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SATURDAY, JANUARAY 9, 2016 This photo provided by Gramercy Pictures shows, Natalie Dormer, left, as Sara Price, and Taylor Kinney as Aiden in Jason Zada’s “The Natalie Dormer as Sara Price in Jason Zada’s Forest,” a Gramercy Pictures release. — AP photos “The Forest’. Film Review Forgettable horror ‘The Forest’ wastes star Dormer he January movie has long had a reputation for being So Sara hops on a plane to Japan to search for Jess in the in her past, is not immune to the powers of the suicide forest. A among the worst that Hollywood has to offer, as though spooky suicide forest. Her dreams and eventually visions get character’s descent into madness can be the stuff of cinematic Teveryone collectively acknowledges that they need a month creepier the closer she gets. There some elderly Japanese women gold, but this is both ridiculous and, at times, needlessly confus- to catch up on the glut of prestige offerings and awards hopefuls around to warn her not to go into the forest, too - it’s haunted by ing. that hit at the end of December. There are always exceptions of the spirits of the dead, she’s too sad, and it’s too dangerous. Director Jason Zada in his feature debut shows some stylistic course, but unfortunately “The Forest,” a rotten horror film about Thankfully that night at the bar, she meets a handsome flair, but resorts to far too many scary movie clichÈs to make this a twin sisters and the spooky Japanese woods where people go to American travel writer from Australia, Aiden (Taylor Kinney) who fun watch, including the requisite score laced with creepy little kill themselves, is not one of them. offers to let her accompany him and a park ranger, Michi girls singing off in the distance. Dormer, who is such a standout as It’s rife with unbearable dialogue, cheap jump scares, and far (Yukiyoshi Ozawa) into the forest. Michi does “off the books” treks the feisty Margaery Tyrell on “Game of Thrones,” manages to too familiar imagery which makes the whole experience instantly through the woods to try to save people from killing themselves. infuse a few moments with humor and zest, but Sara never really forgettable. The story starts when Sara (Natalie Dormer), a young, And, of course, there things go crazy, especially after Sara decides comes to life as a full character. It’s hard to tell whether that’s a wealthy professional living with a blandly handsome husband to stay overnight. problem with the writing or the performance. Kinney’s Aiden is (Eoin Macken), discovers that her expat twin sister has disap- This forest apparently really is popular among suicidal people - similarly unremarkable. peared in a forest in Japan. This isn’t any forest, though. It’s so much so that there’s a sign at the entrance urging visitors to Save yourself, and your money from “The Forest,” it’s pretty Aokigahara, also known as the suicide forest. Everyone she talks think of their families. That fact on its own is truly horrifying and bad, even for a January release. “The Forest,” a Gramercy Pictures to assures her that her sister is definitely dead by now. possibly worthy of a cinematic interpretation of why that is. Here, release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of But Sara knows better. In “The Forest” being a twin means that it’s exploited for an unimaginative mishmash of silly horror objec- America for “disturbing thematic content and images.” Running you have a spidey sense that your other half is around and living. tives. For example, not only will the forest bring out any latent time: 95 minutes. A half star out of four. — AP There’s a buzz, or something, and one time when Jess (also sadness, but the spirits there are also angry, vindictive and rest- played by Dormer) took too many pills, the hum stopped. That’s less. And beware the bruised and battered Japanese girls wander- Sara knew something was wrong and knew to call the police to ing around in school uniforms. check on her. Fine, whatever. Even Sara, a happy, well-adjusted adult with a horrific trauma ‘Game of Thrones’ season 6 to premiere April 24 eason six of “Game of Thrones” will premiere on April 24, responsible for bringing somebody back that you think you’re HBO announced Thursday at the Television Critics never going to see again. I’ll leave it at that.” SAssociation press tour in Pasadena. While details are scarce All other seasons of “Game of Thrones” premiered somewhere about the plot for the upcoming episodes of the hugely popular between the end of March and the middle of April, and this time fantasy series, a teaser released late last year suggests that it will frame is a strategic move for HBO. Television episodes must air address the season five cliffhanger that left fans speculating before the close of Emmy nomination voting on June 24 of this whether Kit Harington’s Jon Snow was alive after he became the year in order to be eligible for this year’s Emmy Award considera- victim of a Julius Caesar-like uprising. tion. Last year’s “Game of Thrones” finale aired on June 14 — the The season also marks the return of Isaac Hempstead-Wright day before nomination voting began in 2015. The series went on as Bran Stark, a character who has not been seen since season to win the Emmy Award for best drama. four. New cast members this season include Max von Sydow as The “Game of Thrones” season five finale brought the show’s the Three-Eyed Raven (a character first played by Struan Rodger) largest audience ever, averaging 8.11 million viewers. The series and “UnREAL” actor Freddie Stroma as Dickon Tarly, the brother was also the most-pirated TV show of 2015. HBO also announced of John Bradley’s Samwell. that, per its custom, Emmy-lauded comedies “Silicon Valley” and Ian McShane will also join “Thrones” in an undisclosed role for “Veep” will also return on April 24 following the premiere of one episode in season six, and has cryptically teased that “I am “Thrones.” - Reuters .

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