Ed's Review Dot Com

Open Road Films (II), Rice Films, Gulfstream Pictures,

Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Julia Roberts, Jon Lovitz, Kate Hudson, Timothy Olyphant, Britt Robertson, Aasif Mandvi, Sarah Chalke, Grayson Russell, Shay Mitchell, Margo Martindale, Loni Love, Ella Anderson, Cameron Esposito, Jack Whitehall, Lucy Walsh

Mother’s Day is an ensemble film, telling four different stories that all tie together in the end. There are many different kinds of mothers, and many different situations, but we all stop on Mother’s Day to remember and honor those special women in our lives. As this story unfolds, we meet different families and different situations, but all are touched in the end in different ways.

Directed by Garry Marshall, this is the same team that brought us Valentine’s Day and New Years Eve. It is a great cast, and it’s a very touching story. Each situation is unique, yet they manage to tie it all together in the end. It’s got funny moments, and of course, the cheesy romantic ones. It’s a very clever put together tale and was fun to watch. If you have seen these hinds of stories, there have been dozens, where a number of different stories come together in the end. This is a very good one. Julia Roberts does a very great job as a childless, driven TV host, as does Jason Sudekis as a single widower dad trying to raise his two daughters. Jennifer Anderson is really good as a divorced mom of two boys who is trying to deal with her situation. It’s a very well developed story line that comes together beautifully. This is a touching movie, and one I can highly recommend for anyone who is a mother, who has had a mother, or knows a mother. If you don’t fit into any of those categories, you’re out of luck. This film is a tribute to mothers. This is a really good film, and I recommend this, especially now that it’s on DVD.

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Paramount Pictures, Alibaba Pictures Group, Bad Robot,

Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba

In the beginning of the 5 year mission to go where no man has gone before, Kirk (Chris Pine) takes the crew into an uncharted nebula on a rescue mission that goes very bad and strands the Enterprise and the crew out of communications range from the Federation on a planet with a really bad guy Krall (Idris Elba) who has plans to put an end of the Federation due to an old grudge. Kirk and the crew plus a few new found friends have to find a way to defeat Krall and find a way back home.

This is epic Star Trek. It is hard to believe that it has been 50 years since Star Trek first lit up our TV screens. This is a nod back to the original, perhaps as a nod to the 50th anniversary. The cast who play the younger version of the original crew do an excellent job, and this is a really good story with lots of excitement and action, along with the close relationship of the crew and a splash of real humor thrown in for good measure. I really enjoy this cast, and the addition of a brand new character, Jaylah, played by Sofia Boutella is a great addition to the cast. I saw this film in IMAX 3D and really enjoyed being in the middle of the action. This is not a perfect movie. There’s a new director this time out, and some of the choices are not perfect, but the affection for the characters, and the excellent script makes up for it. Are there some plot holes? Certainly. When has Star Trek NOT had plot holes? The style is an allegory tale, almost a science-fiction fairy tale, that does require some suspension of reality once in a while. That’s not a problem for me. I appreciate that mankind in the future will still be based in morals and values and trying to do right by one another. All in all, I really enjoyed another venture into the Star Trek universe, and found the experience very delightful. Great film!

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Atomic Monster, Grey Matter Productions, New Line Cinema,

Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Alexander John DiPersia, Rolando Boyce, Alicia Vela-Bailey, Maria Bello

Young Martin (Gabriel Bateman) lives alone with his Mom Sophie (Maria Bello) since his father was savagely killed. Sophie is a bit crazy, having spent a time in a mental institution, but Martin thinks something worse is happening at night when it’s dark, and he’s been falling asleep in class because he is unable to sleep at home. The school calls his half sister Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) to pick him up, and though she left her mother years ago, she comes back to help the family battle some real demons in one of the most horrific horror films of 2016.

This is a very terrifying piece of film making by David F. Sandberg who apparently made a short film version of this story in 2013. He expanded it to a hour and 21 minutes which must have taken a lot of effort. I would love to see the short film, as it sounds really good from what I’ve heard about it, but this feature version suffers from the lack of material. That is the weak point of this movie, and it shows a lack of depth in the story. We don’t get enough of the back story, nor is it clear what it’s all about. There are many ways this could have developed, but the intent was I’m sure to leave you guessing. The threat appears to be gone, but we don’t really know what quite happened to make this all possible. But setting that aside, it is a really terrifying movie, and one that will certainly scare the bejezus out of you. It’s done with real suspense and horror but has excellent sound effects and jump scares as well that are actually pretty well done. I am really glad I went to see this film, as it was really fun, even though it could have been better with a bit more material, perhaps. Still, it made me jump. At one point there is some strange noise going on in another room behind us, and the sounds that were coming out of the back left speakers made everyone in the theater turn around and look to see what the heck was going on back there. About the time we figured out it was part of the film. we turned back to the front and got slammed. It was one of the cleverest horror moments I’ve ever experienced. This was about a 2/3 full theater, and the crowd, including us, screamed a couple times which shows that it was really worth it. If you love horror, ignore the haters and watch this.

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Anthem Productions, Paul Schiff Productions,

Finn Wittrock, Aaron Eckhart, Robin Tunney, Sarah Bolger

Based on the book “Courage Beyond the Game: The Freddie Steinmark Story” by Jim Dent this biographic film of Freddie Steinmark follows the history of his life as one of the best high school football players who was recruited by Texas and played in the Game of the Century against Arkansas in 1970. The film is pretty accurate in portraying Freddie’s life story. Being only 5′ 9″ and well under 200 pounds everyone told him he was too little to play defense. But he had been trained by his father very well and was really full of grit and able to play way beyond the level he should have been able to play. An inspiration to the team, Freddie motivated the team to win the SW championship and to be rated Number 1 in his final year. Freddie hid an injury from everyone and played through the pain in the final game until finally he had to go see the doctor and was given a very serious diagnosis. This is a heartwarming, tearjerker of a story showing the enormous fight in this kid.

This film got lost in the shuffle around all the other releases when it came out in the theater in late 2015. Many people have overlooked this film, but it is a very good retelling of the true story, and unlike most docudramas, this one seems to be very accurate on most all points. The research was thorough and it seems they really got it right. Starring Aaron Eckhart as Coach Royal and Finn Wittrock as Freddie, the performances are very good. The characters really look like the real people as well and the actual scene is presented at the end of the film, and it’s real, not recreated. This is a touching story, similar to a lot of the true sports tales, but since it is a true story of an amazing life and how he touched so many people, I was truly impressed with it and though many critics didn’t like the way it was portrayed, I felt it was done properly, with loads of respect, and though a sad story, told in a remarkably upbeat and uplifting way. This is a great football film with lots of sports action that is recreated very close to the actual history, and I highly recommend this film as a good film for all ages.

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Dentsu, Fuji Television Network, Illumination Entertainment,

Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Jenny Slate, Bobby Moynihan, Hannibal Buress, Albert Brooks

Max (Louis C.K.) has a great life. He’s been with his owner since he was a puppy, but when she brings home Duke (Eric Stonestreet) Max is really annoyed. He wants to setup Max to get rid of him, but things get real when Max and Duke both are kidnapped. The rest of the pets in the building ban together to rescue them. They want to rescue them and get get back home before the owners get home in this rollicking animated film full of talking animals! Well, they can talk to each other, but not to the people. But these are some clever pets.

I got to take my Grandson and his Dad and Mom to see this at Downtown Disney while taking a break from catching Pokemon in Pokemon Go. (Yeah, we caught a lot). I really enjoyed this film, although there are a couple little problems with it perhaps. I didn’t see those, and it was only after talking to other people that I realized what they were saying. This is a PG film, not a G rated kids film, and there is a good deal of fighting and angry yelling and stuff. There is a band of gang members who are lead by killer rabbit Snowball (Kevin Hart) and the voices of the gangstas could make you think it’s a bit racist and stereotypical. But aside from that, everything ends nicely and everyone gets along in the end. The best part of this is the intense action sequences which are really fun to watch, the one liners that these characters are always spitting out that made me laugh out loud numerous times. Really! This keeps the grown-ups interested throughout, and the kids will be blown away with the really funny and cute animals representing a plethora of species. All in all, I really enjoyed the story, and was easily about to look past the obvious racial and gang stereotypes and I really enjoyed the movie. I recommend it for all but the youngest children, but I think you ought to watch it with them and be available im case there are questions.

Two final comments: There are some really, really funny animated cameos that are really delightful, and the cartoon at the beginning was worth the price of the movie by itself!

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