IT, based on Stephen King's novel of the same name is a very scary story about an evil clown who returns to the small town of Derry, Maine every 27 years to feast on the town's children. One group of children are faced with their biggest fears when their curiosity takes control and they begin to unravel his secrets.
I say it every time I see a scary movie. I am not a fan of the horror genre. I respect it for its' rich history but it's just not my thing. IT was my scary movie for the year and IT is very intense. It's not a groundbreaking horror film, but it has enough jump scares to keep you on the edge of your seat, with just enough creepiness to make your spine tingle.
Aside from being scary, IT was surprisingly fun. The core group of teenage characters had a chemistry that made the movie feel like an adventure the Goonies would go on or the kids from Stranger Things would get in on. It had humor in the right places. The young cast consisting of Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard (who is in the aforementioned Stranger Things), Chosen Jacobs, Jack Grazer, and Wyatt Oleff were as fun to watch as Bill Skarsgard, who plays Pennywise the Clown, was terrifying to watch.
I really liked this movie and now that I've been through IT, I think it could become ne of my standard Halloween "go to" movies. The only question I have left is whether my 14-year old son can see IT. IT is rated "R' and has a few disturbing scenes and some adult language, but it's not particularly gory or gruesome. Older teens will probably be just fine.
Also in theaters this week, Home Again stars Reese Witherspoon as Alice. Recently separated from her husband, Alice decides to start over by moving back to her hometown of Los Angeles with her two young daughters. During a night out on her 40th birthday, Alice meets three aspiring filmmakers who happen to need a place to live. Alice agrees to let the guys stay in her guest house temporarily, but the arrangement ends up unfolding in unexpected ways. Alice's unlikely new family and new romance comes to a crashing halt when her ex-husband shows up, suitcase in hand. Home Again also stars Michael Sheen, Candice Bergen, and Lake Bell.
True to the Game, is a drama that follows an up-and-coming drug dealer who is forced to choose between love and money as he tries to escape the streets for a better life. It stars Nelsan Ellis, Vivica A. Fox, and Malcolm David Kelley.
9/11 is about a group of five people who find themselves trapped in an elevator in the World Trade Center's North Tower on 9/11. They work together, never giving up hope, to try to escape before the unthinkable happens. This movies stars Charlie Sheen, Whoopi Goldberg, Luis Guzman, and Gina Gershon so I wouldn’t expect too much from it. Nowhere in the marketing does it claim to be based on people and although, I’m sure there were people trapped in elevators on that terrible day but this feels like a sleazy money grab rather than a tribute. I say that without seeing having seen it, I could be wrong.