Donnie Darko (2001)

A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident. (IMDb)

Carried by snappy dialogue and a memorable soundtrack is this mesmerizing mix of poignant teenage drama (the one-take high school montage is fantastic) and strange pyscho-horror (wait, the rabbit is real?), with undertones of eerie sci-fi, with Gyllenhaal excelling as a brilliant but tortured youth with a penchant for rebellion that comes to the forefront in his trance-like late-night escapades. The meaning of it all isn’t totally clear, but the film still manages to resonate and feel cohesive.

8.5/10 (Amazing)

Scream (1996)

Happy Halloween, dear readers! Go pour yourself a mug of hot apple cider, grab some candy, and watch a scary movie. This one is highly recommended by me! 🙂

 

Attempting to cope with her mother’s murder, Sydney and her horror movie-obsessed friends are stalked by a murderer who seems to have a hard time letting the past go. (IMDb)

A top notch scary movie featuring an entertaining combination of tense slasher-violence, unnerving murder mystery, and loads of jump scares to go along with dashes of dark teen comedy and meta, self-parodying horror movie satire. It’s well acted (the supporting Lillard and Kennedy are especially delightful) and cleverly written (“Look behind you, Jamie!”), and its whodunit plot is packed full of great twists and red herrings that keep you guessing right up until the absolutely killer climax.

8/10 (Great)

Blended (2014)

After a bad blind date, a man and woman find themselves stuck together at a resort for families, where their attraction grows as their respective kids benefit from the burgeoning relationship. (IMDb)

An awfully predictable screenplay here is especially cringe-worthy in its first act as cheap and unfunny humour attempts to grab your attention, painfully wooden dialogue establishes the main characters, and simple plot points set up the storyline in seconds. Yet the film becomes tolerable and even engaging as it progresses; the humour grows on you, and the contrived emotional peaks are undoubtedly effective, for as caricatured as the characters are, you do end up caring for them.

6/10 (Mediocre)