Entertainment
Sister acts: ‘Echoes’ and ‘Bad Sisters’ ride sibling mysteries into the stream
![Sister acts: ‘Echoes’ and ‘Bad Sisters’ ride sibling mysteries into the stream](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/220816111242-01-michelle-monahan-echoes-super-tease.jpg)
Starring Michelle Monahan in a dizzying twin function, “Echoes” options similar twins Leni and Gina, who’ve spent years perfecting the strangest sister act possible: Going away collectively for his or her birthday every year, then buying and selling locations to spend the following 12 months dwelling one another’s lives.
When one in all them goes lacking, nevertheless, it opens a door not solely to probably exposing the ruse however raises thorny questions on their previous, which comes dripping out in a sequence of flashbacks — together with the loss of life of their mom and a deadly fireplace — and attracts the eye of the native sheriff (Karen Robinson), the one character who appears to be having any enjoyable.
As is so typically true of those excessive ideas, although, the sequence feels more and more tortured down the stretch, to the purpose the place the alternating which-sister-did-what beats do not essentially turn out to be tough to observe however somewhat problem your endurance by way of being motivated to attempt. That is regardless of Monahan’s newest addition to the lengthy record of actors who’ve performed either side of a dialog to some stunt double.
Netflix will get a whole lot of mileage out of those type of mysteries, however for all its contortionist-worthy twists and turns, “Echoes” begins trying like an attractive plunge and does not fairly pull itself out of the shallow finish of that gene pool.
“Dangerous Sisters,” in the meantime, is a way more intricate assemble, however boils right down to a easy query: Who and what killed the horrible husband of one in all 5 unusually shut sisters, all of whom have cause to despise him separate from the truth that they hate the way in which he treats their sibling?
Created by and co-starring Sharon Horgan (“Disaster”) because the eldest of the bunch, the present additionally options Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene and Eve Hewson because the plotting quartet.
Darkly humorous, the present operates in numerous time frames, with the later half involving a pair of insurance coverage brokers (Brian Gleeson, Daryl McCormack) satisfied that foul play was concerned in John Paul’s demise. Sadly for them, John Paul is such a dedicated jerk the sisters aren’t alone in having cause to wish to see him out of the image.
There’s an nearly Rasputin-like high quality to the sisters’ initially hapless efforts, with Eva at one level noting — when somebody proposes staging a work-related accident — “What are we gonna do, paper lower him to loss of life?”
For all that, “Dangerous Sisters” supplies a stronger payoff than “Echoes” and feels much less far-fetched, which matches a great distance in serving to justify the funding. Within the realm of streaming, as with household, these are the type of ties that bind.
“Echoes” and “Dangerous Sisters” premiere Aug. 19 on Netflix and Apple TV+, respectively. Disclosure: My spouse works for a unit of Apple.
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Movie Reviews
Movie review: “The Watchers”
![Movie review: “The Watchers”](https://media.uiargonaut.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MV5BOTE5ZTY3NzktYmVkNS00NzRhLWI3YzUtNTA3MDVkYmIzMGVmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjYwNDA2MDE@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_-512x768.jpg)
Entertainment
How did Travis Kelce know he was falling for Taylor Swift? He offers a 'genuine' answer
![How did Travis Kelce know he was falling for Taylor Swift? He offers a 'genuine' answer](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c248086/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2394x1257+0+44/resize/1200x630!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe2%2F6f%2Feb82fa494249a34f42f4b210a4f7%2Fap24043153273430.jpg)
Travis Kelce isn’t afraid to share his love story.
It turns out that Taylor Swift’s unexpected behavior during the Kansas City Chiefs game against the Chicago Bears in September tipped the relationship into this-is-the-real-deal territory, he said on the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast.
Kelce explained that they had already been seeing each other privately but that her attitude toward taking things public impressed him.
He offered her a security escort into the stadium, but she brushed it off and walked in with the rest of his guests.
“She really won me over with that one,” the tight end said, describing how Swift preferred to “be around family and friends and experience this with everybody” instead of getting celebrity treatment.
“She’s very self-aware. And I think that’s why I really started to really fall for her, was how genuine she is around friends [and] family. It can get crazy for somebody with that much attention … and she just keeps it so chill and so cool.”
The two have kept the intimate details of their relationship under wraps but are notably more public than Taylor has been with past boyfriends. Their passionate kiss after Kelce’s Super Bowl win in February effectively broke the internet, and he joined her onstage in London over the weekend, spicing up the Eras tour.
Kelce says he wants to “keep things private,” but “at the same time, I’m not here to hide anything … that’s my girl, that’s my lady.”
He did admit there have been a few downsides to entering her spotlight — notably, random fans showing up at his pad in Kansas City, Kan.
“I’ve had fun with just about every aspect of it. It’s just when you’re at home you want privacy, and you don’t always get that,” he said.
The wild online speculation is another annoyance. The athlete said that his father would come across crazy tabloid stories from time to time and call him to fact-check.
“He’d see something so f— out of the blue, like something about me and Taylor, he’s like, ‘Hey, you guys OK?’”
Kelce always has a reply at the ready: “Get the f— off Facebook, Dad.”
And for those still wondering — KillaTrav’s favorite TSwift songs are “Black Space,” “Cruel Summer” and “So High School.”
Movie Reviews
Movie Review: ‘Summer Camp’ is an entertaining disappointment
![Movie Review: ‘Summer Camp’ is an entertaining disappointment](https://cdn.forumcomm.com/dims4/default/1f95db2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x2096+0+0/resize/1526x1066!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F4d%2F8b%2Fba6d18c6474fbb648c7efb236670%2Fenter-summer-camp-movie-review-mct.jpg)
Nothing forges a friendship like treating an arrow wound. For Ginny, Mary and Nora, an ill-fated archery lesson and an injured classmate are just the beginning of the lifetime of trouble they’re about to start.
Ginny is a year above the other two, more experienced in both summer camp and girlhood, and takes it upon herself to somewhat forcefully guide her younger friends. Mary cowers in the bathroom away from her bunkmates, spouting medical facts, while Nora hangs back, out of place. When their camp counselor plucks them out of their cabin groups to place them in the new “Sassafras” cabin, they feel like they fit in somewhere for the first time.
50 years later, “Summer Camp” sees the three girls, now women, reunite for the anniversary reunion of the very same camp at which they met. Although they’ve been in touch on-and-off in the preceding decades, this will be the first time the women have seen each other in 15 years.
Between old camp crushes, childhood nemeses and the newer trials of adulthood, the three learn to understand each other, and themselves, in a way that has eluded them the entirety of their friendship.
I really wanted to like “Summer Camp.”
The opening scene, a glimpse at the girls’ first year together at Camp Pinnacle, does a good job at establishing Ginny, Mary and Nora’s dynamic. It’s sweet, funny and feels true to the experience of many adolescent girls’ friendships.
On top of that, this movie’s star-studded cast and heartwarming concept endeared me to it the moment I saw the trailer. Unfortunately, an enticing trailer is about the most “Summer Camp” has to offer.
As soon as we meet our trio as adults, things start to fall apart. It really feels like the whole movie was made to be cut into a trailer — the music is generic, shots cut abruptly between poses, places and scenes, and at one point two of the three separate shots of each woman exiting Ginny’s tour bus are repeated.
The main character and sometimes narrator, Ginny Moon, is a self-help writer who uses “therapy speak” liberally and preaches a tough-love approach to self improvement. This sometimes works perfectly for the movie’s themes but is often used to thwop the viewer over the head with a mallet labeled “WHAT THE CHARACTERS ARE THINKING” rather than letting us figure it out for ourselves.
There are glimpses of a better script — like when Mary’s husband asks her whether she was actually having fun or just being bullied, presumably by Ginny. This added some depth to her relationship with him, implying he actually does listen to her sometimes, and acknowledged the nagging feeling I’d been getting in the back of my head: “Hey, isn’t Ginny kind of mean?”
Despite all my annoyance with “Summer Camp,” there were a few things I really liked about it. I’m a lot younger than the main characters of this movie, but there were multiple points where I found myself thinking, “Hey, my aunt talks like that!” or, “Wow, he sounds just like my dad.”
The dynamic of the three main characters felt very true to life, I’ve known and been each of them at one point or another. It felt especially accurate to the relationships of girls and women, and seeing our protagonists reconcile at the end was, for me, genuinely heartwarming.
“Summer Camp” is not a movie I can recommend for quality, but if you’re looking for a lighthearted, somewhat silly romp to help you get into the summer spirit, this one will do just fine.
Other stories by Caroline
Caroline Julstrom, intern, may be reached at 218-855-5851 or cjulstrom@brainerddispatch.com.
Caroline Julstrom finished her second year at the University of Minnesota in May 2024, and started working as a summer intern for the Brainerd Dispatch in June.
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