Ed's Review Dot Com

Wind Chill Films, Belvedere Entertainment, Maricopa Films

Chris Conrad, Alexander Martin, Kat Hawks, Brock Kelly, Mary Stein, Angell Conwell, Ines Dali, Kevin Dobson, Merik Tadros

Two musicians are on their way to a gig when they come upon a thick fog and they are unable to continue. They find a place to stay in a hotel in mysterious Mercy, California. But there is something odd with this hotel. They go to sleep, but when they wake up it’s the next night, and they’ve slept the entire day through. Given only raw steak to eat, the next day, the same thing happens. Mercy is behind a time portal where it goes directly from night to night, and the same thing happens every day. There is witchcraft at work, and there is a sinister master plan to bring forth the devil’s child.

This is a pretty unusual creepy little film. There are certainly strange thing afoot, and it takes a fair amount of effort to figure out what is going on. The chills are one after another. It’s very spooky and the goosebumps are real. I enjoyed the horrific mood of this film, and though it’s not the smoothest or slickest horror tale, it’s still pretty good. Often found on cable, especially in October! It’s a neat film to check out for some late night chills.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday October 25, 2011

• Captain Avenger: The First Avenger [For EdsReview click here]
• Winnie the Pooh [For EdsReview click here]
• Pearl Jam Twenty
• Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Happy Halloween Everybody!!!!

-Ed

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Revolution Films

Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Claire Keelan, Margo Stilley, Rebecca Johnson, Dolya Gavanski, Kerry Shale, Paul Popplewell

The Trip is a mockumentary featuring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon cleverly named Steve and Rob, who set out on a food trip across England to visit the best restaurants in the country. But these two guys try to entertain themselves on the road by talking about their career highlights and doing impressions of famous actors and developing scenes.

I didn’t get into this movie in the least. I am aware that many people find it hysterical, but there is not point to this in the least. There is no opening and no ending. It just begins with Rob complaining the Steve does not know the first thing about wine tasting. We get to watch the two arguing with each other about the finer points of properly tasting wine. They go through what seems like hours of discussion over such hysterical (NOT) subjects as announcing a show by Trevor Eve on BBC 1, attempting hundreds of ways to make the announcement in different inflections and with different emphasis. Later we get to see 45 minutes of the King announcing to his men that they will be in battle tomorrow morning, and many will die, but after a continental breakfast at 7:30. The battle will be 10ish. There’s very little material, and it’s very much repeated to death. We see what seems like hours of these two driving through the countryside repeating the same things over and over and over again. I don’t understand people who get this kind of humor. Perhaps if you are really familiar with English pop culture, and/or fans of Steve and Rob. I am neither, and this really was hard to sit through. It’s the first film in a long time that I really, really wanted to turn off after 20 minutes, but I sat through the whole thing just to see if it got any better. This was worse to me than watching paint dry, and I urge you to avoid this at all costs.

A horrible film!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Back Allie Productions, Cedar Creek Productions, Motto Pictures

Buck Brannaman, Robert Redford

Buck Brannaman was the inspiration for “The Horse Whisperer”. This is a documentary about the real thing. He is shown to be a complex figure in this Sundance Audience Award winner for Best Documentary by Cindy Meehl. Buck had a horrible childhood, but through his experiences with an abusive father, he became aware that people who treat horses badly to “break” them are just as cruel. His attitude has always been one of mutual respect with love and gentleness to work together with the animal. We humans are putting them in a strange situation and expecting them to trust us. We should learn to give them a chance to learn trust and mutual respect, and the results are much better. He also learns that the methods of dealing with horses can be a mirror to how we treat our fellow human beings.

This documentary is very touching and quite interesting. Buck is an amazing person who has been offering seminars on horse training for years. His methods are sound and work well. We watch him at work, and see his wisdom first hand. I really enjoyed this documentary and seeing Buck at work. Although not a horse person myself, I was fascinated by the way he treats the animals and the success he has. Very much like Caesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer from Discovery Channel, Buck often finds that he’s not teaching the horse, he’s teaching the human. We can learn a lot from Buck even if we never get close to a horse. I highly recommend this film to those who like documentary films. It’s a very good documentary and interesting from start to end. The deleted scenes on the disk are also very good and could certainly be included in the film.

There is one part where Buck is very harsh with one of his clients. In the deleted scenes, it shows how he talked to her later and soothed her feelings. Without this scene, Buck looked a bit like a jerk in that scene. I’m glad I saw the rest of the scene. Also, there is a scene in the movie where Robert Redford talks about Buck and his horse on the set of “The Horse Whisperer”. This is really funny, and shows how Buck is the real deal and his horse showed up the horse actors tremendously. Watch for that.

Buck is a great documentary. One of the best I’ve seen this year, and well worth watching.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Darclight Films, Escape Factory, Foundation Features

Jessica Lowndes, Julianna Guill, Ryan Donowho, Jake Weary, Landon Liboiron, Mike Dopud, Chelah Horsdal, Ian Robison, Michelle Harrison, Ryan Grantham

A rookie pilot Sara (Jessica Lowndes) decides to take her friends on a joyride in a small plane, but when they hit unexpected turbulence, get caught in an unexpected storm, something supernatural takes them by surprise and the plane, low on gas, starts climbing out of control higher and higher and higher.

This is a low budget film that is really rather suspenseful. The story isn’t perfect, but it’s a lot like a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits story that is expanded a bit. Unknown actors for the most part, but pretty decent. But the suspense, and even shock, is pretty intense for a story with this kind of budget.

I really enjoyed watching this. I have seen a bunch of hate reviews, and this is probably from people who expected a lot more than this movie has. It’s a simple science fiction story, so pilots and engineers will get a kick out of mocking the “science” in this movie. But the purpose of the story is not the science or the supernatural, but a character study of the 5 teen friends and how they can work through the troubles and challenges that face them. There are some surprises, but a lot of suspense, and the shock value is pretty good. If you suspend belief to the “fiction” part, and let yourself get into the story, I think you’ll get into it and enjoy it as I did.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog