Ed's Review Dot Com

FilmNation Entertainment, Gravier Productions, Perdido Productions,

Jeannie Berlin, Steve Carell, Jesse Eisenberg, Blake Lively, Parker Posey, Kristen Stewart, Corey Stoll, Ken Stott

It’s the 1930’s and Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) is a a naive Jewish boy living with his Mom and Pop in New York City who dreams of going to Hollywood to experience a new life. Bobby’s Uncle, Phil Stern (Steve Carell) is a power agent working the biggest stars in Hollywood and is a very busy guy, so Bobby’s Mom calls in a favor and asks Phil to watch over him. When Bobby arrives, he fits into the glitz and glamor of 1930’s Hollywood very quickly, but it thrown for a loop when he meets Vonnie (Kristen Stewart) and he falls very hard. But things are complicated because Vonnie is dating a married man and things get complicated very quickly. This is a Woody Allen film.

When Woody Allen makes a film, there is certainly a specific feel and mood to the story. This is very classic Woody, a homage to old Hollywood which I feel Allen must find very appealing. And as such, with all Woody films, it could be hit or miss. This one wasn’t too bad at all. I think this movie out La La Lands “La La Land” [Click Here for Ed’s Review] . Ever since “The Artist” [Click Here for Ed’s Review] came out in 2011 and grabbed Best Picture at the Oscars, old time Hollywood has been in, and this is a very good period picture. Steve Carell does an excellent job as the power agent of the stars and he didn’t overplay it. He showed multiple facets to his character without missing the effects that being such a big shot would have on his personality. Jesse Eisenberg is also very well cast as the young Jewish boy longing for the bright lights and glamor of Hollywood either. What really surprised me was Kristen Stewart who I am usually unimpressed by. With all the wooden performances in the Twilight series, and the underwhelming disaster that was Snow White and the Huntsman, I had soft of given up on her, but she did a really good job in this movie, and I don’t know if it was Woody’s talent in pulling this performance out of her, or if she is really getting it, but I think she may have some really good performances in there waiting to come out. Great job. With the other characters too there are are some really good performances there. All in all, it was a nice simple film that took us way back to a much easier time and was a refreshing change of pace. I actually enjoyed this film, and unless you’re one of those who simply hate Woody Allen for his personal life choices, you may want to give this a try. It was an interesting story and felt like a trip back in time.

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Conde Nast Entertainment, Endgame Entertainment, Kasbah-Film Tanger,

Nicolas Cage, Russell Brand, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Rainn Wilson, Paul Scheer

Gary Faulkner (Nicholas Cage) has led an unusual life. This is the “mostly true” version of his adventures. Gary has been around the circuit of talk shows and has a fascinating story. Gary was very frustrated that after 9/11 the United States was having a hard time capturing Osama Bin Laden. Gary has had a number of experiences where he has spoken to God (played by Russell Brand) who told him it was up to him to go and bring in Bin Laden all by himself. He complies, and makes numerous trips to go get him. This is the tale of how it happened.

Nick Cage sure gets himself in some WEIRD stories. This one, which I am sure must be greatly exaggerated (by Gary himself) from the tales included, but in the special features of the DVD, some of Gary’s appearances on TV are shown, and he’s sticking by the story. Much of it can be corroborated by the police reports and such. Gary, whether you think he’s clever as a fox, or a crazy lunatic that needs locked up, certainly is a memorable character. As to the story, you have to work with what you get, and it’s a bizarre story, but as for Nick Cage’s performance, it’s very Cage-worthy. He looks and sounds, and even talks like Gary does, and I was impressed at how he became this character. It’s certainly not his usual character, and he really came through with the characteristics of Gary. It wasn’t the greatest film, and it was probably more like a TV special than a feature film, but it was certainly an interesting tale. I actually kind of enjoyed the story, and enjoyed looking up the real Gary right after. How lucky today we are to have the likes of Bing.com and YouTube.com in our lives today. If you haven’t heard Gary’s story, let Nick tell it to you. It’s an amazing little tale.

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Cinelou Films, Linson Entertainment, Anvil Films,

Robert De Niro, Leslie Mann, Danny DeVito, Edie Falco, Charles Grodin, Cloris Leachman, Patti LuPone, Harvey Keitel, Veronica Ferres, Lois Smith

Jackie Burke (Robert De Niro) is a well known comedian. Unfortunately he’s only known for a silly sitcom he did decades ago. But everywhere he goes, all he runs into is people asking for catchphrases from his long cancelled show. Jackie wants to get his act back on track, but mostly he’s just angry. When a heckler makes him snap, he goes after him and ends up in court where he’s thrown in jail and has to do community service.

This movie is a bit schizophrenic. On one hand, there are some really funny situations, and some pretty good jokes. De Niro plays the insult comic pretty good. But at the same time, it’s a really good little drama as well. De Niro does a fine job of making Jackie (who most actors would probably treat as a cartoon character) a real person. The more we get to know him, the more we get to like him a little, but understand him even more. Perhaps the credit should go to the writers, but De Niro does a good job with it. Some folks found this film to be a little too slow, and some people were looking for a lot more comedy. But truthfully, this was a well done little film with an interesting story. There are many cameos from other actors that bring a bit of comedy to the movie. I enjoyed this movie, and I do recommend it.

Chernin Entertainment, Feigco Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation,

Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Joan Cusack, Ike Barinholtz, Wanda Sykes, Christopher Meloni, Tom Bateman, Randall Park, Óscar Jaenada

Emily Middleton (Amy Schumer) is a rather spoiled young lady with an upcoming rock star boy friend, who is set to take a vacation to Ecuador, when she is blind sided by a nasty breakup leaving her with two tickets and no one to go with. All her friends have turned her down. She decides to go home to her Mother Linda (Goldie Hawn) to ease her broken heart and to coerce her Mom to go with her on the trip for some bonding time. But no sooner than they arrive do the pair get kidnapped by some bad cartel guys and have to fight for their lives as things go horribly wrong all around them in this raucous comedy from 20th Century Fox.

Amy Schumer has pissed off a lot of people who are extremely unhappy with her uncalled for political rants. Like every other person on the planet, she is entitled to her opinion but some of her choices of late have hurt her credibility a LOT. I try to keep the work apart from the worker as much as I can, unless they try to infuse the political stance. If you choose to hate her (look at the ratings on Netfix if you want to see what I mean) and demean the film simply because you don’t like Amy, I can accept that. You might as well stop reading as I’m going to try to review the movie and not the person. So here goes. This movie is pretty funny. If you saw Trainwreck, Amy’s first movie, then there are reasons why people are calling this a sequel to that one, although it’s not. But it’s the same character, the deranged dysfunctional child/adult who seems to have no moral compass at all. Life keeps getting harder and harder as bad choices are made. It’s in the same vein as Superbad and the Hangover pictures that are raunchy and truly R rated which is well deserved. Be sure you’re ready for that before watching this. But Emily does have some real values underneath, and just doesn’t know how to present them. Like the Alice in Wonderland song from the Disney film, “I give myself good advice, but I seldom ever follow it.” This should be Emily’s theme. However, this movie is far better than Trainwreck because of the outstanding cast that is backing Amy up. Goldie Hawn (Poor Goldie, I still remember the bubbly little girl from Laugh-In and she’s not that anymore) is absolutely charming in this film. She’s been honing her comedic skills her whole life, but she got this Mom down perfectly. She’s naturally very much like her daughter, trying to do the sensible thing, but getting into trouble, although a lot more cautious than Emily, she still makes some strange choices which depicts the difficult life she lived (in the film) as well. Also there are some excellent additional characters that bring tons of color to the film in somewhat smaller roles. Ike Barinholtz from Mad TV plays Emily’s brother, an adult agoraphobic man who never leaves the house who is there mostly to drive Emily nuts. There is another lesbian pair who are staying at the resort and make friends with Linda played by Wanda Sykes and Joan Cusack that are very, very funny. Joan, playing a mute person, is exceptionally funny and provided many of the belly laughs. The captain of the “slow boat” Roger Simmons played by Christopher Simmons is also very funny, although he doesn’t last too long. Basically this is low brow humor that actually works, but makes you feel a little dirty afterward. All in all, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected, and if you can take the R rating without getting offended, then it’s a dang funny little movie.

Regular Trailer:

RED BAND (R Rated) TRAILER

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Black Label Media, Gilbert Films, Impostor Pictures,

Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend, Rosemarie DeWitt, J.K. Simmons, Finn Wittrock, Meagen Fay, Callie Hernandez, Sonoya Mizuno, Jessica Rothe, Tom Everett, Josh Pence

Mia (Emma Stone) is a wannabe Hollywood actress, but stuck working as a barista in the studio commissary. She is frustrated, but full of ambition. Meanwhile, she keeps running into jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and tempers flare until sparks begin to fly. But each is filled with ambition and drive, and their paths are certainly separate from each other, so they have to face many difficult choices along their way for a relationship that seems to be doomed from the beginning. This is certainly a musical, but it’s filled with nostalgia for Hollywood yesterday, and old fashioned falling in love.

This film will ever be remembered as the film that Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced as the Best Picture winner at the Oscars in 2017 when it actually lost. This was a classic screw-up of massive proportions. But was this film the Best Picture, really? La La Land is a paradox of ups and downs, goods and bads. On the good side, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling were absolutely great in their roles. They nailed the style and motif of the film perfectly. They both pulled off some really amazing skills that blew everyone away. For example, the plan was to use a pianist to play the piano with Ryan only pretending to do it. But he took lessons constantly that allowed him to play the music himself and perform the songs effortlessly. Even John Legend was impressed. Emma has a huge audition scene which she also performed herself, flipping between acting and singing without any the usual prerecorded track. The cast was very impressed. The cinematography is very well done. The look and feel of Hollywood is colorful and beautiful and show many of the sites and locations that mean so much to those of us who live here in LA. The story is very nostalgic, but that’s what we are really looking for. It pays homage to the Hollywood of yore and does it very well. It’s a simple boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl story, told with music. Now for the bads. The music is highly forgettable. When was the last time you heard a huge hit song from the new musical LA LA Land on the radio? It’s really simplistic and seems to mostly just fill in time. That part could have been done very much better. The story is rather simplistic. The drama seems really contrived and not really very believable. But the negatives don’t really destroy the experience, and it was very popular with the Foreign Press! For those who have had the acting or musician bug, it’s right up your alley, but not everyone is going to love this. I did not think it was best picture by any means, but it is good enough for a high recommendation. It is a great opportunity, like watching and old movie on AMC, to kick off your shoes, lie back, and enjoy a couple hours of pure unadulterated nostalgia. Finally a word about the ending. This may catch some folks by surprise, but there is an epilogue to the film that is a performance art sort of piece showing the “what ifs” of what life could have been. This film is about wishes and dreams, more than about love and romance, and it’s an interesting way to send us off think about that. The final ending is stunning. Wait for it.

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