This weekend continued 2013's trend of diversity in fantastic film debuts: You had your choice of an atmospheric, based-on-a-true-story ghost tale with The Conjuring, or ride along with Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds as afterlife cops in the effect-enhanced action-fantasy-comedy R.I.P.D, or indulge your sense of whimsy as Ryan Reynolds -- again -- voices a supercharged snail in the DreamWorks' CG animated film, Turbo. Or you could stay home and read a good book, but c'mon, what sane person is going to do that?
Cinefantastique Online's Steve Biodrowski, Lawrence French, and I put the primary focus of this week's show on The Conjuring, discussing director James Wan's (Saw, Insidious) handling of atmosphere and scares, and examining whether the real-life angle -- allegedly based on the experiences of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren -- helps or hinders the storytelling. Then Steve and Larry look into whether R.I.P.D. managed to live up to the potential of its premise, and Steve delivers some surprising observations on Turbo. Plus: What's coming to theaters next week, and absolutely no book recommendations.
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