Ed's Review Dot Com

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Cold Spring Pictures, The Montecito Picture Company,

Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Danny Huston, Toni Collette, Michael Stuhlbarg, Michael Wincott, Jessica Biel, James D’Arcy, Ralph Macchio, Kurtwood Smith, Richard Portnow

This biopic is about Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) and his wife Alma (Helen Mirren) and is set in 1959. Alfred has run low on ideas, and the studios are trying to force him into directing pictures that are really way too mainstream for Hitch. Meantime, he hears about a new book, a work of fiction based upon the life of serial killer Ed Gein and decides this novel has to be his next picture. The studio disagrees, so Hitch sets out to do the picture on his own, waiving his director’s fee, and paying the entire $800,000 budget on his own.

Anthony Hopkins does a great job portraying Alfred Hitchcock, one of my favorite directors of all time. This is just a small slice of the life of Hitch, and hardly mentions all the stuff that happened before this, with his British career, which was awesome, and by the time period of this film, Hitch is old. Most people think he ought to just retire, but he’s having none of that. It also was a time when his wife and partner got really tired of his stubbornness and failure to listen to her, so it is also a bad time for their marriage. Psycho is arguably Hitch’s best film, and it is a very interesting time when he redefined himself and horror cinema at the same time. Since Paramount had no plans to promote this debacle, Hitch did the promotion himself and developed some interesting methods of setting the buzz for this film in motion. As such, lines were huge, and the film earned over 33 million despite it’s $800,000 budget and no studio help promoting this film.

Warning! If you haven’t seen Psycho, the DON’T watch this film until you’ve seen it. Psycho is a very unique film and definitely one not to miss, but watching Hitchcock first will completely spoil the film as it gives away huge spoilers in the plot. This film also debunks several of the myths that surrounded the making of the film. Helen Mirren’s role as Alma, Hitch’s wife, is very well done too. This woman was his muse and he could never have done what he did without her, but she must have had to endure a lot keeping him happy. We’re watching the making of Psycho, so several other key characters have a lot to do in this film. Janet Leigh is played by Scarlett Johansson, one of the weak point of the film. Hopkins is much more Hitchcock than Scarlett is Janet Leigh, but she does at least look a bit like her. Jessica Biel is here too, as actress Vera Miles who played Janet’s sister in Psycho.

All in all, this film shows us a lot of the genius that was Hitchcock, and it is very entertaining. I’ve always been a fan of his work, but now I feel like I know the man a lot better. He was a complex man who has many facets, and this helps us get to know a lot more about him. The scene of Hitchcock watching Psycho in a theater with a packed audience is very touching and one of my favorite moments of the film. Though he was a genius, like all of us, he was very insecure and just couldn’t risk joining the audience, though their reaction meant the world to him.

This is a beautiful movie, and captures Hollywood of 1959-60 perfectly. I really enjoyed this film, and recommend it for anyone who is at all interested in either Psycho or Alfred Hitchcock. It’s a wonderful movie.

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Imagine Entertainment, Malpaso Productions, Wintergreen Productions,

Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer, Josh Lucas, Judi Dench, Dermot Mulroney, Lea Thompson, Miles Fisher, Ed Westwick, Jeffrey Donovan, Stephen Root

J Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) was certainly a very colorful and exuberant character for decades as head of the FBI. Rumors regarding him have followed him throughout his life. Was he a cross-dresser? Was he gay? This can be disputed forever and we’ll probably never know for sure, but this bio-pic doesn’t pay much attention to that aspect of John Edgar Hoover’s life. But it does delve into his beginnings as the primary fighter of the mafia and organized crime, and his team took down quite a few mobsters. It covers his dirty tricks in compiling files and doing downright illegal wire taps and questionable surveillance methods on ordinary citizens. He was a quirky character, and was known to fire long time agents because of what they wore or how they cut their hair. A tyrant in the office, and either a friend or antagonist to the person living in the white house at the time. This film covers the career of J. Edgar right up to his sudden death.

Leonardo DiCaprio started out as just a youngster in the acting game, and had very little depth or craft. Gradually through the years, he has learned the craft and become better and better. This must be his most ambitious project to date. True, few of know much about Mr. Hoover, but Leo shows us how much he has learned in this film. This must be the week for biographical films (I just finished The Iron Lady) but this is another good biography. A biography like this can get boring, but this film never did. We really get to look into the life of this secretive public figure, but it doesn’t give us all the answers either. But it is a great look at the life and times of a really mysterious leader, very powerful, but at the same time, insecure looking person. His whole life is a bit of a paradox. Very well filmed picture, fascinating to watch, and very interesting to watch. I enjoyed this film, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in this unusual leader.

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Regency Enterprises, Summit Entertainment, Bazelevs Production,

Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Alexandra Roach, Harry Lloyd, Olivia Colman, Iain Glen, Victoria Bewick, Nicholas Farrell, John Sessions, Anthony Head, David Westhead, Julian Wadham, Richard E. Grant, Angus Wright, Roger Allam, Michael Pennington, Susan Brown, Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Meryl Streep plays Margaret Thatcher in this biopic about the first woman Prime Minister of Britain. With Jim Broadbent as Denis Thatcher, this film shows us a modern day Margaret Thatcher, virtually a prisoner in her own house, sorting her deceased husband’s clothes to donate to charity, and reminiscing about the days of her illustrious career. The film looks back at her early life, and first entry into politics, the challenges she faced like the Falkland Islands war, and serious recession. It explores her retirement from politics. This is a great story of a great world leader in the twilight of her years, looking back at her glorious days.

Many people misunderstood this really special film. It is sad to see Meryl playing Margaret as someone racked by dementia, seeing things, and forgetting a lot of details, but the purpose of this film is not some Biography Channel special about the career of Margaret Thatcher. That’s not the purpose of this film. This is a look at Margaret today, and the reminiscences of a lady who’s career is over. She had some great battles and some great times, but it’s a much a look at what it’s like to have been someone so powerful who is finally challenged by Father Time himself. No one can beat that. I have always been saddened by the final days of Ronald Reagan who was not only a great friend to Margaret Thatcher, but also a great world leader. But likewise, time took it’s toll. Still the memories of what it was like must be glorious.

Meryl Streep deserves every bit of the praises heaped upon her for this role. She was fantastic in this film, and it was easy to forget it was her and get lost in the character which is perfect for a biographical picture. I have never been a big Streep fan, per se, but I truly have to give her props for the amazing talent she has. This is a very well made film, and very touching. I goes right to your heart, and is amazing how great a leader Margaret was. I would still like to see a pure biography about her, but in the meantime, this film was really good, and I highly recommend it.

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Weinstein Company, The, BBC Films, Lipsync Productions

Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh, Dominic Cooper, Julia Ormond, Emma Watson, Judi Dench, Zoë Wanamaker, Toby Jones, Derek Jacobi, Dougray Scott

Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) is a British guy, dying to get into the movie business. He gets the chance to work as Sir Lawrence Olivier (Kenneth Branaugh)’s assistant for a movie he is making with Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams). Marilyn appears to be getting burned out on the whole Hollywood star thing, and decides to run off with Colin for a week of fun and frivolity. This movie is based on the book/diary kept by Colin of his adventures during his week with Marilyn.

This is neither a great film, nor is it a bad film. It’s relatively interesting, and it does try to give us some insight into the real Marilyn. Michelle Williams is not really Marilyn, and that’s ok. She brings to the screen the illusion of Marilyn, and that’s all that we should really expect. She does a good job of doing that. This is not really the story of Marilyn anyway. It is really Colin’s story in his words and from his point of view. Sometimes it’s rather slow, and it’s not a really exciting movie, but at the same time it is entertaining, and is a look back into the movie studio days of the past. It’s a film about movie-making, and about the people who made the movies. I don’t know if this film deserves all the accolades it was given, but it’s not too bad, and worth watching if you are interested in the subject.

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Sony Pictures [United States],

Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, Stephen Bishop, Reed Diamond, Brent Jennings, Ken Medlock, Tammy Blanchard, Glenn Morshower, Kathryn Morris

This is the true story of Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) general manager of the Oakland A’s baseball team in 2002 when he was faced with the lowest pool of money in professional baseball, but expected to put together a team. He met young college grad Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) and immediately hired him when he was told his theory of how to put together a team on a budget. Facing harsh criticism, both from the insiders of baseball, and from the fans and media, they used a computer model to develop a team of under-rated players that they could afford, and in the process had a shot at securing the longest winning streak in baseball, after a lot of resistance, especially from manager Art Howe (Phillip Seymour Hoffman).

If you are a baseball fan, then you have to see this film! I have been waiting for quite a while to see it. This is a true story, and it’s a typical sports amazing achievement film, but it’s a really good look into baseball, and the problems of the “have-not” teams. Baseball has always had a serious problem, which I think is the cause of their great fall from grace as “America’s National Game”. Baseball never figured out how to even the field, with a couple teams from HUGE cities with a giant payroll competing with tiny teams that love the sport, but have a fraction of the money to spend. I spent my childhood as a Pirates fan, but got really tired of one of the greatest farm systems finding all the superstars and developing them for the Yankees, and a couple other big teams that always stole them. The few successful years they had was due to the great scouts and farm system finding excellent players for a year or two until someone with deep pockets would take them away.

This movie is the story of a system that reminded me a lot of horse racing. The very best horse handicapper is the public. The favorite wins way more than it loses. Sure bets at 6-5 and less go off every day. In order to be successful in the horse racing business, it’s finding the horses that are undervalued and underrated. You have to study hard, and find that one or two races a day where there is a horse with a decent chance to win that somehow people have overlooked. That’s the secret. Well, the same is true with baseball. Some of the players are undervalued and underrated, and this mathematical formula helped to take all the emotion out of it. (This guy has a funny swing, or the way he throws the ball looks off, or he looks like a doofus), and uses the stats and rates him based upon things the other teams never looked at. It also requires a carnival barkers skill at scamming the other teams to make them think you’re doing them a favor by taking their unwanted players.

Brad Pitt did an excellent job in this movie. This is a perfect role for him, and I think he pulled it off. I know Jonah Hill was also very proud of this role as well. He played a very serious dramatic role, and got to show off his new svelte physique. Not only did he pull off a serious role, (no Superbad nonsense here at all), but he did an excellent job. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is also very good as the manager who just can’t get what these dudes are thinking. It’s a small role for him, but as usual, he was spot on. Basically this is a very interesting movie, and the time passes very quickly and it’s over before you’d like it to be. It’s got a fair amount of baseball action, that is easy to watch, but also has some great dialog and dramatic scenes that are also very well done. I enjoyed this movie all around, and recommend it to anyone who is interested in the genre, or those who just love to look at Brad Pitt.

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