Ed's Review Dot Com

GK Films, Infinitum Nihil, FilmEngine,

Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Rispoli, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins, Giovanni Ribisi, Amaury Nolasco, Marshall Bell, Bill Smitrovich

It’s the 1950’s and hard drinking journalist Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) takes a job for a local paper in Puerto Rico. His somewhat bizarre editor Lotterman (Richard Jenkins) keeps assigning him to silly tourist pieces and the daily horoscope, but keeps promising more. Paul gets thrown out of the hotel for wiping out the mini-bar, and rooms with Sala (Michael Rispoli) and equally hard drinking reporter, in a rundown flat. Paul is hired by Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart) a rich land baron who has plans to take over an island and build a huge resort, and uses Paul to create the right atmosphere for the land grab, but when Paul takes a liking to Sanderson’s girlfriend, Chenault (Amber Heard) things turn nasty in a hurry.

This quirky movie is based on a novel by the same name. As with any Johnny Depp movie, it’s bound to be a bit strange, and this one certainly is. So be forewarned, if you’re not a Depp fan, you might not appreciate this. That being said, it’s pretty funny. Sort of in the vein of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” this is a Rum induced disaster of a story. These guys are so hard drinking, that they don’t know what’s going on most of the time. This leads to a lot of the funny moments in this film. The drama of this group of rich white guys trying to steal an island to build their mega-resort is overshadowed by the day to day drunken stupor that everyone is in. But life in Puerto Rico in the 50’s looks fun, even if it was hard.

Basically this is a relatively decent comedy about a bunch of guys who are a little bit odd, trying to get by in a tropical paradise that’s not quite so paradisaical after all. It’s not a great film, but certainly a decent film, especially if you appreciate the off the wall humor that Depp is known for. Not a classic, but not bad for a lazy afternoon.

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Grove Hill Productions, Hydraulx, Strange Matter Films,

Michael Shannon, Katy Mixon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham, Kathy Baker, Ray McKinnon, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Robert Longstreet, Guy Van Swearingen, Tova Stewart, Natasha Randall, Scott Knisley, Ron Kennard

Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) is a construction worker with a lot of debt, a wife, and little girl who’s deaf. Curtis feels a strong responsibility to his family, and is trying to protect them and take care of them. But he’s having strange and dreadful nightmares of a coming storm threatening their lives, and the lives of the entire community. To protect the family, Curtis decides to build a storm shelter in the back yard, borrowing money on his home, and investing all his time in building a shelter to save them all. But when Curtis was a little boy, his mother was diagnosed with severe mental problems and spent her life in a mental institution. Curtis was raised by his father. So his first thought is that maybe it’s a mental issue, and seeks help. Knowing it’s hard on his family, still he feels like protecting his family is the most important thing in life.

This is a Sundance Film Festival film, so naturally it’s a bit slow and plodding, and the characters are well developed. It’s also a thoughtful film. The ending may not be what everyone wants, as it leaves it open for you to interpret what’s really going on, but Michael Shannon is perfect in the role of the troubled guy trying to do right, while fearful that he’s losing his mind. He doesn’t overplay it, but is practically perfect in his approach to the role. His wife is played by Jessica Chastain who is also a very good casting choice. She is long suffering, and really loves him, but is not sure how to handle the situation. When it comes to a crisis, I would love to have her on my side, as she handles it like a pro. The relationships in this movie are well developed, and we feel the pain that they are going through trying to make sense of what is going on.

This is a very well done indy picture, and one that was very worth watching. I highly recommend this if you like movies that make you think, and have really good character development. I thought they did an excellent job on this picture, especially Michael Shannon, who I thought gave a stellar performance that I can’t say enough about.

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Cliffjack Motion Pictures, Morgan Creek Productions,

Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Marton Csokas, Claire Geare, Taylor Geare, Rachel G. Fox, Jonathan Potts, Lynne Griffin, Elias Koteas, Mark Wilson

Daniel Atenton (Daniel Craig) is a businessman and writer who leaves the big city for a county home in New England, only to learn that the former owner of the house was accused of murdering his wife and two little girls. What’s worse is that Will has two little girls as well, and the girls keep seeing someone outside looking at them. Furthermore, there are a lot of odd things happening around the house. The neighbors seem rather unhappy to have someone living in the murder house, especially Ann Patterson (Rachel Weisz), the single Mom who lives with her young daughter next door.

This is a psychological thriller. It’s a pretty decent supernatural film and has a lot going for it. That being said, it could have been a lot better in the way it was handled. On the other hand, it could have ended up being just like several different films had they gone a different direction, and I think they did a pretty decent job of making this it’s own story. I think people will argue forever over whether the liked this or hated this.

This story reminds me a bit of a story by M Night Shyamalan. It’s quirky and full of plot twists like he likes to throw in. I would also say that the less you know about the story, the better. There is a huge discussion in film circles about whether the trailer gives away too much of the story or not. Well, I’m not sure. It certainly confused me and made me interested in the film. But I did really enjoy this movie, and the suspense really got me. I was riveted to the screen through the whole film, never wanting to take my eyes off the story. I can certainly understand the people who don’t like this type of story, and I’ll give them that, but I really got into it. I thought Daniel Craig did an excellent job, and Naomi Watts added a lot to the story. Just be aware that this film twists and turns several different ways, and so you need to pay attention to see where it’s going. It was nice to see it on DVD as we were able to pause the film and talk about it half way through when it got really confusing. I enjoyed it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday March 13, 2012

• The Adventures of Tintin
• Happy Feet Two
• The Three Musketeers
• Young Adult
• My Week with Marilyn
• Melancholia
• The Women on the 6th Floor

Red Box Films, Passion Pictures, BBC Films,

Herbert Terrace, Stephanie LaFarge, Jenny Lee, Laura-Ann Petitto, Joyce Butler, Bill Tynan

Nim was a chimpanzee, taken from his mother moments after birth, and raised in a human family, as much like a human child as possible. This was in the 1970’s and a project of Doctor Herbert Terrace, a scientist who wanted to investigate the question of nature vs. nurture in an epic way! This was the college environment in the 70’s so Nim certainly had a hippie upbringing! This documentary follows the early days of Nim’s development, as he grew larger and stronger and eventually was moved to the University where he could be put into more a learning environment. From the start he was taught the sign language of the deaf, and learned to communicate through signing. There were many stages of Nim’s life, and this views them all, as he moved from situation to situation, some good and some downright awful. It looks somewhat of the question of whether Nim actually could use language, or just string signs together to get what he wanted. But it also looks more deeply into the way he was treated, and whether it was right to take a free running chimp, and lock him in an iron box by himself? It includes all the people who were involved in Nim’s life including caretakers, teachers, and lab technicians. Dr. Terrace came to his conclusions about Nim’s accomplishments which disagree with some of the other experiments that followed similar paths of teaching chimps to sign. But ultimately this is not so much about the scientific conclusions, but about the amazing life and times of Nim himself.

This was truly a magnificent documentary, and one I enjoyed from start to finish. I was riveted in the story, and didn’t want to miss a moment, as we watched Nim from a tiny baby through adulthood as Nim grew to about 5 feet tall, 150 pounds, and 5 or 6 times stronger than a man. Certainly he was dangerous, but he also shows an amazing amount of emotions. Raised as a human baby, we learned a lot of what was the way he was raised, and what is innate in his DNA that still made him a Chimp after all. I thought this was a very well done documentary, and certainly even handed. It didn’t take sides too much, and lets the viewer decide what was right and what was wrong. Even those who dealt with Nim throughout his life have different opinions on what is right and wrong. This is the way to make a documentary, and this one was definitely worth watching. Nim was certainly a majestic creature, that’s for sure.

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