Ed's Review Dot Com

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday March 6, 2012

• Immortals
• Jack and Jill [Click here for Ed’s Review]
• Footloose
• Like Crazy
• The Skin I Live In
• Senna

Terra Nova Cancelled by FOX? Say it ain’t so FOX~!!! What are you thinking? Oh man……

Have you read the one about the man in Livonia, Michigan who is suing AMC over concession prices? Not sure how I come down on that one. You aren’t forced to buy them, but on the other hand, they do ban bringing in outside food, although my wife and I saw a family bring in Chinese Take-Out food the other day, and paper plates, 2 Liter Coke and paper cups and proceeded to chow down. I’ve seen people even bring in Ribs and a bucket of Fried Chicken. Not sure they should allow that. Of course, if they force the theater to lower concession prices, ticket prices will take up the slack. Click here for the story.

Illumination Entertainment, Universal Pictures,

Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White, Ed Helms, Danny DeVito, Rob Riggle

Ted (Zac Efron) sees the girl of his dreams, red haired Audrey (Taylor Swift) who is a fan of trees. But in the town of ThneedVille, there are no plants, no flowers, no vegetables, and none of the beautiful Truffula Trees. So Audrey has painted some one her house. Infatuated with Audrey, Ted sets out to find a tree for her. He is told to visit the once-ler who lives in a tower outside town. The Once-ler tells his story about how all the trees were lost and a magical creature called The Lorax who speaks for the trees.

This digitally animated film is based on The Lorax, a book by Dr. Seuss. Naturally a lot of filler material had to be added to a small children’s book, to make it a full length film. There are 4 musical numbers which help to fill it in, and an added back story about a greedy little guy, Mr. O’Hare who took advantage of the Once-ler’s mistake to build the artificial city so that he could sell fresh air. But mostly the movie is very faithful to the book.

The Lorax is a somewhat darker story than most Dr. Seuss stories. But it’s a good thoughtful tale of waste and greed and conservation. I often wondered how far to the left the dear Doctor was, but I think he wasn’t a radical tree hugger. I think he was a reasonable thoughtful man who truly wanted to tell good stories with good values. And certainly they are entertaining. So I don’t think this is a “think green” piece. I think kids will love this story for the colors and the characters. The music is pretty good. For the older folks, the character of Grammy Norma (Betty White) is really funny. She has some of the best lines in the film. The world of Dr. Seuss is brought to the screen in beautiful 3-D.

I really enjoyed this film. It’s fun, and interesting. It’s clever and smart. It’s good for the whole family. There are a lot of critics of this film, mostly by those who haven’t seen it yet. Like many things, people jump on the bandwagon to hate it before they see it. But after seeing it (I went in thinking it was going to be a disaster) I found myself won over. It was a whole lot better than I expected, and I hope people will give it a chance.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

DreamWorks Animation,

Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Amy Sedaris, Billy Bob Thornton

One of the cutest characters to come out of the Shrek films is Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas). He has a sweet look that will melt your heart (the sad eyes!), and yet he’s a ferocious warrior. But where did he come from? This is the story of of the legendary feline fighter, Puss in Boots that shows us the answers to where he came from. With is friends Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) and Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), Puss sets off on a quest to clear his name, as everyone thinks he wanted outlaw. Trying to win back Humpty Dumpty, he executes a plan to steal the magic beans back from the real bad guys, Jack and Jill, then head to the giant’s castle and grab the “golden goose”, and clear Puss’ name.

I was sorely disappointed in this movie. Man, I was so anxious to see it when I heard it was coming out. Puss in Boots was one of my favorite characters, after Shrek’s family, and the Donkey, and I was excited to pop this DVD in the player and see the story of Puss in Boots. Gee, it was awful boring. I just couldn’t get interested in the story, the characters are flat and uninteresting, and the action was flabby. There just wasn’t anything to sink your teeth into, and as time goes by, you realize you are not paying much attention, and suddenly things like dirty fingernails, or an itchy spot on your back are way more fascinating that this film. I really, really wanted to like this movie, and I just didn’t. With all the wonderful animated films out there, I would really watch Toy Story or Shrek again, before ever watching this one again. It seemed to go on forever. I am still disappointed though.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

La Petite Reine, La Classe Américaine, JD Prod,

Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller, Missi Pyle, Malcolm McDowell

Silent Movie Star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is at the peak of his career. In a somewhat loveless marriage, (obviously he loves his dog who is his real co-star, George accident bumps into actress wanna-be Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) outside his movie premiere and has the world asking “Who is this mysterious lady”. But as studio owner Al Zimmer (John Goodman) warns him, talkies are on the scene, and that is the future. With George’s mentoring, Peppy moves on to become a talking movie star while George fights the talkies, and sticks to his guns that it’s a gimmick that will never last. This puts George on a downward spiral that may costs him his fortune, his career, and maybe even his life.

Well, what to write about The Artist? You could write a book about how the academy selects the wrong best picture every year, or about the horrible films that were chosen, and the really good ones that were skipped over. But this is not a bad film. Is it the best picture of 2012? Certainly not. But it certainly deserved to be nominated with the others. It is unique, and very interesting, in an experimental film kind of way. The story is certainly not original, nor is it unique. If you’ve seen A Star is Born or the remakes, then you’ve seen this story. There have been a lot of stories (real and fictional) about the switch from silent films to talking films and those that did and did not make the switch. What is unique is the method by which the told the story. It’s not realistic. It’s like the gimmick of Pleasantville where the people who lived in the 1950’s Black and White TV town did actually see everything in black and white, and when they started to grow up, they suddenly started to see color. Here, because our star, George, stars in silent films, then he, and everyone else, is silent 24 hours a day. When he has a nightmare about the coming of the talking films, suddenly he can hear things like the wind, a dog’s bark, people laughing, water running, and it causes extreme horror to him. Meanwhile, Peppy works in talking films, but she doesn’t speak a single word in the entire film. I don’t believe that the silent movie stars were actually deaf. 🙂 The idea here is to symbolize the whole thing, and as a gimmick, it does work.

This film is very warm and enjoyable. I cried a little, and I laughed a little. (It is an awkward situation sitting in a dark theater with a bunch of people, and there is absolutely no dialog. Naturally the music/soundtrack is awesome, like a real silent film, but still when someone coughs or makes a sound, it’s a bit awkward.

The people who made this film really had to enjoy it immensely, and that comes over. Watching it is also a wonderful experience, very warm and happy, and delightful film. I am certainly glad I went to see it, and it is a very different experience.

So what I would recommend is to take in this unique movie experience, but don’t look for a unique story that you’ve never seen before, or that will disappoint you. This is not about the story, it’s about the WAY the story is told that makes it charming.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Lakeshore Entertainment, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment,

Amanda Seyfried, Wes Bentley, Michael Paré, Daniel Sunjata, Joel David Moore, Robert Blanche, Ted Rooney, Sebastian Stan, Jennifer Carpenter, Jeanine Jackson, Emily Wickersham

Jill (Amanda Seyfried) is an young adult who works as a waitress in an all night diner. She has just been released from a mental hospital and is taking her meds, and trying to be a good girl. She claims that some years earlier she was abducted and taken out deep in the woods where she managed to escape. But she was in a pit with human remains of other victims. No believed that, as there was no evidence at all that she had been taken by anyone, and the doctors think it was a psychotic fantasy. Now her sister has disappeared causing Jill to think it’s all happening again, and she must save her sister. She has a gun, and she’s a strong woman, but the police just want to bring her in before someone gets hurt, and no one believes she is sane. With no one to believe her, Jill is just going to have to go out and solve the problem herself. But she’s not very stable, and she’s got a gun, and she’s down the the last of her medication!!!

This is not a graphic horror story. There is very little actual violence and not much blood and guts. It’s more of a dark psychological thriller. It’s set in Portland, and if you’re familiar with Portland, it’s a beautiful city. But it rains all the time, and provided deep green brush, and dark damp days (and nights). The setting is perfect for this story, as it’s beautiful, but dark and creepy just the same, even in the daytime. The suspense is strong, and it is hard to know what’s real and what isn’t, right up to the last moment.

It is not seeming to gain any traction in the box office department, but it is a creepy and very suspenseful little film. It’s too bad, because it was very enjoyable. Amanda does a great job as the loony girl who’s not got it all together, but at the same time, she’s tough and able to stand up to the toughest of bullies. The rest of the cast is good, though not very memorable, but they are just the “rest of the cast” after all, and a good mystery requires that we don’t get to know too much about any of them until we find out if they’re guilty or innocent. It’s easy to sit through the film and pick out the killer a number of times. But each time you do, another logical choice comes along. By the end, you’re so caught up in the story when you find out it wasn’t what you expected at all.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog