Ed's Review Dot Com

Leatherface Productions, Lionsgate, Mainline Pictures,

Alexandra Daddario, Tania Raymonde, Scott Eastwood, Dan Yeager, Trey Songz, Shaun Sipos, Keram Malicki-Sanchez, James MacDonald, Thom Barry, Paul Rae, Richard Riehle, Bill Moseley

In 1974 there was a massacre at the Sawyer property and a bunch of young people were murdered. The townsfolk suspected the Sawyer family was responsible, and the sheriff was out to get them to surrender, when a rowdy group of townspeople arrived and burned down the property and they thought they killed all the Sawyers. But a few survived, including mentally challenged Jedidiah Sawyer, aka Leatherface (Dan Yeager). Meanwhile, Heather Miller (Alexandra Daddario) receives a letter informing her that she has inherited a mansion in Texas from her Aunt who just passed away. Heather did not know she had been adopted, and when her parents refused to give her any information about her birth parents, she and her friends decide to take a side trip on their road trip to New Orleans and stop and check out her inheritance and to see what she can find out about her mysterious birth parents.

This is a sequel to the 1974 film Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It gives us the background story on the original massacre, along with a lot of follow-up information on what has happened to the original people. But most of all, it gives a really classy horror film. Yeah, Leatherface has been done to death, it seems, but of all the follow-up films, I’ve certainly enjoyed this one the best. It seems Lion’s Gate has done a master job of putting out some great horror films in recent years. This has all of it, dark spooky scenery, sudden jumps and surprises, tons of tension and suspense, and certainly a whole lot of gore. I haven’t seen a good slasher film like this in a long time. It is a very good film, and if you’re a horror fan, you should check this one out.

I didn’t get to see it in 3D, but that didn’t seem to take any of the terror out of the film for me. I didn’t see lots of those obvious 3D gimmicks, and I soon forgot it was even originally in 3D. But my wife and I did scream out loud a little several times. Enjoy it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions, Michaels-Goldwyn

Barbra Streisand, Seth Rogen, Adam Scott, Colin Hanks, Kathy Najimy, Nora Dunn, Ari Graynor, Casey Wilson

Andy Brewster (Seth Rogan) is an inventor, and has just come up with a great organic cleanser, but he’s struggling to get it recognized in the marketplace. He’s also saddled with a bit of a Mom (Barbra Streisand) who’s got a habit of going just a little too far most of the time. She loves her son, and is very proud of him, but gets them into some situations that would make Lucy Ricardo blush. You can always expect something inappropriate to pop out of her mouth at any time. Joyce is convinced her son is a genius and highly successful, but he’s struggling. Mom has a great idea for how to demonstrate the product, but Andy won’t listen. He starts off on a road trip, cross country, to try to convince large store chains to carry his product, but with an ulterior motive to have his Mom reunite with a lost love who could be the Dad he’s been looking for for all his life. So with Mom in tow, these two head off on a cross country journey reminiscent of “National Lampoon’s Family Vacation”. It’s one disaster after another for these two until they reach the West Coast to reveal his real reason for the journey.

This is a fairly decent film. I think Paramount missed the boat in the way they pushed it to the public though, and I believe this is the reason that it did not do nearly as well as it should have. That being said, It’s well worth catching this one on DVD for a simple evening at home. The film came off as a rip-roaring, outrageous, comedy with gag after gag, in a non-stop laugh fest. Though it has really funny sequences, the strength of the film is not in the “rolling in the aisle” humor, but much more with the depth and beauty of this Mother-Son relationship. When you’re dealing with the talent and experience of a Barbra Streisand, she does much more than just silly jokes! Fortunately, the writers and directors knew the depth of the family relationship and wrote it very, very well (unlike, for example in Meet the Fockers, where Barbra and Dustin were totally wasted in cartoon roles setting up underhand joke pitches for DeNiro and Ben Stiller), Barbra builds a character that we really like, and get very involved in. Likewise Seth is much better in this movie than in many of the roles I’ve seen him in. He too is a frustrated young man who misses not having a father, knows he developed a great product, but can’t get anyone to listen to him, and is struggling to get along with Mom who believes he is so great, that he can’t live up to it, but yet puts him in one embarrassing moment after another. I would hope that if they would have stressed the character relationship part of this film, rather than trying to pass it off as another Hangover movie, it would have gotten stronger legs. But I’m here to say, that since you missed it in the theater (everyone did), be sure to take the chance to see it on DVD now, and I bet you’ll enjoy both the strong comedy that this pair can perform along with a lot deeper feeling and caring for these characters that just makes the movie better. I feel that this is one that is worth watching.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Marvel Studios, Paramount Pictures,

Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is back from the epic battle in New York with all the other Avengers. He seems to have grown a lot, and has changed. More introspective, he’s been busy building a whole bunch of new suits, and has probably become obsessed with keeping busy to ward off the increasing panic attacks he’s suffering from. But when an ultra villain “The Mandarin” (Ben Kingsley) takes over the worlds airways to teach the world leaders a lesson, he proves himself to be not only cunning and clever, but extremely tough too . It will take Iron Man, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), and all of their best stuff just to survive this massive battle.

I had the pleasure of dropping $45.00 for my wife and I to see this film in Imax 3D and D-Box. The Imax screen was awesome, the 3D effects were spectacular, and the D-Box (motion seats)…..eh..not so much. I’ve been anxious to try these out, and I can see one good thing about them. When the movie starts, nothing happens. The are still and silent and don’t move a speck. Then the first time there’s a loud noise on the screen they vibrate and by that time you’ve forgotten about them and they startle the hell out of you. But I’ve seen 3D magic motion movies in Vegas, Universal Studios, and Dave and Busters, and they show runaway train cars, roller coasters, and stuff like that that are really a thrill, but these chairs, though comfortable, are no big add to the action on the screen. They don’t move enough to give you any real sense of being in the film, and aside from a fairly decent back massage, they really aren’t that much. I would rather just turn them on, and let them vibrate continuously through the 2 hour film, and perhaps I’d come out without this aching back I’ve had all week. But enough about the chairs: On to the movie.

Robert Downey Jr. has Iron Man down pat now. Throughout the film I was pondering, is Iron Man the man, or is Iron Man the suit. Not in a literal way, but figuratively. There is an expression that “clothes make the man”. I wonder if that’s true in Stark’s case. But he’s tired, kind of like Bond has been in the last few films (especially Skyfall), and it shows how all the “world saving” has worn him out. He really has settled in pretty well. He really cares for Pepper, and he’s given up a lot of the shenanigans he was noted for. But when he’s needed, he’s ready to give all to save the world. And this time it really takes it out of him. The acting is excellent. Each of these characters knows who he is now, and they’re comfortable in their suit. Even Jarvis, the voice of the suit, is kind of like Kitt from Night Rider with his gentle voice and desire to help in whatever is needed. Perhaps he’s a little C3PO too without the yellow streak. I enjoyed this story very much. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that each Iron Film has gotten better and better, and this one has to be my favorite of the three. I can’t compete with The Avengers, of course, but of all the Tony Stark/Iron Man films, this has to be the best story, best explosions, best fight scenes, and the most fun to watch. Of course seeing it on an IMAX screen with 3D glasses helps a lot. But this is one exciting adventure film that does not disappoint. This is a must see on the big screen while you can.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

The Weinstein Company,

Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Julia Stiles, John Ortiz, Shea Whigham

Pat (Bradley Cooper) has been in a mental hospital for 4 years after finding his wife in a compromising situation. Now he’s home, reluctant to take his meds, hit by a restraining order from his ex-wife, and living with his Dad (Robert De Niro) (who obviously has his own mental issues) and trying to keep it together, but not very well. He meets young cop widow Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) and falls into a tumultuous friendship/relationship with her. She’s really troubled as well, so it’s like the blind leading the blind. Pat is trying to win back his wife in vain, and Tiffany is not ready to face the sudden accidental death of her husband. The two are totally broken and trying to find a silver lining somewhere in the midst of all their problems.

This is a really good film, that really deserved all the awards heaped upon it in 2012. The story is a close look at messed up lives and an inspection of mental illness that is really straight on. The ending is really sweet, but the movie is relatively harsh. I think Bradley Cooper did a good job in portraying the highs and lows of bi-polar disorder, and Jennifer Lawrence is really awesome in this film. She plays the mix of fragile/easily hurt vs. loud obnoxious so well, that she’s really believable. This was an excellent role for her to show what she can really do, and she did an excellent job. De Niro was superb as always. His role is a great mix of drama and comedy, and he’s done such a great job in funny roles lately and is a really good comic, but obviously plays the straight roles really well.

This film has a little bit of nudity near the beginning (when there’s a flashback to Pat finding his wife in the shower) but it’s short and not overly done. There is also some violence in a couple bloody fights, but that is not overly done either, so it’s barely an R rating. Just to let you know it’s not overly bad. But the subject matter is rather harsh for kids to understand, so the R rating is not a big problem anyway as kids probably aren’t going to enjoy this anyway. But for grownups, it’s nice on several levels. One, watching these people will make you feel better about yourself! Secondly, we can surely identify with the issues these people are having, and realizing that if we let ourselves do what we wanted (No filter, as Pat describes it) we could be just a bad off as these folks are. All in all, it’s a pretty touching film, well made, and one I really enjoyed. It’s a great mix of comedy, drama, and romance.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Apaches Entertainment, Telecinco Cinema, Mediaset España,

Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, Oaklee Pendergast, Marta Etura, Sonke Mohring

This is the story of a regular family, Maria (Naomi Watts) and Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons, who are on a vacation to Thailand at Christmas of 2004. They were happy to get upgraded to a beachfront villa at the Orchid when the huge tsunami hits. The family is by the pool, and they all are swept away. Maria and her oldest son, Lucas (Tom Holland) survive by holding on to a log floating by, but Maria is seriously injured and there is no sign of Dad or the other two boys. Trying to survive, and to find the rest of the family is the main goal of Lucas as he does his best to help others while watching out for his Mom. This is an exciting true story of the 2004 tsunami and the horrible damage it caused, while showing the best of humanity in trying to help each other survive.

This is a very realistic movie, and a real tear jerker. The events are really impressive considering there was not a big budget for this Spanish film. The producers purposely chose to use real effects instead of CGI, which is a great choice, in my opinion. As stated by the actors on the special features, at times they were totally beaten around, hurt, and scared half to death, as the effects were done with tons of water being dumped on them! This adds a lot to the realism of the film. I can’t attest to the accuracy of all the events, but they swear it’s a true story. What transcends the family, though is all the chaos and mayhem around them. This is the story of all the survivors. Additionally, a brilliant idea from the producers was to use real survivors as most of the extras in the film. They lived through it, so knew exactly how it happened. For example, there is a little boy named “Daniel” in the film who is reunited with his father. Supposedly the father in the film is the real little boy’s father (although the boy was named Johan) and he is reacting to what happened to him in real life when he was reunited with his own son. The emotions are certainly played with, and this is a really sad and tragic story, but it’s well done, and very realistic considering what they had to work with. The real star of the film is Lucas, and there have been a wide range of reviews of his performance, all the way from wooden and stiff to academy award level. I feel he did a pretty good job. Actor Tom Holland is certainly older than the role he was portraying, as if often the case (Ralph Macchio anyone?), but he realistically plays a young man in a horrible situation. Yes, he’s not real animated, but at the same time, he’s playing someone who’s been through a horrible ordeal and he’s watching the carnage all around him. He would be in shock himself, and I can’t imagine how the real young man would react in that situation. So for the role he’s playing, I think he did a really good job. This is really his story.

This is a stunning film, and one that will truly touch you, so I think it really deserving of a lot of attention. The worldwide audience was pretty decent for this film, and it seems like only in the US, did this pretty much get ignored. I really hope it has a resurgence in Video form, and that the word will get out that this is an excellent film and one that ought to be seen. I highly recommend it, but don’t put the little kids through this. The realism will be too much for them. The PG-13 rating is pretty accurate as younger children will probably be frightened at the realistic portrayal of the tsunami.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog