Ed's Review Dot Com

Columbia Pictures, LStar Capital, Village Roadshow Pictures,

Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Andy Garcia

Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) is a passenger aboard a commercial ship with 5000 passengers and several hundred crew all sound asleep in a sort of hibernation. The trip takes 120 years. The 5000 volunteers agreed to the journey leaving their friends and relatives behind for a new start in a new world. But a strange malfunction takes place on the self contained, self repairing ship and Jim and Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence) are the only ones awakened 90 years too soon who have nothing to look forward to but growing old and dying on the ship all alone.

This was a movie that I really longed to see. This is 100% my type of movie, and I got a chance tonight to watch it on the big screen with ATMOS sound and I was in awe. The characters, there are really only 4 of them, are extremely well developed, and this is an amazingly deep story. It really makes you think, and addresses very significant moral struggles. But the suspense is “edge of your seat” spectacular and the view is stunningly beautiful. There are some shots that are some of the greatest I have ever seen. This is a stunning performance from both Chris and Jennifer, but also great performances from Michael Sheen who portrays an android bartender with great wit and wisdom, and Laurence Fishburne with his usual gusto in his role attempting to save the day. All in all, this is a wonderful people story with great characters and deep thoughts, but matched with a very exciting disaster science fiction adventure that is very, very exciting. This is the best film I have seen in 2016 and I waited to see this on December 31st. If can catch this one in the theater, this is well worth the price of the ticket. Don’t miss this the way it needs to be seen. Don’t wait for rental on this movie.

Lucasfilm, Allison Shearmur Productions, Black Hangar Studios,

Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Wen Jiang, Forest Whitaker

Jyn (Felicity Jones) lives with her parents, farming and mostly hiding out. But Jyn’s Father is a scientist and is recruited by force by the Empire to work on a new project of Lord Vader (James Earl Jones), a death star with the power to destroy a planet. When her father is abducted and her mother is killed, Jyn hides out until she is rescued by rebel fighter Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker). As time passes, the death star nears completion, but a plan is hatched to steal the plans and get them to the rebel alliance so that they will know how to destroy the death star. This is the story that fits in between Chapters Three and Chapter Four and tells the background information of what happened before the first Star Wars movie back in 1977.

This Star Wars movie was made for the fans. Perhaps this film wouldn’t be as powerful to someone who did not know the characters. There are no long lasting characters, and it is a fill in film, not part of the main story, but it does fill in some very useful information that makes things a lot easier to understand, and reveals some of the mysteries that are missing between these two films. This was very entertaining film and it was quite a lot of fun. It’s a long movie, but went by so fast. There is a lot of really good action scenes, lots of suspense, and lots of throwbacks to the main films. Felicity Jones isn’t the strongest lead in a Star Wars movie, but in my opinion she was good enough. I think she played her role that she was given. Much like Luke Skywalker she did not ask to be a hero. She was a simple girl who was put into this situation because of who her father was. She has some supporters who have interesting stories too. This is not intended to be as great as the other films, and my personal opinion is that it was better than the “horrible three” Chapters one, two, and three. You just have to set your expectations a little bit lower as it’s not a part of the main series, as I’ve said before, but it’s a wonderful addition to the wealth of the story. This is not one to miss.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Atlas Entertainment, Legendary Entertainment, Blizzard Entertainment,

Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Ben Schnetzer, Robert Kazinsky, Daniel Wu, Anna Galvin, Ruth Negga, Clancy Brown, Dylan Schombing, Terry Notary, Callum Keith Rennie, Dean Redman

Based on the Blizzard video games, this high adventure film follows the story line of when the Horde came through a portal into the land of Azeroth which is run by the human race. Orcs come through because their world is in ruins and they want to wage war to take over the world. All of the bravery, magic, and strength will be needed to protect Azeroth.

This film is very well done. Blizzard is a classic company, and I generally am not a big fan of video games turned into movies, but this was technically superb. Special effects. The action is very good as are the battle scenes. I must admit I played World of Warcraft for a number of years, although I have never seen the earlier single player games, but seeing some of the locations was a real treat, although I must admit that I played the game completing quests and not paying much to the back story. I really enjoyed the action and adventure in this movie, and I think it was very well made, and as such, I recommend this movie. It was a lot of fun!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Allison Shearmur Productions, Keep Your Head, Lionsgate,

Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, Juliette Lewis, Emily Meade, Miles Heizer, Kimiko Glenn, Samira Wiley, Marc John Jefferies

Vee (Emma Roberts) is a high school senior, and a shy wallflower type of girl. Her best friend, Sydney (Emily Meade) is outgoing and very popular, although she is hiding her own problems. Sydney introduces Vee to a new underground app called Nerve which is like Truth or Dare without the truth option. When joining the app, you choose to be a watcher or a player. By embarrassing Vee, she dares her into becoming a player, but once you start you cannot quit, and things escalate quickly as the dares grow more and more insane. This is a high action thriller right out of the pages of today’s social media world.

This was a very refreshing story, very modernistic, and quite suspenseful. Eama Roberts and Dave Franco are awesome as a team and Emma is really turning into a daredevil here. (Watch the special features on the DVD to see her experiences filming this.) The rest of the cast is very good as well. The action scenes are very well done and the special effects are awesome. All in all, this is a really spectacular film, filled with really good characters doing really crazy and dangerous things for fame and money, just like real life! The script is excellent. I would love to find the book, it seems like a really good read. The director team did a splendid job as well, and all the performers are really good, so this this is a solid film, and one I can recommend. See it.

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Chernin Entertainment, Scope Pictures,

Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Samuel L. Jackson, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett, Judi Dench, Chris O’Dowd, Ella Purnell, Terence Stamp, Kim Dickens, Milo Parker

Essentially a fantastic story about a young man, Jake (Asa Butterfield) who is very close to his elderly grandfather, but can’t seem to connect with this own father. When grandfather Abe (Terence Stamp) is killed under mysterious circumstances, Jake and his father head over to Wales to find the orphanage where Grandpa Abe stayed as a child, and Miss Peregrine, the odd mistress of the home about which Abe has told stories to Jake since he was a little child that would certainly make Mary Poppins jealous. Miss Peregrine and the children who live in the home have many secrets, mostly very dark, about those who want to destroy them, monsters and all sorts of misfits all around. Jake needs to find out that he’s someone special after all, just like Grandpa promised.

This is a live action adventure by Tim Burton. Yeah, when you see Tim Burton’s name producing a film, you know it’s going to be quite strange, and this is certainly not an exception by any means. This is one really weird story, and fans of Burton will surely love the weirdness more than anything else. But it’s a damn good story too, and though it is quite unrealistic most of the way, it does have a certain charm to it, plus a cameo by Dame Judy Dench too. All kinds of supernatural things abound, and nothing is ever as it seems to be. But underneath it all, it’s a familiar story of a young boy who feels out of it like he’s not anybody special, who needs to come to grips with the hero in him. Now I was an avid reader in my youthful days, and though I have lost that due to a huge lack of time to read anymore, I still respect those whose passion is the printed page. This, as I understand, is a wonderful book, and the movie does not follow the story very closely and departs across many of the characters. I can’t comment on that because I have not read the book, so my review of this is only of the film, and I really liked it. I splurged the extra three bucks for a pair of 3D glasses and the 3D was pleasurable. I really enjoy that technology and rarely am I disappointed in the 3D effects. After a few minutes, you get into the story and begin to forget that it’s actually 3D which is I think a good thing, but I have to admit that I was very enthralled with this film and enjoyed it very much. Certainly a can’t miss for Tim Burton fans, but anyone who is a fan of quirky adventure stories that are certainly out of the ordinary would, I think, enjoy this movie as well. This is a well received film by the public, and I am very happy to give my full recommendation to this one. It is PG-13 and there are some creatures that would be scary for little kids, but for Teens to Seniors, this is a good little movie.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog