Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday August 16, 2011
Gaumont, Nick Wechsler Productions
Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes, Guillaume Canet, Griffin Dunne, Anson Mount, Stephanie Romanov, Scott Adsit, Daniel Eric Gold
Joanna (Keira Knightly) and Michael (Sam Worthington) are a married couple of 4 years. They’re wealthy and seem to have everything together. Michael really loves Joanna, but Michael is so busy with work, including travelling a lot. At a party Joanna notices Laura (Eva Mendez), a colleague of Michaels who is obviously interested in him. She finds out some things that Michael didn’t tell her that sets off every jealous bone in her body, so she confronts him and makes a big scene. Michael has to go out on a business trip and Laura is going along. Meanwhile, Joanna’s ex, Alex (Guillame Canet) shows up in New York for one day on a trip and runs into Joanna and invites her out to a business dinner. Temptation all around, and this film is about this one night in the life of this couple and whether they will make it or not.
This is quite a sad movie. Movies of heartbreak, cheating, and couples who just don’t understand each other are the saddest sometimes. This is well done, and the characters are very well developed. We get to see into the heads of each of the main characters and what is their thoughts and motivation. There are a couple smaller characters thrown in to help us understand the mix. We get to see, perhaps a bit too close, the real feelings of these two.
This movie is rated R, probably for the subject matter rather than for what we see on the screen, as the action is very tame. But it’s not an interesting movie for younger folk anyway. This is aimed at married people who are doubting their relationship. It’s a pretty decent film, well done, and well acted. I think it’s a decent movie for those fond of relationship movies (read “Chick Flick” and would be enjoyed by someone who is a fan of that genre.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
Fuse Media, Sad Flutes
Dong-gun Jang, Kate Bosworth, Geoffrey Rush, Danny Huston, Tony Cox, Lung Ti, Analin Rudd, Markus Hamilton, Rod Lousich, Matt Gillanders
Yang (Dong-gun Jang) has been trained from childhood as a samurai warrior. He’s the best. His clan was at war with another clan, and the other’s were defeated. The last remaining member of the other clan is a baby girl. Refusing to kill the child, Yang becomes the number one target of his clan, requiring the shedding of his blood to make up for disobeying the order. Yang takes the baby in tow, and heads to the old west to visit a friend who settled there long ago. Alas his friend has passed on, but Yang meets a young woman, Lynne (Kate Bosworth) who is a knife throwing circus performer, and the town drunk, former gunslinger Ronald (Geoffrey Rush). It seems everyone is after Lynne for a terrible secret she is hiding, and Yang’s clan is not willing to forget what he failed to do as well. All this leads to an unbelievable showdown in the street.
This is a Samurai Western, much like the original Kung Fu with David Carradine. But this is a very beautiful film. A lot of it is dream-like and very artistic. It is a grand battle that we get to witness, but by the same token, it has the magical, mystical feel of many of the great Chinese Kung-fu films. I was very impressed with the drama and the beauty of this film. It is not really literal, but very visual treat that is hard to forget. It’s funny and suspenseful, but above all, poetic in the telling of the story. This is a very, very good film, and I really enjoyed it very much. Don’t expect a pure kung-fu film, nor a western. It’s a blend of the two done with a lot of artistic license, but if you stick with the film, it is very, very beautifully done. Very worth watching!
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
Overture Films, Exclusive Media Group, Hammer Film Productions
Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, Richard Jenkins, Cara Buono, Elias Koteas, Sasha Barrese, Dylan Kenin, Chris Browning, Jimmy ‘Jax’ Pinchak, Ritchie Coster
Twelve year-old Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is bullied at school on a daily basis. They are making his life a living hell. He meets a young girl who has moved in across the hall, Abby (Chloe Moretz), but though Owen thinks she’s the friend he’s always wanted, Abby says she cannot be his friend. As they grow closer, Abby gives him the courage he needs to fight back to the bullies, but as time passes Owen becomes convinced that Abby is hiding a terrible secret.
This is a nearly frame by frame remake of the Swedish film, “Let the Right One In“. It is a very well done Americanization of the original story. Both main actors play their part well. We feel the hurt every time something bad happens to Owen, and we feel the isolation Abby feels in her life. It’s creepy, but, although there are a few scares, mostly it’s ambiance and suspense that does the job. The mood is dark and eerie, and it suits the subject just perfectly.
This is one of those films that slipped through the cracks and comes through on video. If you’re a Gothic horror fan, this might be right up your alley. Not a great deal of action, but two hours of great character development and mystery and suspense rolled up into a Netflix “Watch Instantly” that is not too bad. If you’re a horror fan, this one is slow, but worth the effort if you stick it out. It’s a “Hammer” film, and Hammer knows how to put out the very best horror films of all time.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
ArieScope Pictures, High Seas Entertainment, Radioaktive Film
Joel Moore, Deon Richmond, Kane Hodder, Tamara Feldman, Robert Englund, Mercedes McNab, Parry Shen, Richard Riehle
Ben (Joel Moore), his friend Marcus (Deon Richmond) are in town for Mardi Gras. Looking for adventure, they were told to look for a haunted boat tour of the swam nearby, but could not find anyone who would take them. Finally the pair and assorted strangers find a shady tour guide who takes them on a creepy nighttime boat trip into the bayou, but he’s a fake and knows nothing about the local legends except what’s on his index cards. Their journey takes them into the lair of Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder), a freak of nature whose deformity has turned him into a bloodthirsty killer. Only Marybeth (Tamara Feldman), one of the fellow travelers, knows the secret that may keep them alive. Victor’s story is tragic, and shocking, and completely true.
I have been waiting to see Hatchet for some time since I viewed the newly released Hatchet2. This story is not too bad either. The two work together. Marybeth has some unresolved issues with a mystery in her family and sets out to solve the mystery. Victor Crowley is a fitting monster a la Jason in the Friday the 13th series. He has a reason to be pissed, and has a lot of ways to kill those who trespass on his territory. The characters are very low budget unknowns, for the most part. They somehow talked Robert Englund into appearing in a cameo in the beginning of this which is delightful, but aside from that, some of the characters are rather good. There’s a creepy wannabe porn producer who has a couple bimbos along whom he keeps talking into taking off their tops for the video, and the asian guy from Detroit who is the tour leader is a hoot. One by one the cast gets smaller, and it’s in good fun, almost like you don’t feel sorry for them.
I waited and waited for this DVD to creep up in my queue and suddenly, lo and behold, it appeared as a “Watch Instantly” and I was able to grab it. Certainly this pair fit together, and I rated the two films exactly the same. They are about equal. Neither outshines the other, although if you have a choice, watch Hatchet before Hatchet 2 and you’ll follow the whole story better. I saw them in the reverse order though, and I still see how the stories fit together. Certainly not stellar cinema, but very decent horror/slasher flicks and well worth the time if you’re a fan of the genre.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
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