"Bad Times At The El Royale"

During recent visits to the Cinema, I have seen the trailer for this new release a number of times, and each time it has left me with a sense of looking forward to seeing it. My need to see the film was sped up, when it became apparent that it would be leaving my local Cineworld after just one week. This was not a good sign......

We start at the infamous hotel where we see a suitcase being buried in one of the rooms. Jump forward ten years and we are back at the hotel as a group of varied Customers arrive all looking for a room at the El Royale. The hotel is split right down the middle as the State line goes right through the Centre of the hotel, so they can either stay in the California or Nevada side.
It is clear from the off that all the new residents of the El Royale have secrets, and by the looks of it, so do the staff.

Events all come to a head with the arrival of Cult leader Chris Hemsworth, and there is a big showdown in the hotels Foyer.
What struck me is that it seemed to echo the far superior "Pulp Fiction", in that there is a group of varying characters, once introduced the timelines jump around and from different perspectives. And despite both films having a similar running time, just under two and a half hours, where with "Pulp Fiction" the time just flies, with "Bad Times" it does rather drag, and it could quite easily have had a good 20 - 30 minutes shaved off.

There was some distracting sights in the film, most notably the following:-

I suppose it could be classed as some form of compensation for a lacklustre film.....6 out of 10

"R.I.P.D."

I will apologise now, but I do not intend to waste valuable time reviewing this film in length.
Upon seeing the trailer I thought that the film could be entertaining, well at the end of the day that it what the trailer is meant for. But alas what the trailer conveyed and what I saw as the end result did not meet with equal satisfaction.

Shady Cop Nick dies in the line of duty, and heads towards the light. However due to his dealings during his mortal days, he has the chance to make amends by joining the R.I.P.D, naturally the Rest In Peace Department. The organisation hunts down 'deado's', they being people who have evaded going to their resting place, and still roam free on Earth, and to make matters worse they have found a way to mask their true state, so can wander freely.

So Nick joins the merry band of lawmakers, and is teamed up with Roy, he being from the time of the Wild West. They are assigned to find a mysterious artifact, which when the pieces are assembled, will allow all from above to roam free on Earth. This is something they aim to stop.

There are other little plot devices in the movie, but this outlines the jist.
On the whole the film comes across as an absolute mess, as though was thrown together in a ten minute meeting in some Executive's office, and it shows.
With the exception of "Buried", this latest film does little to improve the career of leading man Ryan Reynolds.
Jeff Bridges is an actor I greatly admire, like am sure many others do. He makes the best of a bad part, and does seem to be having fun, just wish the same could be said for this viewer. Also subtitles at times may have been handy, as one struggled to comprehend some of his southern dialogue at times.

An apt title as this film should rest in peace.........4 out of 10