Ed's Review Dot Com

Amblin Entertainment, DreamWorks SKG, Marc Platt Productions,

Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Édgar Ramírez , Laura Prepon, Allison Janney, Darren Goldstein, Lisa Kudrow

This new thriller is the story of three women and a man named Tom (Justin Theroux). Rachel (Emily Blunt) is a very sad alcoholic woman who has not been able to function since her husband left her for their neighbor, Anna (Rebecca Ferguson). Every day on the train to the city, Rachel sits on the same side of the train to look and see what is going on in the perfect house with the perfect woman who has the perfect life that Rachel misses dearly. She is obsessed with the woman who lives in her house filled with all the things she used to own. Even worse is the new baby that Anna has that Rachel wanted so bad. Anna has a nanny who lives with them named Megan (Haley Bennett) who takes care of the baby so that Anna can do the charity work that she longs to do to fill the empty life she thinks she has. Megan is a tramp who is deeply disturbed and seeing a shrink to try to find some meaning to her life. When suddenly Megan disappears, things get very confusing as their lives are about to come crashing together as everyone is a suspect. Problem is, that Rachel can’t remember what happened the night Megan went missing.

This is a very slow paced, but highly thrilling “who done it” mystery and suspense film. All three women in the lead roles are very good, and though each is different in many ways, they all are portrayed excellently. Actually everyone in this film is very good and the script is very suspenseful. It’s well scripted, for sure, and the dreary rainy suburban NYC setting is very appropriate and adds a lot to the mood. It’s based on the novel, naturally, and a good one it must be. I haven’t read it, so the movie was a new story for me. My only complaint is the male bashing typical all men are pigs theme that always shows up in this kind of film. For this reason, it’s not a great thriller for the guys to watch. It’s much more of a chick flick in that respect. Even the wise old police chief trying to solve the crime is female played by Allison Janey who is pretty good, but who seems to be the only one who isn’t out to blame everything on the men in the story. It is fairly slow developing, but the purposefully way they build the characters. One other notable thing is that the beginning of the movie is a bit confusing as it does go through each of the three ladies to introduce them to us, but they do it in a disjointed…… “Six months ago” “Two Weeks Ago” “Last Night” “Last Month” kind of way that was very hard for me to follow until I got the gist of who these people were. Emily Blunt was easy to follow, but I was constantly confused as to why she was watching Megan instead of Anna and since they were both blondes, until I got the whole story I was constantly confusing which was which as they jumped around from time to time. Once the story got going it was a lot better. I did enjoy it, and found it interesting, and I can recommend this as a decent mystery story, especially for the ladies.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday January 26, 2016

• Approaching the Unknown
• Blinky Bill: The Movie
• Blood Father
• Broken Vows
• Dr. Strange
• Ghostbusters
• Hillary’s America
• Ice Age: Collision Course
• The Infiltrator
• The Legend of Tarzan [Click here for Ed’s Review]

Gather Films, Picturesque Films,

Adrian Grenier, Gaby Hoffmann, Ben McKenzie, Mark Webber, Kerry Bishé, Caroline Dhavernas, Kid Cudi, Remy Nozik

When a viral text message infects computers all over the world, disabling the power grids and causing havoc worldwide, a group of friends gather at a remote cabin where their friends, a couple who live completely off the grid, are living. As things grow worse and worse in the civilized world, they’re doing really well until the problems that they faced in their separate relationships rear their ugly heads as things start to fall apart in their utopian home.

This is a unique film. A lot of people didn’t like it, and I think that is mostly because they didn’t get what they were looking for. Though the background of this little movie is about the end of the world, per se, this is not the focus of the movie. Very little is spent on that topic at all. This is because the focus of the film is on the personal relationships of the characters of the film. It’s more of a character study than a look into the apocalypse. In that respect, it’s a very well done movie. The major problems of life are represented, Greed, thirst for power, jealousy, and so forth are what brings these folks down. They have enough supplies to last them, but are falling apart due to the petty trials of their own lives. The folks who were looking for an exciting and thrilling end of the world would find themselves disappointed. But if you go into it with a clear understanding of what it is and what it isn’t and it’s not a bad film at all.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Sony Pictures Television, Storyline Entertainment,

Emile Hirsch, Holliday Grainger, Holly Hunter, William Hurt, Sarah Hyland, Elizabeth Reaser, Lane Garrison, Austin Hébert, Dale Dickey, Jack Thompson

This TV Miniseries is inspired by the true story of the infamous bank robbers Bonnie Parker (Holliday Grainger) and Clyde Barrow (Emile Hirsch) who were rather incorrectly portrayed in the 1967 film featuring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. This is a longer (about 4 hours) much more historically accurate tale of how Clyde met Bonnie, swept her off her feet, and how they along with his brother and his wife, who set out on a crime spree filling the papers with juicy stories.

This TV miniseries is a much better telling of the tale of Bonnie and Clyde which is filled with intrigue and mystery and tries to show the true facts of what we know. William Hurt portrays Frank Hamer who came out of a semi-retirement to hunt down the couple like animals. It is hard to say who is the bad guy here, as obviously Bonnie and Clyde were criminals, but the feeling of a lot of people is that in America we do not play executor and slaughter people without even an attempt to apprehend them. His excuse is that they were dangerous, but a lot of people were not buying it. In the end, we may never really know the truth. But I can tell you that I was not a fan of this guy after watching the film. Technically it was very well done, and according to the research I was able to do, rather historically accurate. Having seen the incredible “Bonnie & Clyde death car” at a little casino in Stateline, Nevada it was an incredible sight to see. There were somewhere between 25 and 50 shots that hit each of them, and they didn’t stand a chance. They were killed without ever being able to exit the car. The car is a mass of bullet holes and is one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. I was really interested in the story and the performances were outstanding. I thought the film was a very interesting story and I was glad to know the story a lot better. If you have any interest in the subject matter, this is a good way to learn the legend of Bonnie & Clyde, and i really enjoyed it. I’ve been waiting to have the time for this for a long time, and I’m glad I finally watched it. Very well done.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Blackbird, Cold Iron Pictures, Tadmor,

Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Hank (Paul Dano) appears to be on a deserted island and about to hang himself. Hank is very lonely and full of despair. As he’s about to do the deed, he notices a corpse floating out in the water. He changes his mind and sets out to pull in and rescue the corpse, but over time as his relationship with the dead dude, Manny (Daniel Radcliffe), he finds that not only is Manny still able to function, but he has magical powers that help Hank to escape his desperate attempt to return to civilization, especially to finally meet and talk to the girl he often saw on the bus, Sarah (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).

This film is really, really strange! Now that doesn’t have to be a bad thing, and in this case, it’s not anything like realism, but it could have many, many meanings. It’s wide open enough that you can come up with you own theory of whether everything is literal, if it’s a psychotic episode, or if Hank perhaps really succeeded in his attempt to hang himself. That’s all up to you, the viewer to decide. Daniel Radcliffe certainly picks some really strange roles, and this has to be the strangest thing he’s ever done, but it’s got some real comedic moments if you take it all seriously. It’s certainly way out there in the Twilight Zone. I don’t want to spill too much of the happenings as it might be fun for those of you who are fans of the strange, to try to figure out your take on it. Like “The Lobster” [Click Here for Ed’s Review] that was released on DVD not to long ago, this is really off the mainstream by miles and miles. As to the performances, Paul Dano did an excellent job on this movie, but he’s certainly not very likeable. Poor Hank has so many issues and is really screwed up, that’s for sure, no matter how you take it. And Radcliffe’s performance as I alluded to before is very strange, but he’s playing a talking (and farting) dead body, so what is there to judge it with? All I can say is that I didn’t really get it, and found it rather annoying in a lot of ways, but I certainly didn’t hate it either. I would not go out seeking this movie, as it is certainly an odd way to spend an hour or so, but if you do have a chance to see it, and you like very out of the ordinary subjects, then you just might like it. I can see where some people would think this a masterpiece (I don’t) but on the other hand, I can just as easy see fights erupting over what it all means, which may simply means totally nothing at all. Approach at your own risk!

Note: This is the studio’s Red Band or R Rated trailer:

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog