The Galapagos Affair

The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 24 April 2014
Running Time: 120 Minutes
Staring:  Documentary
Rating? Unrated
SPOILERS? YES

REVIEWS
IMDB: 6.8 of 10
MY RATING: 8 of 10

MY REVIEW:
First of all, a quick overview of the story that this documentary covers. It begins in 1929 when two Germans looking for their personal Eden arrived on the island in the Galapagos called Floreana. More Straunch and Dr. Friedrich Ritter had enough with civilization and isolated themselves from the world. in 1932, some of their letters home made it to the German papers and they began to get other land squatters on Floreana. The Wittmers arrived soon.. Heinz and his pregnant wife Margret and their sickly son Henry. Next arrived a self-proclaimed Baroness and her two man minions with their ideas of taking over the island. That's when it all went crazy.

The documentary is filled with family photos and videos taken by the families on Floreana as well as passing ships and their interactions with the families on Floreana. It's full of intrigue and mystery, missing people, murder... and many more things that make this documentary very difficult to turn away from. I was mesmerized by the story. It's interesting and a very good way to spend a little time.

Oculus

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 11 Apr 2014
Running Time: 104 Minutes
Staring:  karen Gillam, Brenton Thwaites, Katee Sackhoff
Rating? R
SPOILERS? YES

REVIEWS
IMDB: 6.5 of 10 Link
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 73% Audience: 52% Link
MY RATING: 7

STORYLINE
A woman tried to exonerate her brother who was convicted of murder by proving that the crime was committed by a supernatural phenemonon.

MY REVIEW:
I did like this movie. 7 of 10 is pretty good on my scale but still just a little above center.

We follow one young woman, Kaylie {Karen Gillan} and her brother Tim {Brenton Thwaites} while they try to destroy a supposed haunted antique mirror whom she blames for the loss of both parents  {Katee Sackhoff and Rory Cochrane} while they were kids and that Tim was accused and convicted of murdering.

We are taken to two parallel movies; one that shows the lives of Katlie and Tim with their parents as children and one where we see them in the present time with the mirror. At times, the transitions seem either useless or a wee bit ridiculous for my tastes.

Although the story of a possessed object is pretty typical but this one felt pretty different. Direction was pretty good and the acting was well done. They were able to create an eerie atmosphere and was richly needed.

What I really did't like are the overused cliches that exist. There was a little too much of the monster-y feel in some cases and not enough of the true scares in others.

I did like that they left it open for a sequel! 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 4 Apr 2014
Running Time: 136 Minutes
Staring:  Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, etc.
Rating? PG-13
SPOILERS? YES

REVIEWS
IMDB: 7.8 of 10 Link
Rotten Tomatoes: Critics: 89% Audience: 92% Link
MY RATING: 7 of 10

MY REVIEW:
I wasn't a big fan of the first Captain America Movie.  {Read my original review here.} This movie brought out more of the character development that I was missing in the first iteration.  The humor was well-balanced with the action sequences in a way the first was not.

Chris Evans was brilliant in this movie. He definitely built more depth into the Captain America that was given to him.

I would definitely say that this was a solid 7!