What to Watch in the Theater:
Crawl (R) is in theaters now. We had pretty low expectations for this one, and were pleasantly surprised. It has a pretty basic premise – father and daughter trapped in a flooding basement during a hurricane evacuation with, of course, large alligators to keep them company. The story was believable enough, and the suspense and feelings it evoked reminded us of the original Jaws. There are still non-CGI monsters that can scare us out of ever wanting to swim in Florida again. Or live there, for that matter. Although some things seemed like they might be implausible, but since we have no experience with hurricanes or alligators, we bought it all and were very impressed.
Our rating: 4.75 out of 5
What to Watch at Home (Or Not):
SGT Stubby: An American Hero (PG) is available on DVD. This animated film is based on the true story of a dog who becomes part of a US Army regiment on the front lines in France during WWI. It’s a heartwarming story full of camaraderie between humans and Stubby, who is a valuable asset to his unit. Although some details are changed to enhance the story, the feats accomplished by this dog are amazingly real, and it’s a great introduction for younger viewers to an important part of history.
Our rating: 4.17 out of 5
A World Away (not rated) is streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime. This low-budget SciFi film seems to be a family project – with Blanchard siblings (Rowan is the best-known) and dad as writer/director. It follows a group of middle school kids on their way to the Grand Canyon, when their plane goes into some weird warp that connects them with some aliens who are searching for the glowing stone that is their source of power. It’s a weird story that could be interesting but the production values are so low that we just can’t recommend it.
Our rating: skip it!
Time Bandits (PG) is available on DVD. We dip back into the early 1980s for this one, written and directed by members of Monty Python. We meet a group of little people who are traveling through holes in a map, to pillage their way through important moments in history. They are joined by a present-day boy, Kevin, since there was a portal in his closet. It’s funny, bizarre, and full of some pretty great stars. Sure, the special effects are nothing like the present day, but the writing and characters make up for it.
Our rating: 4.17 out of 5
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