Ed's Review Dot Com

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday May, 17 2011

May 17

• The Roommate
• The Rite [Click to see Ed’s Review]
• The Mechanic
• I Want Your Money (Documentary)
• Broken Hill (Australian)

Exclusive Films, National Geographic Films, Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ

Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Saoirse Ronan, Mark Strong, Dragos Bucur, Gustaf Skarsgård, Sebastian Urzendowsky, Alexandru Potocean

The Way Back is a breathtaking adventure of a small group of prisoners from a World War II prison camp in Siberia who managed to escape and undertake a tremendous journey across Siberia, the Gobi Desert, and the Himalaya’s and to India on foot, over 4000 miles. Based on the book “The Way Back” by SÅ‚awomir Rawicz (1915–2004) a Polish army lieutenant who documented this personal journey of courage and endurance. With spectacular views and a great cast, this is a great adventure story.

Ah, but is it a documentary? The BBC set out to verify the validity of the story and found no record that this journey ever took place. According to the records in Russia and documents in Rawicz own writings he was released from the prison in 1942 and traveled by boat, and never went to India. As soon as his story was debunked, another gentleman came forward to say that Rawicz wrote the book based on HIS story, not Rawicz’s own story. This man was also soon debunked. In fact, no evidence of such a journey exists anywhere. Does this detract from the enjoyment of the film? To me it does in a way. This is still a great story, very inspiring and beautiful to watch. It’s a fine adventure with very good values. But the fact that it’s fiction passed off as truth irritates me a bit. It was good to watch, and I enjoyed the story, but if it had been presented as a work of fiction I wouldn’t feel so cheated.

So I am warning you in advance. This is a fairy tale. The stuff in this story could have happened, but it probably didn’t. But watch it as a work of fiction, and it is very enjoyable. The photography is spectacular and the contrast from the bitter cold of Siberia to the heat of the Gobi desert is spectacular. There are some gorgeous scenes. The ordeal is amazing, and it has all the excitement you could ask for. So I recommend it as a work of fiction, but do not consider it a documentary in any way.

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EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

1718 Studio, Legacy Filmworks

Amanda Crew, Peter Benson, Ali Liebert, Serinda Swan, Ryan Kennedy, Moneca Delain, Tony Alcantar, Luisa D’Oliveira, Carmen Lavigne

Britney (Amanda Crew) learned early on that love is a fickle thing. Being a strong opponent of relationships, she latches on to a clever racket. She becomes the “Break Up Artist” who, for a fee, will break up for you. She has a number of scenarios, from “It’s not you, it’s me” to “She just needs a little space to find herself” and much, much, more. (There is a referral to a gastroenterologist for a poor fellow who has a flatulence problem). But finally Britney meets a guy who hits it off with her in every way. She’s finally in love, but this guy may not be who he appears to be. Hilarity ensues.

Break Up Artist is not a great movie. It’s mindless, and almost plotless, but it’s is brainless fun, especially for younger girls. Amanda’s supporting cast of helpers who are also flighty and brainless most of the time are funny, and there are a few laughs. This is not supposed to be meaningful cinema. But for the audience it’s designed for, it’s definitely a lot of fun. Just sit back and watch the trouble build.

Mediocre teen romantic comedy, available on NetFlix Watch Instantly.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Tax Credit Finance

Nick Stahl, Rose McGowan, Amy Smart, Ben Marten, Kim Grimaldi, Brian Lynner, Justin Marxen, James Serpento, Jack Mishler, Shane Simmons

Dylan (Nick Stahl) is a young man who works in a funeral home. On a bet, and to satisfy his morbid curiosity, decides to fake his death to see if anyone will show up for his funeral. His feeling is that no one will show up, but two ladies do. Charlie (Rose McGowan) is a street junkie whom Dylan befriends, and Natalie (Amy Smart) is his old high school sweetheart who abandoned him years before. As Dylan is shocked that these two show up, he begins to try to unravel a mystery that destroyed his life 10 years ago. Supernatural forces bring this trio into a mystery that is up to Dylan to resolve.

A lot of people hated this movie. I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as it seems. It is a bit unusual, but that’s the plan. The ending is a bit of a surprise, and it is a bit confusing to keep up with what’s going on. But the acting is pretty decent and the story is really creepy. At the final scene in the cemetery all will be made clear, but unless you are a really good guesser, you probably won’t see it coming. This is a “Watch Instantly” film from Netflix, and was not a great movie, but not nearly as bad as many people thought. Probably one of those movies that you need to invest the time to watch to get the payoff. If you watch the first third of the film and give up, then you just haven’t given it enough of a chance. By the ending it’s pretty decent. It has a horror flavor, but is mostly a dramatic character study.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Black Monday Film Services, Hydraulx, Rat Entertainment

Donald Faison, Eric Balfour, Scottie Thompson, Brittany Daniel, Crystal Reed, David Zayas, Neil Hopkins, Robin Gammell, Tanya Newbould, J. Paul Boehmer

Skyline is the story of an alien invasion. This one came out first before “Battle: Los Angeles” and is not near as well done. A night of wild partying leaves Terry (Donald Faison) and his pregnant girlfriend Elaine (Scottie Thompson) wake up to find they’re some of the few people left alive. Monstrous creatures are over the city of Los Angeles and a bright light causes people to be picked up and sucked into the ships. The army is trying to fight back, but nothing seems to be working. Terry and Elaine join with as many others as they can find and attempt to hide out learning step by step about the horrible creatures.

My daughter came by while I was watching this and asked, “What are you watching?”. When I told her she said, “It doesn’t look very good”. Walt Disney learned 80 years ago what these guys have never learned. It’s not about the technology or the special effects or how beautiful it is, it’s all about the story. That’s the problem here. This film has great special effects and an awesome trailer, but no story. I don’t know what they are trying to do, but this is no better than a 1950 “Godzilla” film, story-wise. It looks pretty but there’s no substance. There’s no one here that I care about, and the “surprise” ending that is supposed to be so cerebral and instead makes no sense at all. You can make up your own meaning of the ending, but there’s no real meaning in any of this.

I didn’t hate this movie, I just didn’t like it very much. I wanted to catch this in the theater when I saw the trailers, but it was gone so soon. So I saw Battle: Los Angeles instead and I’m glad it worked out that way. This wasn’t bad on DVD, but if I were you I would wait for the other one to come out and watch it instead. My $.02.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog