[Anchor] It’s the weekend again, and that means Film Focus. Here’s Mike Laidman with what’s new in local theaters.

[Report]

Last weekend was a bit unusual, with a well-reviewed blockbuster going head-to-head with a film much smaller in scope - the excellent Hell or High Water. And now this week, things are looking good again, although with two very different movies opening.

What we’ve got is a comedy-drama from Tina Fey, who’s always good for a laugh, and then a real shocker - an excellent sequel to the disastrous 2014 thriller Ouija.


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Mike Laidman


Welcome to another edition of Film Focus. I’m Mike Laidman.


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Whisky Tango Foxtrot (2016, Glenn Ficarra, John Requa)
A journalist recounts her wartime coverage in Afghanistan.


Tina Fey is best known for her years on Saturday Night Live, where she honed her comedic skills. Now, she’s stepping into the well worn shoes of journalist Kim Barker in this adaptation of Barker's memoir ‘The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan.’ The movie details her years as a reporter in Pakistan and Afghanistan beginning in 2002.


The movie, billed as a biography/comedy/drama, definitely plays more to its comedic elements. But despite being a comedy, it is tackling a difficult subject in a difficult part of the world, and, as such, it’s a little disappointing that the world view is so narrow. However, the story is held together with some very solid performances by Fey, Alfred Molina, Martin Freeman, and Margot Robbie.


Check out Whiskey Tango Foxtrot for a more relaxed look at America’s exploits in the Middle East.




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Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016, Mike Flanagan)
A widowed woman inadvertently invites a spirit into her house.


The original Ouija movie from 2014 had absolutely abysmal reviews. So for this sequel to completely turn things around and earn comparisons to recent offerings like Don’t Breathe is nothing short of amazing.


In 1965 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their seance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home. When the youngest daughter is overtaken by a merciless spirit, the family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.


As a period piece in and of itself, the film succeeds. It then darts back and forth between haunted house fare and exorcism drama skillfully, delighting in the terrors it packages up so nicely along the way. Halloween may be over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t settle in for one more scare.