Ed's Review Dot Com

Toy Fight Productions, Brightlight Pictures, Sayaka Producciones Audiovisuales,

Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, Dan Stevens, Austin Stowell, Tim Blake Nelson

Gloria (Anne Hathaway) is a young woman with a serious drinking problem. She lives with her boyfriend Tim (Dan Stevens) who is fed up with her constant partying and drunkenness and finally kicks her out of the apartment. Gloria has nowhere to go except to her old home town where she settles in. She quickly runs into Oscar (Jason Sudekis) who is an old friend from elementary school who owns a bar and kind of takes Gloria under his wing, giving her a job. She’s trying hard to clean up her life, but still finds herself blacking out, and drinking after work until dawn. Meanwhile, a couple huge monsters are attacking Seoul Korea, a giant monster and a giant robot. But gradually as Gloria keeps reflecting on her past and the events in Seoul, she gradually comes to the understanding that someway she’s connected to the happenings across the world and is having trouble dealing with it, and the sinister secrets Oscar is hiding.

This is an ODD movie. There is very little here that makes sense, and it does require a complete suspension of belief as there is no logical connection to what is going on here. This is sort of like a cross between a fairy tale, and perhaps an allegory or message movie of some sort. Hathaway is very good in this most unusual performance I’ve seen her pull off, although you may recognize a couple of her past characters in the mix. Jason Sudekis is hard to rate, as he does fine in portraying his character, but his character is so very disturbing and unlikable so it’s hard to put your finger on his performance. This movie is advertised as a comedy, but I can’t see it. It’s dark, and disturbing, and certainly not a comedy at all in my opinion. But I found it a very entertaining movie with lots of good things to sink your teeth into. I found it very compelling, even though I still don’t understand it, that actually works for this movie. There is a wrap up in the end, but you’re still left with a “What the Heck” kind of feeling when it’s over. There’s certainly not a very happy ending for Gloria, but it’s certainly understandable. All in all, I found this a good movie and I really enjoyed watching it, although if you go into it looking for a light comedy like Ella Enchanted, you’re going to be seriously disappointed. Likewise, you could try to pin it as a horror or monster movie which it isn’t either. The creatures only take up a few percent of the screen time, and they are rather unimportant to the mood and message of the film. Don’t go in looking for either of these, but look for a very unusual independent film, not much like anything you’ve seen before, and if you can suspend belief and stop looking at the scientific truths of the movie, you’ll see an entertaining film.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films (EFO Films), Hat and Cat Productions, Ingenious Media,

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Scoot McNairy, Maggie Grace, Martin Donovan, Hannah Ware, Mariana Klaveno, Kevin Zegers, Larry Sullivan, Glenn Morshower, Christopher Darga

Jake (Scoot McNairy) is an air traffic controller. There is a perfect storm. They work at a small tower in Europe and direct planes from one tower to another. There are only two men on duty, and one man decides to take a nap to catch up on some needed sleep leaving Jake alone in the tower. That night a repairman is working on one of their systems which makes Alex’s job a bit harder. Due to circumstances beyond his control, a terrible air crash happens. Jake is devastated at the crash and blames himself, but a hard worker, Roman (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is at the airport waiting for his wife and daughter to arrive on one of the planes taht went down. Roman, too, is devastated and tries to work through his grief, but instead decides that it’s his duty to exact revenge on the person that took his wife and daughter away from him. This is a dramatic story based on the real event, that looks closely into the grief and suffering of two men who were affected by the same event, but in vastly different ways.

This is a very interesting story, based on true events of an awful crash that was caused by a perfect storm of events. One small change could have avoided the whole thing. The movie is very gripping and pulls you into the story, but it’s not a lot of action and events, but develops slowly and carefully as we really get into the heads of the people involved and the feelings and emotions they face. This is not an air crash movie, it’s more of a character study, although the crash is a major part of the story. There are a lot of people who feel this film is too slow, so be prepared for what you’re going to see. You are really, as I said before, going to get into the heads of both men, and so it does take a lot of effort to let us see into their psyche so clearly, and as a result, it does have to unwrap slowly, and it does fully take us through the tragedy and we are able to understand that the crash was over quickly for those who were on the plane, but the agony and grief lasts long for those who are left behind. I’ve seen many stories in the movies and on TV about plane crashes, but none that tackled the suffering of the survivors better than this one did. I enjoyed this film, and would recommend it to you if you think you would be interested in the “Aftermath” of a true story like this is.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

ATO Pictures, Werc Werk Works, Spare Room Productions,

Greg Kinnear, Billy Crudup, Alan Arkin, David Harbour, Lea Thompson, Bob Balaban, Michelle Arthur, James Detmar, Michelle Hutchison, Chris Carlson

Mickey Prohaska (Greg Kinnear) is a slippery insurance salesman who will apparently say anything to make a sale. But while at a convention, he runs across a drunk lady in the bar who insists on coming up to his room. Next morning his wallet is gone. He heads home, already in financial trouble only to find out his credit cards have been maxed and he’s about to lose everything. But when he meets a elderly corn farmer named Gorvy Hauer who wants to pay for his insurance in pennies, but has an extremely rare valuable violin that the he isn’t even aware of, he thinks up a plan to sell the violin and taking the money. But one lie leads to another, and pretty soon Mickey is so buried in lies and troubles that he’s in deep, deep trouble.

This film was a good vehicle for Greg Kinnear. This is right in his wheelhouse. This is an interesting story which bears a second viewing. The first time through, it’s a really good crime story, with lots of crosses and betrayals and a lot of false leads, but the second time though, after you’ve seen the crime story, it’s a whole different film. This is a really clever sting movie that is intricately setup and worthy of Hitchcock. The nicest thing about this movie is the great acting found in it, as with talent like Billy Crudup, Alan Arkin, Lea Thompson, Bob Balaban, you can’t go wrong. THe cast had a blast making this film, and could see that it was a lot of fun developing their individual characters. This is similar to some of the other heist movies like Ocean’s Eleven, but the fun part is that you don’t know how any of these folks fit together until the very end. Watching Greg’s character Mickey slowing figure it out is a pleasure, but when he thinks he has it, he doesn’t know the half of it. This is a little movie without a huge budget, but really fun, and well put together. Though this film has been rolling around in my queue for years, I’m glad it finally bubbled up to the top. This was an enjoyable little mystery, and I can recommend it as something out of the ordinary.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Blackbird, Cold Iron Pictures, Movie Plus productions,

Richard Gere, Lior Ashkenazi, Hank Azaria, Steve Buscemi, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Michael Sheen, Dan Stevens, Josh Charles

Norman (Richard Gere) is a fixer. Head of the Oppenheimer Agency, Normal sets up meetings. He talks really, really big, has no fear of annoying everyone, and basically talks a big game! He befriends an starting out Israeli politician. Lo and Behold, in a few years he becomes the Prime Minister of Israel and he needs his buddy Norman to help him putting Norman on the precipice of destruction and on top of the world at the same time.

This is a very quirky and off-beat movie that features Richard Gere in a very cerebral and thoughtfully put together movie. I would think a lot of folks are going to get into this. It’s a character study, and Norman Oppeenheimer is truly a remarkable character. He lies without missing a bit, and not much that he says is not filled with hyperbole and exaggeration. He’s a nice guy inside, but is really crass on the outside. I once worked for a guy who used to always tell customers “I am not honest because of any moral reason, but I am honest because it’s simply good business>” Trouble is there wasn’t an honest bone in his body. Guys like Norman can be patting you on the back and heaping praises left and right while he’s picking your pocket. So what can I say about this movie? Well, I have mixed reactions to it. There’s no doubt that Richard Gere’s performance is really very expertly done. He does an amazing job of bringing this guy, we’ve all known at one time or another, to life. But the movie isn’t filled with much excitement. It’s mostly like a one man show. It’s slow paced, and I never did figure out how all the other characters fit in to this story as it lost me a bit, so if you tackle it, pay a lot of attention. However, if you like slow character development and enjoy a masterful performance like Gere turns in, you’re going to be a fan of this film. But it is really hard to classify this film, as it’s not that funny and not that serious, and there’s not that much going on here. For that reason, I hesitate to praise it too much.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

3311 Productions, 21 Laps Entertainment, Story Ink,

Anna Kendrick, Craig Robinson, June Squibb, Lisa Kudrow, Stephen Merchant, Tony Revolori, Wyatt Russell, Maria Thayer, Thomas Cocquerel

Four friends are planning a wedding. Eloise (Anna Kendrick) is set to be Maid of Honor for her Boyfriend’s brother who is the Groom, and her good friend who is the Bride. But just weeks before the wedding, her boyfriend breaks up with her via text. Heartbroken, she is staring at the invitation and trying to decide whether to go or not. Finally she decides to show up, but she finds she’s been relegated to “Table 19”, the worst table in the house kept for those who don’t matter. When the wedding day arrives, Eloise gets a chance to meet the other “losers” who were sent to Table 19. Most of them don’t realize their lack of status, but as time passes, they find each reveal their story and each one is quite interesting. Meanwhile, things get rather sticky for Eloise as her ex is there along with her former friends, but no one is interested in her. As the chips fall where they may, this group of six set forth to make as much mayhem as possible.

Anna Kendrick, as usual, does a really good job in this film. Some of the other guest at Table 19 are also very good. Lisa Kudrow, Craig Robinson, Margo Martindale, and more, bring a lot of back stories as to why they’re at the loser table as well. Plus there’s a little romance or two in the air that helps to move the movie along. It’s a little bit funny, there’s some clever comedy here, but it’s not the funniest movie I’ve seen. It could have been better, but at least it was interesting enough to keep me focused on the whole movie. It’s not a hysterical laugh fest, but it is kind of cute and is worth watching. I enjoyed it, so if you’re looking for a little romantic comedy, this reminded me of some classic sit-coms on TV and so it’s harmless fun.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog