Archive for November, 2011

Julijette

Elizabeth Berkley, Jason Gray-Stanford, Robert Huculak, Alicia Johnston, Mitchell Kummen, Kelly Wolfman

Holly Ceroni is a single mom who’s trying to do the best for her son. She dreams of opening her own restaurant and making a better life for her and her son. But things go from bad to worse when her car is stolen with a winning lottery ticket inside. Construction worker Mike Ronowski(Jason Gray-Stanford) is one of the men behind the stolen car, but ironically he meets Holly’s son, and he tries to do the right thing by Holly and her son.

This Hallmark original Christmas movie debuts in 2011. It’s not available yet on DVD, but you can find throughout the season on the Hallmark channel on TV. It’s a good story about right and wrong, and making good choices. It’s also about family relationships and Christmas! Face it, there’s not a lot of new stories that have never been done in holiday films, and this will obviously be somewhat similar to other films of the genre, but the characters are really good. Elizabeth Berkley does a good job of playing the single mom who’s trying to make life as easy as possible for her son. I felt it was a really good job, and an enjoyable movie. It’s nice to have something new this year, and I enjoyed watching Lucky Christmas a lot.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.

Warner Bros. Pictures, De Line Pictures, DC Entertainment

Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Temuera Morrison, Jenna Craig, Jon Tenney, Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett, Jay O. Sanders

There is a group of superheroes, the Green Lantern Intergalactic Corps, who watch out for the entire galaxy. They are chosen and are up against an evil called Parallax. a super-powerful being who feeds on fear who has broken out of his prison. The Green Lanterns are chosen by their inability to feel fear. Hal Jordan is a hot shot test pilot who is in a bit of trouble for crashing a jet and destroying his companies ability to sell jets to the government. He is chosen as a green lantern, and given a ring and a lantern and super abilities to fly and fight. But the GL’s are in trouble and just maybe Hal is the “human” for the job.

I debated on seeing this film in the theater. The 3D was inviting, but the reviews and the box office of this film was dismal. So I decided to use my hard earned bucks on the other superhero movies of the time. Then, I paid my penance in the 30 day delay punishment that certain members of the movie industry have place on us humble Netflix customers, and finally Saturday the film arrived. I decided to pop it in the DVD and give it a try.

Well, first let me say it wasn’t a BAD as I expected from the horrible reviews and the lack of attendance at the film. It’s a better rental than you would expect. But by the same token, it’s not a very great movie either. I tried really hard to get into the story, and just couldn’t get involved in it. I even tried rewatching the first hour to see if maybe I was wrong, but I wasn’t. Ryan Reynolds was an emotionless nerd throughout most of the film. No matter the unbelievable and remarkable things that happen to him, being yanked away from Earth to receive the ring, and to be trained as a superhero. Throughout it all, his face is frozen, with no emotion. I guess it’s to show no fear, but no fear is a little different than reckless and arrogant which he is most of the time.

Furthermore, Parallax is the most evil thing in the universe, but he’s quickly forgotten when Hal sets off on a different quest after a different bad guy. They are going to destroy Earth, and though none of the other Lanterns object, Hal sets off on his own to save the Earth. When we get pack to Parallax, nobody cares much. The CGI is popping off all over the place, but there’s not much heart. I was very underwhelmed with the story. Granted I’m not a big fan of superhero stories to begin with, but there were many better than this, in the current year alone. I don’t recommend this unless you’re a big fan of the story, or a big superhero movie fan to start with. It was less of a disappointment than I feared, but just not good enough to keep my attention.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday November 22, 2011

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.

Broken Road Productions, Happy Madison Productions

Adam Sandler, Katie Holmes, Al Pacino, David Spade, Dana Carvey, Norm MacDonald, Tim Meadows, Nick Swardson, Allen Covert, Peter Dante

Jack Sadelstein (Adam Sandler) is a very successful TV advertising executive in LA, with a beautiful wife Erin (Katie Holmes) and two darling (?) children. There is only one thing in Jack’s life that he dreads every year. Thanksgiving, when his twin sister Jill (Adam Sandler) comes to visit. But this is the first Thanksgiving since Mom’s been gone, and it seems like Jill doesn’t want to leave. But when Jack is assigned to get Al Pacino (Al Pacino) to do a commercial for a doughnut commercial, perhaps Jill is the only one who can help Jack, so maybe he doesn’t want her to leave, no matter how annoying she can be.

This is a typical Adam Sandler comedy. Adam, donning the dress for the female role is a bit of a hoot. Adam did a hell of job with all the voices with his 8 Crazy Nights cartoon a few years back, and so perhaps he felt inspired to play the girl role. At any rate, it isn’t the greatest or funniest comedy every made, by a long shot, but it’s a pretty decent Adam Sandler comedy. (There is a joke about Rob Schneider in this film, but I’m missing him yelling out “You can do it” in this one!) It’s got a bunch of laughs, and it’s kind of a guilty pleasure watching this, and very enjoyable for sure. You get what you would expect.

One of the greatest joys of this film is the comedic styling of Al Pacino. You’re not going to see him playing a part like this every day! He’s pretty hysterical, actually. It was funny too, that when Adam was on the set, some days he would play Jill, some days he would play Jack. He claims that every time he showed up as Jack on the set, everyone was disappointed. It seems everyone likes Jill a lot better than Jack.

Anyway, the joke is that Jack is smooth and accomplished and Jill is lovable, but very annoying. With that, they run through a whole bunch of adventures. It’s a cute film, not great, but enjoyable. I don’t know if I’d run out to see it in the theater like I did, but definitely catch it at least when it’s on video. I loved Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates much more than this, but it’s better than a lot of Sandler’s work. He’s good at what he does, and I had a lot of fun with this one.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently 1 Comment »on this post.

Khartoum, Flatland Pictures, Saturn Harvest Films

Mira Sorvino, Justin Kirk, Tony Curran, Shane West, Muse Watson, Deobia Oparei

The Presence is a story of a damaged woman (Mira Sorvino) who is all alone at a cabin on an island out in the middle of nowhere. However there is a ghost (Shane West) haunting the cabin. When her boyfriend shows up (Justin Kirk) it becomes clear that the woman has serious trust issues. The spirits also are affecting her and trying to send her over the edge in this creepy ghost story.

This is a strange movie. I really loved it, and I have to admit it is not really a ghost story, even though it’s about ghosts. It’s also not your typical horror story. But it is about trust and love, and good versus evil. The woman sure had some evil things happen to her which are being reinforced by and evil spirit who wants to send her into irrational madness. The scenery is spectacular, and the first half hour of the film hardly has any dialog at all. We feel the extreme loneliness by being alone in this cabin with no electric or running water. This is a very soft and slow movie, with not a great deal of scare, but it’s is almost like an excellent painting. Very beautiful and enjoyable. Mira Sorvino was really good as a tormented lady. There are only about 5 people in this whole film. But the experience is very enjoyable as it’s being disturbing.

I hate to say too much about it and spoil the effect, but it a very dark romantic story more than anything. I really enjoyed watching it. Just remember, it’s not a blood and guts slasher film, it’s an allegory about a ghost. Very well done film, and not on anyone’s radar. I really enjoyed it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently 4 Comments »on this post.