Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/697728
JUNE 29 - JULY 5, 2016 UCW 21 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM I've Seen This 20 Times The Conjuring 2 (Rated R) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS When I was a kid I used to really enjoy basic cable horror movies, usually found on the Lifetime network, typically with a running time in the three-hour range (including the commercials every ten minutes or so). The actors (Gwyneth Paltrow, David Arquette) often went on to star in legitimate movies, but these roles were just part of the bad acting background. The problem with feeding my brain a steady diet of not-even-good- enough-for-straight-to-video delights in between Unsolved Mysteries marathons is that I would see the really famous ghost stories told over and over again. So, when The Conjuring 2 (134 minutes) focused on the Enfield haunting, it covered a story I had read about, seen on television both as a miniseries and as a featured story on a true life series, and I am pretty sure, seen more than one movie version of. Not to mention, watching a figurative ton of haunted houses movies, besides. And you know what? There's really nothing new to see here. While I freely admit director James Wan is extremely capable at wringing screams from an audience, the scares owe more to skilled sound editing than camera work. I mean, I can only see ghost nuns gliding across a room so many times before my brain grows numb. We begin by revisiting the Amityville murders for the millionth time. Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), the biggest fakers in fake-exorcist town, are attempting to convince the audience that we should believe in spooks. Lorraine sees dead people, which is certainly a new and exciting twist. She also sees Ed impaled on something pointy, because what's a scary movie without the pretense that one of the stars might actually experience real danger? Nevermind that real-life Ed is still alive and well, so pretending he isn't going to survive to the end of the movie doesn't actually have any pay off. We skip ahead a few years. Ed and Lorraine are doing some talk shows. Surprise, surprise, they are aggressively questioned about whether ghosts and demons are real. Ed confirms that they are, so the debate is laid to rest forever (not). After the show he adopts a very hostile attitude, feeling wounded that people question him and fail to believe his unbelievable claims. Eventually, he and Lorraine agree to stop exorcising things until people are nicer to them, or something. It's not really clear and it doesn't matter anyway, because two scenes later they are back in the game. In the next scene, the Hodgson family is, based on the title the movie, being conjured. Because if there was not conjuring involved, why call the film The Conjuring 2, as opposed to, I don't know, something that related in some way to the actual events taking place. It's like, if a ninth Harry Potter (Harry Potter and the Blatant Cash Grab, for instance) film was released without actually featuring Harry Potter. Look, maybe I'm being harsh. Maybe I've seen too many good horror movies lately to tolerate one that is merely average. Some of my friends have even commented how much they liked it, and it's making money. Or, maybe it's time for Hollywood to take a chance on something new instead of remaking films that don't need to be remade. Now playing at Patriot 14 + IMAX. HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. For more information: www.upandcomingweekly.com & www.womensviewnc.com July 12, 2016 • 5:30 - 7 p.m. 208 Rowan St. Corporate offices of A Free Public Event Refreshments & Door Prizes! A Year Since the Rain with Special Guest Author Shane Wilson Admission $1.00 • Adult FREE with Paying Child • All Staff FREE