Ed's Review Dot Com

New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), WingNut Films,

Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Evangeline Lilly, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Orlando Bloom, Luke Evans

The final chapter of J.R.R. Tolkien’s book, The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings series comes to a fine conclusion. As we left off, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) has awakened Smaug, the mighty dragon that is guarding the castle filled with gold belonging to the rightful Dwarf King Thorin (Richard Armitage), and is on the way to burn the already suffering town of Lake-town. But even after Smaug is dealt with, it won’t be easy to take back this fortress as it is highly desired by everyone, from the Dwarves, to the Elf’s to the Orc’s to the Goblins. All amass outside the gates of the city to fight the mightiest war of all times in the Battle of the Five Armies.

This trilogy has been absolutely awesome. Years ago I read all 4 books of Tolkien’s series, the first 3 large books which made up “The Lord of the Rings” with Frodo, grandson of Bilbo Baggins, as the hero. But after writing the books, Tolkien realized there was a lot of things left out of the history and to explain why things the way they were, so he wrote The Hobbit, where Bilbo takes Frodo aside to tell him the whole truth of what happened decades before when he was young. The Hobbit is a smaller book and much easier to read, and I have always enjoyed it much better than the other three that I found so complicated and hard to follow that it was really difficult to understand. The movies helped a lot, but it was a breeze going through The Hobbit, and I enjoyed it by far the most of all. But each of the 3 Lord of the Rings Trilogy of films was a much bigger book, and and entire book in one film. In the Hobbit a much smaller book was turned and stretched into 3 movies. The most heard complaint was that there was too much filler, the battle scenes were far too drawn out, and it was a mistake to try to stretch this out to 9 hours of film. But I found that I enjoyed the Hobbit films as much, if not even more so that the first Trilogy, and I was glad to have so much to watch.

But with the long delays between each of the films in this trilogy, I found it hard to follow. Director Peter Jackson and the Studios found a solution to that problem as well. Plus the were able to make a small fortune by releasing a MARATHON of ALL THREE FILMS two days early. Not only that, but in IMAX 3D. So we did it. I found out about this months ago, and scheduled Monday December 15th, 2014 as a vacation day. I bought the tickets a month early. My wife and I, and three of my four sons arrived about 12:30PM to the HUGE original full size IMAX screen at the Edwards Theaters in the Irvine Spectrum. This is a HUGE theater, and it’s a few years old, so not the most comfortable theater in the world, but it is the hugest screen we could find, and real IMAX picture and sound. The first film “An Unexpected Journey” kicked off at 1PM, and was done a little around a little after 4:00PM. Then the second film, “The Desolation of Smaug” started about 4:30, and finally we got to see the final film’s premier at 7:45. We finally finished up a little after 10:30, and we had a full day of Hobbit.

A few people showed up in costume, bringing Hobbit style snacks of veggies, milk, cheese, and fruit (How they got that past the usher I don’t know), but the majority were just big fans of the film. Lots of nerds like us were into it. There was a trivia table set up, and really good food from the snack bar. We got to see a couple special features, though very short. Between the first movie and the second, we got to see a short showing the London premier of “Battle of the Five Armies” featuring a great many of the characters in the film giving their thoughts and memories about filming these movies. But between the 2nd and the 3rd Movie Peter Jackson appeared on screen and talked about his feelings (He says he likes the third film the best) about the movies and congratulated us for being the first people on the planet to get to watch all 3 Hobbit films back to back to back. Then he said next time we will have to do all six.

I thought this experience was unique enough to speak a bit about, as I have never spent 9 hours in a movie theater before, although at one time years ago I did see a marathon of all three Star Wars films back to back to back. But the imagery in IMAX 3D was incredible. This is one AMAZING series with unbelievable special effects and CGI. The story is spell binding, and we are so familiar with the characters of the first two movies, that this was an incredible way to refresh everything and end the story while it’s all in mind. Basically, this is nearly a perfect film, perfectly cast, and perfectly filmed. There were several 3D moments that really made me jump with their realism. If you have seen the first two films in this series, RUN, don’t walk to the theater and see it. If you have not seen the first two, they’re on DVD, so watch them, and then get to the theater for Part 3 before it’s too late. This was the ultimate ending to the story, and left me thirsting to go back and watch the Lord of the Rings Trilogy once again before too much time passes. I LOVED it. This was a very memorable day!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Disneynature,

John C. Reilly

This film, narrated by John C Reilly, is the story of a mama bear and her two cubs, one boy and one girl, and their first long year of survival in the Alaskan wilderness. Life is dangerous there, especially for cubs, and Mama has to be on her toes to keep them safe and fed. They have many challenges from other wildlife, to a lack of food, to the harsh elements to keep them in constant danger, but as we see, they have time now and then for fun and learning as well.

Every year on Earth Day, Disneynature gives us a new wildlife film. These have been kind of hit and miss. Some were excellent, others not so amazing. This one is different than most, for the simple reason that it goes back to the age old Disney style of making a story out of the nature footage.

Since the very early days, Walt Disney wanted to educate families and teach them about those animals that share our planet. Disney sent out wildlife photographers all over the world to capture years worth of footage of wild animals at work and play from pole to pole. Often on Sunday Night int he 50’s and 60’s as we sat down at Grandma’s house after dinner (she had the only color tv) to watch The Wonderful World of Color. Sometimes a Disney “Tru Life Adventure” or other animal film would come on and I undoubtedly would feel disappointed. Who wants to see “Charlie the Lonesome Cougar” when it could be an hour with Mickey and Pluto, or Donald, or Goofy. But every time I was pulled in and sucked into the story and I always loved it. I still occasionally get to see one of the old nature films on cable. Disney took some flack for naming the critters and making us believe that they knew what they were thinking. “Leonardo the Lion knew that it was time for something to eat before he became too weak, and he was tired of the same old thing. He was looking for something a little different tonight”. Purists want their nature films to be plain and straight forward like some of the National Geographic specials that have very little narration. In “Bears” John C. Reilly goes all out with the script, giving us all the thoughts, feeling, worries, and problems that the bears face. This is a story worthy of Disney of old, and whether or not the bears are actually thinking all this stuff or not, we get it all. John C Reilly I thought at first was a rather unusual choice for the narrator, but after I while I came to realize that a Morgan Freeman or a James Earl Jones voice wouldn’t have been suitable for this script. John C Reilly’s everyman approach to the story was actually quite perfect. I know this is one nature film that young and old will both enjoy, and I thought it was artfully done. Hooray for the Disneynature folks taking a shot at doing a nature film the old way by giving the animals character and making them seem real. I really enjoyed this year’s film.

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Village Roadshow Pictures, Warner Bros., Weed Road Pictures,

Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe, Will Smith, Jennifer Connelly, Matt Bomer, William Hurt, Jessica Brown Findlay, Eva Marie Saint, Lucy Griffiths

Peter Lake (Colin Farrell) was an orphan child taken in by one of the servants of the devil and trained to be a master thief. When he breaks into to a rich Manhattan home to steal their goods, he suddenly finds he is not alone. The daughter, Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay) who is very ill is home alone. But when Peter lays eyes on her, he falls deeply for her and so begins the decade long love story of Peter and Beverly spanning generations.

This is a fairy tale story of good versus evil, magic and miracles, but most of all a love story. Epically spread over a hundred years or so, we get to watch this touching beautiful tale that really impressed me. With great actors in great roles, this is an epic love story that is sure to touch the heard of the darkest cynic. It’s well crafted, told slowly and unfolding piece by piece one step at a time. It will mislead you, break your heart, and bring tears to your eyes. Monumental storytelling at it’s finest, Colin Farrell is awesome. The relationship between Russell Crowe’s character and that of Will Smith will surprise you. This is an epic tale worthy of Princess Bride. This is simply a wonderful story, and one that I would really have hated to miss.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Moving Picture Company (MPC), Roth Films, Walt Disney Pictures,

Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville

We have all been told the story of Aurora and how she slept 100 years waiting for her prince to come and awaken her with loves first kiss. So in this new live action film from Disney, Aurora (Elle Fanning) comes to tell us the true story of what happened in her own words. We find that Maleficent was a good fairy and one of the strongest of the people in the land of fairies and elves, across the river from the land of humans who didn’t get along with the fairies. But Maleficent turned into her evil self by having her heart broken by someone she though she loved. When Aurora was born, Maleficent showed up without an invitation and put a curse on the baby that she would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and sleep until awakened by loves first kiss.

This is a twisted look at the story in a new way, and was a fantastic fairy tale movie that turns things around. Legend is never absolute truth, and what we know of the story of Sleeping Beauty that is like no other. I think Disney stole some of the ideas from “Once Upon a Time” as there are many similarities between the two stories. I felt Maleficent was much more of a multi faceted personage that has the capability for both good and evil depending on the circumstances she is faced with. Angeline plays a perfect Maleficent, and did an excellent job. Elle Fanning is also very good, and she’s grown so talented and beautiful. I saw the film in IMAX 3-D and it was worth every cent. I really enjoyed the movie from start to finish, and it was very, very well done. The 3-D effects are never in your face, and very subtle, but add a lot, especially on the IMAX screen. The sets and scenery are awesome. I could have enjoyed the soundtrack a bit more if it wasn’t so off the wall, but it still rocked. The two lands are very different, and the fairyland is really beautiful. The three fairies were definitely the comic relief and they were pretty funny.

Essentially, this is Angelina’s movie, but it was so made for her that it’s hard to not appreciate it. She has a range of emotions off the scale, and she pulls it all together. I am certain Disney has a huge box office coming for this film, and it’s good to see another blockbuster coming out of the Mouse House that isn’t a cartoon. It’s PG, so there is a little bit of scary stuff that might scare tiny kids, but it’s really made for children, and yet it has the means to pull out the inner child in each of us. This is a must see.

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The Weinstein Company, Yucaipa Films, Pathé,

Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Anna Maxwell Martin, Ruth McCabe, Barbara Jefford, Kate Fleetwood, Peter Hermann, Mare Winningham, Michelle Fairley

This is the true life story of Philomena (Judi Dench) who when she was a young girl, found herself pregnant and her family sent her off to live in a convent. She had a son, who was given away to an adoptive couple. Fifty years later, Philomena finally tells her daughter about her older step brother and the daughter convinces her to contact a disgraced reporter Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) and together they make a desperate search for the son she had never heard from again.

This is such a wonderful story. It’s basically built on fact, although they did change a few things around to try to make it a better (or less controversial) story. The real Philomena is on the special features, and tells a lot about her side of the story and how she was thrilled to have Dame Judi Dench play her in this film. She cooperated with the movie and was very pleased that her story could be shared to the world. There are a lot of surprises, and unexpected events along the journey, and it’s really tragic, but Philomena has such a good spirit and a forgiving nature, that she doesn’t hold any grudges against anyone, even though she has many reasons too. Judi Dench is fabulous as always, and carries the story. But Steve Coogan, who seems at first to be a rather odd choice, actually is very appropriate as Martin Sixsmith, and deftly portrays the characters bias and fears, and lack of belief, completely unlike Philomena. The story tells the story of these odd friends, perhaps more than the story of Philomena’s son. Certainly this is all about the journey. Very, very touching, and I must admit that I was spellbound by this story. It made me mad, but also, again due to Philomena’s character, made me feel good after all. This is an excellent film, and certainly deserved more praise than it got this past years awards season. This, to me, has to be the best picture I’ve seen in 2013. I loved it, and I highly recommend this story if you have an ounce of compassion in your body. Wonderfully written, and spectacularly performed. This is a wonderful movie.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog