Media Junkie

Movie Review: Insidious

Insidious
PG-13
103 Minutes
2010

Given the sorry state of the Saw franchise by the time it (blissfully) ended, it's easy to forget that the original film - one of several collaborations between director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell - was actually quite inventive and clever.  Some of the acting may have been suspect or hammy (I'm looking at you, Cary Elwes and Danny Glover), but the film's story about a serial killer who concocts elaborate deathtraps to teach the ungrateful about the value of life was intriguing.

Unfortunately, Wan and Whannell have failed to capture the magic on subsequent projects, and the disappointing Insidious is another mildly entertaining, but ultimately forgettable supernatural thriller.

Rock Band - My Morning Jacket - Live at Meadowbrook Music Festival, Rochester, MI - 16 August 2011

Back in 2008, I agreed to go with my brother to see southern rockers My Morning Jacket live at Detroit's Fillmore Theater (formerly the State Theater).  I walked in unexcited, only knowing one song beforehand, but I walked away feeling it was not only the best concert I'd seen that year, but one of the best I've seen in nearly 100 shows.

Three years later, and having seen over 100 concerts now, I am once again left feeling that My Morning Jacket are, quite simply, the best live band in existence after their incredible show at Meadowbrook Music Festival Tuesday evening.