Ed's Review Dot Com

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday September 24, 2013

• Apartment 1303
• Fill the Void
• Iron Man 3
• The Kings of Summer
• Redemption
• Unfinished Song
• V/H/S/2

Anonymous Content, Best Medicine Productions,

Josh Duhamel, Dan Fogler, Miracle Laurie, Christie Burson, Peter Michael Goetz, Jamie Donovan, Ethan Maher

Two lifelong friends Mitchell (Josh Duhamel) and Carter (Dan Fogler) are on a road trip. These guys have fallen out due to Mitchell’s failed marriage and rebound marriage. Carter is a failing writer who never gets published and he feels like he has been abandoned by his best friend who has made a mess of his life, in his opinion. As they have decided to take the Scenic Route, the find themselves in a broken down truck on an empty road in the desert with very little likelihood of anyone coming by to help. Without food or water, these guys have to survive the harsh elements and the extreme heat in the day and cold at night. But what’s worse, they have no choice but to talk out their differences, and a vicious argument breaks out seeming to doom them even further.

This is a surprising little film. There is basically one set, in the desert alongside their broken truck, and basically the whole film is held up the the two friends as there are hardly any other actors. The desperation they feel is really real. But at the same time, this film is just as much about the relationships of these two guys, and how they view their lives and each others lives. There is great acting, real tension, and great interaction between these two guys. This make the hour and a half of this film fly by, and it’s over before you know it. There are many twists and turns along the way that will always keep it fresh and interesting. You probably won’t see them coming, either which makes it more fun. I found I really enjoyed this movie, and I was impressed with the script and the performance these guys gave. Lots of intelligent character development, very interesting back and forth by these guys, and a real sense of their desperate situation. All in all it’s a very well done film, and one I can recommend.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Twentieth Century Fox Animation, Blue Sky Studios,

Beyoncé Knowles, Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Knoxville, Aziz Ansari, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Judah Friedlander, Blake Anderson

Mary Katherine (who now calls herself M.K.), Amanda Seyfried, is a typical teen-age girl, growing up and pulling away from her Dad, who is obsessed with the idea of a land of tiny creatures who live behind their home. It turns out he is right, as M.K. is shrunk to tiny size by the dying Queen, and tasked with taking the pod to the center of the forest to be bathed in the light of the brightest night’s moon despite the efforts of the bad guys to stop that from happening. If she succeeds, she can save life in the forest, but if she fails, it’s the end of the line for the mystical creatures. Finding some help in unusual places, M.K. sets off on her quest, and perhaps to find herself in the bargain.

This animated film by Fox is one of the cutest of the recent crop. It’s not that unique, as this scenario has played out many times before, but the kids are sure to enjoy this one. The animation is good, and the story is decent, and this is a really pretty film to watch. The leafmen are fun heroes, especially Ronin (Colin Farrell) and M.K. is a strong female lead. There’s lots of good positive messages for the kids and it’s a story that I think can keep them interested. I know my grandkids enjoyed it. For an adult audience, it might not appeal to everybody, as it’s a very familiar tale, unless, of course, if you’re a fan of animation and want to see the craft well produced.

The best things of the film are definitely the spectacular job of animating this story, the relationship between the characters is very good, there are fun sidekicks like a couple of mollusks and of course the ever present pet dog (ala Honey I Shrunk the Kids) to put fear into the little creatures. Blue Sky Productions has shown that they are ready to take on Dreamworks and Pixar at making good quality animated action stories for families. I really enjoyed this film.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

HBO Films,

Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Rob Lowe, Debbie Reynolds, Dan Aykroyd, Scott Bakula, Paul Reiser, Nicky Katt, Tom Papa, Deborah Lacey

Scott Thorson (Matt Damon) is a young bi-sexual man, who once introduced to the “fabulous” Liberace (Michael Douglas) starts hanging out with him to enjoy the lavish lifestyle. But quickly he goes from assistant to romantic interest, and the two find themselves in a tight bond. Scott eventually finds being hid behind the scenes and not being allowed to go out anywhere (Liberace knew he would lose everything if anyone actually found out he was gay, even though it was so obvious), and he struggles to find some space, but when Liberace finds a new boy toy, and kicks Scott out, Scott files a lawsuit to try to get back what he thinks he deserves in this TV (HBO) documentary.

I remember watching Liberace as a small kid, on the little black and white TV in our living room. I grew up with his master piano performances which were outshone by his outlandish overboard flamboyancy. The trouble with this film is that Liberace is not Liberace, but Michael Douglas trying to act like Liberace. Though he really did a good job of impersonating him, this particular character is so far over the top, that I don’t think anybody on earth could make me believe he was Liberace. He is so unique, that the entire way through the film, it really bothered me. But even more, even though I do not know Scott Thorson (although I was familiar with the story as it was all over the news), I do know Matt Damon, and I never lost the fact that I was looking at Matt Damon and Michael Douglas playing gay lovers, and I couldn’t ever suspend belief and follow the story. It would almost have been a better documentary if they used old footage and told the story with a narrator. Ok, I probably don’t mean that, but it’s really hard to play someone so unique and outrageous and make it believable. The story is not that riveting, that it pulls you in, so the film suffers due to this. It’s an interesting character for sure, but Scott is another matter. This is his story, and he’s not very likeable. I just didn’t get into the portrayal of Scott, and I feel like I don’t really know the story,even after watching this. I’m sure the real guy is much different than Matt Damon.

In any event, it was a fair docu-drama, and the extravagance of Lee’s lifestyle is well displayed. Also, Lee’s mother was a huge influence in his life, and she wasn’t given a great part in this movie, probably because she was not near as important to Scott as to Liberace himself. But Debbie Reynolds play his mom, and she was so good at it, that she was dead and buried before I realized it was actually Debbie Reynolds in great makeup with a good fake accent. Her part, though small, shined in the film. This is a “take it or leave it” film. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone, and I doubt it will be a huge hit in the DVD rental market, but on the other hand, if you’re interested in the story, or if it’s replayed on TV, you could do much worse than this dramatized documentary of the life of one of the boy lovers of one of the greatest showmen and pianists ever.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Muse Productions, O’ Salvation, Division Films,

James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, Gucci Mane, Heather Morris, Ash Lendzion, Emma Holzer, Jeff Jarrett

Four college girls at a religious college want to experience more from life than school and church. As spring break approaches, they have no cash, but a desire to experience a wild time at the beach. They fund this adventure by robbing a fast food joint, lying to their parents, and going off on an adventure which quickly turns pretty bad, and very dangerous. Arrested and in serious trouble they meet a local guy (James Franco) who offers them assistance in return for a few requests of his own. Things spiral into a very dark place very quickly.

This movie is schizophrenic! It really never decides what it wants to be. That doesn’t mean it’s horrible, but it does confuse the people who think they’re going to like for one of several reasons, and then they don’t like it because it’s not what they expected. What I’m trying to say is that an one level, it’s a very artsy film, pretentious editing, slo-mo effects, and trying to please the Sundance crowd. Then there’s tons of pictures of teen girls in bikinis partying all night long. One might expect it to be a teen exploitation flick, which is kind of resembles, but really isn’t at all. It appeals to the kids with Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, etc., but it really bashes them to point out how stupid and shallow they are, so it doesn’t make the younger crowd happy. The young men and women in the film are totally one dimensional and have not depth to their characters at all. Then the whole latter part of the film is so weird and very dark that there’s no way to explain it. I have no idea who Alien (James Franco) really is, and what motivates him. He’s just as stupid and one dimensional as the rest of the cast. So all in all, it’s a story with a message that tries to reach out to many different groups, and really doesn’t make any of them happy. Still, it did have a decent message, and when all is said and done, I didn’t hate it for any of the reasons other reviewers did. But at the same time, I didn’t find it particularly worthy of praise either, so I end up kind of ambivalent about the whole thing, and pass it off with a shrug. Ok, so I saw it. So what? Watch it if you want, or if you’re interested, but if you’re disappointed because its not what you want it to be, don’t be surprised. You’ve been warned.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog