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Wednesday, October 3, 2018

#HouseWithAClock Film Reviews (XVII)

Film reviews: The House with a Clock in it Walls


[The] plot synopsis probably makes “House” sound like a million other movies you've seen before. That's because it is. We've all seen this movie before, or at least something very similar to it. A kid discovers some form of supernatural force and then has to use that to save the world. It's the basis of pretty much every young adult novel (and its subsequent movie adaptation), namely the “Percy Jackson” and “Beautiful Creatures” series.

Though the story may be lackluster, the movie itself is decently entertaining. That is in large part due to the casting of Black and Blanchett in two of the lead roles.

There have been a lot of mediocre movies hitting theaters lately such as “The Predator” and “The Nun,” and “House” falls in this category as well. While there are likeable moments in the movie, it ultimately feels like the same rehashed young-adult story we've seen a million times. It was an enjoyable experience seeing Black and Blanchett take on these roles, but ultimately they couldn't make watching this movie worth the time or effort.

Kyle Kruse

...there is also triumph in what Mrs. Zimmerman accomplishes—in helping Lewis climb back out of that boiler, in helping Jonathan put his house back to rights and clearing away the automatons and the pumpkin goo, in sitting down for another plate of shared cookies, in stepping forward into a life that honors her lost family while giving her the opportunity to form a new one. Trauma doesn’t leave you, wars aren’t forgotten, and that tattoo Mrs. Zimmerman received in the concentration camp will never really fade. But The House with a Clock in Its Walls delivers a message about allowing love into your life as a counter to entrenched pain that is surprisingly nuanced for a PG movie in which there is also a topiary winged lion that splatters poo on Lewis more than once. There are levels to this shit, and that’s thanks to Mrs. Florence Zimmerman.

Roxana Hadadi
Pajiba

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