Ed's Review Dot Com

Chernin Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, Babieka,

Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley

The story of the life of Moses (Christian Bale) from his time as a young man in Egyptian royalty through his life exiled into the wilderness, to his triumphant march of the Israelite slaves out of bondage in Egypt and across the Red Sea on their way to Canaan. A controversial film, to say the least, but like other big budget films like Gladiator, Noah, 500, etc. this is a big budget full on visual delight. History? Perhaps not so much.

This certainly was not a badly done as Noah was. That was pretty horrible, really. But this also made some really strange choices as things went along. To call it “Exodus” gives the impression that it is going to be a remake of “The Ten Commands” from the Bible. But Ridley Scott made some really odd changes in the story that really didn’t need to be made. At first, I thought this was going to be a “void of Religion” scientific telling of “how it could have happened”. But it really didn’t turn out that way. It certainly played down the religious elements of the film. This is sacred Jewish history, but something that the Christians put a lot of faith in as well, as certainly Jesus was a descendant of these people. It’s belief that the Jews have to share. Even the Koran has this story in it as well. The look of this film in incredible. Made for 3-D, the sets and scenery are simply stunning. I must admit that it would have been much harder for Cecil B. DeMille to create what he did in the California Mojave Desert for Charleton Heston to march around in. There has to be comparisons between the two films. Though stunning for it’s time, the technology has brought so much more visual quality to the film today. Perhaps this is a problem, as the look is so absolutely stunning, that it seems they lost the power of one of the greatest stories ever. The movie runs over 2 1/2 hours, and it looks like it was chopped down quite a bit to make it that “short”. But at the same time, they really feel rushed through a lot of the very important parts, and spread out long scenes that seemed to have little purpose. I am not even going to chop down the religious elements of the movie, because that is personal belief, but some of the choices are mind boggling. The plagues are upon us quite suddenly, and portrayed with a great deal of clarity and reality, but the who purpose of who, what, why, and how, was largely just skipped over. Moses seems much more of a bystander to all of this, rather than the stunning leader and general the Heston portrayed. The burning bush where Moses talks to God is shown, but the bush has no purpose or real reason to even exist. God is a little British boy who is a bit of a brat, and only shows up when he feels like it, and gives Moses no real clue what to do. Likewise, Moses is wallowing in self doubt and mostly watching events unfold. Basically, I’m afraid this movie missed the mark because they simply forgot to pay attention to the storytelling because they were so enthralled by the special effects. This is a shame, as it could have been a real solid movie experience. You’re going to lose the religious fanatics immediately when you change anything from the Bible account, that’s to be expected. But they lost a great many of the rest of the public when the story just was so strange, and the casting rather haphazard, and the director was lost in the stars reveling over the technological miracles. They made a beautiful and stunning film with hollow storytelling.

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DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images (PDI),

Benedict Cumberbatch, John Malkovich, Peter Stormare, Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights

The penguins from the Madagascar series of films are back in their own adventure. Rescuing a baby penguin and being chased by seals, the penguins run into an evil genius named Dr. Octavius Brine but who is really old friend octopus Dave who is out to destroy the world as we know it, starting by capturing all the penguins in all the zoos of the world to turn them into monsters. The penguins have to team up with an elite fighting force, The North Wind, to try to fight the evil genius.

I have not been wildly amazed at Dreamworks films lately. I was not a huge fan of the whole Madagascar series. So when this film came out, I did not expect too much. I didn’t take my Grandkids (all 10 of them) to see this in the theater as I didn’t expect much. Now, I’m sorely disappointed that I did not. Just released this week, the Penguins of Madagascar really impressed me very much. The humor was great. Though it’s a very Despicable Me type film (and many, many others with the evil genius setting out for revenge), it was really well done. The characters were very well developed which is difficult when you must take a couple lovable sidekick characters and turn them into leads, and these kind of spin offs usually don’t turn out well. But I feel like this one really did. The smooth and efficient North Wind were hysterical and a great addition to the film. My grandkids would have loved seeing this on the big screen. The characters are fun, the humor is real, and the adventure is exciting. Several chases are outstanding and very exciting. All in all this animated adventure knocks it out of the park. If you have kids, watch it with them. If you love animation, make sure you see this movie. And don’t forget the Cheezy Dibbles.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday April 21, 2015

• Cake
• Deep in the Darkness
• Everly
• Like Sunday, Like Rain
• Little Accidents
• Supremacy
• Taken 3 [Click Here for Eds Review]
• Walter

Causeway Films, Smoking Gun Productions,

Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Hayley McElhinney, Barbara West, Ben Winspear

Amelia (Essie Davis) is a single Mom raising her young son Robbie (Daniel Henshaw). Her husband was violently killed in an auto accident on the way to the hospital when Robbie was born, but the Mother and Son survived. Robbie is obsessed with monsters and his life is consumed with monsters to the point that none of the other mothers will allow their children to associate with them anymore. But when a strange book appears called “Mister Babadook” about a horrible monster who knocks on the door wanting to come in and possess the children in the house. Amelia passes it off as a bad story for Robbie and tries to destroy the book, but she’s unable to. Soon she too believes in “Mister Babadook” and the real horror begins.

This is an extremely low budget film, but that does not detract from it a bit. Rumor has it that this film was financed via donations, and that’s probably true. But it’s a very creepy horror film. It’s very well done, and it’s simple but very scary. This is a homage to the old school horror films about a monster that may turn out to be real, and it’s guaranteed that it will frighten you. The simplicity of the story is one of it’s greatest assets. This is just a really frightening tale. This film was just released on DVD this week. It was also made available for streaming from Netflix and others at the same time. I suspect it may make it’s rounds on the premium channels. If you are, as I am, a fan of horror films then this is one you not miss. Without gory and bizarre bloody deaths, this film just simply builds the suspense by what you don’t see, but what you hear, and what that makes you imagine. This is what makes a great horror film.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Prospero Pictures, Sentient Entertainment, SBS Productions,

Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, John Cusack, Robert Pattinson, Olivia Williams, Evan Bird, Sarah Gadon

The Weiss Family, Dr. Stafford Weiss (John Cusack), shrink to the stars, Benjie (Evan Bird), spoiled rotten child star, wife Christina (Olivia Williams) stage mom of epic proportions, and Agatha (Mia Wasikowska), estranged psycho sister, come together in this most dramatic, dark, comedy you’ve seen in a long time. This is a parody piece making fun of the Hollywood lifestyle while doing it in a seriously warped dramatic way. This family is desperate to maintain their celebrity status no matter what it takes. Throw in a washed up film star Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore) and Limo driver wannabe actor Jerome Fontana (Robert Pattinson) and you have the wacky cast that might bring down the entire Hollywood system as they crash and burn everything and everyone they touch.

A few minutes in to this cockeyed movie you realize you’re being put on. This is told like a true life story until it becomes clear everyone is connected to everyone else in ways you could hardly expect. Very frank and in your face brutal from the language to the really explicit scenes to the actual story, everything is rude and crude. There is a fairly good deal of humor in it all, but it’s like an inside joke for those in one the inside, unless you’re a Hollywood Celebrity yourself, it may not really make a lot of sense. Much like my review of “Birdman (or the unexpected virtue of ignorance)” this feels like you’re an outsider at at insider party and you are not welcome. Perhaps I’m wrong, but this is how I felt through this whole thing. It was used to watching news on TV, but when my wife started turning on “Good Morning ” I hated it. It felt like a party was going on and I was watching in through the window. A lot of jokes and dancing and laughing going on and I didn’t know any of it. That was the feeling I got in this movie. Perhaps I’m being a little bit harsh, as it wasn’t really terrible, but I just didn’t really get into it. I never found myself “in” the story and it was mostly just over my head. I gave this a 3 star review because of the quality of the performances of the actors in this film, but I don’t really recommend it unless you are interested in the subject or the actors.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog