The House with a Clock in its Walls
DVDs
Florence (Cate Blanchett), Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) and Jonathan (Jack Black) fight dark forces in The House with a Clock in its Walls. Fantasy adventure. With Jack Black, Cate Blanchett and Kyle MacLachlan. Director: Eli Roth. 10-12PG HLV. It’s 1955 and 10-year-old Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro) has just lost his parents in a car crash. He goes to live with his somewhat eccentric uncle Jonathan (Black), whom he’s never met, in his strange old house filled with clocks. There he also meets Jonathan’s neighbour, the equally strange Florence Zimmerman (Blanchett).
In addition to a ticking sound that seems to emanate from the walls, odd things happen in the house.
These puzzle Lewis until Jonathan hesitantly informs him he’s a warlock and Florence is a witch.
Jonathan decides to teach Lewis magic – but then the boy performs a spell from a forbidden book and things take a darker turn.
Based on the 1973 book of the same name by John Bellairs, this film might be a bit scary for young kids and would probably be better suited to pre-teens and older.
Blanchett is her usual effervescent self and almost steals the show from Black, whose performance is slightly more toned down than his usual antics.
This movie has all the right elements to make it a great, entertaining watch for both young and old. If you enjoyed Harry Potter and Goosebumps, it’s a must-see.
DOWNSIZING
Sci-fi comedy drama. Life takes an unexpected turn for Paul (Matt Damon) and Audrey Safranek (Kristen Wiig) when they undergo an increasingly popular procedure called Downsizing, which involves shrinking a person to about 13cm.
Sold as a solution to overpopulation and climate change, it allows them to consume fewer resources and live a lavish existence as their capital is multiplied exponentially.
While most people will watch the film for Damon, it’s Golden Globe nominee Hong Chau who shines as a feisty political dissident with no filter. The movie eventually starts to drag a bit but what sets Downsizing apart from other films with a similar premise is its clever use of dark comedy to mask the heavy subject matter.
This social satire will leave you with much to ponder long after the credits roll. 2017. 136 MIN. 13DLN.
I FEEL PRETTY
Comedy. Average-looking Renee Bennett (Amy Schumer) works for beauty firm Lily LeClaire – but not at the company’s glamorous headquarters. Instead she’s banished to a downtown office where she does online marketing. Her wish is to be as stunning as the models hired as receptionists at HQ. Then she bumps her head and wakes up believing she’s now as beautiful as in her dreams. But to the rest of the world she’s still the same Renee . . .
Schumer is a talented actress with natural comic timing and she does her best to make this tale funny and entertaining. But the script never quite gets to the bottom of the issues around body image and peer pressure the subject suggests, and the many plot holes and dangling storylines make for an unsatisfying watch. A pity. 2018. 111 MIN. 13DLNPS. ALSO ON DSTV BOX OFFICE.