Ed's Review Dot Com

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday October 9, 2012

• Prometheus [Click Here for Ed’s Review]
• Rock of Ages
• The Raven
• Shut Up and Play the Hits
• A Cat in Paris

Informant Media, Forthcoming Productions, Beachfront Films,

Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jonathan Pryce, Felicity Jones, Rupert Everett, Ashley Jensen, Sheridan Smith, Gemma Jones

Dr. Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy) is a young doctor looking to setup a practice and make a name for himself in the Victorian Era. He meets Dr. Robert Dalrymple (Jonathan Pryce) who is a respected expert on a female problem thought to be a condition of the uterus. Dr. Dalrymple has developed a special pelvic massage treatment that is very popular with the ladies. But as he turns most of his patients over to young Dr Granville, the poor fellow develops carpal tunnel syndrome from all the manual stimulation required. Meanwhile, Dr. Dalrymple has two daughters, one who is a wild and free spirit who runs a clinic for the poor, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, and the other a quiet and shy stay at home daughter who is the apple of her father’s eye. Both daughters take a liking to Dr. Granville. To save his poor aching fingers, Dr. Granville and his friend turn a failed experiment into a medical device that certainly changed the world. This film is based upon a true story, but with a lot of poetic license taken.

There are people who loved this film, and those that hated it. I found myself leaning towards the second group. I sometimes enjoy (especially late at night when I’m trying to fall asleep) watching the Science channel’s show “How It’s Made” It’s interesting to see how things are created, whether it’s a Boeing 747 or a paper clip. But this is something I really didn’t care about how it was developed, or why. It is a weird film, and truly the relationship between the early feminist played by Maggie Gyllenhaal and Dr. Granville is the most interesting, and perhaps only interesting parts of the film. Maggie nails her role, and is the best thing in the film for sure. But the long lines of elderly ladies waiting in line for their turn to be “treated” is downright disturbing, more than interesting. There are funny moments, and some romance, but mostly the story lacked any real purpose, and it’s like taking a 3 page short story and trying to expand it into a feature film. Occasionally it works (“Polar Express”, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, “Where the Wild Things Are”) but most of the time it leaves us wondering “Where’s the beef?” But in this case, I think we’d rather not now. I’d say skip this one unless you have a really morbid curiosity about the subject matter. I doubt you’re going to like this one.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Lionsgate, Mutant Enemy,

Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Brian J. White, Amy Acker

Five friends are off on a trip to a remote cabin. They stop for directions at a creepy old gas station on the back road, way off the map, just like every other horror film about kids and remote cabins. But there is much, much more to this cabin than that, and they don’t know the half of it, in this most extremely unusual horror film that will keep you squirming up until the horrific ending that you won’t see coming!

This is a really strange film. I can’t say too much about it without giving it away, but trust me, this is no “Sleepaway Camp” movie. There is much, much more going on. In fact, if there is a flaw, it’s in the twists that they spring on you that are WAY out of left field! The best way to enjoy this movie is to know nothing about it, and you’ll be surprised for sure.

Acting is fair, and the plot is certainly twisted, but it’s not that bad. It did tend to get a little silly in the last half hour, but what the heck…it’s supposed to be way over the top. And that it is. One of the strangest horror films I’ve ever seen! And I’ve seen a lot. The good news is that the trailer doesn’t give it all away either.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

New in theaters this weekend Friday October 5, 2012

• Taken 2
• Frankenweenie
• Pitch Perfect
• The Paperboy
• Wuthering Heights
• V/H/S
• The House I Live In
• The Oranges
• Butter

“Taken 2” is the sequel to Liam Neeson’s action adventure where he rescued his daughter from some vicious kidnappers. His family is now in danger in Istanbul, and he’s back at it again trying to insure the family is safe. This is another high energy action film. On the opposite side is “Frankenweenie”, a cartoon adventure by Tim Burton about a little boy who brings his dog back to life setting of a series of troubles. “Perfect Pitch” is a glee like musical drama of a bunch of kids in college that form a singing group. This opened in limited release last week and was highly praised. It opens in wide release this week. “The Paperboy” is a drama with Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, and Nicole Kidman that is a story about a reporter who returns home to Florida for a story about a death row inmate. The modern day retelling of Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights” is a story of a young poor boy who is taken in by the Earnshaw family where he falls in love with his young foster sister Cathy. “V/H/S” is anther “Blair Witch Project” handheld camera / found footage film about a band of guys hired to break into a remote house to locate and steal a very rare VHS tape, but naturally they find a lot more than they bargained for in this horror film. “The House I Live In” is a documentary about prison life from the views of a number of different kinds of people, from inmates, to guards, to judges, to narcotics officers. Basically it focuses on the US drug laws. “The Oranges” is a comedy about two families, and is a Romeo and Juliet type story when the daughter of the Ostroff’s comes home after five years for the holidays and falls for the head of the Walling family testing everyone’s friendship. “Butter” is a strange story of an adopted girl in Iowa who discovers a hidden talent in butter carving, and sets off to test her skills against the master butter carvers in the contest.

Last Weeks top Box Office:

1 – Hotel Transylvania
2 – Looper
3 – End of Watch
4 – Trouble With the Curve
5 – House at the End oof the Street

Great Ape Productions,

Tim Allen

Tim Allen narrates this DisneyNature film that follows the life and troubles of a baby Chimpanzee named Oscar and follows him as he grows up in his day to day life.

Disney has always been able to bring nature to the screen since the early days of Uncle Walt’s True Life Adventures. This is another along the same lines. I really was interested in this film, as it was quite beautiful to see, and certainly very educational, but made up a life story for this Chimp that seemed to be true. Tim Allen did an awesome job narrating this. In fact, until this very moment I had no idea it was him. He was flawless in the delivery and made it a very interesting story. Now as to whether the thoughts and emotions that they give to this band of chimps is really true or not, I’m not so sure, but it is true nature, filmed in their everyday lives, and is very accurate in the way they are portrayed. Some very interesting things happen to Oscar, and it certainly keeps your attention. This was a really good nature film, and truly a spectacularly shot piece of film making. If you can’t see it in IMAX, then at least try to watch it on the best HDTV you can find. Disney has done an excellent job with this one!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog