Ed's Review Dot Com

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday January 8, 2013

• Frankenweenie
• House at the End of the Street [Click here for Ed’s Review]
• Hit & Run
• Dredd
• Samsara
• Stolen
• Compliance

Warner Bros. Pictures, Malpaso Productions,

Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Matthew Lillard, Robert Patrick, Scott Eastwood, Joe Massingill, Matt Bush, Chelcie Ross

Gus Lobel (Clint Eastwood) is a pro baseball scout. But his health is failing and his eyesight is getting very bad. Still he’s trying to get by for one last trip. His daughter (Amy Adams) tags along more to keep an eye on him than anything else. She’s a high powered lawyer, but her first love is baseball, and she’s still suffering some emotional damage from the death of her mother and the abandonment of her father through most of her youth. She’s after him to find out why he left her alone.

This is a really nice vehicle for Clint Eastwood. This is exactly the right kind of role for Clint, a crotchety mean old man. Amy is light and bubbly as his daughter, but she has to deal with a lot of issues. They are joined by a young scout and former baseball player played by Justin Timberlake who adds a bit of sanity to the group. Basically this is a good baseball film that has a lot of family relationship issues and great performances by Amy and Clint. I found this movie to be very interesting, and a good baseball movie at the same time. For the guys, the sports stuff is enough to keep it going, and it’s a bit like Moneyball in that respect. For the ladies, the interpersonal relationships between Clint and Amy, Amy and Justin, and all of them with John Goodman, and crusty executive who really likes Clint and Amy and want to give them their best shot to get back together again.

This is a very worthwhile film, and very enjoyable to watch. I would highly recommend this one, especially to Clint fans.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Laika Entertainment

Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Tucker Albrizzi, Casey Affleck, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Bernard Hill, Jodelle Ferland, Tempestt Bledsoe, Alex Borstein, John Goodman

Norman has the ability to talk to dead people. This makes him an outcast, and really weird, so everyone is pretty mean to him. But someone else had this ability 300 years ago. In those days, instead of mocking and laughing at them, the custom was to burn them as a witch. A curse of zombies has been unleashed on the town, and it falls upon Norman to find out why, and who’s at fault, and to put a stop to it.

This animated film is really good. The trouble is that is will scare the bejeezus out of little kids. So this is not for the little tykes that are easily frightened, as there are some really scary moments in this movie. But certainly older children are going to love it. Older folks too, who like animation, are going to enjoy this movie too, I believe. It has an interesting story, that is easy to get into. It starts out a little slow, but as it picks up, you’ll get sucked into the story, and it’s really well portrayed. I have been waiting to see this one for a while, and I was not disappointed. It was one of the most original animated films of the year. A little different than the usual Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks animated films, this is not a musical. It’s drama from start to finish without music to get in the way. It’s all about the story. I liked it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

New in theaters this weekend Friday January 4, 2013

• Texas Chainsaw 3D
• A Dark Truth

Last Weeks top Box Office:

1 – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
2 – Django Unchained
3 – Les Miserables
4 – Parental Guidance
5 – Jack Reacher

Working Title Films, Cameron Mackintosh Ltd.,

Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit, Samantha Barks, Colm Wilkinson, Bertie Carvel

Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is a prisoner, arrested for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s child. Once paroled, Javert (Russell Crowe) vows that if he misses checking in at parole, he will hunt him down for the rest of his life. Due to the kindness of a priest at the monastery, Jean Valjean changes his life and becomes an honest business owner and Mayor of the town. But true to his word, Javert hunts for him year after year. Valjean meets Fantine (Anne Hathaway) and her poor child Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) who Jean Valjean raises as his own daughter while staying one step ahead of Javert. This is finally the movie version of the Broadway musical.

Certainly Victor Hugo wrote a stunning story. I have heard the story before. I really loved the dramatic version with Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush in 1998. I have never seen the musical. I found the music off putting, certainly. There are a ton of musicals with dialog and then they burst into a song which helps to forward the story. I am used to that, but in this musical, they sing everything. I think there are probably less than 25 words spoken in the whole film. As a result, much of the dialog which is sung is really annoying, and pretty senseless. I just wanted these people to talk a little bit. Furthermore, besides the Susan Boyle classic, “I Dreamed a Dream” and a song called “On My Own” there was nothing much else recognizable at all. The strength of the story helps to make up for it quite a bit, and it is a wonderful tragic drama after all, with lots of excitement. It’s just the singing is way too much. Then they hire actors that are fantastic dramatic actors and ask them to sing. I agree with Adam Levine when he asked, “But the score suffered massively with great actors PRETENDING to be singers.” Why not hire singers who can act, if they’re going to sing everything. When the last time you sat down to purchase a Russell Crowe or Hugh Jackman album? Because of the strength of the story and the beauty of it all, and based upon the fact that it brought me to tears several times, even though I knew what was going to happen, I still gave this a good rating. But there are weaknesses, and truth be told, if you’re not familiar already with the Broadway version, and you’re also not familiar with the story, go for the 1998 version with Liam Neeson.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog