Miss You Already

Even with her at times making disastrous films and even when her career was pretty much dead in the 90's, I have always supported Drew Barrymore. I grew up watching her in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and it surely put her on the map. I have found most of her comedies especially the ones with Adam Sandler to be very unfunny but still found other comedies of her's like Going the Distance and Fever Pitch to be at least watchable. Even in such a small role, her being in the first Scream was such an iconic scene for horror and herself. Miss You Already is such a nice step for her and something completely different from the usual films we get from Barrymore.

Milly (Toni Collette) and Jess (Barrymore) have been lifelong friends after Jess moves to England in her childhood. Even with different personalities, they have always supported each other. Now Miley is diagnosed with cancer and Jess having her first child, the two must bond together at such an important time.

It will always be a classic film but Toni Collette was really the unsung hero of Sixth Sense. She has been in so many roles and will always have that "mom" vibe. Her character, Milly in this movie brings so much to the table. She is a part rocker, part mom, and part cancer patient. You go through so much with this character and it is really hard not to like her even when she goes through some rough spots. Even with Barrymore bringing that same vibe that she does with every character that she plays, it is still a likable character and you root for her every step of her pregnancy. Also there are good actors like Paddy Considine and Dominic Cooper in the secondary roles.

Miss You Already works on so many levels but being set in Britain helps a lot along the way. The movie is able to use good British humor and British culture that supplements the plot and is important because this is so different for Barrymore who proved she can be effective in a movie with a British plot.

Miss You Already has a lot going for it. It makes you want Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore do more things together because they really are a nice duo. The film likely is going to get overshadowed this weekend by new release Spectre and The Peanuts Movie and that is kind of a shame. 

4/5 

The Poltergeist Curse

My love for horror, and even before the Blair Witch Project, began with Poltergeist. With a pot-smoking scene, sexual undertones and at times strong horror scenes, this movie was probably not made for an elementary kid but I could say that about most films that I watched during my youth. It was a film that used at the time, a difficult concept of involving a family inside a horror plot and in this case a Poltergeist was attacking the family. With the well known Tobe Hooper directing it, Poltergeist made it's mark on the world but had two crappy sequels that later followed.

What makes this series an even more interesting series is what is known as "The Poltergeist Curse". This was a series that produced some crazy real-life incidents and also sadly involved some interesting deaths of actors in the movie, some whom were very young.

Dominique Dunne who played Dana Freeling was strangled to death by her boyfriend in 1982 at the age twenty two. Unfortunately, the boyfriend only served three years in prison before being released.

Julian Beck played the VERY strange Rev. Henry Kane and died from stomach cancer during the production of Poltergeist 2. The remaining scenes involving him were handled by H.R. Giger.

Will Sampson played the Medicine Man and died after the release of Poltergeist 2 from kidney failure at the age of fifty two.

The saddest death of the series was no doubt that of Heather O'Rourke who died from cardiac arrest and septic shock after a misdiagnosis at the age of the twelve. Her ghost is said to haunt Stage 19 at Universal Studios where she shot twelve episodes of the Happy Days television series.

Zelda Rubinstein died at the age of seven six in 2010. She is the only cast member to die at a normal age and from natural causes.

Here are some additional interesting facts.

- Drew Barrymore was originally casted for the lead role of Carol Ann.

                   

                        

-The Poltergeist and E.T. houses both looked the same due to the fact they both were shot in the same area and the films were released just one week apart. The Poltergeist house was also damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

-The famous skeleton scene in the first film did involve real skeletons. JoBeth Williams was so afraid to shoot the scene that Steven Spielberg jumped into the pool with her for support.

 

- O'Rourke died during the production of Poltergeist 3. The director of the film, Gary Sherman wanted to scrap the film altogether but was pressured by the studio to finish it and eventually used a body double for the rest of O'Rourke's scenes. He called the film a disaster because of it.

- The creepy clown scenes involving the character Robbie being choked actually did involve the actor Oliver Robins being choked due to a prop malfunction. As the story is told, Spielberg jumped in and saved the child actor.

For many movie nerds, these are well known facts. Often and sometimes around Halloween, there are articles regarding The Poltergeist Curse. I find The Poltergeist Curse to be fascinating and unlike anything I have seen before.