A New Urban Legend is Born in Mandy, A Movie Review

MandyBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

  • Spoiler Alert

No, Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough) is not the wife/girlfriend of Paul Bunyan. When this movie by director Panos Cosmatos is titled after her, this character’s role is critical to driving the motives of another woodsman to a brink of madness. They were happy once. He’s a nobody about to become a somebody (more on this later). This woman is very forlorn; Riseborough is perfect in this role, offering pathos in her moments of sadness. Because of events that occurred in her youth, she never felt quite right. She prefers to live a life in isolation but yet, her feelings for Red (Nicolas Cage) when they first met, runs deep. The two are soul mates. One day, on her walk home, Jeremiah Sand, a priest of sorts, takes a liking to her and orders his minions to her kidnap her. Linus Roache must have been channeling Billy Drago’s trademark style of villainy, as I was sold instantly!

If you have not seen this movie yet, I advise checking it out sooner than later. It might stick around until Halloween, but it’s already nearing the end of its run at some theatres.

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The Croods Go Crazy!

The Croods is more than a Flintstone Family conundrum, and it explores the problems siblings face with their parents.

The CroodsWriter/Creator Chris Sanders shows that he rarely strays far from what he knows is a good tale. In what he crafted for The Croods is more than a Flintstone Family conundrum, and it explores the problems siblings face with their parents.

But this movie is one tough rock to crack. It doesn’t have the same appeal as Sander’s breakout directorial hit, Lilo & Stitch, or his phenomenal adaptation of Cassandra Cowell’s How to Train Your Dragon. When the story has to deal with five characters attempting to share equal screen time, the problems of managing a cohesive family drama versus sit-com ala The Munsters is evident.

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