#66: The House With A Clock In Its Walls

While we are in the midst of Film There and Back Again, there haven't been too many movies in the August- September months to watch, and October isn't looking any better.

So let's continue our Jack Black marathon!

I was curious about this movie because I have a weak spot for the "orphaned brunette white boy does magic in a movie adapted from a book" genre (See; Hugo, A Monster Calls, give or take The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Harry Potter) even if I've never read the book.

Anybody can learn real magic in this world, you just pop a squat, open a textbook, and put your own flair on shit. 

Though, it still seems to be a hidden mystery to the populace at large, a unusually-diverse town in middle America, circa the 50's.

(My mother was born in 63 and went to a segregated school for a year. This school would be segregated out of the ass, but hey, magic!)

This film is directed by Eli Roth, the man who brought us Hostel ten years ago. I wish this movie had come out ten years ago so Universal could have entrusted him with the Cirque Du Freak novels.

And you can see how he knows just the right amount of uncanny creepiness to inject so this isn't completely trite nonsense.

And it does get a wee bit trite at points, but it's exceedingly rare and it never makes the movie die.

Some of the CGI looks better than others. There are some plot points and twists that are interesting, especially regarding a certain actress who is woefully underused here.

The young man who plays Lewis was mostly fine. 

Time for a bit of backstory;

The original idea for Kung Fu Panda, floating around since the early 90's, had Po as a bit of a jackass. That's a little of how Black's Jonathan treats Blanchett's Florence (Wonderful, I loved her to pieces), but with a lot more good humor and back and forth natured ribbing.

I like Black as a character, and an actor, and at first, I was going to say "This role is really reminiscent of everything else I've seen or heard him in," but it's not, there are nuances to each character, and I think this one is the strongest live action performance I've seen of his - But I've not seen The Polka King or Nacho Libre. 

This is a lovely movie to watch on a rainy day in your study.