Ed's Review Dot Com

New Line Cinema, Home Box Office (HBO), HBO Films

Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, David Eigenberg, Willie Garson, Evan Handler, Mario Cantone, Liza Minnelli

Set two years after the last movie and after Carrie’s (Sarah Jessica Parker) wedding, things are not so good. Carrie’s a party girl and her husband is a guy who would much rather eat at home and watch old black and white movies on TV. Carrie misses the party girl days. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) has a husband and two kids and a new nanny who’s cute and Irish and has an aversion to wearing underwear. Charlotte is a bit worried her husband likes the nanny as much or more than the kids do. Samantha (Kim Cattrall) is the same, but swings a deal that will take all the girls to Abu Dhabi for a week, all expenses paid. Off and a private airline with individual suites to a desert paradise where most of the movie takes place. Ironically, half way round the world Carrie meets an old boyfriend, Aiden (John Corbett) which complicates things.

I’ve never been a fan of Sex and the City. My first exposure to it was one time years and years ago when Netflix sent me a DVD of the first season by mistake which I did not order. I decided to try to watch it before sending it back. I did not get into it, nor did I have HBO at the time. Then when it moved to regular TV in reruns I still never watched the show. So when I watched the first movie, I did not enjoy it very much. I just didn’t get into the characters. Perhaps because this is a girls series, and girls are the only ones who get it. This second movie was a lot better for me. The subject matter was a lot more interesting. Ironically, many of the fans of the show were disappointed with this movie. So perhaps what I enjoyed from this go round is what the fans of the show disliked. Anyway, the scenery in Abu Dhabi is very nice, and there is a lot of the culture there. That part is interesting as well. Things wrap up rather quickly and it’s a bit chaotic, but I suppose that’s how the show is as well. Each of the girls has their own problems and they are dealing with them in their own ways. If you’re a fan of the show, then you may be disappointed in how this one was done, but I feel like it must be nice to find out how the characters are doing and how things are progressing.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Castle Rock Entertainment

Madeline Carroll, Callan McAuliffe, Rebecca DeMornay, Anthony Edwards, John Mahoney, Penelope Ann Miller, Aidan Quinn, Kevin Weisman

Bryce Loski (Callan McAuliffe) was in second grade when they moved into the neighborhood. Immediately he was discovered by Juli Baker(Madeline Carroll) who lives across the street. Juli is blown away by his blue eyes and believes he holds her “first kiss”. This sends Bryce off on a 6 year mission to avoid Juli in anyway possible. Teased by the boys (and girls) at school, Juli just pursues him more and more. Suddenly by 8th grade, Bryce starts to see the other side of things and decides she’s really his type after all. But at the same time things go wrong on both sides and it seems the more Bryce tries the more Juli dislikes him. Juli’s Dad has a brother who is severely disabled and needs expensive care which causes the family to suffer. Meanwhile Bryce’s Dad is a bit of a pain and looks down on Juli’s family as trashy. Bryce’s Grandpa meanwhile thinks Juli reminds him of his deceased wife and makes a close friendship with her, all to Bryce’s dismay. The story is told in a first Bryce’s point of view of certain events, then in Juli’s viewpoint of the same events. Things switch back and forth between the two, sometimes very different, views of the same events. This shows how different a new perspective can be.

This is a very sweet story of first love and growing up in the mid 60’s. It’s very nostalgic. It shows the problems that families face, and the difficulties in growing up and fitting in. This is directed by Rob Reiner and does for teenagers what “The Story of Us” did for adults, dissected the relationships and took a look at what made it work and not work. The kids who play Bryce and Juli are really good. They’re just simple kids. The method of telling the story back and forth on both sides is very intriguing. Just when you understand Juli is nuts, you see things from her side and understand Bryce is crazy. In fact, they’re both right. It’s just from a different perspective. There are some really warm and fuzzy moments, and some very uncomfortable moments, just like real life. Juli tells us that her uncle is just a name until she spends and afternoon with her Dad visiting him on his birthday. Then he’s a real person, and you can understand the difference between Juli’s view and Bryce’s blowing it off as a girl with a crazy uncle. I really enjoyed this film, and I felt it was well worth the time I spent watching it. Sometimes it’s really nice to see people acting just like real people. As I understand it, the novel was set in 2000, so I’m not sure why Rob chose to set this film in 1964, but it was a very nice choice. It was fun reminiscing of life in the mid 60’s when things were different. Things are not the same now. This was a peaceful 90 minutes looking at people growing up in a simpler time. Nice film.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Contrafilm, Fletcher & Company, KPB Digital for Film

Anthony Hopkins, Colin O’Donoghue, Alice Braga, Ciarán Hinds, Toby Jones, Rutger Hauer, Marta Gastini, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Arianna Veronesi, Chris Marquette

Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue) was raised by his dad in the family home/mortuary after his mom died when he was very young. According to Michael, members of his family only have two options for careers, either an undertaker or a priest. Michael opts for priest. He heads off to the Seminary, but soon realizes he has a strong penchant for science and psychology, but very little, if any, faith in God. He is about to resign when the Reverend Father asks him to reconsider. He sees something in him that makes him want to give it another shot. He informs him that if he doesn’t finish, that the scholarship he had could be turned into student loans that he cannot pay. The Vatican is doing a special seminar for special students reviving exorcism and he is to complete the training and then decide whether he wants to quit or not. The priest who is training the students sends him to visit Father Lucas Trevant (Anthony Hopkins) who is a delightfully bizzare old Welsh priest who is a master at exorcism. Michael is to learn what he can from him and try to determine if he has faith or not. Not knowing whether Lucas is crazy, a faker, or the real deal, he gets involved deeper and deeper and meets a young reporter Angeline (Alice Braga) who is attending the seminar to write an article about it. Things turn serious in a hurry as things happen that are hard to explain. This is based on real events.

Whew, this is a thriller, totally! Anthony Hopkins in delightful and demonic as the good priest/bad priest/bumbling priest all in one. He is scatterbrained and goofy and at the same time very precise and knowledgeable. You can never tell if he’s on the level or a fantastic fake. The childhood of Michael is told in flashback in one short, extremely creepy flashback after another, bit by bit, piece by piece. Growing up in a funeral home, unafraid of dead people, this small boy is forced to work on the dead body of his mother to make her look “nice” for the funeral. His father is one of the creepiest guys I have ever seen. There are several smaller parts featuring people who either are possessed, or insane and think they’re possessed. Michael starts out very unconvinced that there is anything to this that a psychiatrist couldn’t resole, but as it goes on deeper and deeper he finds more meaning in his life. Meanwhile the scary moments (bumps in the dark, loud sounds, etc.) are there but just as much there is real suspense, and creepy settings and people. It builds on the suspense to an unbelievable level, and meanwhile there is nothing as downright scary as good vs. evil, God vs. the Devil. There is even a bit of a ghost story thrown in for good measure. This is a thriller horror film with very little actual violence or gore, but plenty of really frightening parts. I predict it will do pretty well, especially due to Mr. Hopkins who is as excellent here as he was in “Silence of the Lambs”. I highly recommend this for lovers of suspense and horror. It’s very well made.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday Feb 1, 2011

• Let Me In
• Conviction
• Never Let Me Go
• The Tilman Story
• Monsters
• Chain Letter
• Hatchet II

Greetings viewers! Another Tuesday already and a new week of DVD’s to watch! I had a question on my mind this week. Has Will Smith lost his relevance? What has he done lately? Mostly he’s pushing his kids on us with remakes of movies that don’t need remaking. Last year brought us “*The Kung Fu Kid” starring Jaden which was one of the disappointments of 2010, and the news now is of another remake on the way that doesn’t need remade. It was not annoying enough to be in a music video “whipping her hair back and forth” but now Mr. Prince wants to impose a remake of Annie for us.

Outside the natural resemblance to Little Orphan (they both can have curly hair if you pull out the corn rows or give her a wig), Fresh wants us to pay to go see little Willow singing to us about how it’s a “Hard Knock Life” and all. Will has done some incredible acting and Independence Day only comes around once in a while, and we bought that the Fresh Prince could actually do more than mug at the camera opposite Carlton, but if his kids truly have talent, (how could they not with the Mom and Dad they’ve got?), then lets find them a role or two that fits and try to think of something a little more original than just remaking classics that don’t need an update. Till next week. Happy Viewing! –Ed

*ok, I know it’s “The Karate Kid” not the kung-fu kid, but come on really!

Fast Track Productions, Mayhem Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures

Diane Lane, John Malkovich, Scott Glenn, James Cromwell, Dylan Walsh, Fred Dalton Thompson, Kevin Connolly, Nestor Serrano, Amanda Michalka, Carissa Capobianco

Penny Chenery Tweedy (Diane Lane) is the daughter of Chris Chenery (Scott Glen), owner of a horse farm. Chris is in bad shape and unable to function very well anymore. The farm is losing money, but his wife is trying to keep things running. When she suddenly dies, Penny remembers her childhood on the farm, and gets interested in the business. Her trainer pulled a fast one and tried to talk her dad into selling 4 horses at less than half their value to another farm where he also worked. Chris’ wife stopped the sale, but when Penny found out about it she fired the trainer. This gave everyone (except her husband and children) the idea that a woman could save the farm, run the business, and succeed in a world that was only run by men. She needs a new trainer and hooks up with Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich) who is very eccentric to say the least! When they have a new colt “Big Red” that everyone says will never be able to race, Penny decides to “bet the farm” on him.

This is a story based on the true story and events in the lives of Penny Chenery and Secretariat, one of the most unusual and greatest horses that ever lived. Like its predecessor “Seabiscuit”, this is a fascinating true story of an amazing horse. The people in the story are interesting, but it’s the horse race that is most exciting. Diane Lane is wonderful as Penny Chenery, and this is a role built for John Malkovich. He does the nutsy guy better than anyone. Scott Glenn as Chris Chenery is in a small role, but he is very touching as an old man who is losing his wits. He is very good. This is a movie that really knows how to tell a story. It gets right into it and builds and builds to the exiting finish. The racing sequences are excellent, but the lives of the people are very well played too. Disney has a winner with this film. It is the best movie I’ve seen in a long time. Anyone who likes horses will love this, but anyone who loves a good story is going to like it as well.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog