Ed's Review Dot Com

DreamWorks Animation, Pacific Data Images (PDI),

Benedict Cumberbatch, John Malkovich, Peter Stormare, Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights

The penguins from the Madagascar series of films are back in their own adventure. Rescuing a baby penguin and being chased by seals, the penguins run into an evil genius named Dr. Octavius Brine but who is really old friend octopus Dave who is out to destroy the world as we know it, starting by capturing all the penguins in all the zoos of the world to turn them into monsters. The penguins have to team up with an elite fighting force, The North Wind, to try to fight the evil genius.

I have not been wildly amazed at Dreamworks films lately. I was not a huge fan of the whole Madagascar series. So when this film came out, I did not expect too much. I didn’t take my Grandkids (all 10 of them) to see this in the theater as I didn’t expect much. Now, I’m sorely disappointed that I did not. Just released this week, the Penguins of Madagascar really impressed me very much. The humor was great. Though it’s a very Despicable Me type film (and many, many others with the evil genius setting out for revenge), it was really well done. The characters were very well developed which is difficult when you must take a couple lovable sidekick characters and turn them into leads, and these kind of spin offs usually don’t turn out well. But I feel like this one really did. The smooth and efficient North Wind were hysterical and a great addition to the film. My grandkids would have loved seeing this on the big screen. The characters are fun, the humor is real, and the adventure is exciting. Several chases are outstanding and very exciting. All in all this animated adventure knocks it out of the park. If you have kids, watch it with them. If you love animation, make sure you see this movie. And don’t forget the Cheezy Dibbles.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Causeway Films, Smoking Gun Productions,

Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Hayley McElhinney, Barbara West, Ben Winspear

Amelia (Essie Davis) is a single Mom raising her young son Robbie (Daniel Henshaw). Her husband was violently killed in an auto accident on the way to the hospital when Robbie was born, but the Mother and Son survived. Robbie is obsessed with monsters and his life is consumed with monsters to the point that none of the other mothers will allow their children to associate with them anymore. But when a strange book appears called “Mister Babadook” about a horrible monster who knocks on the door wanting to come in and possess the children in the house. Amelia passes it off as a bad story for Robbie and tries to destroy the book, but she’s unable to. Soon she too believes in “Mister Babadook” and the real horror begins.

This is an extremely low budget film, but that does not detract from it a bit. Rumor has it that this film was financed via donations, and that’s probably true. But it’s a very creepy horror film. It’s very well done, and it’s simple but very scary. This is a homage to the old school horror films about a monster that may turn out to be real, and it’s guaranteed that it will frighten you. The simplicity of the story is one of it’s greatest assets. This is just a really frightening tale. This film was just released on DVD this week. It was also made available for streaming from Netflix and others at the same time. I suspect it may make it’s rounds on the premium channels. If you are, as I am, a fan of horror films then this is one you not miss. Without gory and bizarre bloody deaths, this film just simply builds the suspense by what you don’t see, but what you hear, and what that makes you imagine. This is what makes a great horror film.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, 21 Laps Entertainment, 1492 Pictures,

Ben Stiller, Rebel Wilson, Robin Williams, Own Wilson, Ricky Gervais, Ben Kingsley

Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is back in the 3rd installment of Night at the Museum, and a new shipment has arrived at the museum. The tablet wakes them up at night too, and they all find themselves in great danger. But greater danger is just ahead as the tablet is becoming corroded and losing it’s power. When it’s gone, all the magic will end. Larry convinces his boss Dr. McFee (Ricky Gervais), who doesn’t believe in the magic, to let him take the tablet to London to the museum where an Egyptian pharoah (Ben Kingsley) knows the secret of the tablet and how to repair and recharge it. But with some stowaways on the trip, they get into a gigantic battle to save themselves and the tablet.

This is a fitting finale to the trilogy. In the end, I don’t see a way for them to turn out another one of these. But as sequels go this was worthy of the franchise. If you like the first two, then this one definitely is not going to disappoint you. But it is definitely not as good as the first one, if that matters. It sort of felt like maybe Ben Stiller is getting tired of these films and ready to put it all behind him. It’s also sad to see Robin Williams again after the tragedy that happened to him. Basically all the characters are back, and the mischief they get into is similar to the other two. The wrap up in the end it touching, and the characters are just what you’d expect. I really cannot comment on their acting skills since they’re the same characters played by the same people, so they are what they already are. The story could maybe have been a bit better written, but it’s probably good enough for what it is. I really enjoyed the entertainment this little trip down memory lane provided, and though I chose to wait for the DVD, now that it’s out, it’s worth spending some time to watch, especially as I said, if you enjoyed the first two.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Daryl Prince Productions, 2S Films, DiNovi Pictures,

Hilary Swank, Emmy Rossum, Josh Duhamel, Loretta Devine, Ernie Hudson, Frances Fisher, Marcia Gay Harden, Ali Larter, Jason Ritter, Julian McMahon, Andrea Savage

Kate (Hilary Swank) is a concert pianist. She’s a smart and a strong woman, but when she was diagnosed with ALS, her life began to fall apart. Her husband Evan is doing his best to take care of her, but Kate feels guilty for putting him through everything that she’s going thorough. She hires a college student, Bec (Emmy Rossum) to be her caretaker, but Bec is also a mess. Her mother has convinced her she’s a loser who will never amount to anything. But the bond between Kate and Bec grows stronger as they each teach each other what they need to survive.

ALS is a horrible disease. Playing someone with a degenerative disease like this isn’t easy. But Hillary Swank is a hell of an actress. It must have been horrible to have to play this part, and trust me, this film tugs at all the heart strings. There are many great characters in this movie, and it’s certainly sad enough. But this is a very touching story. Very well written, and stunningly acted, this is a story well worth telling. In addition, it certainly addresses the difficulty of taking care of someone in this condition, and it also shows the pain that it causes to be unable to take care of yourself and the desire not to be a burden to those who love and care for you. It’s touching how each of these two helped the other. This is a movie that is really well done, and superbly performed. The story is well worth the time spent, and this is a movie that everyone ought to see. I highly recommend this film.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Black Bear Pictures, Bristol Automotive,

Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Allen Leech , Matthew Beard, Charles Dance, Mark Strong, James Northcote, Tom Goodman-Hill

The true story of Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) who is as much responsible for today’s computers as anyone else, but who was never credited for his discoveries because of the top secret world he lived in. When we heard of James Bond, we learned that he worked for MI6, a top secret level of British security forces. Well there were only MI1 through MI5 that was known, but there was an MI6 that Ian Flemming wrote his novels about. Alan Turing was part of that. He was a mathematical genius, only in his 20’s yet a professor and a very strange fellow. Chosen for his ability to solve puzzles, he was recruited into MI6 to find a solution to the infamous German Enigma code machine. The British had recovered a machine, but it was worthless to them as the Germans changed the key code every day, and there were thousands of millions of possible combinations. Alan and his team worked on trying to crack the code using a smart machine. But far more than that, we follow Alan’s life as a young man, though his efforts to crack the code, and through a third time in his life when he was arrested for what you can hardly believe and punished for not doing anything at all. This is a thrilling adventure through the real life events based upon his autobiography.

Wow, this was a good week for DVD releases. This is another great film. It’s I guess what you would call a docu-drama since it’s acted by some excellent people, but this is truly Benedict Cumberbatch’s movie. I don’t know that anyone else could have pulled this off, and he did an excellent job (even if you ask Alan’s family), and I learned a great deal about WWII from this film. I also took the time to listen to the director and writer commentary after watching the film through, and I enjoyed the extra time learning more about the efforts they went through to make this film realistic. There were so many things I never knew that I picked up from this film. Historical dramas can be boring and tedious to sit through, but this is such a good mystery, and we, as an audience, get to participate in Alan’s team to try to solve the puzzle. And after they built this amazing machine, you won’t believe how they used it, and what happened to this miraculous discovery at the end of the war. This is well worth watching, and I highly recommend this movie since it is now available on DVD. It’s likely one you missed, but with the attention throughout the awards season this year, this is one you need to see.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog