Ed's Review Dot Com

FilmNation Entertainment, Flashlight Films, The Kennedy/Marshall Company,

Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Holt McCallany, Wayne Bastrup, Jamey Sheridan, Jerry Ferrara, Sam Huntington, Anna Gunn, Autumn Reeser, Max Adler, Valerie Mahaffey

Director Clint Eastwood brings this biopic to the screen of the story of Chesley Sullenberger (Tom Hanks), pilot of the US Air commercial airliner that was forced to land in the Hudson River in New York City on a very cold January day with 155 people on board counting passengers and flight crew. All 155 were rescued due to a lot of luck and a lot of skill, but mostly a lot of hard work by the emergency first responders on the ground. Based on Sully’s book “Miracle on the Hudson” a great deal of the film deals with the aftermath of the event and the difficulties faced by Sully and his First Mate Jeff Skiles (Aaron Eckhart).

Clint Eastwood is one master at his craft. The way this film is put together from the first frame to the last is a work of art. With a mix of the events of those few minutes to the desperation in trying to get to the truth when everyone seems against him, this is a case of David vs. Goliath in epic proportions. The insurance company lost a plane, and they were very anxious to find blame somewhere. Riveting performances from everyone, from Hanks (who was fantastic) and Eckhart, to Laura Linney who played Sully’s wife, all the way down to the flight attendants, everyone did an excellent job. The realism was frightening. It was one of those films where you hold your breath for long stretches at the seconds seem like hours. Extremely well done, and a great film. I recommend this to anyone whether you remember that day or not. Very good job, guys.

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Ghost House Pictures, Good Universe, Screen Gems

Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto, Stephen Lang, Emma Bercovici, Franciska Torocsik, Christian Zagia, Katia Bokor, Sergej Onopko

The Blind Man (Stephen Lang) lives all alone in a house on a street in metro Detroit and he is the only person on the block that is left. This is a perfect setup for Rocky (Jane Levy) and her boyfriend Money (Daniel Zovatto) and her “friend zoned” would be suitor Alex (Dylan Minnette). Rocky takes care of her little sister as her dysfunctional mother won’t, and her dream is to take her sister and get out of Detroit and move to California. They pull off petty jobs, but The Blind Man got a huge settlement when his little girl was killed by a drunk driver, and since he never goes anywhere, the money must be in the house. With a score this big, the trio can take off an move to the west coast. But The Blind Man is an ex soldier who, though he’s blind, is not a push over, and the trio run in to a LOT of really big problems on what was supposed to be an easy job. As they discover more secrets, it appears there isn’t any way out at this point, and The Blind Man has a keen sense of hearing and smell, and is clever as a fox.

This film has been tearing up the box office, and it was a must see when I saw the trailers for it. I wasn’t sure Jane Levy was ready for a part this big, since I have only seen her as Tessa on Suburgatory, but she was awesome. By far the biggest role, but she carried it very professionally. Excellent job. When it comes down to it, this is a movie for Jane and Stephen Lang, and the others are just there to fill in the spaces. The two of these fight an epic battle down to the bitter end. This is an extremely horror inducing movie and is scary as hell. The Blind Man is not really alone as he has one nasty Cujo worthy dog beside him which helps a lot. The jumps and scares are one after another, and I shouted out loud more than once which is rare for me. But the suspense level is awesome. The director and cinematographers did an excellent of putting us in the scene, and the shots and setups were unbelievable. Whether down in the dark basement in the dark, or stuck in a closet, or crawling through a creep air duct, we are there with them. This is the first real horror film of the season, and timed perfectly, given the big numbers at the box office. Sure not a huge budget, but a well thought out horror film inside a heist film. The characters are well developed, and the script is crisp and smart. All in all, very scary, very suspenseful, and very well done. Good work guys. This is a good one!

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Resolute Films and Entertainment, The Harold Greenberg Fund, Telefilm,

Gillian Anderson, Haley Joel Osment, Rufus Sewell, Victor Garber

Gabriel (Rufus Sewell) was a brilliant scientist who left on a business trip and just disappeared. His son, Erol (Haley Joel Osment) and his grandfather (Victor Garber) work together to figure out what happened to Gabe. What they found was that he had found a way to cross into another time line, and wanted to talk to Albert Einstein, planning to return immediately, but something happened to him so for the last 12 years life has gone on without him. It’s up to Erol to figure out if there is a way to recreate his father’s work and find out the truth of what happened.

I am a sucker for time travel stories. It’s one of the most fascinating concepts to me, and as a result, I loved the intense detail they put into the story and the process by which things happened. The paradox of time travel, (What happens when you change something) has always been a favorite concept for me to think about, ever since I was a child. Haley Joel Osment is excellent in his role as the troubled genius that has the smarts to figure it out, but must deal with the consequences if it doesn’t turn out as expected. Life will certainly be different if he succeeds, and what will the costs be? The story unfolds and as always happens in a time travel movie, you have to think through the consequences of messing with time. It’s not heavy, and the story is told quickly, but is very deep emotionally, and doesn’t judge. Too many sci-fi stories, especially time travel stories have too much moral lessons and not enough fun. I guess Rod Serling and Gene Roddenberry taught us that good sci-fi must have a moral to teach us. Other than the “There’s No Place Like Home” theme, this is a movie with a very interesting story, a really great cast, excellent music (The theme is awsome), and is very solidly put together. I really enjoyed this one, and I must recommend this movie as one that is really a hidden gem! I don’t know where this film has been since 2014, but I’m glad it finally made it to the top of my queue. Great job, guys!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

ClubNano Films, Ur-Mee, Imaginating Pictures,

Marla Gibbs, Ryan Spahn, Jake T. Austin, Tessa Thompson

Grantham (Jake T Austin) is a 17 year old boy in trouble. His father is dead, and his mom is a wreck, and he can’t stop getting in trouble. He’s been put into a reformatory where he immediately gets into a fight. He won’t listen to his parole officer and respects no one, but an elderly African American woman, Rose (Marla Gibbs) who volunteers at the facility makes friends, and offers him the chance of a lifetime. She takes him out on a road trip that turns into a drive to Atlanta. Along the way, they pick up a wandering stranger, Wallis (Tessa Thompson) who is very pretty, but just as lost. Once they arrive in Atlanta, all the secrets are revealed and the strange things really start to happen to everyone.

This is a road trip film that is much, much more. This is one of those hidden gems that come along by surprise. This has not yet been released on DVD but is available for sreaming on Netflix, and keep an eye out as it may be making an appearance all over the place as people start to find out who good this story really is. It’s not a slow movie. It moves right along. But the skill of the writers have given us really fantastic character development. All the major characters are very complex and have a lot of back stories which we learn along with the main storyline. Of course there is much more to Rose than this somewhat unstable nice old lady, and she has her own demons to deal with. And deal with them she does. She doesn’t preach, but instead she tells the truth. Without judging much, she states the facts in a way that you just have to follow. I have known folks who are small in stature, but who can command like a drill sergeant. I have had a few of them in school! The story is very well developed, and surprising up to the very end. I was really not expecting much from this movie, and was very pleasantly surprised. I have always been a fan of Marla Gibbs, but this was such a pleasure to see her again in such a deep and meaningful role. This is one movie I can recommend for young and old alike, and it’s a real gem of a nearly unknown film. If you can get a chance to catch this move, don’t miss it. It’s very good.

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Carpenter B, Bad Robot, Warner Bros. Television,

James Franco, Sarah Gadon, George MacKay, Chris Cooper, Cherry Jones, Daniel Webber, Kevin J. O’Connor

Jake Epping (James Franco) is a school teacher in 2016. He finds a way to travel back in time, but it always takes him to October 1960 to the same place and the same time. He can return, and anything that was changed remains changed, but when he goes back through the portal, everything resets the way it was. He is on a mission to stop Lee Harvey Oswald (Daniel Webber) from killing J.F.K. on 11/22/63 so he has three years to wait to prove that Oswald was the shooter, and to try to stop him before he can do it. But time pushes back when you try to change things, and time is a powerful foe.

This is based on a novel by Stephen King, and was planned for a big budget Hollywood film, but the producers determined that it needed more time than that, so they developed an 8 episode, 8 hour mini-series. Starring and produced by James Franco, this is a really neat little time travel story. Stephen King has his own bizarre way of developing a story, and this is pure King. When people write a time travel story, it’s usually either to kill Hitler or to save Kennedy. But they are all the same. You can’t change history or things fall apart. You can’t count on King to follow the rules though, and this is not really ever predictable. There are some really creepy characters, like an old man who keeps telling him “You shouldn’t be here” that gives you the creeps. Plus there is a romance blooming when Jake bumps into Sadie (Sarah Gadon) in 1960 which causes him a lot of distress. This is not a Twilight Zone episode that wraps up in 30 minutes. This is an 8 hour marathon, so we get many characters that we get to see developed, and many side bars and tangent stories that make it good. When it comes down to the last episode, it’s really quite exciting. How cool it is to have this on 2 DVD’s so that we can binge watch them all in one long day! I really enjoyed this film, but, of course, I am a total sucker for time travel stories. It’s something that has stuck with me since I was a youngster. I had never heard of this TV series, and was really interested when I found it in the new releases this week, and very happy I took up 2 spots in my queue for this story. I recommend it for those of us who love a good science fiction thriller once in a while. Keep in mind though, that even though it’s based on the real images of 1963, this is total fiction, so don’t expect to solve the Kennedy assassination while watching this film.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog