Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday May 20, 2014
Animal Logic, BBC Earth, BBC Worldwide,
John Leguizamo, Justin Long, Tiya Sircar, Skyler Stone, Charlie Rowe, Angourie Rice, Michael Leone
In a troubled time when volcanoes separated the kids from their family, a little dinosaur takes the lead to help his friends to safety and to avoid disaster. This lifelike 3D film gives the viewer the privilege to see what life is like in the days when dinosaurs ruled the world.
I believe this film relied on the 3-D gimmick to give viewers a thrill as they watched “The Land Before Time” with Pixar like 3-D animation actually in 3-D. It is a really neat technique, but I’m watching on a small screen TV in 2-D. Without the 3-D effect perhaps I missed a lot of the story. I found it to be a blatant ripoff of Little Foot’s movies. To further disrupt my attention on the movie, the dialog and voices were really childish and didn’t seem to fit at all. The story lagged a lot, and wasn’t very exciting. There is one demographic though that will love this movie. That would be very young kids, boys especially. There is an age around 5 or 6 where boys seem to get enamored with dinosaurs and they can’t get enough. At this point, they’re going to love this movie. It was really made for the young boys, and that bunch is going to be very pleased with it. Rent it for them, and let them watch to their heart’s content. But you probably won’t want to sit through it together. I think they were hoping the 3D trick would bring older folks with their kids and grandkids out to the theater in droves. That didn’t happen, so go ahead and get it for the dino fans under 12, but they probably have never seen “The Land Before Time” so perhaps you’ll want to rent that for them instead.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
BBC Films, Headline Pictures, Magnolia Mae Films,
Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Fairley, Felicity Jones, Kristin Scott Thomas, Tom Hollander, Tom Burke, Perdita Weeks, John Kavanagh
Charles Dickens (Ray Fiennes) is at the height of his career, but bored with his domestic but literary deficient wife when he spots a young actress, Nelly (Felicity Jones) who is very smart. Friendship turns into more as he makes this young woman his mistress, but his morals require him to keep her a secret, and though she lives a lavish lifestyle, the lies and secrets tear her to pieces.
Based on the life of British Author Charles Dickens, this is a very well done story. If there’s a flaw, it’s that it’s very slow to develop, but the story is very interesting, and the performers are very good. There is a scene where Dickens’ wife delivers a message to her husband’s mistress which is very powerful. That one scene makes the movie worthwhile. The self loathing and bitterness about always being hidden away as a terrible secret takes a toll on the poor girl, and her efforts to deal with that is what makes this film so entertaining. It’s set in the late 1800’s, of course, so it’s a period piece of sorts, and that’s something that I normally don’t get into. But I have to admit the story did keep me interested, and the fact that it’s based on the true story helped to keep my interest. The script is very well written and the character development is outstanding, and Ray Fiennes second round of playing Mr. Dickens gives us a lot more into both the good and not so good sides of this revered writer. If you like the biographical drama of times of old and can tolerate the slow and steady way this story evolves, you’re sure to like this tale. If you want lots of action and adventure, stay away!
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
Dude Productions, Laurence Mark Productions,
Nicholas Braun, Hunter Cope, Dakota Johnson, Zach Cregger, Nick Offerman, Gary Cole, Megan Mullally, Sarah Hyland, Brian Geraghty, Wendi McLendon-Covey
Michael (Nicholas Braun) and Matty (Hunter Cope) have been best friends for most of their lives. Now their in their Senior year in High School, and they make a pact to lose their virginity by the senior prom. But Michael develops a huge crush on Matty’s Ex, (Dakota Johnson) and suddenly Matty announces that he is gay. Other complications arise that threaten to break up their long term friendship arise, but the two try to figure out how to survive without killing each other.
This is a rather mediocre coming of age buddy film. The fact that one of the buds comes out as gay is not a crucial part of the story, and is not the centerpiece. The key is the friendship which is strained due to a series of events. If anything, the jokes are a bit stale, and the story has been done over and over again. For teens, there’s a new group coming along all the time, and there’s a market for older teens (to meet the R rating) for movies like this, so I suppose they’ll keep on making them. It’s smarter I guess, to recycle the stories than to write new ideas. This isn’t a bad movie, it’s just rehashed. If you’re in the mood for this kind of movie, then you can do worse, but for the mainstream, I’d recommend skipping this one.
The Weinstein Company, Yucaipa Films, Pathé,
Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Anna Maxwell Martin, Ruth McCabe, Barbara Jefford, Kate Fleetwood, Peter Hermann, Mare Winningham, Michelle Fairley
This is the true life story of Philomena (Judi Dench) who when she was a young girl, found herself pregnant and her family sent her off to live in a convent. She had a son, who was given away to an adoptive couple. Fifty years later, Philomena finally tells her daughter about her older step brother and the daughter convinces her to contact a disgraced reporter Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) and together they make a desperate search for the son she had never heard from again.
This is such a wonderful story. It’s basically built on fact, although they did change a few things around to try to make it a better (or less controversial) story. The real Philomena is on the special features, and tells a lot about her side of the story and how she was thrilled to have Dame Judi Dench play her in this film. She cooperated with the movie and was very pleased that her story could be shared to the world. There are a lot of surprises, and unexpected events along the journey, and it’s really tragic, but Philomena has such a good spirit and a forgiving nature, that she doesn’t hold any grudges against anyone, even though she has many reasons too. Judi Dench is fabulous as always, and carries the story. But Steve Coogan, who seems at first to be a rather odd choice, actually is very appropriate as Martin Sixsmith, and deftly portrays the characters bias and fears, and lack of belief, completely unlike Philomena. The story tells the story of these odd friends, perhaps more than the story of Philomena’s son. Certainly this is all about the journey. Very, very touching, and I must admit that I was spellbound by this story. It made me mad, but also, again due to Philomena’s character, made me feel good after all. This is an excellent film, and certainly deserved more praise than it got this past years awards season. This, to me, has to be the best picture I’ve seen in 2013. I loved it, and I highly recommend this story if you have an ounce of compassion in your body. Wonderfully written, and spectacularly performed. This is a wonderful movie.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
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