Ed's Review Dot Com

Color Force, Fox 2000 Pictures, TCF Vancouver Productions,

Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, Robert Capron, Steve Zahn, Rachael Harris

Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) is on summer vacation. Mom has an idea he ought to play sports and get lots of exercise, and Dad’s idea is work, but the both agree, NO VIDEO GAMES. This continuation of the popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid series tells us how Greg along with his pal Rowley (Robert Capron) and his big brother Roderick (Devon Bostick) spend their vacation, scamming their dad, and hanging around the country club, no, not as members, but first as a guest, and then as a stowaway. As the lies pile up, the boys get in deeper and deeper and the trouble mounts. This is an awesome summer, despite all the trials.

This third follow up to the previous two films (2010, 2011) is actually, in my opinion, even better than the first two. Certainly better than Roderick Rules, it’s every bit as good as the original, in my opinion. I guess too that I’m getting familiar with the series, since I did not have any kids young enough to be into the original series, and I’m starting to get it a bit better. There is some good “Caddyshack” like humor in this one that is really funny. Zachary is getting really good at playing Greg, and the events at the country club, and on an extremely funny outing with Rowley’s family that naturally ends in disaster. This reminds me of an extremely funny cartoon in the “Tiny Toons” collection where Plucky Duck heads off to Disney World with Hampton the pig’s family. This whole sequence is a scream.

All in all, this is a cool summer vacation film that is fun for both kids and grown ups who are young at heart. It’s really funny, has a little “coming of age” drama, and some dysfunctional family fun. What more could you ask for? This is a really cute PG film, for kids and parents alike.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Iron Horse Entertainment (II), Extension 765, Nick Wechsler Productions,

Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Cody Horn, Olivia Munn, Matt Bomer, Riley Keough, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez, Gabriel Iglesias, James Martin Kelly, Caitlin Gerard

Magic Mike (Channing Tatum) is a roofer by day, and an exotic male dancer at night at a club owned by Dallas (Matthew McConaughey). Mike has dreams of making furniture for a living, but the big money made at the strip club doesn’t seem to ever be enough to get his dreams off the ground. He meets a young guy, Adam (Alex Pettyfer) at the roofing job and introduces him to the adventures of the night club and he jumps in with both feet causing everyone a great deal of grief. When Dallas makes the big plan to move the business out of the seedy Tampa location, to Miami Beach, everyone is excited, but Mike needs to take a look at his life and determine if he wants to just keep dreaming away or get busy and really change his life.

This movie is definitely schizophrenic! It can’t decide what it is, so it’s a little bit of a lot of different things. So before you tune in, you need to decide what you’re looking for. It’s definitely a love story. Mike is chasing a med student who happens to be Adam’s sister. But it’s not a very good love story and is deeply lacking in that department. Secondly, it’s a buddy picture where Mike takes Adam under his wing to protect him and save him from his horrible mistakes. Not a bad buddy story, but Alex Pettyfer’s Adam character is the most annoying character in the film. He really seems disinterested in the whole thing, and not really into the role at all. He’s really wooden and not very interesting, so that takes a lot away from the buddy story. Then there old man Dallas who’s dedicated his life to running the strip club, and Mike who’s young, and just in it for the short haul to make some big bucks. Dallas is definitely a smart ass and is due to be taken down a few pegs. His role is the one Cher had in Burlesque. That may be the best side of the film however, as both Channing and Matthew can act, and they work pretty well together. Finally is the strip club part of the movie. The dancing isn’t bad, but it’s pretty tame for the most part, so if you’re looking for porn, this hardly deserves the R rating except maybe for the subject material. It’s not very risque, but it does put a lot of humor in the characters in the club, some customers, but mostly the disturbed dancers who work here.

All in all its sort of a mix mash that doesn’t totally work. It’s definitely not great cinema, and is highly forgettable. Perhaps for a girls night out for the girls who aren’t really naughty, but like to pretend they are. I can’t imagine why you’d want to go see this in a theater rather that actually going to a club and experiencing it first hand, unless it’s the crush thing on Channing Tatum perhaps. I didn’t enjoy this very much, and though I made it through the whole movie, I wasn’t highly impressed with it. It’s just an average movie.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

New in theaters this weekend Friday January 18, 2012

• Mama
• The Last Stand
• Broken City
• LUV
• Outside Satan

Last Weeks top Box Office:

1 – Zero Dark Thirty
2 – A Haunted House
3 – Gangster Squad
4 – Django Unchained
5 – Les Miserables

Total Recall, Original Film, Rekall Productions,

Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, Bill Nighy, John Cho, Bokeem Woodbine, Will Yun Lee

Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell) is bored with his life. Things are ok, but he feels like he’s destined for more. When he hears an ad from a company called Rekall, which offers vacations to exciting places without leaving home, he has to check it out. You are attached to a chair by a collection of wires and they push the memories into your brain. You remember you wonderful exciting trip, but never leave the chair. Douglas chooses to be a secret agent, but suddenly things go horribly wrong, and Douglas is off running for his life. He finds out he is really someone else, and there’s no one he can trust. Douglas sets out to find out the truth before it’s too late. The future of the world may hang in the balance.

This is a new version of the Arnold Schwartzenegger film from 1990. This is not a “remake” as it’s a good bit different. They want back to the book and based the movie on the original work rather than copying the 1990 version. So you do need to look at this film as a new movie and not a remake. The years have been good to this story. Today the special effects and tricks of trade make this an exciting roller coaster ride of suspense and thrills. The special effects are stunning, and the action is non-stop. It is a little hard to follow sometimes, and of course one huge question looms as we wonder what’s real and what isn’t. The world is well developed in this film, and Collin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, and Jessica Biel do a great job bringing this adventure to life.

This is far better than I expected it to be. I was looking for a cheesy remake, as the original certainly had it’s corny side, but it didn’t even nod to the original. They went back to the source and developed a really good screenplay. I was very pleasantly surprised, and found myself riveted through the whole film.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday January 15, 2013

• Taken 2 [Click here for Ed’s Review of this film]
• The Possession [Click here for Ed’s Review of this film]
• To Rome With Love
• Won’t Back Down
• Farewell My Queen
• Branded