Ed's Review Dot Com

Depth of Field, 1821 Pictures,

Lily Tomlin, Judy Greer, Julia Garner, Carlos Miranda, John Cho, Nat Wolff, Laverne Cox, Aaron Bilyeu, Elizabeth Peña, Colleen Camp, Sam Elliott, Mo Aboul-Zelof, Marcia Gay Harden, Missy Doty,
Don McManus

Elle (Lily Tomlin) has just broken up with her new girlfriend Olivia (Judy Greer) when her granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner) shows up unexpectedly at her door asking for $600.00 cash. Grandma Elle is busted, but she agrees to help raise the funds. Neither grandmother or granddaughter has a relationship with Sage’s over ambitious and very critical mother, so Elle calls on all kinds of old friends who could fund her granddaughter’s problems. But the more they dig into the past, the more uncomfortable old skeletons, hard feelings, and disappointments get awakened on this amazing journey.

I was genuinely surprised by this film. Ms. Garner does a really good job as the granddaughter who thinks she’s hip, but finds she’s a lot more naive than she thought, but this is really Lily Tomlin’s movie. From Geraldine the phone company operator from her stand up days and Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In way back in the 60’s, we have seen her from time to time in films, mostly comedies, but this is really an awesome showcase for her. She was very, very good, and I think played the role stunningly. Now I can understand how young folks might not connect to the grandmother character, but Julia Garner is good enough to allow them to identify things from her point of view, so a 20 year old and a 60 year old may see different films, I believe both would like it. This is not the kind of movie that pulls in a huge box office, but like “On Golden Pond” for example, this is a touching and warm film about the relationships between different generations of the family, and was very enjoyable. This has a LOT of humor and is classified as a comedy, but it’s also a very touching and poignant film that is rather touching. I really enjoyed this movie and can recommend it highly.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Sony Pictures Classics, RatPac Entertainment, Echo Lake Entertainment,

Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Topher Grace, Elisabeth Moss, Dennis Quaid, Bruce Greenwood, Stacy Keach

Cate Blanchett stars as Mary Mapes, head of the CBS News Department and Robert Redford (Robert Redford?????) as Dan Rather, seasoned reporter for CBS in this docudrama version of the story of how the pair decided to air on 60 Minutes, just before the 2004 Presidential election, a story about how George Bush avoided serving in Viet Nam using his father’s political clout, and even worse, how he went AWOL and never showed at the camp where he supposedly was trained as a National Guard pilot. Though they were convinced their source was valid, it was not very well corroborated and came under fire right away as a hoax, ending up with both Mary and Dan losing their jobs over the rush to get it on the air before the election without proof.

I was very anxious for this film to come out, as I followed the story very closely when it happened and wasn’t really sure what the whole story was. I happily tore into the envelope when this one arrived in my mailbox, and I was sorely disappointed. This is a one sided propaganda piece that set out to bring people to tears at what happened to the poor victims of this vicious attack when they were pure and innocent as drifted snow. I guess had I known that Sir Robert of Redford was going to play Dan Rather, I would probably have been forewarned and skipped it. Certainly he was much more like the Sundance Kid than Dan Rather, though I give him some credit for at least trying to mimic the way Rather talks. I can understand a little how Rather was a victim of sorts in this, and it was a shame that he threw away his career in order to try to overcome the “Swift Boat Scandal” and help get George W Bush defeated. For those who don’t remember, the members of the crew went public with a story condemning what John Kerry has claimed as his war hero record claiming he wasn’t there and it was all a fantasy. Kerry was in trouble in the election and the media was desperate to find any sort of slime to sling at Bush to slow him down. Of course this backfired in a big way, and George W. breezed into a second term. But that’s not the point. There are two big problems I have with CBS, Dan, and Mary. First, it’s a shame that newscasting has resorted to news readers. News programs that used to be part of the public service to the networks, and a big loss to their revenue stream suddenly because very profitable, and the Sixty Minutes was one of the things that first proved that Entertainment News could make huge profits. But the loss is like reality TV, that “reality” is too boring by itself, so you need to spice it up a bit by choosing a story, and then setting out to prove it at all costs. Dan Rather was around when reporters went out in the field and found out first hand what the story is. Today it’s mostly check TMZ.com and report on whatever they say. Many news stories today come straight from TMZ. And when the networks are wrong, TMZ is actually usually right. But instant news on the internet and in your hand on your smart phone has forced them to try to bring something “BIG” to you first for ratings, hence profits. There is a duty to report on a story fairly and factually, but unfortunately entertainment news has made that disappear. The second big problem is the infamous agenda that the networks have today. Whether it’s conservative or liberal, FOX or MSNBC, they set out with a premise and make it happen. Nothing Obama says will be accepted as right by Fox, and even as early as 2003, CBS and especially Mary Mapes wanted ANYTHING they could get against Bush and would have run just about anything if they had anyway at all to justify it. That’s just not right, but that seems to be what we want. So I don’t think this movie is very accurate, and like the news they presented, they started out with one side of the story and then set out to prove it. But even that’s not so bad as the horrible ending on this thing where they build up to this sad tearjerking climax, and the end it with a 10 minute “funeral” for these two. I felt like I was watching the ending of Old Yeller or Marley and Me when the dog dies (oops spoiler). This was not a terrible tragedy. This was the consequence of poor choices and bad judgement and though perhaps sad, certainly not worthy of the somber treatment they gave this at the end. I would have kept a little bit of respect if it wasn’t for that ridiculous ending that really ruins it. I blame that on the agenda of the filmmakers probably more than the editor, but if the film editor screwed up, perhaps he ought to go out to pasture with Mary and Dan. I was very angry at the end of this one.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Avenue Pictures, Ananta Productions, Metalwork Pictures,

Garrett Hedlund, Richard Jenkins, Jessica Brown Findlay, Anne Archer, Jennifer Hudson, Jessica Barden, Terrence Howard, Amy Adams, Daniel Sunjata, Sterling Jerins

Jonathan (Garrett Hedulnd) is a Los Angeles based musician who travels home to New York because his estranged father, (Richard Jenkins) has decided to take himself off life support where he’s dying of cancer. The family including Mom (Anne Archer) and his sister, really can’t accept that he is really going to die. He was given six months to live over 10 years ago and beat the odds. The range of emotions the family has to face from each of the family members is wildly different. To add to the problem Jonathan and his father have not seen each other in many years, and his denial was helped by the friendship of a young lady in the same hospital who is dying of bone cancer, and the friendship they build as they bond to each other is touching. This certainly cries for the creation of a new category “Tear-jerker” as that is truly what this remarkable movie is.

This is truly a tear-jerker, and one that is very hard to watch, but extremely worthwhile. It is difficult to watch because with the R rating, they can take us through the whole range of feelings this poor family has to go through. There are many question raised and each one is fully answered as we delve through this film. There are so many characters and dynamics and even though it is not overly slow paced, the development of each character was really well explained. We learned where they came from, and why they feel what they feel, and all the actors are able to pull the heart strings as their feeling vary from scene to scene as they must face what will happen in two days. The clock ticks very slowly as we go through the many farewells and last goodbyes as the characters really put forth a fantastic performance. This kind of feels like a play in some way, as it does have a lot of dialog and only a few settings, but the motion picture really adds to the story in a huge way. It’s very well done, and unless you are facing or have recently faced the untimely death of a love one, which would make this hit too close to home, I highly recommend this for adults and older teens. This is an extremely well done story and an great life lesson that we all need to see. Though it feels sometimes like we’re too close to the family and should give them some space, it is very highly moving and you should see it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday Febuary 9, 2016

• 99 Homes
• Crimson Peak [Click Here for Ed’s Review]
• Freaks of Nature
• Grandma
• Love the Coopers
• MI-5
• Spectre [Click Here for Ed’s Review]

Stone Angels, YRF Entertainment, Umedia,

Nicole Kidman, Tim Roth, Frank Langella, Parker Posey, Milo Ventimiglia, Paz Vega, Geraldine Somerville, Nicholas Farrell, Derek Jacobi, Robert Lindsay

Grace Kelly (Nicole Kidman) was a beautiful Hollywood actress who was swept away and married the Prince of Monaco. This film really begins a half dozen years after she had become princess when she was facing a crisis about her life. Offered a role back in Hollywood at the same time a struggle and potential war with DeGaulle and France, Grace has to decide what her role will be. This biopic tells an interesting story of these years in Grace’s life.

Grace Kelly was a really beautiful young lady. Nicole Kidman took on a huge challenge taking on this role, and she probably did the very best she could. She got the look and feel down really well, but of course Grace was much younger than Nicole (who looks remarkable anyway), but though many critics are simply haters on Nicole, I think she did a good job. It was an interesting choice to cover this brief period in her life, rather than trying to do the entire “This is your life” thing. I think it was a good choice. Looking in depth at this period gave us a much better understanding of the person than trying to do the whole thing. It was an interesting period in the history of Monaco as it was in her life. She was struggling with what her role would be and which way her life should go. The script is well done, and the acting is as good as it could have been. I enjoyed this opportunity of learning more about this person, as I was very young when she got married and never really understood how the fairy tale life came to be. I have no unkind words for the actors, as I think they did a pretty good job. I recommend this film if you’re into biographical stories as I think it’s quite well done.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog