“Dr. Sleep” is a sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s classic “The Shining;” both of which are based on novels by Stephen King. The tricycle riding boy from the first movie, Dan Torrance, is now a 40-something alcoholic ( played by Ewan McGregor) who wanders from place to place until finally settling down in a small New Hampshire town. Here he joins AA, becomes sober, and gets his first steady job in years working in a hospice facility. He gets the nickname ‘Dr. Sleep’ because of his uncanny ability (along with his cat partner) to sense when someone is going to die, and be there to offer comfort. Now that he is not drinking, his extraordinary abilities, which he calls “shining,” emerge. He finds he is able to communicate with a young girl named Abra (played by the excellent Kyleigh Curran) who has even more of the shine than he does. Together, they uncover an evil cult of semi-immortals who stay alive by killing “shiners” and ‘drinking’ their dying breath. They mainly prey on kids and they kill one in a rather brutal way. Dan and his friend from AA, Billy along with Abra, confront the cult, and their defense forces Rose, the cult leader, to pursue them for revenge. The characters end up back at the original hotel for a haunting showdown. I liked this movie. Since I had not read the book, I didn’t know what to expect. The cultists, called the True Knot, were chilling -especially Rose the Hat as played by a pretty creepy Rebecca Ferguson. It was not too bloody, but it was suspenseful. I did think the beginning was slow, so that might be the best time to run to the bathroom. Apparently Stephen King was not a fan of “The Shining” movie, but gave this one his seal of approval. If it is good enough for Stephen King, it is good enough for me.
L I F E
Astronauts aboard an international Space Station discover the first evidence of life on Mars while looking at samples in their research laboratory-a unicellular organism. It is also dormant until they wake it up and start to nurture it. It is a wonder…extraterrestrial life! And it even seems cute at first, they name it “Calvin.” But apparently, this organism is smarter, faster growing and far more dangerous than they first realize. It inevitably escapes and runs amok, with not unexpected devastation. Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson are three of the astronauts who realize the danger and try to destroy the life form before it continues to grow and, perhaps, pose a threat to earth itself. Sounds a lot like the Alien movies, doesn’t it? This sci-fi, horror movie isn’t up to the same standard of suspense and terror as those movies, and not simply because this one lacks a hero like Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley. There was too much gut wrenching gore and not enough character development or plot for my tastes. SPOILER ALERT: The ending of this movie is a big cop out and not what I want to see in my movies. I would say skip this one and find a rerun of Alien or Aliens.