MOVIE BUFF-ET: Locally filmed ‘Parker’s Anchor’ opens at AMC Fiesta Square Theater

“Parker’s Anchor” is a film you might not have heard of, but it was filmed and is set in and around Fayetteville by a production company with ties to the Northwest Arkansas area.

The film produced by Ryan and Jenica Schwartzman from their script opens today at the AMC Fiesta Square Theater.
According to Internet Movie Database, the movie tells the story of Krystal Parker (Jenica Schwartzman), a woman’s whose marriage begins to break down once she and her husband learn she is infertile. The crux of the movie is how she copes by moving back to Fayetteville to rebuild her life with the help of her best friend.

Ryan Schwartzman hails from Winslow, and cast members Sarah Colonna is from Northwest Arkansas and Brandon Keener is from Fort Smith. Students from John Brown University and the University of Arkansas worked on the crew.

Mini Reviews

Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween

I like Tyler Perry as a performer and a director. I’ve enjoyed more than a few of his movies and television series over the years. Madea is a fun character. However, Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween” is every bit as horrible as you might have imagined. It might even be worse. It’s not as bad as “Fifty Shades Darker,” the worst movie I’ve sat through this year, but it is terribly close, and I do mean terrible.

(PG-13) 1 hr. 41 min.
Grade: D-

The Snowman

Michael Fassbender is one of the better actors regularly working in films today, but this has been a tough year for him dating back to December of 2016. His “Assassins’ Creed” film, which was supposed ignite a franchise, flopped, and his latest film “The Snowman” is snoozefest of a thriller.

Fassbender plays a talented detective whose life is a shambles because of his personal troubles and alcoholism. A fresh case involving a serial killer who taunts the police and dismembers his victims before placing various body parts inside of a snowman left at the scenes of his crimes wakes him from his stupor.

The setup sounds interesting despite being cliched, but the movie is tedious and boring. TV routinely churns more compelling crime dramas on a weekly basis.

(R) 1 hr. 59 min.
Grade: C-

Classic Corner

The Old Dark House

“The Old Dark House” is the seminal haunted-house movie that has inspired scores of other films, TV series, and even cartoons, and for the delight of classic horror fans, Turner Classic Movies will air it Tuesday at 7 p.m. central on the spookiest night of the year, Halloween.

If you want to know the inspirational source for “Scooby Do Where Are You” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Saw,” “The Addams Family,” and many others, they can be traced back to the this 1932 pre-code flick, directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff as the mad butler Morgan.

Whale, of course, made a star of Karloff, directing him to fame an iconis status as the monster in 1931’s “Frankenstein,” and 1935’s “Bride of Frankenstein” and while “The Old Dark House” isn’t remembered nearly as fondly, its impact continues to be felt today in any film featuring a haunted house or a nefarious villain who traps his victims for his own devices.
Modern viewers might see the film as a bundle of cliches, but it’s only because of the film’s impact on pop culture.The ideas were original to cinema when Whale introduced them in the movie.

The film also features noted stage and film actor, director, and producer Charles Laughton as Sir William Porterhouse.
Laughton also starred in the early horror films “Island of Lost Souls in 1932 and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” in 1939.
If you ever wondered how “Titanic” co-star Gloria Stuart (Rose at age 101) appeared in her youth, watch the movie and find out. She plays the damsel in distress, Margaret.

Ernest Thesiger, who gave a standout performance as the mad Dr. Pretorius in “Bride of Frankenstein,” is also on hand as the creepy host Horace Femm.

Whale’s off-kilter humor and the film’s creepy set design make the movie perfect backdrop for serving trick-or-treaters and for Halloween get-togethers.

Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages

In celebration of Halloween, Turner Classic Movies is airing old horror movies throughout the day on Saturday and Tuesday (Halloween). Tonight is airs Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece “Psycho” at 7 p.m. as part of its celebration of the film of actor Anthony Perkins.

TCM also finishes off its Monster-of-the-month salute to Dracula on Sunday night with two more films featuring Christopher Lee as the undead Count in “Taste the Blood of Dracula” and “Dracula A.D. 1972.”

However, “Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages” is the classic horror movie that TCM is showing that’s not to be missed if you are interested in watching some of the most wickedly artistic images ever filmed. It airs Sunday night at 11 p.m.
The 1922 Scandinavian, silent film, directed by Benjamin Christensen, is a graphically frightening exploration of how superstition and the misunderstanding of diseases and mental illness led to witch hunts of the middle ages and afterwards.
The film was banned in the United States and censored in some European countries for its depictions of witchcraft, the Spanish Inquisition, and other horrific and controversial events and acts.

The film has a nightmarish quality that is only enhanced by it being a silent film. It’s a four-part anthology that is not plot-driven. It’s more about the imagery than story.