Ed's Review Dot Com

Lionsgate, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Lakeshore Entertainment,

Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin, Julianna Margulies, Mark Margolis, Lucy Punch, Addison Timlin, Vanessa Ferlito, Katheryn Winnick, Bill Burr

Valentine (Al Pacino) has been released from prison, and old time pal Doc (Christopher Walken) is there to pick him, take him home, and let him stay with him. These guys are old, but had lots of adventures back in the day, and their lock picking and gun slinging skills are still fresh. They break into the nursing home to bust out their 3rd partner, Hirsch (Alan Arkin) and the gang is back together. They’re not looking for trouble, but trouble just seems to jump out of the shadows and kick them in the butt.

I have to say, I really enjoyed this film. Pacino and Walken carry most of it, but the little bit Arkin is in is really great too. These guys are funny, and especially Val (Pacino) who is out of control, completely. There’s a lot more going on than just a old geezer gangster pic, but at the surface that’s what it really is. Doc has a couple big conflicts going on with someone who needs to know the truth, and with a very unpleasant task that he has to do no matter how much he hates it. Val is a real friend, and like a huge kid who’s always in trouble, he’s got a good heart, and he really wants to help Doc through his problems. There are some other good roles and good actors. There’s many layers to this film, and I was really surprised at the depth of the story. Kudos to the screenwriters as well, as the script is certainly beefy enough for these guys to chew on. I was disappointed in some of the more recent Pacino films, and this one was something he could certainly bring his A game into and it was a very good outing for him. Basically, I really enjoyed watching this film, and if you’re interested for some senior citizen comedy and action, you’re sure to enjoy this too, I think.

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Marvel Studios, Paramount Pictures,

Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is back from the epic battle in New York with all the other Avengers. He seems to have grown a lot, and has changed. More introspective, he’s been busy building a whole bunch of new suits, and has probably become obsessed with keeping busy to ward off the increasing panic attacks he’s suffering from. But when an ultra villain “The Mandarin” (Ben Kingsley) takes over the worlds airways to teach the world leaders a lesson, he proves himself to be not only cunning and clever, but extremely tough too . It will take Iron Man, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), and all of their best stuff just to survive this massive battle.

I had the pleasure of dropping $45.00 for my wife and I to see this film in Imax 3D and D-Box. The Imax screen was awesome, the 3D effects were spectacular, and the D-Box (motion seats)…..eh..not so much. I’ve been anxious to try these out, and I can see one good thing about them. When the movie starts, nothing happens. The are still and silent and don’t move a speck. Then the first time there’s a loud noise on the screen they vibrate and by that time you’ve forgotten about them and they startle the hell out of you. But I’ve seen 3D magic motion movies in Vegas, Universal Studios, and Dave and Busters, and they show runaway train cars, roller coasters, and stuff like that that are really a thrill, but these chairs, though comfortable, are no big add to the action on the screen. They don’t move enough to give you any real sense of being in the film, and aside from a fairly decent back massage, they really aren’t that much. I would rather just turn them on, and let them vibrate continuously through the 2 hour film, and perhaps I’d come out without this aching back I’ve had all week. But enough about the chairs: On to the movie.

Robert Downey Jr. has Iron Man down pat now. Throughout the film I was pondering, is Iron Man the man, or is Iron Man the suit. Not in a literal way, but figuratively. There is an expression that “clothes make the man”. I wonder if that’s true in Stark’s case. But he’s tired, kind of like Bond has been in the last few films (especially Skyfall), and it shows how all the “world saving” has worn him out. He really has settled in pretty well. He really cares for Pepper, and he’s given up a lot of the shenanigans he was noted for. But when he’s needed, he’s ready to give all to save the world. And this time it really takes it out of him. The acting is excellent. Each of these characters knows who he is now, and they’re comfortable in their suit. Even Jarvis, the voice of the suit, is kind of like Kitt from Night Rider with his gentle voice and desire to help in whatever is needed. Perhaps he’s a little C3PO too without the yellow streak. I enjoyed this story very much. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that each Iron Film has gotten better and better, and this one has to be my favorite of the three. I can’t compete with The Avengers, of course, but of all the Tony Stark/Iron Man films, this has to be the best story, best explosions, best fight scenes, and the most fun to watch. Of course seeing it on an IMAX screen with 3D glasses helps a lot. But this is one exciting adventure film that does not disappoint. This is a must see on the big screen while you can.

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Apaches Entertainment, Telecinco Cinema, Mediaset España,

Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, Oaklee Pendergast, Marta Etura, Sonke Mohring

This is the story of a regular family, Maria (Naomi Watts) and Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons, who are on a vacation to Thailand at Christmas of 2004. They were happy to get upgraded to a beachfront villa at the Orchid when the huge tsunami hits. The family is by the pool, and they all are swept away. Maria and her oldest son, Lucas (Tom Holland) survive by holding on to a log floating by, but Maria is seriously injured and there is no sign of Dad or the other two boys. Trying to survive, and to find the rest of the family is the main goal of Lucas as he does his best to help others while watching out for his Mom. This is an exciting true story of the 2004 tsunami and the horrible damage it caused, while showing the best of humanity in trying to help each other survive.

This is a very realistic movie, and a real tear jerker. The events are really impressive considering there was not a big budget for this Spanish film. The producers purposely chose to use real effects instead of CGI, which is a great choice, in my opinion. As stated by the actors on the special features, at times they were totally beaten around, hurt, and scared half to death, as the effects were done with tons of water being dumped on them! This adds a lot to the realism of the film. I can’t attest to the accuracy of all the events, but they swear it’s a true story. What transcends the family, though is all the chaos and mayhem around them. This is the story of all the survivors. Additionally, a brilliant idea from the producers was to use real survivors as most of the extras in the film. They lived through it, so knew exactly how it happened. For example, there is a little boy named “Daniel” in the film who is reunited with his father. Supposedly the father in the film is the real little boy’s father (although the boy was named Johan) and he is reacting to what happened to him in real life when he was reunited with his own son. The emotions are certainly played with, and this is a really sad and tragic story, but it’s well done, and very realistic considering what they had to work with. The real star of the film is Lucas, and there have been a wide range of reviews of his performance, all the way from wooden and stiff to academy award level. I feel he did a pretty good job. Actor Tom Holland is certainly older than the role he was portraying, as if often the case (Ralph Macchio anyone?), but he realistically plays a young man in a horrible situation. Yes, he’s not real animated, but at the same time, he’s playing someone who’s been through a horrible ordeal and he’s watching the carnage all around him. He would be in shock himself, and I can’t imagine how the real young man would react in that situation. So for the role he’s playing, I think he did a really good job. This is really his story.

This is a stunning film, and one that will truly touch you, so I think it really deserving of a lot of attention. The worldwide audience was pretty decent for this film, and it seems like only in the US, did this pretty much get ignored. I really hope it has a resurgence in Video form, and that the word will get out that this is an excellent film and one that ought to be seen. I highly recommend it, but don’t put the little kids through this. The realism will be too much for them. The PG-13 rating is pretty accurate as younger children will probably be frightened at the realistic portrayal of the tsunami.

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

Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) is old, and speaking with Frodo. Bilbo explains that everything he told Frodo was the truth, but that there were some things that he did not tell him. Then he begins to tell the story of how it all began. It began with a meeting with Gandalf and a mismatched group of unlikely heroes that appeared at Bilbo’s home to discus and upcoming adventure, one that Bilbo is very opposed to even undertaking. The Hobbit, the story of Bilbo and the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy was written long after the other books, but is a fitting prequel to the tales of middle earth. In this first installment, the team gets started on their journey, and Bilbo gets separated, and in the process meets Gollum and begins a battle of wits with him, nearly becoming his lunch. The Hobbit has been broken into pieces and this is the first of a proposed trilogy of a story that is surely rich and deep enough to have plenty of adventures to come.

This is a beautiful film! The Lord of the Rings was an epic trilogy, but I have always loved “The Hobbit” much more than the other books. That comes out in this story which is much easier to follow (in my humble opinion) than the LOTR series. The original actors are back, and the origins and secrets of Gollum is worth watching this film by itself. Bilbo’s experience with him under the lonely mountain is epic. There are some truly epic battles, and the technology is superior. But it’s all about the story, and this story is one of the greatest ever written. It looks and sound stunning, but the story sucks you in right from the start. It was great to see the scenes come to life that came from the pages of a book. This was a definite 5 star film and should not be missed.

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Universal Pictures, Chernin Entertainment, Ironhead Studios,

Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau , Melissa Leo, Zoe Bell, Andrea Riseborough, James Rawlings

Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) is a repairman taking care of the drones that defend the power stations that support life after the apocalypse. It’s the future and the wars have devastated the Earth. All the survivors were taken to Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, and the only one with a dense atmosphere. It’s 2077 and Jack and his partner Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) are finishing up there term as the mop up crew, keeping the machines running. But there is some kind of survivor creatures running around trying to sabotage the entire operation and Jack is having dreams and memories of places he doesn’t know and people he can’t remember. Jack is driven to find the truth in this latest blockbuster Tom Cruise Sci-Fi film.

First of all, I broke the bank and went to see this baby on the day after payday at the ETX theater. This means HUGE wall to wall, extremely high def digital projection, and 360 degree surround sound with speakers all over the ceiling from front to back. The picture was beautiful, and the sound was pretty awesome. The soundtrack music is a bit strange and the constant tones over our heads and echoing around the sides was a tiny bit annoying, but the explosions and dialog was fantastic. There are several locations in the film that are stunningly beautiful and the deserts and wastelands are extremely dreary and barren. The cinematography is excellent, and even Tom Cruise does a good job in his role. This is one of the best Cruise films in a long time. The story is a mish-mash of tributes a dozen other sci films. There isn’t much new anymore, so they take bits and pieces of great sci-fi films from 2001 A Space Odyssey, all the way to Wall-E and lots more in between. But at the same time, the action is non-stop and the story has enough twist and surprises to keep it fresh. Nobody’s put all the pieces together this way before. Though a tribute to the greatest sci-fi work, it’s somehow an original story. This was an exciting evening, and a pretty decent film. I suspect it will do very well. It was well worth the extra fee for the ETX showing.

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