Archive for August, 2013

Bersin Pictures, Deerjen Films, Venture Forth,

Joséphine de La Baume, Milo Ventimiglia, Roxane Mesquida, Anna Mouglalis, Michael Rapaport, Riley Keough, Ching Valdes-Aran, Juan Luis Acevedo, Jay Brannan, Jonathan Caouette, Tiarnie Coupland, Megumi Haggerty, Caitlin Keats, Haley Kotch, Victor Kubicek

Vampire Djuna (Josephine de La Baume) meets and is obsessed with Paolo (Milo Ventimiglia). She turns him, and they have a passionate affair. But when Djuna’s trouble-making sister arrives to live with them, she turns things upside with her unconventional way of doing things. This is a Gothic Vampire film which is less of a horror story, and much more of a trashy dime story romance novel come to life.

I felt this was a pretty worthless vampire story. I cannot really classify this as a horror film, as it really isn’t. With so much gratuitous sex that means nothing, and constant jumping back to the club with the loud pounding music for no real purpose other than to let us know that vampires party every night, and don’t do much else, this movie doesn’t really have a point. In one of the largest plot holes in history, we learn that vampires heal almost instantly which means the climax in the last 10 minutes of the film makes absolutely no sense at all. But with all the planning and budget going into the parties and sex, there wasn’t much left over to actually develop a plot of any kind. I really didn’t see any point in this film, and thought it was a waste of my time. I just didn’t see any point in it, and I can’t recommend it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.

Zentropa International Norway, Eurimages, Film Fund FUZZ,

Florian Lukas, David Kross, Stig Henrik Hoff, Lachlan Nieboer, Rupert Grint, Kim Haugen, Knut Joner, Morten Faldaas, Sondre Krogtoft Larsen

In the early days of WWII, both Britain and Germany wanted Norway. In the middle of a harsh winter, four German airmen where shot down by an American plane. The tail gunner died in the crash, but the other three managed to make it to an abandoned reindeer hunter’s cabin, and setup a home there. Very shortly after, two British pilots showed up also claiming to have been shot down. There seemed no way to survive unless they worked together to try to survive the cold and lack of food, but tension was high as mortal enemies tried to exist together to survive the harshest of the winter.

This film is based on the true story. The names of the German airmen were kept the same, although the two British pilots names were changed, I’m not sure why. This is a Norwegian film by Norwegian director Petter Næss. It was a very interesting film, although there’s not a lot of action, but it showed the tension between the two sides very well, and it was funny how they had to keep trying to get the jump on each other, moving around every time the other guys got the guns. Basically it is a survival story, and one of the best parts is how in the end, they let us know what became of each of the participants. It was a tough thing, as it appears that the right thing would have been for one side to kill the other immediately as soon as they had a chance, but they chose to work together for the survival of all. But through all the troubles, they formed a friendship that lasted long after the adventure. Was this expedient or was it treason? All this is explored, but the cinematography is brilliant, the locations and the weather tell the story, and the nuances of day to day life, trying to survive living with the enemy is well handled. Additionally, one of the German officers knew English, but for the most part, they had a very hard time communicating. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with this film and found it quite thought provoking. I don’t recall seeing a film about the war that is done from a neutral position, not taking sides to make heroes out of one side of the other. It is a quite well done foreign film, mostly in English, but with German and Norwegian liberally mixed in as appropriate. I watched with subtitles, and was glad to have the translations to help understand the story. I recommend this for history buffs that are interested in learning the facts of this true story.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday August 27, 2013

  • At Any Price
  • The Great Gatsby
  • Pain & Gain
  • The Reluctant Fundamentalist
  • Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s
  • Stranded</li?

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.

HanWay Films, Snoot Entertainment,

Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Margaret Laney, Amy Seimetz, Ti West, Rob Moran, Barbara Crampton

The Davison family is having an anniversary celebration, and all the family is home. But little do they know that their next door neighbors have been killed by a home invasion. When the dinner party gets a little too loud, suddenly a crossbow bolt flies through the window and everyone panics. They have no idea why someone is doing this, but it appears several masked home invaders have attacked the family, and they may even be inside the house! This suspenseful home invasion horror film has it’s share of twists and turns on it’s way to the closing credits.

This movie was released in 2011 at the Toronto International Film Festival, but was just released in August of 2013 in the U.S. This is a very bloody and gory horror film that is 99% suspense. There are a lot of turns in the plot, and nobody is who they seem to be. The house is a star in of itself, and the location is really creepy. The guys in the masks are terror inducing, and each of the members of the family and their guests make up a gruesome party by the end of the night. The actors are not well known, but the all do pretty good. I’m getting tired of space alien horror films, and the lost footage gimmick is wearing a little thin, so this is a nice change of pace to have a pure evil murder spree for a change. The score is excellent and adds a lot to the film. I enjoyed watching it on opening weekend, though the crowd was a little sparse. Perhaps this is just a bad weekend, but the turnout wasn’t what I would have expected, although those who did show up had a great time. There are some pretty good scares in this film. The plot is fairly simple, although just about every time you figure out what to do with the hand you’ve been dealt, somebody rotates the table and you have to start over. It’s getting close to fall as school is starting and the nights are starting earlier, so this was a good kick-off to scary movie season. Plus we had a great time recreating the “Who’s On First” Abbot and Costello routine at the box office, when I asked the guy, “What’s You’re Next? 8:00?” to which he replied “Our next what?” As a love of horror films, this isn’t the best I’ve seen, by far, but it was a lot of fun, and well worth my time.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.

Green Room Films, Treehouse Pictures, Parlay Films,

Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit Marling, Laetitia Casta, Nate Parker, Stuart Margolin, Chris Eigeman, Graydon Carter, Bruce Altman

Robert Miller (Richard Gere) is a financial genius, but in some trouble. He was planning on selling the company to an unsuspecting buyer by propping up his company’s value by borrowing millions from a friend. But the sale is running into problems, and the friend is calling for his money back. If he can’t pull the sale off immediately, he’s looking at serious jail time. But then a series of events puts things in a much darker place, and Robert is stuck trying to manipulate things his way, or losing everything. This forces him to reach out to unexpected places to try to stay afloat.

This is a surprising little Wall Street money monger drama, that really caught me off guard. I didn’t expect much, but Richard Gere was really good in this movie. Plus we get the bonus of Susan Sarandon as his clueless wife who turns out to be not so clueless after all. The surprising thing is there are a number of twists and turns that really slam you against the side of the seat from time to time. I expected a corrupt Wall Street money man like I’ve seen in several films, but this is more about family, tragedy, and shocking events that turn his life upside down. Sure he’s made some bad choices, but he’s in a bind. The way Gere makes us feel the stress and guilt over what he finds himself having to do, makes us realize that he does have a conscience and did this all out of necessity. But he’s wondering, just as we are, if it’s still wrong. This is fast moving movie. It doesn’t bore you with wall to wall dialog, but rather takes us through the events in a swirl that will probably leave you breathless. well written, this is a decent drama, and well worth catching.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.