Ed's Review Dot Com

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Protozoa Pictures, Phoenix Pictures

Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, Benjamin Millepied, Ksenia Solo, Kristina Anapau, Janet Montgomery, Sebastian Stan, Toby Hemingway, Sergio Torrado, Mark Margolis, Tina Sloan

Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is a ballet dancer. She’s part of a New York City ballet company run by a harsh master Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel). Like many ballet dancers she is obsessed with ballet and it’s the only thing in her life. She is so consumed with dance that she thinks of little else. She wins the role of the lead in Swan Lake over Beth (Winona Ryder) who has had a strange accident. But Thomas does not think she’s quite perfect. Nina is always perfect, so it drives her mad. He says that it’s very difficult to dance the swan princess because you have to dance the White Swan for which she is perfect, but also the Black Swan who is sensual and tempestuous. Nina can handle the sweet and demure white swan, but she’s having trouble with the black one. Nina feels guilt over the fact that Beth has been replaced, and she feels somehow responsible, but she also has a rival, Lily (Mila Kunis). Lily is a strange case, as sometimes she seems perfectly happy that Nina is the lead, but at others she seems desperate to replace her in the role. Also, Nina has a overbearing and demanding mother played by Barbara Hershey who is very controlling of everything in Nina’s life.

This is a complex picture. I guess ballet is difficult to watch and understand for some people, and this is certainly difficult to understand. I think much of it is not really so much a story as an allegory and similar to the art form it uses, it also uses figurative characters for purposes and nothing is really as simple as it seems. I don’t want to go too deeply into what happens as it would spoil the story, but nothing is as it appears. And when you are through, it’s highly unlikely you will know what really happened and what was dreamed or imagined. Much of the movie is based upon dreams and imagination.

Nina is a very complex person. Her mentor is trying to get her to come out of her innocent child like virginal place and express sensuality. But she is so confused she doesn’t know where to go, and Thomas is not after her himself, just wanting her to lighten up a bit and express the sensual side. She is so obsessed by perfection, and any little failure is more than she can face, so as a result, she goes deeper and deeper into her inner core. Her mother is a strange character. Is she crazy? Is she protecting Nina, or abusing her? You’ll come to your own conclusions I suspect. The ending is very strange and beautiful. The dance in this film is very beautiful. But the ending is so bizarre that you will never know for sure whether it’s the truth or not.

So, if you are a ballet lover, then go see it. It truly shows the sacrifice that it takes to be superior in any field. If you like your movies dark and deep, this is also a good option. But it’s not for the general public as it is very deep and dark. It’s not a relaxing visit to see the Nutcracker by any means. It’s a strong mystery, horror, psychological thriller. I rate it in the middle because I wasn’t blown away completely, but I did enjoy it, and I’m sure it’s something I will be thinking about for a long while.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Crescendo Productions, Red Hour Films, Travelling Light Partners

Julie Andrews, Jim Dale, Roy E Disney, Micky Dolenz, Karen Dotrice, Samuel Goldwyn Jr., Bruce Gordon, Sheldon Harnick, James Jensen, Jeff Kurtti, John Landis, Angela Lansbury, John Lasseter, Gavin Lee

The Sherman Brothers had an office in the animation building in the Disney Studios, Burbank.  Everyone called them, “The Boys” even when they were very old.  They wrote songs for Walt.  Their first major hit was, of course, Mary Poppins, and a great deal of time of the story deals with that period of their lives.  But they wrote lots of other big hits for Walt’s films.  Then came the Worlds Fair, and some great hits for theme park attractions.  It’s a Small World After All, and the theme of the very first Audioanimatronic show in the world, “In the Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room”!  But this film, designed and put together  by the sons of Dick and Bob Sherman as a chance to get their dad’s together in their elder years, shows their lives from a little boy, until the present.  These boys were exact opposites from the time they were little.  Richard is outgoing, impulsive, funny, and always high spirited.  Robert is calm, slow, careful, quiet, and sometimes very dark.  But the two as a pair turned out some of the greatest music of all time.  They were the only musicians Walt had on his staff full time.  They were very close to him.   But not only was their relationship strained, but their families had not spoken for nearly 40 years, even though they lived only blocks apart for all those years.

This film is stunning in it’s depth and close insight into the lives of these great men.  I loved every moment of it.  And on the bonus features are some great special treats.  It includes additional insights and interviews that were not in the film.  Anyone who knows them, loves them, and the music that they wrote.  Like Bob says,  We didn’t write Kiddie Songs……we wrote  songs for kiddies.  I am a fan of Disney, as you probably know, and have been in the Animation building hundreds of times.  But most of the nuances of this fabulous film I never knew.  It was wonderful to learn the stories of how the most loved songs came about, and how many almost never happened.  How these geniuses write is an amazing story in itself.  So next time you hum the songs from Winnie the Pooh, you’ll think of this wonderful documentary and the men who made it all happen.  No wonder Walt loved them so much.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Heyday Films, Warner Bros. Pictures

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Bill Nighy, Richard Griffiths, Harry Melling, Julie Walters, Bonnie Right, Ian Kelly, Michelle Fairley, Fiona Shaw, Alan Rickman, Ralph Finnes, Helena Bonham Carter

The latest (and 2nd to last) of the Harry Potter films, this is Part 1 of the last book.  This is certainly the darkest of the Potter books, and probably the scariest of the movies for the younger kids.  Valdemort is in control now and has spies everywhere.  He’s overthrown the Ministry of Magic, and has learned that Harry Potter is being moved by his friends to a safe place.  They must find him before he gets there.  In the beginning we get to see the Dursley’s now leaving their home as it’s not safe anymore, and Harry visiting his old space under the stairs where he used to sleep.  Then his friends arrive, and everybody uses their magic to disguise themselves and get Harry to the safe place.  But he’s betrayed and many of his friends are attacked and it is too much for Harry.  He must set out to find the Horcruxes, special objects that contain special powers and must be destroyed.  The spend most of the film zapping from place to place from Hermione’s memory as a child, and hiding out from the soul eaters while trying to find the most powerful of the horcruxes.  In the end, Voldemort makes a chilling discovery and doom and gloom appear to be in order for the second half of the film.

This is, as I said, a dark and scary film.  It’s very well done, as is all the Potter films, and the imagery of the world Rawlins has created is stunning.  One of the nicest things is to see how the kids have grown.  Since we’ve been watching these kids grow up in this series, it’s nice to see how well they’ve turned out.  Harry’s a quite charming man, and Hermione has grown into a beautiful lady.  Ron on the other hand, is still the boyish imp he always was, as he go after Hermione’s heart, but doesn’t quite know what to do with it if he gets it.

There is a lot of hopelessness in the film, but we know it HAS to turn out well in the end if we just hang in there.  Even though it’s only half of the last book, it’s still a long film, and you just get really into it when the credits roll.  The audience groans and complains, but we’re going to have to wait for the ending.  It’s stunning visually and the tension mounts from the opening credits to the big final moment.  You can never relax, and it’s good to see old House Elf Dobby who arrives just in time to help Harry once again.  It’s exciting, and if you’re following the stories of all the other films, you’ve already seen this.  If you haven’t, well I’m sure you can enjoy the action and adventure of the movie, but it’s probably not the best way to appreciate the story by starting at the end.   But saddest of all, we have to wait for next year to end the story when Part 2 is finally released!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday Jan 4, 2011

• Alpha and Omega (Netflix Jan 11)
• Dinner for Schmucks
• The Last Exorcism
• Machete (Netflix February)
• Case 39
• Catfish
• Howl

Welcome to the first “This Week on DVD” for 2011. Happy New Year everyone. Thanks for a great start in 2010. I am lucky to be able to watch lots of films and write a few of my worthless opinions in EdsReview.com. I want to thank all the followers and tweeters and Facebook friends and everything for reading the ramblings of a gray haired old movie buff. I am hoping that 2011 brings lots of fine new films, and I’ll do my best to keep up and current as we go through this new year.

We have a lot to look forward to in the new year. January will bring “The Green Hornet” and “From Prada to Nada”. February brings “Gnomeo and Juliet” our way. March brings “Rango”, “Mars Needs Moms!”, “Hall Pass”. In April we’ll scream again for the 4th time for “Scream 4”. May comes with “Thor”, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”, and “The Hangover 2” (without Mel Gibson), and another “Kung Fu Panda2”. June we’ll be excited to see “Cars2” and “Green Lantern”. July brings “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”, and “Cowboys and Aliens”, “The Smurfs” are coming along in August with some more sequels like “Spy Kids 4” and “Final Destination 5”. By November we should have “Puss in Boots” finally, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” finally arrives. By the end of next year we’ll see another Mission Impossible, and an Alvin and the Chipmunks in 3D, as well as “A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas”. Looks like an interesting year of movies we’ll love and hate. Follow us on EdsReview.com and we’ll keep you posted on what’s new. Feel free to jump in and argue with me too, as I know I’m wrong sometimes and need some straightening out. I’m always up for discussion! And again, I hope everyone had a fine holiday season.

Happy Viewing! –Ed

Universal Pictures, Marc Platt Productions, Big Talk Productions

Michael Cera, Alison Pill, Mark Weber, Johnny Simmons, Ellen Wong, Kieran Culkin, Brie Larson, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jason Schwartzman

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) has a band.  They would just about do anything to get signed and get going on their career.  Scott is dating Knives Chau, 5 years his junior and still in high school, but Scott is truly not over his old girlfriend, Envy (Brie Larson), who has her own band. When he meets Ramona Flower (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) he is smitten.  Unfortunately before he can date her, he must defeat her “Seven Evil Exes”.   They are tough!  Scott may not make it, and if he does, he will still have to make sure that’s what he really wants.

I’m not sure of the background of where this film came from, but it must be a comic book or something like that.  It’s a video game.  It’s not a movie about a video game, but it is literally a video game!  Nothing is really serious in this movie, it’s all a big game.  If Scott has a big sword and cuts down two henchmen of one of the “evil exes” they will disintegrate into coins and the scores appear on the screen.   4000   8000 etc.   The characters level up on the screen and get power boosts.  It’s a video game.

Now some people are going to get really into this whole concept of living in a video game, but for most of us, it’s really a confusing mess.  This doesn’t mean there is not some redeeming qualities here.  There is a story, and the characters are likable (or easy to hate) and the relationships between the characters is well developed.  But you have to go into it realizing it’s all fantasy and not real, otherwise it makes no sense.  I got about two thirds through it confused as can be until it dawned on me what it is.  Perhaps if I knew going in that it was all fantasy, it would have been easier to get into it.  This is actually one film that might get better with a second viewing.  It is actually a very clever put together film if you know what you’re getting into going in.  Michael Cera plays his usual soft spoken loser guy who’s trying to get ahead, and Ellen Wong as Knives is perfect as the stalker old girlfriend.  Jason Schwartzman’s characterization of the final ex is really good.  He’s probably the evilest character in the film.  His character reminds me of the character in “Wayne’s World” played by Rob Lowe,  trying to steal Wayne’s girlfriend.  The ending is very well done and things are resolved in a way that makes sense.  All in all, I liked the film, but it did take a long time of me thinking I hated it till the light clicked on and I finally said, “Oh I get it now”.   After watching it, I’ve been thinking about it since, and the more I think, the better I liked it.  I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone, but if you a gamer, it’s really funny and full of references to the video game world.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog