Ed's Review Dot Com

EuropaCorp, Ithaca, The Javelina Film Company,

Tommy Lee Jones, Hilary Swank, Meryl Streep, Miranda Otto, John Lithgow, James Spader

Mary Bee Cuddy (Hilary Swank) is a tough old single broad living out west in a small farming community. She’s definitely a lady, longing for a husband and children, but destined to a long lonely single life due to the fact that men say she’s too bossy and way to damn plain looking. Times are very hard in the little town, and three of the wives have suffered very horrible tragedies and have lost their minds. A danger to their husbands and families, the minister in the little church has made arrangements for them to be taken back across the plains and across the river where they will be cared for by a church there where they have some relatives. But who can make the 5 week or so journey across the dried up plains to accompany these women. Mary Bee talks the reverend into letting her take the journey as she has no family to support and can cook and take care of the women and she is just as tough of any of the men. She rounds up an goofy old outlaw, George Briggs (Tommy Lee Jones) whom she rescues from being hanged and coerces him into accompanying the 4 women on the journey. Needless to say it is a long hard journey filled with danger and hardships, and only their will to go on keeps them going.

This was a very surprising film to me. I was really blown away by it. I have not seen a western in a long time, and this was a really great story. The script is excellent, and it’s filled with top notch performers like James Spader, Meryl Streep, John Lithgow and others. The setting is dreary and dark and very realistic and you really feel the pain of the times they are going through. The performances of Hillary and Tommy Lee are simply outstanding, but it’s the humor set against that harsh reality of frontier life that is so impressive. This is an excellent film, and certainly a hidden gem. I don’t know how I never heard about this film and just stumbled across it by accident, but it was a serendipitous moment when I put this one on. There are some problems, mostly in the timing of the story as there are conflicting statements about what time of year this story is set, but it’s easy to overlook that, as it’s not that important. It’s sometimes hard to watch, as it’s so realistic, and it’s definitely stark, but I couldn’t turn away, and I was disappointed when it was over, as I wanted to know more. This is one film well worth tracking down, especially if you’re fond of really great Westerns.

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3 Arts Entertainment, Jolie Pas, Legendary Pictures,

Garrett Hedlund, Domhnall Gleeson, Jai Courtney, Jack O’Connell, Alex Russell, John D’Leo

Based on the true story of Louis Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) who was a promising young track start headed for the Olympics when WWII broke out. Louis was a bombardier who crashed due to a malfunction and ended up stranded in the ocean for 47 days. When he was rescued it was by the Japanese, and he spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war forced to work for the Japanese while being starved and severely tortured.

This is directed by Angelina Jolie. I’m not sure why that really ticked a lot of people off, but much of the criticism I feel is anti Angelina flack. There are some problems with this film. The lead actors were not big blockbuster names, but I certainly felt they did a pretty good job playing the roles. There isn’t a lot of criticism of the acting, although it was completely snubbed by the Oscars in almost every category. But I found the movie to be touching and inspiring. Yeah, other people have been lost at see and imprisoned by the enemy, but that’s not the problem. This is based on the true story, so it is what happened, sorry if it’s similar to other people’s experiences. It was interesting that as a young boy, Louis was persecuted for being Italian in the neighborhood and he learned to be tough in a hurry. This prepared him for the resolve he would need to stand up and survive this experience. Perhaps those who read the book found the movie lacking. That’s a common response from a good book. But as a film, I think it was very well done. The action sequences in the war were really well done. The cinematography was really good from the fight scenes to the raft scenes to the years in the POW camp. I thought this was nicely done and well worth watching, and I recommend this film as a really good picture of life in America and the horrors of WWII. This is a good movie, very well done.

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Prana Animation Studios, DisneyToon Studios, Prana Studios,

Mae Whitman, Tom Hiddlestron, Christina Hendricks, Megan Hilty, Lucy Liu, Raven-Symoné, Anjelica Huston, Carlos Ponce

Zarina (Christina Hendricks) is a pixie dust-keeper who is excited to show off her new found skill at creating pixie dust, but an accident caused her to be banished. She stole all the precious blue pixie dust and headed off to join up with a pirate who is interested in the pixie dust. But when Tinker Bell and the other fairies set out to find Zarina and convince her to come home, all kinds of challenges await them.

This is one of the direct to DVD Pixie stories that have abounded to extend the pixie realm from poor TinkerBell to a bunch of her new friends. This was a surprisingly good little TV style movie. The animation is pretty good TV style animation (No this is not Pixar or Dreamworks) and the colors are vivid and very interesting to watch. This is a very typical Disney story of an misunderstood outcast, setting out on his own, and realizing his mistake after it’s too late. Then comes repentance, acceptance, and forgiveness. This is the Disney formula. Still, especially for the kids, this is a really good story that will keep them entertained. This is a great animated film to share with the whole family. I was really pleased with this movie, and I can recommend it for lovers of traditional animation and for families that are looking for something good to share with the young-uns.

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Marzipan Entertainment,

Eric Stoltz, Kate Connor, Lyndsy Fonseca, Andy Hirsch, Camryn Manheim, Brendan Fehr, Seymour Cassel, Johnny Pacar, Matthew Lawrence

Frank Stirn (Eric Stolz) became a barber for the U.S. Army and was sent to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin during WWII. Fort McCoy was also the site of a Nazi POW camp run the soldiers in the fort and containing captured Germans. This movie is based on the memories of Kate Connor of Frank and Ruby Stirn (Kate Connor) as she plays her Grandmother in the film. The family was in a precarious situation living just outside the walls of this camp filled with Nazi prisoners. It shows how as an American family living in rural Wisconsin you can still be affected by the war. Based on the true stories, life in 1944 was brought vividly to life in this independent film that shows an unusual slice of American life.

I was not completely blown away by this film, but it was very solid. This was well worth watching, and was rather interesting. This is the kind of film that flies under everyone’s radar, and that’s a shame as it has a lot to offer. Were this fiction, you would probably pass it off as an unbelievable story, but certain events in their lives are absolutely real, told by the people it happened to. The family is all pretty good, but Gertie Stirn (Gara Lonning) is the little girl of the family who makes a friend of a German child she sees across the fence. She also serves as our narrator. The film is simply, but beautifully shot, and the story is rather entertaining. I see this film out on DVD now for rental, and available from streaming services, so it is reachable, and well worth the time spent in looking at another side the latter stages of World War II. I recommend this dramatic true story.

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Chernin Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, Babieka,

Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley

The story of the life of Moses (Christian Bale) from his time as a young man in Egyptian royalty through his life exiled into the wilderness, to his triumphant march of the Israelite slaves out of bondage in Egypt and across the Red Sea on their way to Canaan. A controversial film, to say the least, but like other big budget films like Gladiator, Noah, 500, etc. this is a big budget full on visual delight. History? Perhaps not so much.

This certainly was not a badly done as Noah was. That was pretty horrible, really. But this also made some really strange choices as things went along. To call it “Exodus” gives the impression that it is going to be a remake of “The Ten Commands” from the Bible. But Ridley Scott made some really odd changes in the story that really didn’t need to be made. At first, I thought this was going to be a “void of Religion” scientific telling of “how it could have happened”. But it really didn’t turn out that way. It certainly played down the religious elements of the film. This is sacred Jewish history, but something that the Christians put a lot of faith in as well, as certainly Jesus was a descendant of these people. It’s belief that the Jews have to share. Even the Koran has this story in it as well. The look of this film in incredible. Made for 3-D, the sets and scenery are simply stunning. I must admit that it would have been much harder for Cecil B. DeMille to create what he did in the California Mojave Desert for Charleton Heston to march around in. There has to be comparisons between the two films. Though stunning for it’s time, the technology has brought so much more visual quality to the film today. Perhaps this is a problem, as the look is so absolutely stunning, that it seems they lost the power of one of the greatest stories ever. The movie runs over 2 1/2 hours, and it looks like it was chopped down quite a bit to make it that “short”. But at the same time, they really feel rushed through a lot of the very important parts, and spread out long scenes that seemed to have little purpose. I am not even going to chop down the religious elements of the movie, because that is personal belief, but some of the choices are mind boggling. The plagues are upon us quite suddenly, and portrayed with a great deal of clarity and reality, but the who purpose of who, what, why, and how, was largely just skipped over. Moses seems much more of a bystander to all of this, rather than the stunning leader and general the Heston portrayed. The burning bush where Moses talks to God is shown, but the bush has no purpose or real reason to even exist. God is a little British boy who is a bit of a brat, and only shows up when he feels like it, and gives Moses no real clue what to do. Likewise, Moses is wallowing in self doubt and mostly watching events unfold. Basically, I’m afraid this movie missed the mark because they simply forgot to pay attention to the storytelling because they were so enthralled by the special effects. This is a shame, as it could have been a real solid movie experience. You’re going to lose the religious fanatics immediately when you change anything from the Bible account, that’s to be expected. But they lost a great many of the rest of the public when the story just was so strange, and the casting rather haphazard, and the director was lost in the stars reveling over the technological miracles. They made a beautiful and stunning film with hollow storytelling.

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