Ed's Review Dot Com

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday January 17, 2012

• The Ides of March
• Courageous
• Abduction
• Kevin Hart:Laugh at My Pain
• Bucky Larson:Born to Be a Star
• Mysteries of Lisbon

Lemon Films, Terregal Films, Via Media,

Miguel Rodarte, Jesús Ochoa, Joaquín Cosio, Jaime Camil, Adal Ramones, Isela Vega, Juan Carlos Flores, Gerardo Taracena, Rodrigo Oviedo, Marius Biegai, Alexander Minchenko, Randy Vasquez

Julian Perez was a small boy when his father was murdered by a drug lord. He fought back against them, and ran away from home, only to be tracked down and given us choice, “join us or die”. Julian joined them, and in a few years was the most powerful man in Mexico. But his mother (Isela Vega) had disowned him for his criminal lifestyle until his brother was lost and presumed dead in Iraq. Julian’s mother told him to retrieve his brother to restore his reputation, so Julian puts together a crack team of rescuers and heads to Iraq to try to find his brother and bring him back home.

This is a very interesting film. I was very hesitant going into it, as I didn’t really know what to expect. I got a lot of things from it. First of all, it’s completely in Spanish. There are English subtitles. The quality isn’t great, there’s not enough budget, but with a little more money, this would have been a great film. I am not Hispanic, though I live in Orange County, California, but my heritage is English, German, Scottish, Irish, so I have no Mexican blood. I don’t get all of the cultural references, and still I enjoyed watching this film. One one side, it was really funny, and it is a comedy, and more so a parody. But I recognized the seriousness of the film. The story was poignant as well. I don’t know the actors in this film, but I am sure they are very well known in Mexican cinema, and I am sure there are lots of funny parts that I missed, but even the exciting gun battles and the rescue are very good to watch. Also the flashbacks of Julian’s life show where he came from and why he got where he was. He was forced into a life he didn’t choose. But even though this film gives the illusion of being a true news story, it’s not. It’s really a parody, so enjoy that.

All in all, they did a very good job, and it’s an enjoyable comedy with a lot of humor, adventure, and heart. I was very pleasantly surprised with the quality of this movie.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Icon Entertainment International, Framestore, UK Film Council

Melissa George, Liam Hemsworth, Rachael Carpani, Emma Lung, Michael Dorman, Henry Nixon, Joshua McIvor

Jess (Melissa George) is a single Mom with a special ed kid who, while taking her son to school, strikes a gull with her car and starts off a weird strange day. As she arrives at the marina to spend the day on a large sailboat with a group of friends, Jess has a strong feeling that something is seriously wrong. She is proved right when suddenly the wind drops off completely and then some very strange weather arrives capsizing their little boat. They are rescued by a large ship, but Jess has the weird feeling of deja vu, which is further complicated when a mysterious person tries to kill them one by one.

Triangle is truly a mind freak! There is no way to describe anything more than I have without giving away the story, but trust me, this is a twilight zone triple episode on steroids. Little by little we find out what is going on, only to learn that we don’t know anything at all. Dreams meld with fantasy, and nothing is like it seems.

This is a very terrifying horror film, and a supernatural scifi thriller, murder mystery, and much more all rolled up into 90 minutes. It’s a truly scary film, but also a very cerebral thriller. It’s pretty easy to follow, but hard to put the pieces together until the very end. I could easily draw comparisons to other films, but I won’t as that would give away too much of the story. But let me say that this is one film that I sat on the edge of my chair throughout every moment, never even putting the movie on pause to run and take care of some “personal business”. Needless to say, my back teeth were floating by the end of the movie, but I didn’t want to stop it, even for a minute. I was completely held by this film.

I must say when I started watching it, I expected a silly little B movie. It wasn’t. This was top notch. Great acting by the whole cast, beautiful cinematography, and a gripping story start to finish. I highly recommend this 2009 horror gem for anyone who likes strong mystery, supernatural, or horror films. It’s a rollercoaster ride for sure.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Alcon Entertainment, Farrell Paura Productions, Gospel Truth Pictures,

Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer, Jeremy Jordan, Kris Kristofferson, Jesse L. Martin, Courtney B. Vance, Dexter Darden

In a very small Georgia town, a choir is performing in a Praise music contest. Suddenly their director, Bernard Sparrow, takes ill. We learn that he was the beloved choir director, but as he has suddenly passed away, the pastor wants the choir to continue. The board chooses Vi Rose Hill (Queen Latifah) who is always at wits end with the major benefactor and rich lady of the congregation, Bernard’s wife, G.G> Sparrow (Dolly Parton). This sets of a battle between these two. Vi Rose has a very beautiful 16 year old daughter who is one of the best voices in the choir, Olivia Hill (Keke Palmer). G.G. has a young grandson, Randy (Jeremy Jordan) who has arrived to live with her with a reputation as a troubled teen, but he is also a good musician. As the choir prepares for the competition, a Romeo and Juliet love affair begins between Olivia and Randy which everyone wants to nip in the bud.

This new film is about gospel music, but it’s not really about pushing Christianity. In fact, these folks seem about as worldly as the rest of us, except that they really love to sing. Obviously there is a lot of conflict, and the film is full of colorful characters. It’s really funny, but the humor is very pg-13. This is really a fun movie, and it’s good fun. It’s down home Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres kind of humor, but there are some things that stand out as NOT an issue. Although the congregation is half black and half white, there is no real mention of race anywhere. The movie is color blind, and what color a person is has no meaning to the story. Kudos for that! Also, there is a lot of bickering and fighting, but it’s all done with love and caring. It’s standard family and friend type fights, but nobody goes over the line to meanness. There are also several side stories going on that adds a lot to the movie. But most of all, the music is really special! Not since Sister Act, has a movie about gospel singing contained so many great musical numbers. It’s one of the most outstanding features of the film. The performance at the national finals is well worth the price of admission by itself.

It’s a good-hearted movie that has a lot of warmth and humor, and good lessons. It’s not deep or thought provoking. It’s just good old fashioned entertainment. I think they did a wonderful job, and I hope people will take time out from their busy lives, and relax and enjoy this for a real different change of pace.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

The Weinstein Company, Big Beach Films, Likely Story,

Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, Kathryn Hahn, Steve Coogan, Hugh Dancy, rashida Jones, Shirley Knight, T.J. Miller, Adam Scott, Janet Montgomery

Ned (Paul Rudd) is a clueless “organic” farmer who it appears has very little brains. While working at the farmer’s market, a uniformed policeman walks up to his booth looking to buy some marijuana. Paul recognizes that it’s important to help a brother out, and sells it to him only to find himself in the county jail. When he gets out, he has nowhere to go and nothing to do, so he ends up mooching off his three sisters, Miranda (Elizabeth Banks), Natalie, (Zooey Deschanel) and Liz (Emily Mortimer). One by one, he drives them nuts and ruins their lives! Ned had a dog named Willie Nelson whom his ex kept and refused to give back to him. The girls figure if he got Willie Nelson back, he would leave them alone, so they set out to get him back. But when he runs into a girl with a dog named Dolly Parton, he knew he’s going to be ok.

Our Idiot Brother is not a great film, but it’s it also not too bad. It’s got humor, without laugh out loud hysterical moments, and it’s got warmth without heart tugging moments. It just is. It’s better than many similar films, but it just is missing something that could push it over the top. Ned is not really an idiot, but his sisters think he is. He’s just one of those goodhearted guys who doesn’t seem to have the mechanism of restraint needed to stop him from revealing too much, or saying something completely inappropriate. As a result, in trying to be a good guy, he messes everything up. This is what makes the film work, because we care about the character Paul Rudd plays. So in that respect he plays it perfectly. He can make us like him while he’s being annoying without knowing he’s doing it. Likewise, the three sisters are really good as well. They are so uptight and into themselves that Ned drives them absolutely bonkers which is exactly what we want to happen to them. IT works on a bunch of levels, and is a pretty decent film. It’s not great, but good enough. I feel like this might do a bit better in DVD than it did in the theaters competing with all the other big films. This is definitely worth watching, if for no other reason than to enjoy the scenes with Zooey Deschanel. She’s great as always.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog