nerdy and likeable (Incidentally, the cast here is spot on!).”The Sandlot” might not break any barriers for originality and it’s certainly miles away from being a perfect film, but it’s immensely enjoyable in a superficial sort of way, completely harmless and throughoully charming.