Ed's Review Dot Com

Fox 2000 Pictures, Regency Enterprises, Bagdasarian Productions,

Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Jason Lee, Bella Thorne, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Tony Hale

Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, and their potential step brother are under the impression Dave (Jason Lee) has gone to Miami with his new girlfriend to propose to her breaking up their happy home. They decide to set out for Miami to try to stop it, but after getting thrown off the plane by an angry air marshall, the guys have to hit the road to try to get there in time, falling into lots of problems while being chased by the marshall who wants to take them in.

Some of the previous sequels have been pretty poor, but this one is surprisingly good. The story is clever and the songs are current hits. There’s no Chipettes here which is a good thing I think. The locations are fun, and the story is cute. We’re very familiar with the voices and the characters now, so we can just jump in and get rolling right away. The jokes are Chipmunk jokes, so they’re pretty corny, but all in all it’s a fun ride across the countryside. I am glad that they made this one, and I really enjoyed it. I can recommend this one as the least sucky of the whole recent bunch of Chipmunk flicks and it’s really a enjoyable experience. I liked it.

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Paramount Pictures, Bad Robot, Spectrum Effects,

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr.

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has just left her boyfriend and is driving down a rural road in Louisiana when she suddenly spins out of control and blacks out. When she awakens, she is shackled to the wall on a mattress in a strange bunker. Not knowing what’s going on, Michelle meets Howard (John Goodman), the man who rescued her and brought her to the bunker to save her life. She soon learns of another resident of the bunker as well, but as Howard weaves his fantastic tale of a major attack killing everyone in the world, and only they are safe in this bunker. Howard is a conspiracy freak, and has been ready for years for an inevitable attack, and now it’s clear he is completely certain there is no life outside the bunker they are trapped in.

This science fiction/horror film is hardly related to the original Cloverfield at all. Other than the name, the movies are not very similar, and certainly not cursed with the same evil that was in the first film. By that I mean the shaky hand-held camera that would like to make you throw up after about 10 or 15 minutes. This one is much more steady, and professionally filmed, and is downright creepy. John Goodman plays the crazy (?) old man very well, and we’re not quite sure if he has any idea what he’s talking about. But neither do the characters. Surprisingly, there is really just the three people in the entire movie, and it is mostly done in the bunker, but an impressive bunker it is. The movie switches gears in the last half hour or show and becomes more of a horror film. The first hour is more a captive trying to escape type film. But the suspense is tremendous, and though it’s not classic horror, it has it’s moments. But it does ratchet up a notch at a time until you’ll find yourself on the edge of your seat. Marky Elizabeth Winstead did an excellent job in the lead. You could make an argument that John Goodman has the primary character, but I don’t think so. He is certainly good in his role, but this is Winstead’s movie to make or break, and she nailed it. Though this film is nowhere near as horrifying as the original Cloverfield, I would recommend this one many times over the original. Keep in mind though is it a psychological thriller first, and not really horror until the last 20% of the movie. But when it does come out of the darkness it is really good. All in all I found this a very nicely constructed movie and I can recommend this one for sci-fi/horror fans, for sure.

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Warner Bros., Atlas Entertainment, DC Comics,

Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, Gal Gadot, Scoot McNairy, Michael Shannon

After his struggle against General Zod, Metropolis has been destroyed. Superman (Henry Cavill) is the most dangerous figure in the world. Some people still view him as good and a savior of mankind, but the rest think maybe he is a threat to humanity as he is like a god and answers to no one, not the military, not the government, just his own will. Bruce Wayne the Batman (Ben Affleck) thinks, Superman is a danger to the world because he has so much power and is not controllable. The rivalry between them is furious, unknowingly fed by Lex Luthor who eggs them on to war. Lex has a secret weapon and its an awesome monster of greater power than both Superman and Batman combined, unleashing it after his plan to have them destroy each other is complete.

This film was met with both undying love, and intense hate. I think the main fuel for the haters is simply Ben Affleck as Batman. I don’t think this is fair, as I think he did a pretty awesome job, but Batman is not a very nice guy in this movie which certainly cripples Ben’s ability to play him properly. I, not surprisingly, find myself in the middle somewhere. Am I glad I went out to see it with my grandson in 3D on the big screen? Certainly! Did I fall asleep in the middle of it? Well, the seats reclined and were very comfy, and for a good while the action died down to a crawl as we tried to spend time listening to the dialog and watch the script try to rationalize why Batman and Superman hated each other. I wasn’t the only one who fell asleep for a while. But the effects were awesome, the 3D was awesome, and that final battle and the surprise character to arrives in the nick of time was awesome! All kidding aside, this film was better than ok, and I’m certainly glad to see it, but I was not blown away by this movie. Although I have never been a big fan of superhero movies anyway, and typically Batman and Superman and the like leave me yawning. This is the same. The final ending surprised me. I hadn’t heard it and I didn’t expect it. But I don’t really believe it, either. We’ll see. You have to watch this, even if it’s on DVD, because it’s going to be part of pop culture for years to come. So you might as well do it and get it over with. It’s not bad at all.

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Route One Films, Wildwood Enterprises,

Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson, Kristen Schaal, Nick Offerman, Mary Steenburgen

Bill Bryson (Robert Redford) is a writer who has spent the last 20 years living in England. Now that he’s back in America, after a sudden unexpected death, he decides that the way to reconnect with his homeland is to walk the entire Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. His wife, Catherine (Emma Thompson) is appalled at the idea, and figures he will die out there, if not eaten by a bear, then by falling off the trail, or some other disaster. She decides to let him do it, if he must, but certainly not alone. Bill starts calling everyone he knows, but everyone seems to agree with his wife, that it’s too much, and they’re too old. When he gets a call from a long estranged friend from his youth, Stephen Katz (Nick Nolte) who really wants to do it with him, he decides that though Stephen can be really a pain some of the time, that it’s his only option. so the two gear up and set off on an amazing journey.

This was a very exciting film. I must admit, I’ve not been a Robert Redford fan as of late, and I’ve been bored silly by some of his stuff lately. This, on the other hand, was a really good movie. Not only is the scenery along the Appalachian Trail completely breathtaking, the story ain’t half bad either. Nick Nolte brings in a lot of humor to the mix, and they end up sort of an Abbott and Costello sort of team, or perhaps Martin and Lewis. Nolte is a crack-up here and really adds a lot to the story. There are some ridiculous scenes that are really a joy to watch. When the guys slide down off the cliff and get stranded on a ledge, they think it’s about over until Nolte’s character comes up with an idea to use their pants as a way to pull themselves up the cliff. Of course that fails, and the two are stranded sans pants on the ledge until morning. It’s almost slapstick, but done with such good-nature and fun that it’s really likely to make you laugh. All in all this is a worthwhile film with lots to leave you thinking about. Not only is a good look at nature and what we miss when we live our life in a cubicle every day, but it also shows us how reconnecting with the land is a good thing. There’s a lot going on here, and a lot to enjoy. Please give this one a chance.

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Element Pictures, No Trace Camping,

Sean Bridgers, Joan Allen, Brie Larson, William H. Macy, Jacob Tremblay

Ma (Brie Larson) was kidnapped by Old Nick (Sean Bridgers) and held hostage in a converted tool shed in the back yard of her captor. She has since had a small son, Jack (Jacob Tremblay) who has grown up in “room” which is his whole world. Only one small skylight in the ceiling is his view of the world, which he calls TV, because there are two things in his life, things in Room and unreal things everywhere else in TV. Eventually Jack is able to escape room, and his awe at a world he does not understand is incredible. This is based upon a popular novel, this is an amazing story that could have been pulled from the pages of the newspaper.

Room in an emotional roller-coaster. It has ups and downs throughout the story. I am not sure if life was harder for Jack and Ma inside the shed or out in the whole big world. There are many issues with each of the many relationships. Jack, being only 5 years old, is used to life in room, and certainly is not prepared for what’s outside. Things that he could never even imagine face him every day. But Ma has no easy time either. It’s hard for everyone to deal with all of the emotional scars in this story. Naturally all the attention at the Academy Awards was focused on Jacob Tremlay who is a very charming 7 year old who did an unbelievable job playing Jack. This is really his movie, and he was eating up every second of the attention. But this is Brie Larson’s movie as well, and her role was certainly not an easy one, and she carried it like a champ. For the largest portion of the film, it’s only Jack and Ma together in this little room. There is another role I want to mention. William H Macy plays Jack’s Grandfather and Ma’s Father. He has a very distasteful role to play as a father who doesn’t want to accept or face what has happened to his daughter, and though you will hate him for how he does it, William H Macy pulls it off very well. Though hard to understand his character, he plays it pretty well. The suspense is rather good, but the key to this film is the emotional ride we take with the characters and the way they are so well portrayed. This is an amazing film and unless you are not comfortable watching the dark and depressing situation they lived in for all those years, be sure to catch this one. Thought provoking, yet something we all have wondered about as we heard the stories of people who have been held hostage for a decade or more. Once they are freed, it’s not often we get to experience their story like we do in this fictional account of what it must be like. I recommend this one as certainly one of, if not the Best Picture of the year.

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