[I review "Tarot (a current Top Ten Movie on Netflix)," "Find Me Falling," and "Summer Camp" - a little horror, a little romance and a little mess of a movie to avoid]
Tarot (2024)
While doing a tarot card reading, in classic horror movie mode, a group of friends unknowingly unleash evil and death.
A group of college friends - Haley (Harriet Slater), Grant (Adain Bradley), Paxton (Jacob Batalon), Paige (Avantika), Madeline (Humberly Gonzalez), Lucas (Wolfgang Novogratz), and Elise (Larsen Thompson) - rent a creepy mansion in the Catskills for Elise's birthday. Haley and Grant have recently broken up so the group distracts themselves from the tension by playing with a tarot card set they have found in the basement.
Haley does some astrological readings using the tarot cards. Elise is matched with "The High Priestess" card that predicts she will "climb the ladder of success." Well, that's good, right? Lucas gets "The Hermit." Paige is matched with "The Magician" and Paxton "The Fool." Okay, not sure what those mean. But then Haley pulls "The Hanged Man" for Madeline and "The Devil" for Grant. Haley gets "Death." Oops.
So... this is a horror film. The typical young people in danger scenario. I am sure you can figure out what is going to happen when these kids get back to campus. Yes, they start dying in the manner of their tarot card. If you like horror films, the fun here is who, how and when. The "how" is particularly good.
When the kids figure out, uh, things are bad, they consult Alma (Olwen Fouere), a tarot expert they find online. I mean, when you are looking for an expert, you go online, right? She is able to identify the cards as those belonging to an 18th century astrologer who worked for a Hungarian Count. After telling the Count that his pregnant wife and child would die in childbirth and it came true, the Count ordered his men to kill the Astrologer's daughter which really pissed off the Astrologer, who in turn, doomed the Count and his friends to death and cursed the cards. Oops. Alma tells the kids they need to destroy those cards.
So off they all go back to the mansion to destroy the tarot cards. Not a good idea because there is more scary stuff to come, but for you squeamish folks, it's only mildly gory (I only had to put my hands over my eyes once).
Written and directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg (based on the book "Horrorscope" by Nicholas Adams) and starring a cast of talented and attractive unknown actors, this is kind of silly but it is fast-moving, stylishly done and is currently in Netflix's Top Ten Movies.
Rosy the Reviewer says...I enjoy the occasional "gotcha" and "Don't go up there, in there, out there!" moments that horror films provide, and this film is full of them. If you like stylish horror films, and especially if you are into tarot and astrology, you might enjoy this too. (Netflix)
Find Me Falling (2024)
Rock star, John Allman, is licking his wounds in Cypress after his latest album bombed, and it doesn't help matters when he discovers that his remote cliffside home attracts unwanted "visitors."
Morose John Allman (Harry Connick Jr.) is not happy to discover that his new home high on a cliff in Cypress is also a hotspot for suicides. But, oh well, that fits his gloomy mood. He is a musician and his latest album tanked. He has moved to Cypress to escape and to hope no one recognizes him. That ain't gonna happen because not only is he recognized, but he runs into Sia (Agni Scott), a woman he had met in Cypress many years ago. It just so happens that John's most famous song is about a woman he once met on a beach. And it just so happens that Sia is a single mother with a daughter, Melina (Ali Fumiko Whitney), who is also a singer. Mmmm.
Sia and John rekindle their romance, but it is not without bumps on the beach especially when John writes a possible hit and contemplates returning to New York. In the meantime, lots of people continue to try to throw themselves over John's cliff, John gets caught up in village life, and we find out why Sia and John broke up years ago. There is also a twist that I saw miles before it was revealed (and you probably will too), but those miles you see are all over the picturesque Mediterranean location so like I always say, "It's the journey."
Harry Connick Jr. is not much of an actor, but he is a handsome guy, well-supported here by a quirky plot and interesting (sometimes quirky) actors, especially Scott, who is interesting, not quirky. I just wish there had been a bit more sexual chemistry between our two lovebirds. But the film, written and directed by Stelana Kliris, is very, very sweet, like a cupcake with frosting and then some sugar on top of that and there's nothing wrong with a little sugar. It makes you feel good.
Rosy the Reviewer says...if you are a Harry Connick Jr. fan or a fan of Hallmark Movies, you will like this. It's a feelgood 90 minute getaway to beautiful Cypress. (Netflix)
Summer Camp (2024)
Nora (Diane Keaton), Ginny (Kathy Bates), and Mary (Alfre Woodard) have been close friends since they were children, spending every summer together at summer camp. But life has kept them apart so when an opportunity arises to attend a summer camp reunion, they jump at the chance.
God knows I love films that showcase female friendships, and I wanted to believe that's what this movie would be, but when these kinds of movies go wrong, they go very, very wrong, especially when they are about women of a certain age.
First of all, let me say...Diane, Diane, Diane...what happened to you? You used to be a serious actress or at least take yourself seriously. I remember you in "The Godfather," "Reds," "Looking for Mr. Goodbar." But then along came "Annie Hall," a perfectly wonderful film, but for some reason, you have decided to embrace your Annie Hall persona in your Golden Years. You now play a Dingbat practically every chance you get. And you do it in real life as well right down to the way you dress. I have never gotten over your appearances on "Ellen," when you would flutter onto the set and drink wine and fiddle-dee-dee your head off. And that's what we have here.
So anyway, Nora, Ginny and Mary have known each other since childhood and "promised to stay best friends forever..." and now 50 years later they are getting together for a reunion at summer camp. Ginny is a best-selling self-help author, who can't seem to help herself; Mary is a nurse who had really wanted to be a doctor but gave up her dream to marry a bad husband; and Nora is a recluse scientist, who doesn't know how to have fun. Naturally, they all find themselves and solve their life problems after going through some wacky, slapstick stuff at camp, none of which are funny.
Written and directed by Castille Landon, what could have been a funny but heartfelt exploration of long-term female friendships was actually an exercise in bad dialogue and over-acting and not one laugh to be had. Case in point. Eugene Levy plays Stevie D, who we are supposed to believe is a longtime object of Nora's lust. Nothing against Eugene Levy but kind of a stretch. And then, of course, we had to have the sex-starved older woman stereotype at play.
Ginny and Mary do a makeover on Nora so she can seduce Stevie, and I kid you not, the outfit they put her in is...wait for it... an exact replica of an Annie Hall outfit, full-skirt, wide-cinched belt and even that dumb, I mean, signature hat that Diane wears all of the time. But no surprise, really, because Diane has been dressing like that for years in real life.
I know it is not easy for women of a certain age to find work in Hollywood and they are willing to put up with stereotypical and disrespectful roles to get work, but then think about 94-year-old June Squibb recently starring in the wonderful film "Thelma." She managed to find a film that didn't make her look like an idiot.
Rosy the Reviewer says...just awful. Can someone please find these veteran actresses a vehicle worthy of their talents? Until then, you can skip this one (for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime, but don't bother).
Thanks for reading!
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