Ed's Review Dot Com

Antena 3 Films, Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC), Canal+ España

Ryan Reynolds, Jose Luis Garcia Perez, Robert Paterson, Stephen Tobolwsky, Samathana Mathis, Ivana Mino, Warner Loughlin, Erik Palladino

Paul Conroy (Ryan Renolds) is a family man and a civilian truck driver in Iraq working as a contractor delivering supplies for the rebuilding effort. He was in a convoy of trucks when all hell broke loose, roadside bombs, gunfire, even kids throwing rocks. Paul remembers this, but we don’t get to see any of it. We see nothing but blackness, then suddenly Paul wakes up, finds a lighter and lights it to see (as we see) he is alone is a wooden coffin, trapped with no way out. Paul also finds a couple glow sticks, a cell phone that is Arabic, but working, a pencil and a pen knife and nothing else. He knows there is not much air in there, and he has no idea how he got there or why he’s been buried alive. A quick call on the cell phone and Paul learns he’s been buried in the desert and being held for (originally) 9 million dollars. He is a family man, but no one seems to answer, and nobody seems able to help, so it appears he has to help himself.

This is a very, very unusual movie. First of all, you would expect Ryan Reynolds to be in a romantic comedy playing a lighthearted good old boy. But in this film, he is intense. This is the performance of his life. To top it off, he has to play every second of the movie alone, and he is the only person we see in the entire movie. The entire movie is filmed inside this box! The intensity which he portrays this impossible situation is awesome. Additionally, he run the gambit of emotions from fear, to horror, to anger, to frustration, and even resolution. He loses it a few times, but comes back to his senses each time. Due to the incredible way this is filmed, we are in the box, and if you’re claustrophobic, be forewarned. You’re going to feel everything he goes through. There are a couple complaints I have, but I won’t go into much detail to not spoil the impact of the film. It is a bit political. (Bad Haliburton, Bad Bush, Bad CIA, etc.). I find it hard to believe than any of the institutions in this film are as evil and uncaring as it appears, and that is a weakness in the story. But aside from that , it’s an incredible roller-coaster ride of emotions, and one I’m sure you’ll never forget. So I would highly recommend this movie, with the caveat that it’s very intense and the suspense in incredible. Also there truly is only one actor and one set. Everything takes place in the box. And if you turn the lights out, when the lights are out in the box, the screen is completely dark too, sometimes for minutes at a time, so be sure to turn on a light if you go down to grab a sandwich midway through. This one will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday Feb 08, 2011

• You Again
• Paranormal Activity 2
• Life as We Know It
• My Soul To Take
• It’s Kind of a Funny Story
• For Colored Girls
• Middle Men
• Still Walking

Greetings movie fans — Something new on EdsReview. I figured I’d tell you about it. I don’t know if you have noticed or not, but we’ve added something new on the Home page.

I thought maybe it would be nice to know what movies we’ve reviewed here on EdsReview.com. Now that we’ve passed 300, I can see myself forgetting! 🙂 So I had a little chat with my WebMaster and expressed my concern that I was afraid people would get frustrated trying to search for movies I haven’t rated or worse. So he added a new page on the top of the page. Now not only is there the normal “Home“, “About Us” where you can read my fascinating biography, , and the “Contact Us” page, there is a new link to the “Archives“. This page will show you an up to date list of what movies were reviewed on each date from the time I started last summer. Hope it’s helpful. If it is, send me a comment and let me know.

One final note. After last week’s rant about Willow Smith’s Annie, I turn around to find out “Jaden Smith’s Karate Kid 2” is about to start. Geez.

Thanks. –Ed of EdsReview

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Troublemaker Studios, Davis Entertainment

Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, Oleg Taktarov, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Trejo

Royce (Adrien Brody) awakens to find himself free falling from a plane.  He struggles to find the ripcord for the parachute that is on his back.  He falls into a jungle to join several other people.  They are all trying to figure out what is going on.  Over time it becomes obvious that they are being hunted.  They are on a strange planet with strange creatures with no idea how any of them got there.  Turns out they were chosen for sport.   Survival will take all the skill they possess and a lot of cooperation and luck! They bump into Noland (Laurence Fishburne) who has been living on the planet for 10 seasons.  He’s got valuable information on the predators, but they are not sure whether they can trust him.  Basically, it’s going to end up being a battle of wits and skill.

This film is a direct sequel to the first two Predator films.  Everything in the Alien vs. Predator films has been ignored.  It turns out there were two races (at least) of predators, one normal race who used hunting humans on earth as a rite of passage and acceptance, and a race of Super Predators that hunt for sport.  It seems the two types are not friends.  Things turn desperate in a hurry, and the action is fast and furious.  This is actually a very good action film, and the effect are stunning.  Each of the participants have been chosen specifically for the skills and methods of fighting they know and use.  It seems the Predators hone their skills and find their weaknesses and use the skills they learn.  This add to the interesting premise of the film.  It’s more than just kill or be killed.  There’s a great deal of thought and strategy put into the making of the film.   Royce is certainly a bad ass!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

They Are Going to Kill Us Productions

Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck, Sean P Diddy Combs, Elliot Gaynon, Antony Langdon, David Letterman, Larry McHale, Edward James Olmos, Jamison Reeves, Eddie Rouse, Ben Stiller, Cenk Uygur, Bruce Willis

In 2008 while rehearsing for a charity event, Joaquin Phoenix announced to everyone there that he was retiring from acting and switching careers to become a rapper. For a year he works on that premise while going off the deep end, growing a shaggy beard and delving into prostitutes and cocaine, cursing his two man entourage, and trying to convince Sean Combs to produce his album. Casey Affleck (Ben’s brother and Joaquin’s brother-in-law) documents it all with a camera to make a stunning documentary of the events of this year of his life. He finally makes a very disjointed and monotone appearance on the Letterman show that went very badly and proves either he’s complete nuts or completely convinced that the character he is playing is for real. This set Hollywood on fire with everyone trying to determine whether it was for real or a very convincing and involved hoax. I don’t think anyone knew for sure.

Shortly after the Letterman appearance Joaquin and Casey came out and announced that it was a complete hoax. Joaquin was playing a character in Casey’s new movie. He then returned to Letterman as himself to prove he was not like the guy who was there before. But whether it’s a hoax, or the hoax is a hoax, it’s an interesting film. The fact is that if he was pulling everyone’s leg, then the film is not worth much. If the hoax is a hoax, then he needs help. Either way, the movie is somewhat interesting, but not very amusing. It’s not like Andy Kaufman, who when you learned that the foreign man was a fake and that Andy was a very clever fellow after all, it did not destroy the enjoyment of watching a brilliant comedian at work. Just like Sasha Cohen’s second film of a gay fashion designer was not near as successful as Borat because we had been fooled before, so we were already in on the joke, this film is just not so good. The fact that they tried to convince everyone that it was for real doesn’t help much. As we look at this guy, he’s so unlikable, that we don’t really care what happens to him. The fact that we know he used his Letterman appearance to promote a film that he was about to release, a film which included the whole interview, makes us dislike him even more. I rated this in the middle, because it was a lot like watching a train wreck or an accident on the freeway, curiosity makes us want to watch, but when it’s all over, we yawn and say, so what. If it’s just an act, then it’s just an act. If it’s a cover up story to hide a real breakdown, then I hope he got some help. But as far as the movie goes, it was ok to watch once, but it’s completely forgettable.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Columbia Pictures, Gary Sanchez Productions, Mosaic Media Group

Derek Jeter, Samuel L Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Eva Mendes, Larnell Stovall, Jalil Jay Lynch, Roy T Anderson, Damon Wayans Jr., Michael Keaton, Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg

Two dysfunctional detectives, not the cities finest, grab an opportunity to step up like the city’s top cops who they admire, but it doesn’t go too well. Terry (Mark Wahlberg) was on game day security detail and accidentally shot Derek Jeter. Allen (Will Ferrell) shot his desk. The two of them, left to fill out paperwork for the real heroes, take on a high-profile investigation of dirty businessman, David Ershon (Steve Coogan). Michael Keaton plays the Captain. The Captain tells them repeatedly to lay off Ershon, but they don’t seem to get it.

This is a strange little movie. It has some really funny parts. It’s typical Will Ferrell fodder. A lot of critics hated Mark Wahlberg in this film, but in my opinion, he plays it pretty well. I think one of the the off-putting things for people is that these guys are both idiots. Typically in a buddy cop comedy there is a straight man and an idiot. These guys are both idiots. It’s more like Step Brothers in that respect. With clever dialog like the secretary announcing them to the bad guy Ershon with, “Mr. Ershon, Detective Gamble and the detective who shot Derek Jeter are here to see you!” There are a number of really funny one liners and thrown away gags that are really a crack up. I thought this movie was really funny, and I enjoyed it very much. If you like Farrell’s humor, I think this is pretty good. I think this film is along the lines of “Police Squad/The Naked Gun” series. Michael Keaton is especially funny in this movie in his dry not over the top kind of way, but it’s not a huge part. But when he’s on screen it’s pretty funny. All in all, I gotta recommend this one.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog