Archive for Comedy

Calamity Films, Feigco Entertainment, Perfect World Pictures,

Madison Ingoldsby, Emma Thompson, Boris Isakovic, Lucy Miller, Emilia Clarke, Maxim Baldry, Margaret Clunie, John-Luke Roberts, Michelle Yeoh, Bilal Zafar, Patti LuPone, Lydia Leonard, Henry Golding, Michael Addo, Peter Mygind

Last Christmas is a brand new holiday film about a family who moved to London from Yugoslavia and especially the daughter Kate (Emilia Clarke) who is struggling. Kate has a job as an elf in a Christmas all-year-long store run by Santa (Michelle Yeoh) who is very eccentric person for sure. Kate is struggling with life and making lots of bad choices, but when she meets the very handsome Tom, (Henry Golding) he helps her find meaning in her life. But Tom is very quirky as well, and though he is a big help to her, he is not very consistent. This is a lovely Christmas story filled with lots of heart and a great deal of values and good feelings.

This film is hard to categorize, as it is many different things. Most of all, it is very heartwarming, but this is not like a Hallmark Christmas movie, as it is a LOT deeper than that. There is serious drama, and side splitting humor, mixed in with a charming romantic tale as well. Kate’s family is hysterical, and has a wealth of back story to fill in the richness of the story. Emma Thompson is absolutely astounding in her performance and deserves the award for best supporting actress for sure. It is an awesome character she brings to life. Emilia Clark, as well, is absolutely fantastic in her role, and she brings a great deal of professionalism as Kate. She really steals the show. And thought Henry Golding is not in every scene, he certainly carries himself very well in every scene he is in. The casting in this story is exceptional, as each role is played to the hilt by the perfect actor for each role. From Kate’s sister, to her poor father, to those who try to help Kate when she is at rock bottom, everyone helps move this film forward and each role adds a lot of depth to the story. I went to see this film without a lot of expectations, and I was really blown away. Yes, there is a bit of a Shamalayan twist too, but there is also a lot of George Michael music, and all in all this is a movie that I think most everyone could enjoy. Filmed on location in London, the city itself is a star character as well. This filim is firing on all cyylinders and is a MUST SEE for this Christmas season. Go ahead and pass up some of the others if you must, but head out to see this one. I really, really enjoyed it, 100%. I loved this movie.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE),

Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch, Margaret Qualley, Timothy Olyphant, Julia Butters, Austin Butler, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Mike Moh, Luke Perry, Damian Lewis, Al Pacino

Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood is a fictional tale of life in the movie industry quite a few decades ago back in 1969 in the days of the Beach Boys and TV Westerns, filled with lots of period music and tons of nostalgia. It’s based on a fading ex-TV star, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his boy Friday part time stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) and their adventures trying to stay relevant long after Rick’s TV career is long over and he’s trying to do small spots in other TV shows since his film career hasn’t taken off. Accidentally the two of them get mixed up with a group led by Charlie Manson and things spiral out of control as things go really haywire really quickly!

Quentin Tarantino obviously wrote this film (and it’s a long one, close to three hours in total) and directed it, because no one else could possibly have done it. It’s extremely funny. Folks have long awaited for Leo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt to work together, and they are in nearly every scene of this movie, since both have them have appeared in Tarantino films, but never together. These two are so absolutely hysterical together, they are the best duo since Martin and Lewis or Laurel and Hardy! They are so hysterical together and play off one another perfectly. It’s really genius. Now don’t expect a historical biography of the Manson Family either, as they are just a side story (although an extremely important part of the film) and this is much more of a “how it could have been” type of story, rather than “what really happened”. The ending will definitely blow you away! It’s certainly a total fairy tale, but yet so much of it is actual fact of the times, and many of the characters and locations are absolutely real. Living in LA for the last 35 years, it was really amazing to me to see the places we see every day look like we were right in the middle of 1969. I can see how Simi valley where the Spahn Ranch is located hasn’t changed much, but making Hollywood appear like it was 1969 was also pure genius and very well done. I really enjoyed every second of this movie and really felt is was too short. I never wanted this to end. Now be aware that this is a Quentin Tarantino film, so it’s going to have EXTREME violent scenes and very bad language, so this is not a kids film by any means, but if you can handle the likes of Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill I and II, you’re going to love this film. I have to say I enjoyed this film more than any movie I’ve seen in the last 20 years, truthfully. I found this so darn funny, yet very nostalgic and extremely exciting. I am sure this movie will not appeal to everyone, but it was a perfect movie for me, and I can’t wait to see it again. Excellent acting by so many wonderful actors, but certainly DiCaprio and Pitt were amazing. If you can handle the violent scenes (which are extremely funny at the same time) then be sure to go see this movie as I can’t say enough about how much I really loved it. Best movie of the year in my opinion. I am so tired of super heroes and scary dolls, that this was simply refreshing to watch!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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AG Studios, Denver and Delilah Productions, Good Universe,

Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen, June Diane Raphael, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ravi Patel, Bob Odenkirk, Andy Serkis, Randall Park

Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) is a journalist with strong moral values. He believes in the causes he writes about and refuses to compromise his principles and as a result is kind of on the sidelines. When he attends an event with a friend, he spots Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) an old classmate and crush, his former babysitter, who is now one of the most powerful women in the United States. She is planning a run for the Presidency, and hires Fred to write speeches for her, and they are really attracted to each other, but her quest for power means putting aside some of the values, and Fred’s desire to be true to his principles soon cause trouble, not to mention that her political rivals would love to expose this unequal paring with a commoner to bring shame and to cause her to lose he chance in the election. What follows is a raucous romp through this very funny film.

This is a good pairing. Each of them are well suited to the role, and it is a really funny film at times. I enjoyed Seth Rogen’s attempts to fit in to the political drama without giving up his principles. Charlize is also very good in her role as the wannabe politician who at heart is still the small town girl who wants to do the right thing. She is very well suited for the role as well. The two of them do have some really funny moments and some of the gags are really good. This wasn’t an outstanding film, just a quiet little one that was enjoyable to relax and watch just for the fun of it. With all the big blockbuster films coming out, superhero after superhero, ad nauseum, it was nice to see this little movie for a change. I did enjoy it, but it might be a nice one to catch on DVD as the cost of movie tickets these days is pretty hard on the budget. But it was a pleasant distraction, and I enjoyed watching it, and do recommend it for a nice change of pace.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Matt Tolmach Productions, Radar Pictures, Seven Bucks Productions,

Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Bobby Cannavale, Alex Wolff, Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, Missi Pyle, Rhys Darby, Tim Matheson, Maribeth Monroe, Marc Evan Jackson

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a sequel to the original Jumanji of over 20 years ago. Technology has changed since the original board game that was played by the kids in the original bringing Alan Parrish back from the jungle. In those days it was a board game, but apparently it had been updated at some point over the last 20 years to a video game console. A group of high school kids decided to give the game a try, and all four of them are pulled into the jungle where Alan lived during the time that he was trapped in the game. When they are sucked into the game, hence into the jungle itself, they become their characters that they chose in the original game. Here they are trapped unless they are able to complete the challenge and end the game.

This review was started over a year ago, and never completed. I wanted to say some things about this film, and now that it’s been out for a year or two, I still feel my observations might be of some value, so I decided to finish it. First of all, many folks did not like this film, for one reason or another, but I found it rather interesting for a number of reasons. First of all, the humor was here 100%. It was really funny from time to time. Secondly, some of the action seemed corny or contrived, but this is supposed to be a video game and as such is filled with different levels and scenarios. I felt this was appropriate for the situation. There are also some fun references to the original movie. Many people do not remember, but in the original movie, though Alan was stuck in the jungle for years until someone rolled a “six” or “eight” to free him, we never saw anything of what the jungle was like. The animals and characters from the jungle crossed over to our world, but we never went the other way. This time we get to see the jungle world, and even the place where Alan lived while he was stuck here. During the time Alan lived there he made friends and became somewhat of a hero over there. All in all, I found this to be really fun, and at this late date, if you haven’t seen these movies, I would suggest watching both of them back to back so that you can remember the important parts of the original. If you have seen the first one, but not this one, then I still recommend going back and watching the original again, so it’s all fresh when you watch this sequel. I think both movies are classics and ought to be enjoyed.

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Blumhouse Productions, Digital Riot Media, Vesuvius Productions,

Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Rachel Matthews, Charles Aitken, Donna DuPlantier, GiGi Erneta

Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) is a college girl, living in the sorority house, and very popular on campus, but her Mother recently left them, and she has withdrawn from her father who is also suffering from the loss and resorts to using small talk when they meet. Tree has withdrawn and acts out instead of facing her grief and as a result, ignores her father completely. Today is her birthday, and she shared the same birthday as her Mother, so it’s a very hard day for her. But as the day draws to a close, a serial killer in a mask kills her on the way to a party. But when Tree awakes, the day is starting again, and the same things repeat. After weeks of reliving the same day over and over, Tree ends up dying in the end no matter what she does, but she is getting closer to determining who the killer is, or perhaps more so trying to figure out who it isn’t. In the end, she’s stuck in this cycle until she is able to figure it all out on her own.

Everyone throws Groundhog Day at this movie, and rightly so. Even in the ending of the movie Tree’s good friend throws out directly the Groundhog Day connection, and of course Tree has never heard of Bill Murray nor the movie itself which is one of the many humorous bits in this movie. It is horror, but it does have a great sense of humor, and the story is very well written, highly predictable, but you’re probably wrong after the twist in the end. And nothing is as it seems. The suspense was pretty high level, and the script was very clever. Actually there have been many other time loop films, but none exactly like this one. It’s fresh, great looking, and highly entertaining. I really enjoyed this film. The acting was very good. Jessica was excellent, even though she’s rather new, she’s was in La-La-Land and did a good job there, but this really showcases her talent though. Her platonic friend Carter, played by Ishmael Broussard is also very good. All in all the movie was a great deal of fun to watch and if you love horror, this is certain a decent one and well worth the trip to see this one on the big screen.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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