Ed's Review Dot Com

Lunch Box Entertainment,

Brian Wilson, Cher, Dick Clark, Glen Campbell, Lou Adler, Nancy Sinatra

Back in 2008 Denny Tedesco (son of legendary musician Tommy Tedesco) put together a top notch documentary, but it could never be released on DVD. Why? For one reason, the royalties for all the great songs that in this documentary. Back in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s the primary recording industry was based in California. Groups were being formed right and left from the legendary Beach Boys and Mama’s and the Papa’s to lesser knows bands like Gary Lewis and the Playboys. Phil Spector had invented the “Wall of Sound” and records were sounding terrific. But with the huge number of groups and recording sessions, a group of studio musicians grew more and more popular by the record companies. When they needed a drummer or a bass guitar or a keyboard player, they would find themselves calling on the same guys over and over. Pretty soon they were well known to each other and making a lot of money, but nobody outside the record business knew anything about these. Before they knew it, they were making mountains of money, and almost every song coming out of California’s music industry featured the same band. They would record for three or four different bands in a day. This fascinating documentary if filled with interviews and songs with many of the greatest musicians you every heard of, and many of the greatest session players that you never heard of.

This is a stunningly well done documentary. Now it helps me a lot because I was born in 1951 and grew up with this music and had no idea this was going on. Denny also grew up with these fabulous musicians and a lot of the film is about the lives of the families of the busiest musicians on the planet and how they survived. But the most wonderful part of this document is the part that nearly became it’s undoing, the fabulous music. This sounds like one of those PBS pledge breaks with the fabulous music of the 60’s, without the begging for money as hit after hit after hit is played filled in with reminiscing of those who still survived in 2008. Many of those on the DVD are gone now, and it’s wonderful to see and hear them again. There are hundreds of stories, and this DVD is so well done that you feel like you’re at a recording session when these folks all take a break to share stories and gags. The most fabulous this is that is now available on DVD to own, and you can purchase your own copy, if you’re a fan of the great music of this time period. It was a time for great songs, great lyrics, and great music from this secret band of highly talented people who came up on they fly the licks and phrases, and the great introductions and arrangements that we remember. This is a MUST NOT MISS for children of the 50’s and 60’s, and certainly worth watching by anyone who loves the oldies or appreciates the time when music was produced naturally and not electronically like it is today.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday August 25, 2015

• Aloha
• Big Game
• Citizenfour
• Iris
• Lila & Eve
• October Gals
• The Runner
• Skin Trade
• Two Days, One Night
• Where Hope Grows

Guerilla Films,

Jay Gallagher, Bianca Bradey, Leon Burchill, Keith Agius, Luke McKenzie, Berynn Schwerdt, Catherine Terracini, Yure Covich

Barry’s (Jay Gallagher) turns to crap all in one day when the zombie apocalypse breaks out in the Australian bush. Barry’s sister Brooke (Bianca Bradley) has been kidnapped by a bunch of mask wearing military guys who are experimenting on her to find out why the virus doesn’t attack her. They found a hint of a certain secret that makes you immune to the disease, even if you are bitten by the devils. There are some other secrets too in fighting them that they find out along the way as Barry teams up with Benjamin (Leon Burchill) to fight their way through the hundreds of Zombies to try to rescue Brooke and put an end to epidemic.

This is an Australian film, and they did give it a go, I say. The actors worked very hard to try to pull this off, and they really gave their all to the project. Bianca was very nearly killed when a stunt went awry and she was very near a goner, but for a bit of luck. But the desire of the cast is not enough to make it a great movie, and there are some major flaws here. First off, the CGI was a joke. The zombies themselves were terrible. It looks like they went through an assembly line to turn out exactly the same zombie over and over again. The script is lacking and it’s basically pointless with hardly anything to liven things up. They seem to have taken a “lets make a zombie movie” and just run with it without much thought. As a result, they ended up with a really mediocre horror film that is just not worthy. Granted, this is a streaming movie and will likely be on demand and on cable TV as well as on Amazon and Netflix, but unless you are a major zombie fan who has seen every zombie movie and is completely caught up on Walking Dead and waiting for the new season, I’d recommend steering away from this one. Even if you’re a horror fan, this isn’t that frightening, just very predictable. I would skip it unless you fit into the zombie lovers society that I mentioned before. Otherwise you’ll probably be disappointed, as I was. I can give the actors an A for effort, but the rest of the crew is a bust.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Duplass Brothers Productions, Venture Forth,

Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell, Boyd Holbrook, Joanna Gleason

Milo Dean (Bill Hader) is a young gay male living in the city. Things are going bad for him and he decides to make an attempt on his lonely life, but somehow he cheats death and ends up in the hospital. His twin sister Maggie is the only one who comes to visit him and she invites him to come and stay with her during his recovery. But Maggie’s life is very unstable too and the pair try to patch their sibling relationship while Maggie tries to bring her life under control with her own husband. The two review their horrible childhood and how their lives turned into such a mess.

Bill and Kristen have a history from SNL, but they left most of the comedy behind here. This is a serious and thoughtful film with a lot going for it besides Kristen and Bill. When Milo gets home, he looks up a former teacher, Rich (Ty Burrell) who had a history with Milo, and Lance (Luke Wilson) is Maggie’s long suffering, but basically pretty boring, husband. The dynamics between this bunch of misfits makes a rather interesting story. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are certainly well matched and their long history of working together makes it possible for them to be the believable twins that they portray. The relationship between them is definitely a highlight of the story, but the other characters add a lot as well. All in all, this is a smartly written intelligent script that is well executed. The casting is pretty good, and it was really nice to get to see Kristen play a really serious character which she pulled off. Basically this film is available for streaming for free or at least at a low price and so it’s worthwhile to seek out. It’s a learning experience that will make you feel pretty good when it’s over. I recommend this as a non-mainstream little gem that is worth recommending.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Bron Studios, Gary Sanchez Productions,

Thomas Mann, Joan Cusack, Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Linda Cardellini, Tim Robbins, Loretta Devine, Wes Bentley, Alan Tudyk, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Alice Klieg (Kristin Wiig) is quite a bit off. She’s seeing a shrink and taking her meds and trying to live a normal life, but one day she wins the lottery and suddenly has a boatload of money. Alice is a fanatic for daytime TV, and when she see’s a public domain show on a small local station, she fires the shrink, stops taking the meds and buys herself a TV show called “Welcome to Me” which is all about herself. The folks at the TV station know they’re going under so they play along with this psycho lady, but things don’t go well for TV host Alice as she alienates everyone except the viewing public.

There is a quirky movie, and then there’s a QUIRKY movie. This is definitely QUIRKY

movie, that’s for sure. This is clearly written for Kristen Wiig as this looney lady is right in her wheelhouse. It was interesting and mildly funny film, but I think that at the end of Kiristen Wiig’s run on SNL it suffered from too much Kristen Wiig. I’m afraid this one suffers from the same thing, a bit too much of her. She started to get on my nerves after a while. There is a mix of humor and sadness, and it never got a decent balance between the two. It suffers from the inability to decide what it is. This film has a similar feel to UHF starring Weird Al Yankovic. UHF is a cult classic, but Weird knew that he could not carry every scene, so he brought in a bunch of supporting characters which made this such a pleasure to watch over and over again. They could have used that formula in this film too, as the few sideline characters are not used very well, not very funny or dramatic, and mostly a snooze-fest. That leaves Kristen having to carry every scene which is not really fair. I like Kristen and when she’s in an ensemble cast she is fantastic. This just heaped too much on her shoulders. I don’t recommend this one, as I didn’t find it really that special.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Author: EdG