The Dark Tower Movie Review: Uninspired Movie Version Of Stephen King's Series Of Eight Novels

 

'THE DARK TOWER' is a series of eight novels published from 1982 to 2012 and considered to be one of Stephen King's more serious works. Attempts to film it started a decade ago but it's only now that a film about it was finally completed.

The movie centers on an 11-year old boy, Jake (Tom Taylor), who lost his fireman dad while on duty a year ago. He has a very strong psychic gift and is having visions of the evil Man in Black or Sorcerer (Matthew McConaughey) who wants to destroy the earth and also of The Gunslinger (Idris Elba), who is the Sorcerer's foil and has a personal ax to grind against him for killing his father (Dennis Haysbert.)

Jake sketches the figures in his dreams and keeps a collection of his illustrations. The Sorcerer kidnaps gifted children and uses them to destroy the Dark Tower, causing frequent earthquakes in our own planet. He now wants to capture Jake to exploit his enormous psychic gift in demolishing the Dark Tower, a monolith where the power of various parallel universes is centered, so that he himself can rule all the other universes.

Jake shows his drawings to his mom (Katheryn Winnick) who won't believe him and thinks his dreams are the just the result of his losing his dad, as attested to by the psychiatrist who they consult. Jake escapes from an attempt by the henchmen of the Sorcerer to kidnap him and he later gets to an old home in Brooklyn that turns out to house a portal to an alternate world where he eventually meets the Gunslinger and, later on, the Sorcerer himself.

The film is presented like a sci-fi flick combined with a western, with plenty of shoot outs and fight scenes versus evil entities. If you're not a fan of the novels, we believe you'd be properly entertained as everything is presented with fairly stunning CGI effects. But if you are an avid fan, you'll question the decision of the filmmakers on why they made the appear more like just a sequel to King's series of books. Here, Jake becomes the central character and not the Gunslinger, who's the lead in the novels. Actually, "The Dark Tower" would be better off as a mini-series where the novels' situations can be expanded, rather than as an uninspired full length two-hour film.

Here, The Gunslinger and the Sorcerer become the usual familiar representations of the eternal fight of good versus evil that we've seen before in other action and adventure films. The Gunslinger crossing over to present day New York City and not even knowing what a hotdog is offers some funny fish-out-of-water situations.

What saves the movie is the performances of its lead stars. McConaughey is persuasive and obviously enjoyed hamming it up as the totally bad guy who is so powerful he can just order someone "Don't breathe" and that person suddenly drops dead. He has an effortless screen presence and is matched by Alba's equally charismatic portrayal of the Gunslinger that lends much gravitas to the otherwise predictable movie. The boy Tom Taylor is also quite outstanding as the troubled lad who people think is crazy.

The film is directed by Danish director Nikolaj Arcel (best known for the 2012 "A Royal Affair" starring Alicia Vikander, who eventually won an Oscar, and for scripting the original "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo") who claims he learned to speak English so he can read Stephen King's novels that are not translated into Danish. His movie version is sadly underwhelming, a thriller with very few thrills, and fails to offer anything beyond the usual escapist fare.

It suffers in comparison to King's other works which have a loyal following as he is already a proven brand in his own right, which is not surprising after the huge success of his books turn into movies like "The Shining", "The Shawshank Redemption", "Misery", "Carrie", "Stand by Me", and many more.

There's a new movie version of King's "It" due in theaters soon. We've seen its trailer in theaters already and here's hoping that it will be a better realized work than "The Dark Tower", a potential franchise film that didn't really get off the ground as it's a highly anticipated movie version that simply falls flat.
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Annabelle: Creation Movie Review - An Effective Scary Movie That Truly Frightens The Audiences And Makes Them Scream

THE SCARY DOLL Annabelle was first introduced in James Wan's blockbuster horror flick, "The Conjuring", in 2013. She was a hit with fright addicts so a spin off movie was made on her in 2014, "Annabelle", which was so badly done and yet still made money. So we're not surprised it now has a followup flick, "Annabelle: Creation", which is actually a prequel and a Part 2 movie that is actually better than its Part 1.

As "Conjuring" shows, Annabelle now stays among the collection of occults objects of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren in their home in Connecticut. The new Annabelle movie is directed by David Sandberg, who hit it big with "Lights Out". The "Creation" in the title makes it clear that this is an origin story for one of the most scary dolls in the history of cinema, just like Chucky.

It sets up its own mythos and characters that echo strains from the original James Wan work. "Conjuring" is about sisters who are haunted in the house where they moved in. "Creation" offers a new group of six young girls who are made to live in a big isolated house in the mountains after the Catholic orphanage where they used to live closed down.


The girls' guardian is Sister Charlotte (Stephanie Sigman). The girls who quickly get our attention and sympathy are Janice (Talitha Bateman), who's suffering from polio, and her kind best friend, Linda (Lulu Wilson), both easy targets for evil.

The house is owned by toymaker Samuel Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia) and his wife Esther (Miranda Otto), who lost their only child named Annabelle exactly 12 years ago. In the film's prologue, we are shown how Annabelle perished in a tragic road accident.

Janice and Lulu occupy double decked beds in the sewing room where Esther made doll costumes. Mr. Mullins seems like a nice guy but his wife is mysterious. She's bed-ridden, wears a mask ala-Phantom of the Opera, and just rings a bell whenever she needs her husband.

The girls are forbidden to enter the locked bedroom that used to belong to the dead girl, but as you would expect in movies of this sort, that's exactly where Janice gets in because she suddenly finds the locked room open in the middle of the night.

She finds a large doll in a white dress inside a huge wardrobe. Soon, the doll is seen appearing in various places around the house. Janice gets properly spooked, but as usual, no one would believe her about the doll's demonic connection. Soon, things get worse for everyone.

Compared to the first "Annabelle" spin off movie, this one has a more intense visual language. Sandberg uses all the right tricks in genre fright movies of this sort to build up tension (and he knows that we're already familiar with them) as we get to sympathize with the terrorized young girls, unleashing the fury in full force in the movie's last 20 minutes or so.

He also makes clever use of the production designer's architectual layout for the creepy farmhouse, well blocked and photographed by cinematographer Maxime Alexandre. He's likewise aware that fear is generated by the unknown, so we don't see much in the beginning. The story is coherently told as more and more details are revealed about how Annabelle became the evil spirit possessing the doll and inhabiting the house as the film progresses.

And there are just too many scenes that will jolt you and scare you, starting with the scene where Janice puts a blanket to cover the scary doll then it stands up and walks toward her. Another unforgettable scene is when the nun is suddenly lifted from the floor by an unknown force and hurled into a huge mirror that breaks into pieces.

All in all, we'd say that "Creation" is a well crafted genre flick, quite a vast improvement over the 2014 movie which was just so awful. It capitalizes more on mood and atmosphere than just cheap scare tactics. We saw it in a full packed mall theatre and the viewers were really screaming their heads off from start to finish, a clear indication of how much they enjoy being scared out of their wits. The movie ends with a scene that indicates another spin-off, so be ready for "Annabelle 3", especially now that this one is making a killing at the box office worldwide.
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33rd PMPC Star Awards for Movies 2017 Winners: Daniel Padilla, Xian Lim, Joshua Garcia & more

33rd Star Awards for Movies Nominees and Winners List

Veteran superstars Vilma Santos and Nora Aunor tied for Best Actress at the 33rd Star Awards for Movies held Sunday night, September 3 at the Resorts World Manila. Teen King Daniel Padilla brought home the Best Actor trophy for his performance in the blockbuster movie Barcelona: A Love Untold.

The movie "Die Beautiful" took home 5 awards that night including Best Movie and Best Movie Director Jun Lana.

Here's the complete set of nominees and winners for the night.

MOVIE OF THE YEAR
1. Barcelona (Star Cinema)
2. Camp Sawi (Viva Films)
3. Die Beautiful (Regal Entertainment and The IdeaFirst Company) - Winner
4. Dukot (TEN17P Films and Star Cinema)
5. Everything About Her (Star Cinema)
6. Imagine You And Me (GMA Films, APT Entertainment, MZET TV Production)
7. Seklusyon (Reality Entertainment, Inc.)
8. The Unmarried Wife (Star Cinema)
9. Whistleblower (Unitel Productions and Quento Media)

MOVIE DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
1. Adolfo Alix, Jr. (Whistleblower)
2. Joyce Bernal (Everything About Her)
3. Maryo J. Delos Reyes (The Unmarried Wife)
4. Olivia Lamasan ( Barcelona )
5. Jun Robles Lana (Die Beautiful) - Winner
6. Erik Matti (Seklusyon)
7. Paul Soriano (Dukot)
8. Michael Tuviera (Imagine You And Me)
9. Irene Emma Villamor ( Camp Sawi )

INDIE MOVIE OF THE YEAR
1. "Ang Babaeng Humayo" (Cinema One Originals and Sine Olivia Pilipinas)
2. "Kabisera" (Firestarters Productions)
3. "Kusina" (Cinemalaya Foundation and Cinematografica Films)
4. "Ma'Rosa" (Center Stage Productions)
5. "Paglipay" (Universal Harvester, Inc. and ZMD Productions)
6. "Pamilya Ordinaryo" (Cinemalaya Foundation and Found Films) - Winner
7. "Patay Na Si Hesus" (T-Rex Entertainment, Epicmedia, Above The Line, and Moira Lang)
8. "Pauwi Na" (Universal Harvester, Inc. and Pollen Productions)
9. "Tibak, The Story of Kabataang Makabayan" (Blank Pages Productions)
10. "1st Sem" (Cine Filipino, Unitel Productions, TC Entertainment, and Kayan Film Productions)

INDIE MOVIE DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
1. David Corpuz and Cenon Obispo Palomares (Kusina)
2. Arlyn Dela Cruz (Tibak, The Story of Kabataang Makabayan)
3. Lav Diaz (Ang Babaeng Humayo)
4. Zig Dulay (Paglipay)
5. Real Florido and Arturo San Agustin (Kabisera)
6. Dexter Hemedez and Allan Ibañez (1st Sem)
7. Brillante Mendoza (Ma'Rosa)
8. Eduardo Roy, Jr. (Pamilya Ordinaryo) - Winner
9. Paolo Villaluna (Pauwi Na)
10. Victor Villanueva (Patay Na Si Hesus)

MOVIE ACTOR OF THE YEAR
1. Tommy Abuel (Dagsin)
2. Paolo Ballesteros (Die Beautiful)
3. John Lloyd Cruz (Just The 3 Of Us)
4. Dingdong Dantes (The Unmarried Wife)
5. JC De Vera (Best Partee Ever)
6. Ronwaldo Martin (Pamilya Ordinaryo)
7. Zanjoe Marudo (The Third Party)
8. Daniel Padilla ( Barcelona ) - Winner
9. Alden Richards (Imagine You And Me)
10. Bembol Roco (Pauwi Na)

MOVIE ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
1. Nora Aunor (Kabisera) - Winner
2. Kathryn Bernardo ( Barcelona )
3. Janice De Belen (Ringgo, The Dog Shooter)
4. Lotlot De Leon (1st Sem)
5. Jaclyn Jose (Ma'Rosa)
6. Hasmine Killip (Pamilya Ordinaryo)
7. Angel Locsin (Everything About Her)
8. Charo Santos (Ang Babaeng Humayo)
9. Judy Ann Santos (Kusina)
10. Vilma Santos (Everything About Her) - Winner

MOVIE SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
1. Christian Bables (Die Beautiful)
2. Paolo Ballesteros (Bakit Lahat Ng Guwapo May Boyfriend?)
3. John Lloyd Cruz (Ang Babaeng Humayo)
4. Ricky Davao (Dukot)
5. Christopher De Leon (The Escort)
6. Xian Lim (Everything About Her) - Winner
7. Bembol Roco (Ringgo, The Dog Shooter)
8. Joel Torre (Tisay)

MOVIE SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
1. Mercedes Cabral (Oro)
2. Ana Capri (Laut)
3. Liza Diño-Seguerra (Ringgo, The Dog Shooter)
4. Chai Fonacier (Patay Na Si Hesus)
5. Angelica Panganiban (Whistleblower)
6. Cherry Pie Picache (Whistleblower)
7. Gloria Sevilla (Kusina)
8. Meryll Soriano (Pauwi Na)

NEW MOVIE ACTOR OF THE YEAR
1. Ronnie Alonte (Vince And Kath And James)
2. Christian Bables (Die Beautiful)
3. Jameson Blake (2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten)
3. Awra Briguela (Super Parental Guardians)
4. Joshua Garcia (Vince And Kath And James) - Winner
5. Michael Pangilinan (Pare, Mahal Mo Raw Ako)
6. Onyok Pineda (Super Parental Guardians)
7. Darwin Yu (1st Sem)

NEW MOVIE ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
1. Marion Aunor (Tibak, The Story of Kabataang Makabayan)
2. Gabbi Garcia (Laut)
3. Hasmine Killip (Pamilya Ordinaryo) - Winner
4. Micah Oteyza (Ringgo, The Dog Shooter)
5. Issa Pressman ( Camp Sawi )
6. Ara San Agustin (Kabisera)
7. Natileigh Sitoy (Lily)
8. Laila Ulao (Women Of The Weeping River)

CHILD PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
1. Awra Briguela (Super Parental Guardians)
2. Rhed Bustamante (Seklusyon) - Winner
3. Alfonso Yñigo Delen (Pitong Kabang Palay)
4. Chunsa Jung (Just The 3 Of Us)
5. Bon Andrew Lentejas (Pamilya Ordinaryo)
6. Lei Navarro (The Unmarried Wife)
7. Onyok Pineda (Super Parental Guardians)
8. David Remo (Pilapil)

MOVIE SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Froilan Medina (Dukot)
Senedy Que (The Escort)
Carmi Raymundo and Olivia Lamasan ( Barcelona )
Anton Santamaria (Seklusyon)
Vanessa Valdez (The Unmarried Wife)
Rody Vera (Die Beautiful) - Winner
Rody Vera (Whistleblower)
Irene Emma Villamor (Everything About Her)

MOVIE CINEMATOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Neil Bion (Seklusyon)
Tey Clamor ( Camp Sawi )
Hermann Claravall ( Barcelona )
Mycko David and Odyssey Flores (Dukot)
Lee Briones-Meily and Sherman Philip So (The Escort)
Carlo Mendoza (Die Beautiful) - Winner
Shayne Sarte (Everything About Her)
Shayne Sarte (Imagine You And Me)

MOVIE PRODUCTION DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
Winston Acuyong (The Unmarried Wife)
Candy Reyes-Alipio (Imagine You And Me)
Angel Diesta (Die Beautiful)
Joey Luna (Everything About Her)
Shari Marie Montiague ( Barcelona )
Ericson Navarro (Seklusyon)
Gerry Santos (The Escort)
Gerry Santos (Whistleblower)

MOVIE EDITOR OF THE YEAR
Chrisel Galeno-Desuasido and Joyce Bernal ( Camp Sawi )
Jay Halili (Seklusyon)
Marya Ignacio ( Barcelona )
Marya Ignacio (Everything About Her)
Tara Illenberger (The Unmarried Wife)
Benjamin Tolentino (Die Beautiful) - Winner
Ike Veneracion and Aleks Castañeda (Whistleblower)
Mark Victor (Dukot)

MOVIE MUSICAL SCORER OF THE YEAR
Cesar Francis Concio ( Barcelona )
Carmina Cuya (Everything About Her) - Winner
Francis De Veyra (Seklusyon)
Robbie Factoran, Ricardo Jugo, and Mark Villar (Dukot)
Richard Gonzales (Die Beautiful)
Richard Gonzales and Jay Dominguez (Imagine You And Me)
Jessie Lasaten (Whistleblower)
Jesse Lucas (The Unmarried Wife)

MOVIE SOUND ENGINEER OF THE YEAR
Aurel Claro Bilbao ( Barcelona )
Aurel Claro Bilbao (Everything About Her)
Joshua Cantillon, Jason Conanan, Kimberly Ocampo (Dukot)
Armand De Guzman and Lamberto Casas, Jr. (Die Beautiful)
Albert Michael Idioma and Bebet Casas (Seklusyon) - Winner
Arnel Labayo (The Unmarried Wife)
Alexander Red (Whistleblower)
Alex Tomboc (The Escort)

MOVIE ORIGINAL THEME SONG OF THE YEAR
1. "Bumibigay" (Bakit Lahat Ng Guwapo May Boyfriend?) – lyrics by Nica Del Rosario, music by Nica Del Rosario and Jumbo De Belen, interpreted by Shevoyz
2. "Dominus Miserere" (Seklusyon) – composed and arranged by Francis De Veyra, interpreted by Emma Rose Almario, Amanda Nicole Pugeda and Joseph James Doak.
3. "Imagine You And Me" (Imagine You And Me) – lyrics by Nicomaine Mendoza, music by Marivic Sotto, music arrangement by Jimmy Antiporda, interpreted by Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza  - Winner
4. "Malaya" ( Camp Sawi ) — composed, arranged, and interpreted by Moira Dela Torre

INDIE MOVIE SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Arlyn Dela Cruz (Tibak, The Story of Kabataang Makabayan)
Zig Dulay (Paglipay)
Troy Espiritu (Ma'Rosa)
Dexter Hemedez and Allan Ibañez (1st Sem)
Cenon Obispo Palomares (Kusina)
Enrique Ramos (Ang Hapis At Himagsik Ni Hermano Puli)
Eduardo Roy, Jr. (Pamilya Ordinaryo)
Fatrick Tabada and Moira Lang (Patay Na Si Hesus) - Winner

INDIE MOVIE CINEMATOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Ruel Antipuesto (Patay Na Si Hesus)
Albert Banzon (Paglipay)
Albert Banzon (Pamilya Ordinaryo)
Neil Daza (1st Sem)
Odyssey Flores (Ma'Rosa)
Ice Idanan (Sakaling Hindi Makarating)
Topel Lee (Kabisera)
Sasha Palomares (Pauwi Na)

INDIE MOVIE PRODUCTION DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
Harley Alcasid (Pamilya Ordinaryo)
Marxie Maolen Fadul (Pauwi Na)
Cyrus Khan (Dagsin)
Dante Mendoza (Ma'Rosa)
Ericson Navarro (Kusina)
Arthur Nicdao (Ang Hapis At Himagsik Ni Hermano Puli)
Aped Santos (Paglipay)
Aped Santos (Patay Na Si Hesus)

INDIE MOVIE EDITOR OF THE YEAR
Diego Dobles (Ma'Rosa)
JD Domingo (Patay Na Si Hesus)
Zig Dulay (Paglipay)
Tara Illenberger (Kabisera)
Carlo Francisco Manatad (Pamilya Ordinaryo) - Winner
Carlo Francisco Manatad (Ringgo, The Dog Shooter)
Benjamin Tolentino (Oro)
Paolo Villaluna and Ellen Ramos (Pauwi Na)

INDIE MOVIE MUSICAL SCORER OF THE YEAR

Teresa Barrozo (Ma'Rosa)
Francis De Veyra (Patay Na Si Hesus)
Francis De Veyra and Tonton Africa (Ang Hapis At Himagsik Ni Hermano Puli)
Erwin Fajardo (Pamilya Ordinaryo)
Gian Gianan (Paglipay)
Toni Muñoz (Kusina)
Karl Ramirez (Tibak, The Story of Kabataang Makabayan)
Pike Ramirez, Paolo Villaluna, and Veena Ramirez (

wi Na)

INDIE MOVIE SOUND ENGINEER OF THE YEAR

Jess Carlos (Oro)
Corinne De San Jose (Ang Babaeng Humayo)
Albert Michael Idioma (Ma'Rosa)
Albert Michael Idioma and Immanuel Verona (Pamilya Ordinaryo)
Raffy Magsaysay (Kusina)
Andrew Millalos (Paglipay)
Andrew Millalos (Pauwi Na) - Winner
Nicholas Varela, Mark Laccay, and Mikko Quizon (Patay Na Si Hesus)

INDIE MOVIE ORIGINAL THEME SONG OF THE YEAR
1. "Alamat" (Ang Hapis At Hinagpis Ni Hermano Puli) – composed and arranged by Vince Katindoy, interpreted by Let Gravity
2. "Apat Na Buwan" (Pitong Kabang Palay) — composed by Maricel Cariaga, arranged by Lorenzo Nielsen, interpreted by Richard James Dean
3. "Harana Ni Justino" (Dagsin) — lyrics by Atom Magadia, music by Robert Yulo, arranged by Paulo Francesco Zarate, interpreted by Paulo Daniel
4. "Landas" (Pilapil) – composed by Jojo Nadela, arranged by Ryan Regala Manal, interpreted by Orlando Sol
5. "Nananaghoy Ang Puso Ko" (Oro) – composed and arranged by Tonton Hernandez, interpreted by Sandino Martin
6. "Overdrive (Overbike)" (Lakbay 2 Love) — composed by Ely Buendia and Raymund Marasigan, re-arranged by Odoni Pestelos and Edward Fernandez, interpreted by Dennis Trillo and Solenn Heussaff with Gig Manila
7. "Panata" (Tibak, The Story of Kabataang Makabayan) – composed by Alimuddin Ariesgado, arranged by Karl Ramirez, interpreted by Marion Aunor - Winner
8. "Saan Man" (Sakaling Hindi Makarating) — lyrics by Giancarlo Abrahan, composed by Mon Espia, interpreted by Alessandra De Rossi

SPECIAL AWARDS:
DARLING OF THE PRESS
Harlene Bautista
Kim Chiu
KC Concepcion
Kaye Dacer
Xian Lim
Luis Manzano
Piolo Pascual
Regine Tolentino

MOVIE LOVETEAM OF THE YEAR
1. Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla ( Barcelona ) - Winner
2. Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards (Imagine You And Me)
3. Nadine Lustre and James Reid (This Time)
4. Julia Barretto and Ronnie Alonte (Vince And Kath And James)
5. Julia Barretto and Joshua Garcia (Vince And Kath And James)
6. Jodi Sta. Maria and Ian Veneracion (Achy Breaky Heart)
7. Jodi Sta. Maria and Richard Yap (Achy Breaky Heart)

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