Ed's Review Dot Com

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday June 23, 2015

• An American Girl:Grace Stirs Up Success
• The Forger
• Pound of Flesh
• Survivor
• Timbuktu
• Teen Beach Movie 2

Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Legendary Pictures,

Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jake Johnson, B.D. Wong, Irrfan Khan, Omar Sy, Ty Simpkins, Judy Greer, Lauren Lapkus, Nick Robinson, Brian Tee

Twenty years ago Jurassic Park almost opened. Just before opening, however, things went horribly wrong and many people died, and the park was virtually destroyed. After 20 years of more careful genetic engineering, and with a lot of very effective marketing, The bigger and much better Jurassic World is now open. They, like Sea World, are doing a combination of educational, rescue, and ecological work. But they need a new bigger attraction to keep the gate turnstiles spinning, so a secret plan to genetically engineer a whole new breed of dinosaur is under way. Though there were very many precautions, this new dinosaur is a lot smarted and faster than her predecessors. Naturally things once again go very wrong, and though this new monster is not on display yet, but housed back near the ruins of the original park, when it gets free, thousands of guests and workers are in serious trouble. This sequel to the original (pretending the sequels do not exist) is tearing up the box office this summer of 2015.

This week Ed and his wife celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary. We took a very nice and relaxing trip to the sleepy town of Avalon on Catalina Island. While we were there we saw a large round building known as “Avalon Casino”. It’s a very iconic building and the emblem most associated with Catalina. Inside this beautiful building is a ballroom on the top floor and a movie theater on the main floor. This beautifully decorated movie theater is very old; It was the first theater in the US that was built for talking pictures, and has been in use since it’s construction. It is the only movie screen on Catalina, and they have one showing a day, at 7:15 PM, 7 days a week. The week were were there, Jurassic World was playing so we made our way out to the Casino (Casino is an Italian word that means “place of gathering”, so there is no, and has never been, gambling in this facility.) to see this film in this iconic theater. What a wonderful experience that was! The theater seats over 1100 people and is certainly beautiful.

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As to the movie, it was very, very good. The excitement level was off the charts, and the special effects and CGI was outstanding. The story is a really good sequel to the original, and when they revisited some of the original park sites which are now dilapidated and in ruins it was really nice to revisit the original. There are some family stories going on, a couple little boys, some worried parents, and an all business aunt who is supposed to be watching the visiting youngsters but passes them off to her assistant to care for, but the forefront story going on, though the major part of the story, is not near the best parts. When thing go wrong, they go really wrong, and between some greedy folks who want to profit from the situation and Chris Pratt who is an animal expert who is trying to protect and save the animals, the push and shove between these two is the real story. The action is spectacular and the suspense is thrilling. This is a real summer blockbuster, and perhaps it may end up the biggest film of all times. The original story was excellent, but this sequel is what every sequel should be, every bit as good if not better than its predecessor This is a MUST SEE film, and if you haven’t been there yet, what are you waiting for? Don’t wait for DVD for this film (unless of course you want to own it) Get out there and see it on the BIG screen with as many special effects you can get. This is the best film I’ve seen in several years, I swear.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

CBS Films, Vast Entertainment, Wonderland Sound and Vision,

Mae Whitman, Robbie Amell, Nick Eversman, Bella Thorne, Skyler Samuels, Bianca A. Santos, Ken Jeong

Bianca Piper (Mae Whitman) is in High School and friends with two girls who are quite popular. Things are going along fine until her next door neighbor and close friend Wesley (Robbie Amell) lets it slip that Bianca is their DUFF. Not knowing the term, she digs until she finds out that it stands for Designated Ugly Fat Friend, and it’s a term for the one person in a group who is easily approachable and who can make the rest of the group look better in contrast. She starts looking out closely at all the DUFF’s in the world and realizes Wes is right and she is a DUFF. She makes a deal with him to help him on a very important cause if he will help un-DUFF her. Then the fun begins as he tries to make Bianca the cool one.

This is a rather cute movie, though it is definitely aimed at teens, there’s no doubt about it. That is the audience that the movie was designed for, and certainly they will have the most fun with it, and enjoy it the most. It wasn’t a bad movie though, and as a senior citizen, I enjoyed the humor and the laughs and the tough spots Bianca and Wesley put themselves in while trying to help each other. I wasn’t bored at all with this movie, and I thought Mae Whitman did a really good job in the lead. She has a “Juno” quality about her and she’s just a nice normal girl trying to fit in. She is a good actor and nailed the part. The “pretty girls” are sterotypical mean spirited rich spoiled girls, so they don’t have much to work with, but they do it as well as any I’ve seen, so they don’t detract from the movie. There are a couple other roles that are very well done. Allison Janney plays Bianca’s Mom who has a really funny role that stands out, and Ken Jeong has a nice role as the teacher/sponsor of the school paper who thinks the world of Bianca and tries to help her find her inner voice. It’s a small role, but nice and touching, and though there are some really funny lines, he’s in a small, but nice part with some meat in it. He keeps his pants on in this film (He tends to get naked a lot) and adds a lot to the story. All in all I enjoyed watching The DUFF and found it a pleasant and light movie with loads of teen angst. Definitely aimed at younger teens, but enjoyable by all.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Pacific Standard,

Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Gaby Hoffmann, Brian Van Holt, W. Earl Brown, Thomas Sadoski, Kevin Rankin, Michiel Huisman, Mo McRae

Cheryl (Reese Witherspoon) has lost her mother and took it very badly. She turned her life inside out and shut out her husband and began sleeping around in mindless game of destruction. Her husband has pulled out of the marriage and she’s by herself. She sets out to hike the Pacific Crest Trail with no preparations, over 1000 extremely harsh and unforgiving miles trying to find some meaning in her life.

This was a surprisingly good movie. I had never heard of it, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Reese really did a great job. She had to carry a one woman show and was very much in command. The story was touching, and the suspense in the dangers of the trail were very accurately presented. I was really impressed with the script. The California scenery was stunningly filmed. Basically I found myself caught up in this film and really enjoyed it. No doubt about it, it’s pretty dark in a way. Cheryl is in a really bad place, and her life is really screwed up, and she makes some bad choices. Her journey is not enjoying the beauty of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, it’s more fighting herself every step of the way. I wanted to reach out and help her so many times, but you just have to suffer through it with her. She probably chose to walk the trail to have a lot of time alone to face the loss of everything and to cleanse her mind and soul. This movie is told in many small flashbacks so that you pick up why Cheryl is where she is. It’s not a story told chronologically, but the artistic way it shows her reminiscing on what has happened to bring her down lets us feel it bit by bit as she remembers it. This is intense for younger kids, and has an R rating for a good reason. Nothing is gratuitous, and the sexual scenes are short but a bit graphic, and definitely not for the under 16 crowd. Otherwise, this is a very well done film and I recommend it for adult viewers. Who knows, you may end up reevaluating your own life.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday June 16, 2015

• Beyond the Reach
• Bravetown
• Chappie
• The Lazarus Effect
• Old Fashioned
• Playing it Cool
• Run All Night
• Unfinished Business
• Welcome to Me
• Wild Tales
• The Wrecking Crew