Ed's Review Dot Com

Gramercy Pictures (I), Stage 6 Films, Entertainment One,

Dermot Mulroney, Stefanie Scott, Angus Sampson, Leigh Whannell, Lin Shaye

You may recall the Lambert family who had horrible problems with demons trying to steal their children and bring them over to the dark side in Insidious and Insidious Chapter 2. A kind and gentle lady named Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) helped them to defeat the demon. Well this is a few years before the Lambert story and is a prequel to the other two films. Elise has given up helping people using her psychic abilities because an evil force on the dark side is threatening to kill her, but when Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott) turns up on her doorstep asking for help in contacting her deceased mother, Elise explains that she cannot help. But when it becomes obvious that an evil demon is trying to steal Quinn’s soul, she has to step up. This prequel is the story of how Elise overcame her fears and returned to the business of helping out families like the Brenner’s who really need her, and why she was available to help the Lambert’s in the first two movies.

I had the experience of seeing both Insidious and Insidious Chapter Two in a special event at AMC when Chapter 2 was released. I have always felt that the Insidious movies were among the scariest of the new batch of horror films. Both really terrified me. So I was sure I would run out and see Chapter 3 on opening day. For some reason, I put it off, and never got around to watching it. It’s rare that I miss a decent horror film in the theater, as the big screen is so much fun to watch horror films. But it came out this week on DVD, and I really wanted to see it. We waited till dark and put it on the Plasma TV, the biggest in the house, turned out the lights and turned up the sound. It definitely was not as good as the first two, which I rated higher in both cases, but I really enjoyed it. There were a number of times my wife screamed out loud, and I can imagine those were real good theater moments with their big sound systems. But the story is not nearly as complex as the first two, and unlike them, which twisted and turned us around, this was very linear. I cannot say this is as great as the first two were, but at the same time, I would say this is a must see for true horror fanatics such as I. The back fill of how Elise got to the point that she is in was very interesting and we learned more about her. She was definitely the star of the first two films and we didn’t get to know near enough of her story before. I feel like this was a great add to the story, and I would recommend watching them in chronological order, Chapter 3, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2, in that order for a great experience, especially if you have forgotten the first two, or if you have not seen any of these. It’s a superb horror trilogy and well worth the time spent enjoying them all.

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Allison Shearmur Productions, Beagle Pug Films, Genre Films,

Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Holliday Grainger, Sophie McShera, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter, Stellan Skarsgård, Derek Jacobi, Nonso Anozie

This big budget film is the live action retelling of Disney’s version of Cinderella, the animated feature from the 50’s. Poor Ella (Lily James) loses her mother, and her father remarries and brings home a new stepmother (Cate Blanchett) for her. But when her father falls ill and dies, things get harder for the family and the servants are let go, and Ella is required to be a servant, doing all the work maintaining the house while her stepmother and her two daughters take great pride in torturing her.

What an enjoyable film. I have heard lots of rumblings of how bad this film is and how it was a huge bomb at the box office, although the figures seem to contradict that. However, it probably wasn’t the huge bonanza that most of the studio execs suspected, and I’ve hear rumors of the death of big budget remakes. Another complaint I have heard is that it’s the same as the cartoon story and there was no point to remaking the film. I disagree with both assessments. First of all, the actual Cinderella story “Ashenputtel” by the famous Grimm Brothers is a horrid and gory little tale, although one of their more famous story. Disney really cleaned it up tremendously for younger folks not to give them nightmares. Rogers and Hammerstein gave it the Broadway Musical treatment and that is the other well known version of the story. But I suspect that the Disney version is the one we fondly remember from our childhood. This updated version which is very true to the original with a little bit added is a valuable story with many life lessons that is a film with real family values. Lily James was wonderful as Cinderella, perhaps the best I have ever seen with the naivete and charm and downright goodness that she portrays. She gets hurt and suffers and even gets angry, but has a pure heart that is very well played. Cate Blanchett actually did a really good job as the stepmother as well. She plays it as a bad, greedy, selfish person only concerned for her own daughters, but mostly herself, but is not as “wicked” as some have played it. She did an excellent job. Helena Bonham Carter was an unusual choice as the fairy godmother, and plays it a lot like her role as the Queen of Hearts in the live remake of Alice in Wonderland. But I enjoyed the novelty of a live action version of this story. It is a different experience, and though the mice help Cinderella with her dress are real mice and Lucifer the cat is really a cat. The animals do not talk, unlike the cartoon. In fact, there’s a short on the rental version of the DVD of a feature about all the many animal actors and how they got them working together. The other feature on the rental version is a new Frozen cartoon “Frozen Fever” where Elsa is trying to throw a birthday bash for Anna, but she is coming down with a cold, and and ice queen with a cold is not something very nice. It was, I assume, the cartoon that proceeded the film in the theater. It was well worth watching as well as long as the “Cold doesn’t bother you anyway”. All in all, I really enjoyed this film and I thought it was beautifully done. Cinderella’s ball gown is truly spectacular, and the extra bits that were added in filled in the story. (I have always wondered why the slipper would not fit hundreds of maidens in the kingdom since shoes sizes don’t vary that much, but it is a “magic” shoe after all, and this film explains that. I thought it was very well done and a movie young people are going to like for the exciting story, and the older folks are going to have a great time watching and walking down memory lane. I highly recommend this movie, especially for Disney fans.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday October 13, 2015

• Aloft
• Dope
• Faith of our Fathers
• The Gallows
• Gloria
• The Little Death
• San Andreas [Click Here for Ed’s Review]
• Tomorrowland [Click Here for Ed’s Review]

Blinding Edge Pictures, Blumhouse Productions,

Kathryn Hahn, Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Peter McRobbie, Deanna Dunagan

Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) are two young people who live with their single Mom. Mom had a big blowup with her parents when she set out to marry the kids Dad against their wishes. The marriage failed and now she a single Mom but has not spoken to her parents in 15 years. The kids have expressed a desire to meet their Grandparents and the Grandparents have asked to see them as well, so since Mom is about to go on a cruise with her new beau, she agrees to let the kids take a week long visit with Nana and Papa. Becca decides to film everything with the ulterior motive of getting her Mom and her Grandparents back together. But the kids soon find out that there’s definitely some seriously amiss at their Grandparent’s home in rural Pennsylvania. Let the terror begin.

M. Night Shayamalan is warped. There’s no doubt about that. This is another warped film that I found extremely scary and thrilling and it was an enjoyable couple hours in the dark getting our scares on. But Night has his haters, and there are many folks that want to pile on this film because of him. I agree that he’s done a few clinkers lately, but I do like his style. That isn’t to say there isn’t anything wrong with this film though. I did like it, but I do have a few gripes. First, enough with the damn hand held “found footage” films. I do not get motion sickness, but this is another one of those movies that have the camera jumping around way too much. Meanwhile, he tries to have it both ways, as much of the time, we’re watching the kids holding the camera, and if this is supposed to be a found footage film, who’s holding that camera? But it’s not as shaky as a lot of this genre, so I can forgive that much. Secondly there are some really big plot holes in this film, but to tell you what they are would give away too much of the twist, so I’ll let it go as well. Otherwise, this is a movie with essentially 4 characters, and the four of them do and awesome job. They are all unknown to me, but Night gets the emotion out of them pretty well. It is quite scary, and that’s a good thing. Granted the concept is a bit far fetched, but it could happen, and so it is best to sit back and enjoy the film and forget trying to analyze it too much. It’s a nice horror film for Halloween and a decent job from Night, but he is warped. That’s the truth. This film had a great opening weekend when all the Night fans showed up, but has dropped off quite a bit. That’s too bad, as it’s not all that bad. If you like scary movies, then go on and give it a try.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

NGN Productions, Prospect Park, Final Girl Productions,

Cameron Bright, Abigail Breslin, Logan Huffman, Francesca Eastwood, Alexander Ludwig, Wes Bentley, Reece Thompson

When Veronica (Abagail Breslin) was a little girl, she lost her parents. A gentleman took her in and trained her to be the ultimate assassin. When Veronica moved to a new school, a group of boys played a “game” where they would prey on the girls in their school, taking them out into the woods, and killing them. It’s a sport, but Veronica is ready for them and battles to bring justice and retribution to the group.

This is a rather odd movie. Not that it doesn’t have its merits though. It’s just a bit strange is all. There is not much explanation as to what is going on. We simply get the basics. The backstory is very sparse. But we’re aware that Veronica is being groomed for something. The final half of the movie is very powerful. There’s suspense, action, mystery, the whole shebang. Abigail did a heck of a job in this role. It’s coarse and very, very dark, but these clowns have some retribution coming. They are pure, unfeeling evil. I found it rather unique and interesting. Now there’s a lot of haters of this movie, and maybe they have a valid reason. All I can say is that if you can handle a dark mystery with a huge slice of crime and violence, give this a try. At least it will be interesting.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog