Ed's Review Dot Com

FilmDistrict, Contrafilm, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),

Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Adrianne Palicki, Josh Hutcherson, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Isabel Lucas, Connor Cruise, Kenneth Choi, Alyssa Diaz

This ill advised remake of 1984’s film of the same name has been updated to have the attacking army be from North Korea. A group of young people wake one day to find the armies of North Korea have taken over their city. They decide to fight, and take off, hiding in the woods taking every opportunity possible for fight for truth, justice, and the American way. One of the friends, Jed Eckert (Chris Hemsworth) is a Marine, and helps train his friends to hideout and go underground. They call themselves Wolverines, and eventually join up with the armed forces to fight the enemy.

This film was ready for release in 2010, but MGM ran into financial problems and it was shelved. Perhaps it should have been one of those films that gets lost in the vault and found hundreds of years later when we’re all dead and gone and don’t have to watch it. This was a horrible film. There was no personality at all in the bunch of freedom fighting kids that gave you anything to interest you, and it was unimportant if they win or lose. There are lots of complaints about the film being unrealistic. Well, lots of movies are unrealistic fantasy and such, but this attempts to be a real war story that makes you feel like it ought to be an authentic war story, not a fantasy/adventure, but that isn’t my biggest beef with this film. The acting was just so bad, and the script doesn’t have anything for the people unlucky enough to be cast in this movie to work with. The whole thing is just rather silly. The original 1984 film had the Soviet Union as the attackers. That had to go, of course, since they don’t exist anymore. So the film was filmed with China being the bad guys, but in the 2 years it sat on the shelf, someone realized that if this film was released internationally, that China would naturally ban it, so they cast the villains as the North Koreans. I don’t suppose there is much of a box office in North Korea anyway, so go ahead and make them upset. But I really wonder if it ever was released in China, and if so, what the actual box office was. I haven’t been able to find that out, but I would expect it to be dismal. We can’t all like everything, and in my opinion this was a waste of my time. I really did not enjoy this at all.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Everyman Pictures, Gary Sanchez Productions

Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Dan Aykroyd, Dylan McDermott, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Sarah Baker, Katherine LaNasa, Scott A. Martin, Thomas Middleditch

Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) is the incumbent Congressman from North Carolina and sure for reelection as he’s running unopposed. That is until he makes a stupid phone call and the crooks that own him decide to replace him with Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis). What follows is a mud slinging dirty tricks campaign with no holds barred in this comedy about dirty politics and a lack of morals.

This is certainly not one of Will Ferrell’s funniest movies, but it’s not too bad. I can see why this film did not tear up the box office, but it has it’s really funny moments. By far, the funniest character is Zach’s Marty Huggins. I literally watched the whole movie without even realizing who it was until I saw the final credits. I knew I had seen the guy before, but this is such a weird character, that it’s really hard to realize who it actually is. Then with the likes of Dan Aykroyd, John Lithgow, and Jason Sudekis, there are a slew of great actors doing their best. All in all, it’s a comedy with some heart, and even though it’s a bit over the top from time to time, and certainly is somewhat graphic, still it has a lot of heart and a really good message along with the hoots and hollers. I really hope people will give this film a shot on video, as it’s well worth the rental, even though it was not really worth spending $13.00 on a theater ticket. I really feel there’s enough humor here to make it well worth the rental. I recommend it for those of us who love the raunchy comedies, even if just for Galifianakis’s amazing character.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

New in theaters this weekend Friday April 5, 2013

• Evil Dead
• Jurassic Park 3D
• Trance
• The Company You Keep
• Simon Killer
• Upstream Color
• No Place on Earth
• The Brass Teapot
• 6 Souls

Last Weeks top Box Office:

1 – G.I. Joe: Retaliation
2 – The Croods
3 – Tyler Perry’s Temptation
4 – Olympus Has Fallen
5 – Oz the Great and Powerful

DNA Films, IM Global, Peach Trees,

Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey, Wood Harris, Langley Kirkwood, Junior Singo, Luke Tyler, Jason Cope, Domhnall Gleeson, Warrick Grier

In the future, the world has become a virtual wasteland, and the survivors are huddled into a few massive mega-cities. The usual problems of drugs and crime are fought by the Judges, police soldiers who hunt, catch, and execute criminals. The greatest of these is Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) who is a ultimate warrior. But when he comes up against Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) leader of the most hardened of criminal gangs in a battle to the death for him, he’s saddled with a rookie cop Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) whom he must train and evaluate. What follows is a roller-coaster battle of epic proportions in a non-stop action film based on the comic book hero.

This is an interesting film. As you probably know, Stallone did a version of this film almost 20 years ago. Many folks did not like it very much. This movie should please those who are not fans of the Stallone version. This film is one long fight sequence that starts quickly and runs through till the end. Reminiscent of the Die Hard movies in a lot of ways, a pair of cops, one a rookie, are up against insurmountable odds. But good must fight evil no matter what the odds. The action is gory and bloody, so stay away if you don’t like that. This is not one of those PG teenage boy action films, this one is very realistic with all the violence and gore. But the action is non-stop, and though we’re in a futuristic society with advanced technology, the battles are believable. It’s certainly exciting and action packed, and for those who love this kind of non-stop action, it’s a really well done film. There’s not much to criticize here, and most of the people who don’t like it say it’s because of the intense violence. Well, please skip it if you’re not ready to accept that. Like the comic books, this is a violent movie, but action really well done. For the right audience, it’s sure to be liked, and it’s odd that it did so poorly in the theaters. I think perhaps that could by Sly Stallone’s fault, as many people probably skipped it because of the bad taste in their mouth from the 1995 film. That’s a shame, and so if you’re a fan of fast paced action adventures, watch this one on DVD> It’s really pretty decent.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday April 2, 2013

• The Baytown Outlaws
• Freeloaders
• Hemmingway&Gelhorn
• John Dies at the End
• Knuckleball
• LUV
• Stitches
• The Sweeney