Last Friday I attempted to view two films. The Conjuring went off without a hitch, but earlier in the day my screening of Red 2 was rudely interrupted by a massive thunderstorm that knocked power out to the entire theater. On the plus side, I was given a ticket for one free film. On the negative side, I absolutely cannot watch a movie twice on the big screen unless I really, really love it. Even though I was only 40 minutes in, I already knew that I did not love Red 2.
The Conjuring shares many similarities with Poltergeist. There is the family unwittingly haunted by a malevolent presence. There is a team of investigators determined to help the family, and there is lots of equipment placed around the house in order to capture images of whatever is causing the disturbances.
One of the unfortunates of this column only being published once a month (which is down from the original rate of twice of month, which was starting to become more a chore than a pleasure) is that I usually don’t get to comment on things that have just happened. This is particularly true when an actor, filmmaker, writer or anyone along those lines happens to die. Through no fault of their, they usually don’t die at the same time I’m writing this. That leaves me open to writing obituaries. I’ve done that in the past, but honestly, I find it kind of depressing. I can comment on death, but I don’t want a head space that anticipates the possibility of having to write about it on any given day.