James' Movie Blog

As a kid growing up in the 1990's, I subjected myself to various books in order to keep my mind expanded. One series of books was Goosebumps by R. L. Stine; combining horror and the paranormal for young readers, this series of books made an impact on popular culture. So, when a movie based on the series was announced, I was excited to see a nostalgic memory come to life. And then I saw the film. The movie version definitely captures the spirit of the books, yet everything else seemed to be overplayed a bit. While the movie adaptation isn't terrible, it's also not good. “Goosebumps” is a fun movie for fans of the original books, but newcomers might be a little confused as to what is going on. The story has a new kid named Zach (Dylan Minnette) moving into Madison, Delaware with his mother to adapt to his new surroundings. Said surroundings include his next door neighbor, who just so happens to be R. L. Stine, author of Goosebumps (Jack Black). He also has a daught...

A little imagination never hut anybody, right? Well, what if that imagination became real? That's the premise of the new film “Wonder Park” from Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies. The end result: this is something that you don't want to ride on. The movie feels bored throughout its 85 minute run time, as well as being predictable and easy to follow. Sure, the movie does look creative enough, but aside from that, there is little that this film has to offer audiences. “Wonder Park” feels like a run down attraction that the owners of the park are trying very hard to get people's attention. The story involves a young girl named June (Brianna Denski) who comes up with an imaginative amusement park called Wonderland with her mom (Jennifer Garner). However, once June's mom gets sick, and leaves the picture for a while, June starts to realize that that Wonderland is nothing more than a fantasy. With her mind now super serious, June soon ventures out in the woods, and st...