Ed's Review Dot Com

Allison Shearmur Productions, Beagle Pug Films, Genre Films,

Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Holliday Grainger, Sophie McShera, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter, Stellan Skarsgård, Derek Jacobi, Nonso Anozie

This big budget film is the live action retelling of Disney’s version of Cinderella, the animated feature from the 50’s. Poor Ella (Lily James) loses her mother, and her father remarries and brings home a new stepmother (Cate Blanchett) for her. But when her father falls ill and dies, things get harder for the family and the servants are let go, and Ella is required to be a servant, doing all the work maintaining the house while her stepmother and her two daughters take great pride in torturing her.

What an enjoyable film. I have heard lots of rumblings of how bad this film is and how it was a huge bomb at the box office, although the figures seem to contradict that. However, it probably wasn’t the huge bonanza that most of the studio execs suspected, and I’ve hear rumors of the death of big budget remakes. Another complaint I have heard is that it’s the same as the cartoon story and there was no point to remaking the film. I disagree with both assessments. First of all, the actual Cinderella story “Ashenputtel” by the famous Grimm Brothers is a horrid and gory little tale, although one of their more famous story. Disney really cleaned it up tremendously for younger folks not to give them nightmares. Rogers and Hammerstein gave it the Broadway Musical treatment and that is the other well known version of the story. But I suspect that the Disney version is the one we fondly remember from our childhood. This updated version which is very true to the original with a little bit added is a valuable story with many life lessons that is a film with real family values. Lily James was wonderful as Cinderella, perhaps the best I have ever seen with the naivete and charm and downright goodness that she portrays. She gets hurt and suffers and even gets angry, but has a pure heart that is very well played. Cate Blanchett actually did a really good job as the stepmother as well. She plays it as a bad, greedy, selfish person only concerned for her own daughters, but mostly herself, but is not as “wicked” as some have played it. She did an excellent job. Helena Bonham Carter was an unusual choice as the fairy godmother, and plays it a lot like her role as the Queen of Hearts in the live remake of Alice in Wonderland. But I enjoyed the novelty of a live action version of this story. It is a different experience, and though the mice help Cinderella with her dress are real mice and Lucifer the cat is really a cat. The animals do not talk, unlike the cartoon. In fact, there’s a short on the rental version of the DVD of a feature about all the many animal actors and how they got them working together. The other feature on the rental version is a new Frozen cartoon “Frozen Fever” where Elsa is trying to throw a birthday bash for Anna, but she is coming down with a cold, and and ice queen with a cold is not something very nice. It was, I assume, the cartoon that proceeded the film in the theater. It was well worth watching as well as long as the “Cold doesn’t bother you anyway”. All in all, I really enjoyed this film and I thought it was beautifully done. Cinderella’s ball gown is truly spectacular, and the extra bits that were added in filled in the story. (I have always wondered why the slipper would not fit hundreds of maidens in the kingdom since shoes sizes don’t vary that much, but it is a “magic” shoe after all, and this film explains that. I thought it was very well done and a movie young people are going to like for the exciting story, and the older folks are going to have a great time watching and walking down memory lane. I highly recommend this movie, especially for Disney fans.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Blinding Edge Pictures, Blumhouse Productions,

Kathryn Hahn, Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Peter McRobbie, Deanna Dunagan

Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) are two young people who live with their single Mom. Mom had a big blowup with her parents when she set out to marry the kids Dad against their wishes. The marriage failed and now she a single Mom but has not spoken to her parents in 15 years. The kids have expressed a desire to meet their Grandparents and the Grandparents have asked to see them as well, so since Mom is about to go on a cruise with her new beau, she agrees to let the kids take a week long visit with Nana and Papa. Becca decides to film everything with the ulterior motive of getting her Mom and her Grandparents back together. But the kids soon find out that there’s definitely some seriously amiss at their Grandparent’s home in rural Pennsylvania. Let the terror begin.

M. Night Shayamalan is warped. There’s no doubt about that. This is another warped film that I found extremely scary and thrilling and it was an enjoyable couple hours in the dark getting our scares on. But Night has his haters, and there are many folks that want to pile on this film because of him. I agree that he’s done a few clinkers lately, but I do like his style. That isn’t to say there isn’t anything wrong with this film though. I did like it, but I do have a few gripes. First, enough with the damn hand held “found footage” films. I do not get motion sickness, but this is another one of those movies that have the camera jumping around way too much. Meanwhile, he tries to have it both ways, as much of the time, we’re watching the kids holding the camera, and if this is supposed to be a found footage film, who’s holding that camera? But it’s not as shaky as a lot of this genre, so I can forgive that much. Secondly there are some really big plot holes in this film, but to tell you what they are would give away too much of the twist, so I’ll let it go as well. Otherwise, this is a movie with essentially 4 characters, and the four of them do and awesome job. They are all unknown to me, but Night gets the emotion out of them pretty well. It is quite scary, and that’s a good thing. Granted the concept is a bit far fetched, but it could happen, and so it is best to sit back and enjoy the film and forget trying to analyze it too much. It’s a nice horror film for Halloween and a decent job from Night, but he is warped. That’s the truth. This film had a great opening weekend when all the Night fans showed up, but has dropped off quite a bit. That’s too bad, as it’s not all that bad. If you like scary movies, then go on and give it a try.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Gotham Group, TSG Entertainment, Temple Hill Entertainment,

Dylan O’Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Will Poulter, Aidan Gillen, Rosa Salazar, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Barry Pepper, Lili Taylor

Part Two of “The Maze Runner” series is upon us. In the first film, young people woke up in a place with no idea how they got there and with their memory erased. They managed to figure out the key to the maze they were really in and how to work it and at the end, they were rescued from the maze from some nice gentlemen who promised them safety. This picks up right after when they arrive at the holding destination waiting for their opportunity to be transferred to the safe haven where they would be able to live safe and free. Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) was obviously someone really special and valuable to WCKD, a powerful scientific corporation who is trying to find the cure for the curse which changed most of the Earth into zombie like creatures infected with a highly contagious disease. Thomas is skeptical of who is holding them and about the safe and free idea, and he does some detective work which ends up with the team of Gladers from his maze and some others on a journey through The Scorch, the burned remains of what used to be Earth looking for answers. The journey is anything but safe and free.

This is an excellent sequel to the first Maze Runner movie. I haven’t had the time to read the books, but as you know there are many of these kind of similar adventures that all started with Harry Potter, and then through the Twilight series, then on to such as Hunger Games and Divergent, and I’m sure you can think of a couple others. This is similar, but unique in a big way. It’s extremely well written and very exciting to watch. Non-stop adventure and action sequences, big explosions, car chases, gun battles and everything you could wish for in an action adventure. The cast is really good, and all are well cast. We have a mix of ethnic and cultural representatives. To offset the white guy, there is an Asian guy, an Indian guy, a Black Guy, etc. Politically correctness — check. But the story is so well done, and the settings and CGI of the destroyed Earth is breath taking. But the key is the excellent story and stunning suspense. The cliff hanger ending is a perfect lead-in for the third film, and I can’t wait. This is a big screen kind of movie, and I was glad I saw this in the theater with excellent sound and a brilliant picture. It’s an epic film and one that should be seen. I really enjoyed this, as much as the other big franchises in this genre, and I highly recommend it for you to enjoy.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

PCH Films,

Glen Campbell, Bruce Springsteen, The Edge, Chad Smith, Bill Clinton

Glen Campbell, an accomplished musician, song writer, and performer and part of the famous “Wrecking Crew” [click here for Ed’s Review] was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2011. Unlike any other celebrity, Glen’s wife Kim decided to make the diagnosis public. In addition, the decided to do a simple three week goodbye tour, as Glen loved doing the live shows, and surprisingly it helped him when he was performing. This turned into a huge 151 event coast to coast tour that kept going and going and going. But in addition to the tour, she also decided to document his sad journey through this film which goes right up to the point where Glen recorded a huge hit farewell song, “I’m Not Going to Miss You”. [Click here for the video on YouTube.] Additionally though, this film documents Glen’s amazing career, through Country and cross over pop music writing hit after hit, and winning many awards and lifetime achievement awards. This is the definitive documentary of a wonderful life that Glen has forgotten, but we never will.

This is a very well done documentary. It’s rather controversial in some ways, and many people have criticized Kim’s decision to put Glen on display when his abilities were weakening, and making sort of a sad clown, but the fans flocked to get to see him once more, and were enthralled at the opportunity. Glen also loved it, and was by far the best when he could be on-stage, so what right did they have to take that away from him. Some question the choice to announce the diagnosis and cause the world to look at him. But this is a documentary, and is an unflinching look at the trials and tribulations of this horrid disease along with the great moments of peace and triumph. I am glad they did this while Glen is still with us, though after the last show it was clear there won’t be any more. But his connection to his fans is something to admire and cherish. This was originally shown on CNN, but is now available on DVD. This is an excellent story of a great man and a bad disease, and looks carefully at both. I highly recommend this movie, even though it’s a documentary, it was fascinating.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

River Road Entertainment, Battle Mountain Films,

Bill Camp, Jake Abel, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks, John Cusack, Paul Giamatti

This is what they are calling a biopic. It feels like a documentary, and is based of real Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and the terrific talent he showed and the horrible price it cost. Brian Wilson, the young startup singing sensation is played by Paul Dano. The foundation and extreme popularity of the California surfing scene resonated with America and the world and they were very popular. But as time passed and the pressures grew, Brian was faced with continuing the success of the group who depended on him, but fighting his inner demons, like drug addiction and voices in his head. He had music that he wanted to get out, but the other members of the group were not so interested in Brian’s new sounds, and he was meticulous in getting everything perfect. What resulted was the Pet Sounds album which soared the Beach Boys back to the top and became legend in itself. Brian’s problems come from a number of things, not the least of which was an abusive, never satisfied father who criticized every thing he did. The “future” Brian Wilson is played by John Cuasak, who meets Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks) who falls in love with Brian and is willing to stand up against Dr. Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti) who is on one hand Brian’s enabler, but at the same time insists on complete control over his every action. This is the story of one of the worlds greatest singer songwriters and the life he was forced to live by his extreme talent.

This is a great follow up to The Wrecking Crew [Click Here for Ed’s Review] which is a true documentary of the many musicians in the L.A. area who performed the studio recordings of many great groups including The Beach Boys. But this focuses on Brian Wilson himself, and I found the two different actors playing the same role to be a bit off putting. I am not sure why they needed to do that as there is not that many years difference in the character, but it was an interesting gimmick to throw in to instantly let us know what is early Beach Boys days and what is happening in the later years. It might be hard to cut the film into so any flashbacks without a trigger to let you now you’re time warping again. Still, both Brian Wilsons do a pretty good job and it is an entertaining film. I grew up in the East, and the California sound, though onmipresent, didn’t quite grab us back there. We were more interested in the Philly, Detroit, and East Coast soul groups that really spoke to us. But the first time I heard Good Vibrations, I became a Beach Boys fan, and through my connection to what Brian was saying in these songs, I learned to be a fan of their early stuff as well. All in all, this is a good moviefied version of a documentary of the trials and tribulations of a great musician and I really did enjoy it enough to say, watch it if you can. It’s a good one.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog