The Conjuring 2

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: James Wan/Starring: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Frances O' Connor, Franka Potente, Madison Wolfe, Lauren Esposito, Simon McBurney and Maria Doyle Kennedy

From the case files of the ghostbusting couple Ed and Lorraine Warren comes The Conjuring 2; director James Wan's follow-up to his frightening first film in what will most likely be a small franchise or at least a trilogy. The 2nd installment is a worthy successor to The Conjuring. Based on "real" events, Wan's film tells the story of one of the Warren's more famous investigations, which took place in Enfield, England in 1977. Though the film has its missteps, it nevertheless dispenses effective doses terror and chills. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprise their roles as Ed and Lorraine; characters they've settled into nicely and play with affecting ease.

When the story begins in Enfield in the late 1970s', a young girl named Janet Hodgson (Madison Wolfe) and a friend are caught smoking in a school stairwell. Shortly before they are called to the Headmaster's office, Janet's friend returns a makeshift Ouija board to her (not that thing again), which provides the story dark portent. At home, we get a sense of Janet's home-life as the shabby family abode is conspicuously absent a father. The mother; Peggy (played by rarely seen Frances O'Connor), is a single parent trying to hold her family together with meager finances. Her troubles include her young son Billy's (Benjamin Haigh) speech impediment and Janet herself, whose school life is less than happy.

During one evening at home, Janet shows her older sister Margaret (Lauren Esposito) her Ouija board, which they use to contact spirits, only to experience failure. The board is subsequently cast aside.

Meanwhile, in Long Island, NY, the Warrens investigate the infamous Amityville house after the owners complain of a hostile spiritual presence. During a seance, Lorraine places herself in a trance-like state in an attempt to experience the grisly murders that preceded the house's haunting. The sequence is creepy but less so than what takes place at the Warren's Connecticut home thereafter. Lorraine begins to dream of an entity with a ghostly pallor, dressed in a nun's habit. The malevolent spirit leads her to a basement, where it points to a figure standing in the shadows. The figure is revealed in a later dream as her husband. Lorraine interprets the dream as a threat from something malevolent in the spirit world though she knows not what. The next morning she finds Ed painting a figure from a dream he had the night before--the nun from Lorraine's dream. Convinced of the danger posed by said spirit, Lorraine asks that they suspend their investigations for the time being.

Back at the Hodgson household, eerie noises and strange incidents begin to unnerve the family. Janet begins to sleepwalk, which prompts her to tie herself to the bed. When the creepy occurrences become too much for the family to bear, the police are called to investigate. The police's cursory search of the house turns up little, until the officers see a chair move by itself across the floor. Spooked, the police refuse to get involved but refer the matter to paranormal expert, Maurice Grosse (Simon McBurney), who discovers he too is at loss to help the Hodgsons. When the situation becomes desperate, the Warrens are inevitably contacted and though they are on hiatus, they are persuaded to visit the Hodgsons in England to hear their case. Assured by Grosse their participation will be limited, they are nonetheless fully drawn into the nightmare. Having determined that Janet may be possessed by a spirit, the Warrens, Peggy, Grosse and an academic named Anita Gregory (Franka Potente) investigate the haunting further, needing proof of possession for the Catholic church to consent to an exorcism.

What is particularly interesting about the film is Anita Gregory, who brings unanticipated skepticism to the proceedings--and the film. Convinced Janet and Hodgsons are perpetrating a hoax, Gregory chides the Warrens and Grosse for being taken in though they, Grosse and Peggy insist the haunting is real. Of course the audience knows Janet and Hodgsons are on the up and up but I really thought for a moment the film might actually debunk all the claims of the haunting and possession. I was pleased the movie accepted everything at face value because who goes to a horror movie to be convinced the supernatural is hokum?

An elderly man's voice begins to emanate from Janet's mouth, making it necessary to conduct a test to determine who the spirit might be. While Janet sits on an old leather chair in the living room, Ed holds a question and answer session with the spirit. After the spirit vigorously resists Ed's questions, he identifies himself as Bill Wilkins; a former occupant who died while sitting in the same chair Janet occupies. Wilkins issues a forceful command to the Hodgsons to "leave his home." But as Bill furthers his reign of terror, Lorraine discovers the demonic entity haunting she and Ed's dreams is the very same nether-fiend manipulating Bill's spirit into menacing the family. I found this plot development to be original and very unusual. It's the first time, to my knowledge, that a demon has controlled a ghost for its own purposes in a horror film. In an attempt to stop the demon who is hell-bent (if you excuse the expression) on destroying Janet Hodgson and Ed, Lorraine realizes she must learn its name in order to control it.

The plot comes to a scorching boil when the spirit holds Janet hostage inside the Hodgson house. A desperate effort to gain entry into the Hodgson home by forceful means ensues. A unintentionally absurd moment where Peggy's neighbor tries to break down the basement door using an axe becomes a comically unrealistic, protracted affair. Come on; it's an old, wooden door; two whacks with an axe should have reduced the thing to splinters!

While Lorraine and said neighbor try to gain violent ingress, Ed manages to reach Janet by another route. When the demon tries to make Janet leap from the window onto a lethally pointed tree trunk (foreseen in one of Lorraine's dreams), Ed's life becomes imperiled too when he tries to stop her. Lorraine finally arrives to attempt an intervention.

There is much I found refreshing about Wan's film. Though it called upon some familiar horror tropes to tell its story, it was also eccentric in many ways most films in the genre are not. The aforementioned demon/ghost plot device is one. Another are the dual hauntings; the Warrens in Connecticut and Hodgsons in England, which ratchets up the tension nicely. There were also some moments that felt decidedly non-horror and more dramatic. I've always found it frustrating in horror films when person A tries to persuade person B of a frightening encounter with something supernatural, only for the entity to become silent or unobtrusive, which casts person A as a liar or crank. In Wan's film, this almost never happens.

The movie has its flaws. I find it puzzling that the Warrens, Peggy and Grosse conveniently forget very convincing evidence for the entity's existence--the chair moving on its own across the floor--for instance--when countering Anita Gregory's claims of fraud. How would one doubt what one has seen when the entire house shakes and the lights go out? How could Janet fake that? Billy's tent on the Hodgson house second floor also makes little sense (another of the film's slips; I've seen a similar tent in countless other horror films). Why doesn't he or the family tear down the damn thing after his toys begin to roll out of it?
Why does a demon go to all the trouble to frighten and bully? Why not just kill Ed Warren? And why would the Warrens be much of a threat to powerful forces from beyond? Bits and pieces of the The Exorcist can be found in the story, including a possessed young girl who speaks in male voice and the time-honored Ouija-as-culprit-for-possession angle. I guess there's no way around that film's influence on horror.

But all in all, I found the film to be done quite well and sufficiently scary. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are slowly becoming an iconic presence in modern horror cinema. They are quite excellent (and certainly more glamorous than their real-life counterparts) as Ed and Lorraine Warren and never treat the material as a lark. Frances O'Connor is quite terrific, as are the young cast who make up the Hodgson brood.

Wan earned his horror bona fides long ago and continues to hone his craft. He knows how to coax the scares out of the story without resorting to cheap trickery or hackneyed scare devices (or at least not too many).

The Conjuring 2 is one of the few sequels that is worthy of the original. A third film would not be unwelcome. A word of caution to those who plan on seeing the flick. Do not read the case on which the film is based. The real story is more mundane and is most certainly a cheesy hoax. It doesn't bother me that Paul Bunyanesque-size liberties were taken with the real story--who really thinks any of the Warren's cases are authentic or real anyway? All I ask of a horror film is that it frightens me without becoming mired in a bog of cliches and tired scare tactics. Wan's film is made well and a fun experience to boot.

Sing Street

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: John Carney/Starring: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Jack Reynor, Lucy Boynton, Mark McKenna, Maria Doyle-Kennedy, Don Wycherley and Aidan Gillen

Director John Carney, who gave us Once and Begin Again, steps behind the camera again for Sing Street; his romantic/drama/musical whose story borrows many elements from the aforementioned films. I hesitate to call the films a trilogy because we can never be certain if more films of this ilk are in the works. Formula is beginning seep into his films. Carney's latest also reminds me of The Commitments; which may be a deliberate allusion. The two films have actress Maria Doyle-Kennedy in common, as well as Glen Hansard; star of Once, though his function in Sing Street is only as a contributing songwriter. Though the film has its charms; offbeat cast, catchy songtrack and romance; it also feels like many movies I've seen many times. It's the kind of movie one might enjoy while being aware of its insubstantiality. It gets the period right but the serious story lurking beneath its misfit appeal is only wafer-deep.

Set in Dublin in the mid-80s', Ireland's economy is stagnant and many Irish are setting off across the water to England, seeking better opportunities. Among the hard hit is the Lalor family, who are forced to reorganize their expenses to make ends meet. One change the family initiates is with their son Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), who is pulled out of his expensive Jesuit school to attend a public school. But financial hardship isn't the only problem facing the Lalor family, for Conor's parents: Penny (Maria Doyle-Kennedy) and Robert (Aidan Gillen) are weathering a shaky marriage. Conor's older brother Brendan (Jack Reynor), has dropped out of school and lies about the house idly; without prospects and direction.

Conor finds his new school--Synge Street--to be dramatically different from his previous alma mater as bullies tyrannize the halls and a humorless headmaster named Brother Baxter (Don Wycherley) exerts his despotic authority. In Conor's first week of school, he finds he has run afoul of the school's dress code, for which Baxter shows his unyielding firmness.
Conor also finds he is the focus of a bully's wrath, which earns him torments and ultimately a black eye.

As the school year proceeds, Conor notices a girl a few years older than he, watching the boys trudge to school everyday. He summons the courage to speak to her and after some small talk, he learns of her dream to become a model in London. In hopes of becoming acquainted, he asks Raphina (Lucy Boynton) if she would like to be in his band's video. When she responds in a semi-committal way, he sets out to form a band with the help of his new friend Darren (Ben Carolan). Darren and Conor begin recruiting musicians in earnest. The sequence that follows after is lifted wholesale from The Commitments as the recruitment process nets a group of oddballs whose skills betray an acceptable level of competence. A key member is Eamon (Mark McKenna), a be-speckled schoolmate who auditions for Conor by playing a variety of instruments.

The band progresses quickly (probably faster than plausibility should permit) and before long, they come up with a band name--Sing Street--and a video concept to accompany an original song, which brings Raphina into their fold. The band's sound develops, as does Conor's interest in Raphina though his plans suffer a snag when he finds she has a boyfriend. As he becomes more acquainted with her, he discovers Raphina is living in a home for young women. She later explains her situation when she divulges her parent's troubles

As the story progresses, the various narrative threads begin to coalesce. The film begins to explore Conor's relationship with his brother and Brendan's frustration with his failures, which become more acute when Sing Street begins to show promise. The Lalor's divorce creates a residential issue for the family and Conor's relationship suffers a setback when Raphina's modeling foray in London fails.

Sing Street's first gig in the school gym is a modest success; the band firmly establishes its sound. By the final reel, the story's unresolved issue is whether Conor and Raphina will run away to London to pursue their respective dreams.

Though Carney tries to give what is essentially a musical some dramatic heft, the movie lacks the gravitas of Once and the comedic verve of The Commitments. In spite of, the characters are interesting enough to keep one emotionally invested in the story, but barely. As mentioned earlier, the story is a pastiche of better films.

The music does give the story color. The band's original compositions mingle with songs from the period: Inbetween Days, by the Cure, Rio, by Duran Duran and Pop Muzik, M, which give us a sense of the influences and inspirations behind Sing Street's music. I credit Carney for showing us scenes of Conor and Eamon composing; a crucial detail that paints a picture of the boys as complete musicians. Nevertheless, it's difficult to recall most of the songs composed for the film.

Once was a bittersweet story that at times seemed documentary-like. Sing Street is light but maybe too light and too derivative. It really doesn't distance itself enough from The Commitments to claim its own dramatic territory. At least the movie was better than Carney's last film; the unfortunate Begin Again which offered nothing for the ear nor eye. Sing Street doesn't leave one singing, but at least it it isn't a bore.

Jupiter Ascending

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski/Starring: Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean and Maria Doyle Kennedy

I think the Wachowskis' would like to think of themselves as visionary filmmakers but with films like The Matrix, Cloud Atlas and now Jupiter Ascending serving as standouts in their shabby oeuvre, I think of them more as merchants of flash and trash; writer/directors who spend gobs on visuals but can't write a story that floats or characters with any more depth than a thimble. Their latest follows in that tradition and in spite of said visuals, it is nothing more than junk with a glossy coat of dazzling color.

I expect to see an actress with Mila Kunis' slight acting ability ham about in this mess, but we've just seen Channing Tatum and Eddie Redmayne in Oscar-nominated films, which leads me to ask; what gives, fellas? Did your bank accounts really need the padding?

I'll leave those rhetorical questions to focus on the movie at hand.

And boy, is this film a bore! Cluttered visuals, pointless, vapid action scenes and film frames crowded with bodies that utter ridiculously inane dialogue effectively characterize this movie. Good thing I didn't shell out $16 bucks for the 3D version.

The story, which is kind of hard to follow--not because of a labyrinthine brilliance but rather its busy incoherence--takes place on Earth and in space. The main character, Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis); the daughter of an English astrophysicist and a Russian mother, earns her name at her birth, where a relative notes Jupiter's position in the night sky. But the name also owes something to her father's interest in astronomical phenomena. He spends much of his time gazing at the stars through his telescope until, for no reason the filmmakers or the characters can explain, Russian thugs break into their home, rob the premises and making off with his beloved telescope. When he tries to stop them, they put a bullet in him, thus ending his star-gazing past-time.

The family is subsequently reduced to cleaning homes to earn an ignominious living, as is Jupiter, who scrubs toilets without complaint.

But elsewhere in our galaxy, we find the family Abrasax; a royal family of considerable power and wealth who rule over their domain with arrogance and presumption. The leader is Balem Abrasax (Eddie Redmayne), the evil patriarch who violently deposed his own mother to secure the throne. Under his thumb are his siblings, Kalique (Tuppence Middleton) and Titus (Douglas Booth), whose lives and roles in the family are no more secure than that of their late mommy.

A large part of the Abrasax power resides in the substance they harvest from humans; one that provides longevity and almost eternal youth. Increasing their supply means controlling the source, namely Earth, which is the cause of many of family squabbles. Balem's plans for Earth involve exploiting its population, which means denuding the planet of any human life; a hostile, destructive agenda he has accomplished with scores of other planets.

And what does our heroine, Jupiter Jones, have to do with all this? Turns out she is the reincarnation of the murdered Abrasax matriarch though she doesn't know it, which naturally makes her the target of Balem's Machiavellian, murderous designs. Jupiter discovers her royal connection the hard way when bounty hunters are dispatched to Earth to cancel her life. But she also discovers that she has a guardian angel of sorts, a genetically-engineered soldier named Caine Wise (Channing Tatum, saddled with a dopey character name) who is trying to redeem his career after a disaster earlier in his career (I have to give the Wachowski's credit for making genetic-engineering of prime importance in the futuristic goings on in space).

Caine's military suit is equipped with hi-tech footwear with its own means of propulsion, which allows him incredible, surfer-like mobility. Caine fights off various baddies who have come to Earth to do Jupiter Jones harm while also trying to enlist the help of an angry former colleague who is residing on Earth named Stinger Apini (Sean Bean).

Are you getting all this? If you find my synopsis wanting or I've carelessly omitted some key plot points, please bear with me; I was trying to keep the story straight while fending off hellish boredom. It wasn't easy!

So the reader (and viewer) can see where all this will lead. Jupiter will try to regain the throne with Caine's help as they become romantically involved while Earth's future hangs in the balance and blah, blah, blah.

I've noticed a certain phenomenon has overcome big budget action spectacles the last ten years or so and it leads me to ask: How does Hollywood (and the Wachowskis') manage to put the audience to sleep with so much ear-splitting noise and carnage on the screen? My head was nearly hanging on my chest before being snapped awake while Channing Tatum surfed around and Mila Kunis fell from great heights and long shots of a planet smothered in orbital habitats and nonsensical flotsam littered the screen.

Needless to say I couldn't wait for it all to end.

The film chokes on its own silliness quotient and believe me, there is a lot of it. I don't know what the thinking was behind Channing Tatum's look, but he resembled a satyr dressed for a night of clubbing rather than a hard-nosed soldier. Mila Kunis' lack of wonder or incredulity just made her seem like a dumb Miss America contestant who can't think beyond her Maybelline. Of course she was cast for sex appeal and her ability to fit into snug, cosmic couture. If there was any real chemistry between Kunis and Tatum, it was squelched by all the commotion onscreen.

Eddie Redmayne was hilariously miscast but he gives it the old college try, though the curious, modulated voice he affects made him seem less threatening than Stephen Hawking.

If you're like me, you might have found the trailer very off-putting, with its brain-frying and intelligence-trying CGI. I hate to say the film is just more of the same, without respite or anything for the mind to feed on. I'm sure I'm overstating it, but this film is a vacuous waste of time.

I invite the Wachowskis' to see Interstellar if they want to know what entertaining, thought-provoking science fiction can be. If their goal was to make a dumbed-down space opera, then I guess they attained their creative goal.

Should I say more? Not necessary. I just hope the Wachowskis' refrain from turning this story into a saga. That would be criminal.