Delayed Reaction: The Jerk

The Pitch: "Like Dostoyevsky's The Idiot, but not that. Like The Jerk."

How I Came Into It: I love Steve Martin and his movies whether he's writing, directing, or just acting (the more, the better). This is the movie that set it all off. Before The Jerk, he was the biggest stand-up comedian in the country. This is the movie that proved his big screen viability. Most of my knowledge of the movie comes from the constant references to it in Freaks & Geeks. I simply had to figure out why those geeks were so obsessed with the movie.

Why I Saw It: Martin took many of his popular stand-up bits and put them into this movie that is more of a collection of events than a film. I haven't heard much of Martin's stand up, but based on his book (Born Standing Up), this is exactly what I imagined his first movie would be like. At this point in his career, Martin's humor was all about context. He played an idiot with expert precision and his punchlines were designed not to land on a specific beat. That's all very apparent throughout The Jerk. It takes some getting used to, but I can see why it is such a highly regarded comedy.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: The comedy does take some getting used to, and this is Martin at his most raw. Something like L.A. Story has a similar brand of humor but a lot more refined. The Jerk is something close to anarchy. It's the kind of movie where you have to already know that the people making it know what they're doing in order to appreciate it. I hope that makes sense. A better way to put it is that you have to really know what you're doing to look this bad.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Someone Marry Barry

The Pitch: Some friends try to pawn their annoying friend off on a woman for him to date.

How I Came Into It: Tyler Labine, Damon Wayans Jr., Thomas Middleditch, Lucy Punch, and Hayes MacArthur is a collection of names that I think favorably of. They are actors who have been one of my favorite parts of sitcoms I've watched (Mad Love, Happy Endings, Silicon Valley, Ben & Kate, and Perfect Couples respectively, in case you were wondering). Labine and Punch have the added bonus of movie performances I've loved (Tucker & Dale vs. Evil and Bad Teacher). In short, this is dripping with potential.

Why I Saw It: Sometimes the decision to see a movie comes down to me asking myself if I'd still enjoy the worst version of a movie with a collection of actors in it. In this case, I would. Someone Marry Barry isn't a great movie. It's enjoyable enough to watch while I'm editing other Delayed Reactions* though. Labine and Punch get to revel in their awfulness, which is something they both normally have to do on the sidelines. When you think about it, this movie has an interesting structure. Barry is the main character, but he's positioned like a supporting one. The trio of Wayans, Middleditch, and MacArthur essentially split the lead actor role, which moves Labine to the forefront. In that respect, the movie delivers on something that I'm always looking for in a Netflix pickup: what makes this different from all the other movies just like it?

*Yeah, I actually proofread these things and they still turn out like this. Scary, I know.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: It would be nice for a comedy make me laugh more.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

August Movie Preview

I don't know what to expect from this August. 2014 was the biggest August on record and the first time that month was bigger than July. Then, August 2015 dropped by nearly 50% from 2014. Looking at this year, it'll all depend on how successfully Suicide Squad opens the months. I'm guessing this month will revert back to the mean. That would make sense for this so far underwhelming summer. I can already tell that I'll be having trouble toward the end of the month. Maybe something will surprise me.

2016
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | Jul  
2015

Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec 

2014

Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

2013

Mar |  Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

8/5

Suicide Squad
A bunch of DC villains team up to kind of be good guys.
Working For It: It's safe to call this my most anticipated movie if the summer. Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn is becoming iconic leading up to this in a way that's reminiscent to Heath Leger's Joker before The Dark Knight  came out (you know, except for the whole death thing). The rest of the cast - Will Smith, Viola Davis, Jared Leto, Cara Delevingne to name a few - is strong. It looks like a fun entry in a DC Cinematic Universe that is still figuring things out. This seems like a natural fit for director David Ayer (Fury, End of Watch).
Working Against It: While I don't expect it to happen, this could easily be a complete mess. There's a lot of characters to service and potential landmines at every step.
Verdict: Absolutely seeing it

Nine Lives
Kevin Spacey is an absent father/husband who is turned into a cat.
Working For It: On paper, I like Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Garner.
Working Against It: In execution, I didn't like The Shaggy Dog or even The Garfield Movie.
Verdict: Hard pass

Front Cover [Limited]
A gay, Chinese American stylist works with a famous Chinese actor and their lives become intertwined.
Working For It: I don't know the actors or director, so it's kind of a blank slate. The trailer looks like it could be a fun watch. It covers a lot of topics that I don't know much about regarding Chinese popular culture's view on homosexuality and the experience of second generation Chinese-Americans.
Working Against It: The trailer has a bad case of "Giving too much away". Without any familiar names in front of or behind the camera, there's no reason for me to trust that this is anything more than an interesting trailer.
Verdict: Maybe on Netflix one day.

Little Men [Limited]
Two friends get caught in the middle of a financial dispute between their families.
Working For It: This checks all my boxes. Sundance. Coming of age. Dramedy. Alfred Molina and Greg Kinnear look to be in top Indie form and the two eponymous "Little Men" could be discoveries. I've been meaning to see a number of director Ira Sachs' movies (Love is Strange, Keep the Lights On) and this looks like an easy in.
Working Against It: While I end up seeing a bunch of Sundance movies, only a few ever really connect with me. There's a good chance this may be a little too indie for my taste.
Verdict: It'll find its way into my Netflix queue.

8/12

Sausage Party
Animated movie about grocery food finding out that they exist to be eaten.
Working For It: This is from the Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg camp. It has all (and I mean all) the actors you'd expect voicing the characters. This is so weird, and apparently raunchy, that it just might work. One thing I love is that one of the directors went from working exclusively on Thomas the Tank Engine movies to this.
Working Against It: For as big a devotee to Rogen/Goldberg as I am, the fact that even I'm having trouble buying into this explains the American Ultra-esque release date. This could be hilarious. Or, it could be shock value for shock value's sake.
Verdict: I'd be lying if I said anything less than "I'm likely to see it in theaters."

Pete's Dragon
A remake of the 1977, uh, classic (?).
Working For It: David Lowery also directed an episode of the show Rectify. That might be enough to tip the scale. With the year Disney is having (Zootopia, The Jungle Book, Finding Dory, Civil War), it's probably worth seeing this just on speculation.
Working Against It: The star power of the movie is limited to Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, and Karl Urban. I like all of them well enough. They are all actors who I like when they show up in a movie, not actors who I seek out their movies.
Verdict: Wavering. Maybe if I'm invited to see it.

Florence Foster Jenkins
A woman who can't sing very well works toward getting to put on a concert at Carnegie Hall.
Working For It: Meryl Streep looks to make another one of these fluffy-looking roles into something that earns her an Oscar nomination. Hugh Grant plays her husband. It also features The Big Bang Theory's Simon Helberg and M.I. 5's Rebecca Feguson. Director Stephen Frears has a long history of enjoyable, lighter films (Philomena, High Fidelity) that score well with audiences and critics alike.
Working Against It: I think to myself, "If Meryl Streep wasn't the lead, would I be giving this a second though?" Probably not.
Verdict: Gentle pass.

The Fight Within [Limited]
A MMA fighter uses the power of faith to win in the octagon.
Working For It: Nothing, other than being a reminder of the ways that Warrior could've gone wrong.
Working Against It: I'll admit, I just wanted to mention it because the trailer made me laugh. I try not to pick on the religious movies because they appeal to their audience. Sometimes, it's like they aren't even trying though. This would look cheap as a straight-to-DVD release.
Verdict: Nope.

Ghost Team [Limited]
A bunch of loser 30-something friends decide to be ghost hunters.
Working For It: I like basically everyone in this. Jon Heder, David Krumholtz, and Justin Long look like they are ready to try out for Without a Paddle 2. You can't hate Amy Seraris (especially now that I'm caught up on BoJack Horseman). This looks very watchable.
Working Against It: More specifically, this looks like a comedy of good feelings, not a comedy of laughter. If I see this, it will be like Knights of Badassdom or A Good Old Fashioned Orgy - I just want to see those actors work together.
Verdict: This looks exactly like something I will eventually see even if I don't know why.

8/19

Ben-Hur
A remake of the 1959 classic about chariot racing. Also, it was a book well before that.
Working For It: I'm a little surprised this didn't happen sooner. I like Jack Huston and Tony Kebbell the little I've seen of them. And, uh...
Working Against It: The 1959 Ben-Hur was a huge production with A-list talent that is still impressive six decades later. What isn't a good idea is to remake it as a mid-tier production with moderately recognizable actors. This is indistinguishable from Pompeii or Gods of Egypt.
Verdict: I'll probably just watch the original*.
*Ok, technically there was a silent movie version as well, but who can remember that far back?

Kubo and the Two Strings
Some sort of Japanese, magical, chosen one story with a kid and a magic guitar.
Working For It: I like Laika Entertainment in theory (I loved ParaNorman). It looks visually interesting and different from a lot of the animated movies out there.
Working Against It: Nothing about the story pops for me. I get irritated quickly by chosen-one narratives and the voices of Charlize Theron and Rooney Mara aren't enough to draw me in.
Verdict: Pass

War Dogs
Jonah Hill and Miles Teller are over-matched arms dealers for the American military. Based on a true story.
Working For It: Teller and Hill are two of my favorites. I've seen plenty of movies I wouldn't've otherwise just because they were in them (Fantastic Four, True Story for example). It's clearly trying to be a sort of comedy Scarface. There's potential in that. Todd Phillips isn't my favorite director, but he's well equipped to make this kind of movie (Old School, The Hangover, Road Trip).
Working Against It: Comedies based on real events are tricky. This could be Pain & Gain (yay!) or The Big Short (boo.). I'm not sure which. What I do know is that the Hangover movies got cocky by the end in an unappealing way. I worry if that's carried over at all.
Verdict: Almost definitely going to give it a try.

Morris from America [Limited]
A young boy who dreams of being a rapper adapts to his new life in Germany after his father moves them there.
Working For It: I don't know who plays the son, but the father is Craig Robinson who I always like to see in things. I believe this is another Sundance coming of age story, so I'm immediately drawn to it.
Working Against It: I don't know the writer/director at all. I could easily never hear about this movie again, and I don't know if that's a bad thing.
Verdict: I'll look for it eventually.

8/26

Don't Breathe
Jane Levy and Dylan Minnette are trapped in the house of a blind man after their home invasion goes very wrong.
Working For It: This is one of those horror movies that no doubt started with a "nifty idea"/gimmick that a whole movie was built around. The idea is being hunted by a blind man. There's potential in that. I've missed seeing Jane Levy since Suburgatory was cancelled.
Working Against It: When I saw Fede Alvarez's last movie, it didn't go so well. This looks much tamer though. My big concern is that this sounds like a really tough premise to pull off.
Verdict: Probable pass.

Hands of Stone
The story of Roberto Durant and his trainer.
Working For It: I'm a sucker for a good boxing movie. Robert De Niro is trainer this time, which will probably go better than Grudge Match. It has Usher as Sugar Ray Leonard and Reg E. Cathey as Don King. I'd like to see that.
Working Against It: There's only so many ways to tell an engaging boxing story, right?
Verdict: I don't intend to see it.

Mechanic: Resurrection
Jason Statham kills a bunch of people because who wouldn't kill for Jessica Alba.
Working For It: If you squint a little, all of Jason Statham's movies have just been sequels of the one before it. From The Transporter to Crank to The Mechanic, is there really a difference? In other words, if I was a bigger Jason Statham fan, I'd be pumped for this.
Working Against It: I like Jason Statham more as a flavor than a meal. He's great in something like Spy, but too much of him is less appetizing.
Verdict: Just as soon as I see The Mechanic, Homefront, The Expendables 3, Parker, Killer Elite, Crank 2: High Voltage, and The Transporter 3.

The Hollars [Limited]
A man returns home in the suburbs after finding out that his mother is dying.
Working For It: I'll save you the suspense. I want to see this a lot. John Krasinski directs this ensemble dramedy. It has all the people I like, from Anna Kendrick to Charlie Day to Mary Elizabeth Winstead to character actress Margo Martindale. Even Josh Groban.
Working Against It: This is exactly the kind of movie I love to watch then be frustrated by. It's giving off major This is Where I Leave You vibes.
Verdict: Probably not in theaters, but I won't swear by that.

Southside with You [Limited]
Barrack and Michelle's first date, in the form of the Before series.
Working For It: This looks completely charming. Parker Sawyer and Tika Sumpter resemble the president and first lady well enough. In general, I 'm a sucker for this kind of movie.
Working Against It: It's the same feeling I had about making the Harry Potter movies before the books were done. There's something that always weirds me out about making movies about presidents while in the office. It's why I didn't see Oliver Stone's W., either. It's too fresh and feels oddly like propaganda.
Verdict: I'm sure the movie is fine, but it just crosses a personal line in the sand.

Delayed Reaction: The Taking of Deborah Logan

The Pitch: An elderly woman's Alzheimers turns out to be so much more.

How I Came Into It: This is another one of those movies that I found on a "Horror movies that no one's seen" list that I decided to try out. That was all I knew and, for horror, that's how I like it.

Why I Saw It: Number one question I need answered in a fount footage movie: Why are the cameras on? In this case, it's a documentary crew who is filming a piece on the effects of alzheimers. They even include a nod at the beginning to this being cut from that footage, not the entirety of the footage. A little goes a long way with me in this horror sub-genre.
The movie relies on all the found footage tricks you're used to. Bad angles, stationary cameras at night, timecodes that don't make sense. While there's nothing I haven't seen before, it was all handled well. The rate of the escalation of the story is measured and calculated. Thankfully, I didn't recognize enough of the actors to take me out of the illusion too often.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: For good scares, few if any horror movies benefit from being over 10-20 minutes long. The more things get explained, the less scary they are. Deborah Logan definitely suffers from that. And this story gets so damn big. By the time she has kidnapped the little girl from the hospital, I wasn't very engaged. So, the big moment, <spoiler alert> when she's trying to devour the little girl's head, didn't land as much as I think it was meant to.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: The Den

The Pitch: The story of a snuff film, told via webcam.

How I Came Into It: I stumbled on a list of recent horror movies that are supposed to be pretty good. The Den was both on the list and on Netflix. I was in the mood to be scared. I like the found footage style. It was an easy sell for me.

Why I Saw It: I know a lot of people have grown tired of found footage movies. It's not surprising anymore and it's rarely done well. For some reason, I still really enjoy the style though. 'Easy' can also be 'effective' and that really applies to found footage. As long as an attempt is made to explain how all these camera shots are possible, I'm ok with it.

In The Den's case, the main woman (Melanie Papalia, whose filmography  I will be looking up) is studying video chats sites for a research grant or something. Whatever. It's established. That's all that matters. From there, it's about this guy or these guys following and tormenting her and those around her. The story builds at a good pace. It's cut pretty well to make sense of everything in a believable way. The end does a great job of explaining why it's all been put together in a neat little 80 minutes package.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: If you don't like found footage, don't bother, especially if your issue is that you keep asking "why would they have a camera on now?". There's a number of places where characters are brinnging an open laptop with them to explore dark rooms that could drive the non-fans insane. Obviously, the plausibility argument can be made for most of the things happening to her. Part of me would rather see the 15 minute version of this is an anthology movie.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Movie Reaction: Jason Bourne

Formula: The Bourne Series - Identity - Supremacy - Ultimatum

My name is Jason Bourne. I used to be a CIA assassin until - "I don't remember who I am?" - When you are on the run from a covert government agency, you've got nothing. No cash, no credit, no name. You're stuck in whatever city they can't find you in. You do whatever work comes your way. You rely on anyone who's still not trying to kill you. A fugitive ex-government analyst. A "hot shot" CIA agent who's trying to convince you to come back into the agency. If you're desperate, a man who knows how you're father died too. Bottom line, as long as you're Bourne, you're not getting anywhere.

This is approximately the 57th week in a row I've said this, but the Bourne series isn't one that I hold that dear. I've seen all the movies and thought they were fine, except for Legacy. It's Matt Damon's signature role for good reason. The films are definitely influential in terms of how action movies are shot. I don't really remember the movies that well though.

There didn't need to be another Jason Bourne movie. After all, we know who he is now. He's David Webb. He's still on the run and doesn't remember everything, but Ultimatum covered what was required. Damon and director Paul Greengrass had the luxury of only needing to return if they felt like there was a good reason for it. Sadly, there wasn't, so Jason Bourne is two hours of running in place. They swap out Julia Stiles for a newer model (Alicia Vikander) because - reasons. Tommy Lee Jones is the new head guy who holds all the answers. Vincent Cassel is a new super assassin tasked with stopping Bourne. It's all a little stale.

You may have noticed my Burn Notice comparison earlier. Late in that series, the lead character knows who burned him - the central mystery of the series. To keep the show going, the writers kept coming up with more layers to the conspiracy and more people with "all the answers" until the story was absolute rubbish. That's a fair comparison to the Bourne series now. In Jason Bourne, he's motivated by his father's death back in 1999, a mystery that has absolutely no stakes in the present.

Where Bourne and Burn Notice differ is that Michael Westen has friends to talk to. Jason Bourne doesn't. When there was a propulsive mystery driving things, that's enough. At least then, every couple minutes Jason gets to ask someone "Who am I?" Without that, his motivation this time is part-Edward Snowden-esque information dump, part-something about his dad being killed, part-simply being on the run. Jason Bourne isn't even the main character really. I'd argue that this is more Vikander's movie if you take out a few extended fight scenes. Bourne is an obstacle and little else.

I was really let down by this movie. That's surprising, because I didn't go in with any expectations. The action sequences are fine although a little ridiculous. Jason Bourne is more of a brute force weapon than a master tactician. Despite a fantastic cast of Oscar winners and bringing back a lot of the same people who made Ultimatum so highly regarded, Jason Bourne just doesn't have anywhere to go and anything new to say. It lacks urgency and resolution.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: The Island

The Pitch: Logan's Run except for organ harvesting.

How I Came Into It: The summer was 2005. I was fresh from graduating from high school and excited to see the last Star Wars movie ever*. And I wasn't going to see it once. I was going to see it many times. Many, many times. It was my way of showing respect to my fandom. An unintended consequence of seeing Revenge of the Sith the 12ish times that I did was that I'd be seeing the same trailers a lot. That meant a lot of Fantastic Four, a lot of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and probably more The Island than anything else. As a result, this movie has hung over me like an old friend who I've never met. Coincidentally enough, this was also the second to last movie that I had left on my Michael Bay bingo (the other movie being that 13 Hours movie that came out this year that I can't prove isn't the same thing as Lone Survivor).

*Ok, even at the time I knew there'd be more Star Wars movies. I figured I'd have to wait for George Lucas to die or at least a couple decades for him to finally let someone else take the reins. Regardless, I knew it was going to be a while.

Why I Saw It: Give me Ewan McGreggor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou, Steve Buscemi, Sean Bean, and Michael Clark Duncan and I'm happy. That's the kind of cast that I'll investigate with pleasure. For all the shit people give Michael Bay, he knows how to make things explode and his movies aren't boring...

Why I Wish I Hadn't: ...This was close though. The dystipian story is entirely borrowed and without enough new wrinkles to make it feel fresh. The action scenes feel more obligatory than needed for the story, which is interesting enough on its own. I'm used to Bay's happiness to include product placement by now, but it can still get pretty distracting. If not for two truly god-awful Transformers sequels (for the record, I love the first movie and liked the third), this would be my least favorite Michael Bay movie.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Sunset Boulevard

The Pitch: A down on his luck screenwriter becomes the kept man of an aging Hollywood starlet.

How I Came Into It: I knew it for the reasons anyone knows it: the quotes. I'll fully admit that the exact cast and plot I had confused with a number of other movies (specifically, The Seven Year Itch). This is constantly rated among the best American films ever made. Normally, those don't disappoint.

Why I Saw It: I watch a lot of movies and TV and one of the biggest trends, especially in TV, is the Hollywood satire: Stories where actors play themselves or that follow the staff of a show or movie set. It's all very "inside baseball". For every 30 Rock, there's a dozen Studio 60s. In film, Sunset Blvd. may be the very best Hollywood satire ever made. It was so refreshing to see it done right for a change. The script is incredible. It somehow manages being both film noir and also a comedy without undercutting either. Gloria Swanson is a force to be reckoned with. William Holden plays it cool. Erich von Stroheim's devotion is both tragic and funny. 

Why I Wish I Hadn't: My first viewing was such a delight that I wasn't really focused on what I didn't enjoy. I'll need some future viewings (which are certain to happen) to really sink my teeth into this.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend

One Big Leap

I use the phrase One Big Leap a lot when talking about movies. Especially when discussing what didn't work. I'm getting tired of explaining it every time, so I'll explain it here.

"One Big Leap" refers to the one big leap of faith that I'll give a movie when I'm watching it. After that leap, it needs to make sense. This could also be looked at as a movie following internal logic. Given the world of the story, does everything else make sense? It's not a difficult concept and I use it as a blanket term. I think it's easier to explain with a couple examples.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 fails pretty miserably at this. Obviously, it's one big leap to say that there's a world where heroes and villains like Spider-Man can exist. Given that, there's no reason why in the city of New York every major character happens to know each other. They need to lay more pipe for, say Gwen to just happen to date Spider-Man and know Electro personally from work.

Serendipity doesn't actually fail the test in my mind. The whole point of that movie is that Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack are fated to be reunited, so all the close calls and near misses are tied to the same big leap. If there was no talk of destiny or chance in the movie, then it would fail badly due to so many contrivances for them not to meet again until the end.

Coincidence, contrivance, and misunderstanding are all things that build up. If the movie requires a character's cell phone battery to die at the worst time, that's fine. If the movie requires two unconnected characters to lose their phones in order to setup a meet-cute (I'm looking at you, Before We Go), that's less acceptable.

Movies that rely on characters repeatedly phrasing something in a way that no human talks in order to keep a miscommunication going that the rest of the movie hinges on is bad writing. That fails.

I hope that explains what I mean. One big leap is a shorthand for saying "I don't like bad writing". This isn't an exact science either. Most movies have small gaffs. Look at something like Superbad. Trying to track Officers Michaels and Slater's timeline working together makes no sense. None of that is important to the plot, so I don't really care.

If I can remember to, I'll keep a log of any time I run into this in movies from now on.

Movie Reaction: Lights Out

Formula: It Follows + Darkness

I love horror movies but I'm picky. I have certain styles that I prefer over others (I'm a well documented sucker for found footage). I prefer being unsettled over being surprised  (i.e. long term vs. short term scares). I don't like characters being stupid who I'm meant to take seriously. I like when the filmmaker plays to his or her strengths. Lights Out is fine, but it falls out of my preference for horror.

It's a simple enough movie. Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) is a 20-something girl with Avenged Sevenfold posters in her apartment (She's edgy). She has a boyfriend, Bret (Alexander DiPersia) who she refuses to admit she's in a relationship with. She has a mother, Sophie (Maria Bello) who she tries not to deal with even though she has a young brother, Martin (Gabriel Bateman), who she cares deeply about. Rebecca is pulled back into her mother's life after Martin gets in trouble at school for sleeping. Martin isn't sleeping because at night, there's a woman he sees in the darkness who terrifies him, but his mother doesn't seem to mind the woman. Both children start seeing the woman more and realize that she disappears in the light. That's about as much as I can say before spoiling the story, but, needless to say, the woman wants to hurt people.

There's a lot of things the film does right. For one, it's short. That's great for horror. The longer the movie, the harder it is to stay scary. This is a clever idea too: an evil woman who can only move in the dark. It plays on some primal fears and makes for a great movie trailer. When the movie is just about what happens to characters in the shadows, it's genuinely scary and director David. F. Sandberg is most engaged there. A smaller note that I loved, which is maybe a slight spoiler, is that the mother has legitimate mental problems. Most movies like this would have Bello's character's time in the mental hospital be the caused by the dark woman. Nope. She has problems with depression (possibly more) before anything with this dark woman. She's not magically cured at the end by getting the dark lady to go away.

Sadly, I had more problems with the film than things that I liked. It doesn't trust the audience at all, which annoyed me. For example, if there's a bunch of stuff clearly written on the wall, you don't have to have a character read it out loud. I really have issue with sensible characters being really stupid. I get that when someone is surprised or in a panic, it's hard to think straight, but when you've had hours to plan, you shouldn't be forgetting things like cranking a flashlight when it's the only thing keeping you alive. Things like that take me out of the movie. It's lazy, plot-driving thinking. It's doesn't feel like  the screenwriter wrote himself into any corners that he had to work to get out of ("Event X happens because I want event Y to happen", not "Event X happens because it makes sense for the character"). I also had some major questions about the rules of this universe. It seems like the limitations on the dark woman change depending on what works best for a specific scene. Does she only appear in the darkness or is she hiding from the darkness? It switches throughout the film.

I'm not the best audience for this, and I accept that. People get different things out of movies and that's especially true with horror movies. A lot of the problems that I immediately zeroed in on are things that don't matter at all to others. For anyone looking to be scared and surprised, there's a lot to enjoy in Lights Out. Maria Bello's performance is very solid and the story moves at a decent pace. If you are the type of person who is going to pick at the details, avoid this. If you are just looking for some decent scares, turn off the lights and enjoy.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend