Ed's Review Dot Com

Blitz Films, Lionsgate

Jason Statham, Paddy Considine, David Morrissey, Aidan Gillen, Richard Riddell, Zawe Ashton, Ian Hughes, Nicky Henson, Luke Evans

The Blitz (Aidan Gillen) is a special kind of serial killer. He is hell bent on killing the entire police force one by one. Detective Sergeant Tom Brant (Jason Statham) is assigned to track down the killer while dealing with his own aggression issues with a police psychiatrist. As the self proclaimed “Blitz” gets more and more brazen, he keeps slipping through their fingers time and time again. When they finally pin him down, there just isn’t enough evidence to convict. So what can they do?

Filmed in London, this is a British film. It’s not the typical action film that Jason Stathem is known for. Also the story is very predictable and quite common. This is a cop gone rogue film, hell bent on revenge and willing to break all the rules to get what he wants. Unfortunately it doesn’t really work all that well. It’s not a bad cops and robbers flick, but there’s no new ground here either. It’s a middle of the road cop action flick that is just what it tries to be, so if it’s a genre you’re fond of, you probably will enjoy it, but it’s probably not worth the effort if you’re not as you’re not going to see anything new here.

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Laurel Group

David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross, David Crawford, David Early, Richard France

This classic horror flick from director George A. Romero begins with an undead army of flesh-eating zombies taking over every major city in the United States. Running for their lives, Peter (Ken Foree), Roger (Scott H. Reiniger), Stephen (David Emge) and Frances (Gaylen Ross) escape only to find refuge in a remote shopping mall. They seclude themselves using the supplies in the stores and blocking entrances and fortifying the place while hunting the zombies on the inside one by one and learning how to survive in this new world, only to discover they have to fight a really bad motorcycle gang, too. A terror and violence fest, this film takes over right after “The Night of the Living Dead” and carries the story forward with very little background about why it’s happening. It is what it is, and they just have to deal with it.

Night of the Living Dead was filmed in and around Zelienople and Cranberry Township Pennsyvania starring some of the local TV personalities and a slew of local extras. It’s black and white and grainy, and very, very low budget horror, but became a world-wide sensation and brought back the Zombie flick and started the slasher films that have gone on ever since. Some years later, George took the money he made from the shoestring budget Night of the Living Dead, and tried to repeat his success in Color, moving on up to the Monroeville Mall, and using better special effects. Now Zombies are mostly blue skinned and still are the slow, stupid zombies of George Romero films. Now instead of being simply terrified of the monsters, they are learning how to deal with them. Many times, just running fast and knocking them down is enough to get away from the stupid walking dead. But if they catch you and pin you down, they are REALLY hungry.

The first 15 minutes of this film is awful. I watched it over twice trying to get what’s going on, but it’s hopeless. The first film has a lot of scenes of TV reporters telling us what’s going on. This film starts out in the studio where some imbecile talking heads are arguing about what to do about the zombies while the people running the station are running around, fighting, and talking. It’s pure chaos and would cause most people to turn the film off in the first few minutes. During this, the seemingly endless titles come up. Stick with it as it’s going to get a lot better. After a period of “What the hell?” moments, they land at the mall and the movie gets going. This film has a lot of humor, and the group love to make a mockery of the zombies. Why not? They have come to realize that they aren’t human, and are really, really stupid. The find out how to trick them to their own benefit, and really don’t take the whole thing that serious. This gives a unique feel to this movie, as these people are in a life and death situation, and enjoy browsing the aisles of the store looking for things to steal to complete their wardrobe!

The motorcycle gang is WAY over the top too, but unlike Night of the Living Dead, you’re supposed to enjoy and laugh your way through this one. It’s not bad, it’s just a whole different feel. As awful as the world has become, this bunch make the best of living in the mall!

This is a very old movie, and it was remade some years ago, but everyone should see the original of this film, especially after Night of the Living Dead. This is the roots of our modern horror genre, and we can certainly see where it all started. These films were made by people who simply loved horror films, and it shows. Yes, there is camp, and some parts are really silly. But it’s easy to see what made these films so very, very popular in their time, and started us down the road to hundreds of future slasher horror films until today. Very worthwhile to view the classics of the past, and I recommend you to watch it if you haven’t seen it before, or catch it on late night TV. With today’s DVD and BluRay technology, we can see these films looking better than they originally did in the theater.

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Kandoo Films, Forward Movement

Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Tracie Thoms, Omari Hardwick, Michole Briana White, Beverly Todd, Dijon Talton, Damone Roberts, Phalana Tiller, Royale Watkins, Owen Smith, Blair Underwood

Maye (Sally Richardson) is devastated after her beloved aunt, Amanda (Beverly Todd), dies of breast cancer. Maye (Salli Richardson-Whitfield) has moved out of her home and put her career on hold (She is a very successful make-up artist in Hollywood) and moved into her aunt’s house to spend her aunts last days and to take care of her, but now she must move everything out of the home they shared, move back into her own home, and resume her career while still coping with her grief. Maye’s life is touched by other mourners, giving her the strength to carry on. Yet Maye’s healing is complicated by the jealousy of Amanda’s estranged daughter, Fran (Michole White), who resents Maye’s close relationship with her very unusual mother.

This is an independent Black film, but race has very, very little to do with the story. It is a slow moving and thought provoking film that examines the relationships that Maye has with the people who either hate her or support her. She has a boyfriend who does not support her and cannot face death in the least. He was completely absent through the whole ordeal. The friction between Maye and Fran is very fascinating too. Neither is right, and neither is wrong. Fran wants what Maye has, but is completely unable to face it. She wants to be close to her mother without putting the effort because she can’t understand. She blames Maye for taking her place, and doesn’t hesitate to point that out, but yet everyone knows she couldn’t have done what Maye did anyway.

This is a very intellectual film, and there’s very little action or heavy drama, but it is a relationship film. Much like “Soul Food” this is a good look inside a Black family giving us a feel for some of the dynamics of the families involved. The characters are very well developed, and though the cast is not extremely well known, they are very good and do a great job bringing the look and feel to the film. This is not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you like good family relationship films, this is one of the best I have seen in a long time.

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FilmNation Entertainment, Premiere Picture, Echo Lake Productions (I)

Amber Heard, Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker, Laura-Leigh, Lyndsy Fonseca, Jared Harris, Sydney Sweeney, D.R. Anderson, Mika Boorem

A young woman, Kristen (Amber Heard), is sent to a creepy mental institution with a past as dark and sinister as her own. She was caught burning down a farm house and determined to need help. Immediately she and the other girls are terrorized by a ghost, and each of the other patients in Kristen’s ward begin to disappear one by one, and that’s just the beginning of her long nightmare. Recruiting what’s left of her friends Kristen makes one noble attempt after another to escape.

This John Carpenter horror film is very spooky. The helplessness of the girls and their repeated attempts to save themselves from this nightmare with no results leaves us breathless. This is an excellent horror film, and John Carpenter certainly has not lost his touch with the genre. Extreme suspense and helplessness engulf us as we realize the poor girls have no way out. As they drop one by one, it appears there is no solution and Kristen still keeps digging for the truth as to what happened to the ghostly girl who seems to want to kill them all. It’s certainly a shocker, and the surprise ending may not be a surprise to everyone, but still, from the opening scene of the fire to the final credits there is no time to catch your breath. As good a nut house film as I’ve seen in a long while, this is great rental for a creepy autumn/late summer evening! Just don’t watch it alone!

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Summit Entertainment, Participant Media, Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ

Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Anton Yelchin, Jennifer Lawrence, Riley Thomas Stewart, Cherry Jones, Kelly Coffield, Michael Rivera, Zachary Booth, Matt Lauer

Walter Black (Mel Gibson) is the CEO of his father’s successful toy company. But he’s suffering from a severe case of depression that is real and completely debilitating. Suddenly he’s about to lose his company, his family, and perhaps even his life as he drifts from day to day, many days never getting out of bed. Drugs and therapy have not helped, but suddenly he begins using a beaver hand puppet to help him open up to his family. Walter can’t talk to anyone, but the Beaver can, and he turns things around in a hurry with the Beaver’s help. But Walter isn’t alone. With his father seemingly going insane, adolescent son Porter (Anton Yelchin) pushes for his parents to get a divorce. Jodie Foster directs and co-stars as Walter’s wife in this dark comedy that also features Riley Thomas Stewart and Jennifer Lawrence.

The Beaver bombed in the box office and I’m not sure why. Surely a movie about depression must be depressing. Maybe that’s why? Or is it the other summer blockbuster movies that just buried it? Or could it be backlash directed at Mel Gibson who has certain had a run of very bad press of late. When Mariah Carey went through her nutsy phase, Glitter was a huge bomb, but was it really that bad? Well, maybe so, but Brittney’s Crossroads suffered the same fate. Of course it wasn’t very good, really, either. But this isn’t a bad film. I can see why Jody Foster took on the project, and Mel was an excellent Walter, and I really believed him. In fact, maybe making this movie is in some way therapy for the real Mel Gibson, who knows. But it is a warm and touching film about a very real illness. Too many people dismiss depression as something you just need to shake off and move on. Get yourself out of bed and move on. I will never forget the sweetest scene in “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” when Charlie makes it all the way to the National Spelling Bee and loses by misspelling Beagle. (B-E-A-G-E-L). Charlie arrives back in town and no one is there to meet the bus. Next day he doesn’t go to school and stays in bed all day. Linus arrives after school and says, “Charlie Brown, you lost the spelling bee. You lost, but guess what? The world didn’t end.”

This is the message of The Beaver. Depression is real and isn’t something that you can just wish away. It takes lots of help and lots of support. It also takes a lot of effort. Mel shows us this very well. His wife also shows us a real wife. Supportive as she can be, but tired of having no husband, and frustrated. When things start to look up, she’s expecting an instant leap to normalcy, which isn’t ready yet. But the key relationship here is the two boys. The oldest is experiencing many of the same things his dad feels. But Walter’s Dad also had the same illness. It is heredity, and is passed on in many familes. So the life that Walter’s son is moving into could be the same as his father and his grandfather. The relationship between Walter and his sons is also very important to the story. This is a slow moving, and very thoughtful film, but told very well with good characters. I don’t think it should have been completely ignored by the public, and my hope is now that it’s on DVD that it will come back in a strong way in the rental market. It’s time to forgive Mel for his weaknesses, and give this movie a chance. I am certainly glad I watched it. It had a really good story to tell and it was very well done.

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