Ed's Review Dot Com

Apartment Two, Demarest Films, Flynn Picture Company,

Miles Teller, Analeigh Tipton, Jessica Szohr, Kid Cudi

Megan (Analeigh Tipton) is a lost soul. She moved to New York and majored in Pre-Med with no intention of ever finishing. She was in love and planned to quit school and get married, but when her boyfriend suddenly bailed on her, she found her self depressed and living with her roommate, without a job or a plan, and no intention of continuing school. Her roommate signs her up for an internet dating site and encourages her to pick someone for a one-night stand. So she finds Alec (Miles Teller) and heads off to meet him at his apartment. In the morning, she wants to get out of there, but a world class blizzard that shuts down the city, and they find themselves trapped inside for another day forcing them to try to get to know one another, if they don’t kill each other first.

This is an interesting concept for a movie, and it does work. Annaleigh is very good in her role, and she really does a great job. Miles is pretty good as well. These two play off each other really well. It’s a romantic comedy, for sure, but at the same time, it kind of has a good purpose. The story unwinds slowly, with a number of surprise twists and turns along the way. The city location is really nice, and this movie sort of executes as if it were a stage play. Most of the story takes place in Alec’s apartment, so there is not a lot of action, but that puts more emphasis on the dialog. The development of the level of knowledge Alec and Megan learn about each other is what makes this such an interesting character study. I enjoyed watching this, and I can recommend it if you like interesting character development and an intelligent script.

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Sweet Tomato Films,

Haley Joel Osment, Lorenza Izzo, Chris Williams, Glen Powell, Matt Walsh, Retta, Abby Elliott, Castille Landon, Lamorne Morris

Ed Cole is a teacher. He’s struggling to find a position though, as there are no jobs available. The only position he could get is to monitor the students who are put into detention, and as it’s an inner city type school, the kids there are a bit troubled. When a girl asks to go to the rest room, and then returns in a panic thinking she’s dying from a condition she was not prepared for, Ed thinks perhaps the kids really need to have someone teach them the things that they are ashamed to ask their parents about. So Ed begins a Sex Ed class where any question is open for discussion. But when Reverend Hamilton, father of one of the students who was in the class finds out about it, he complains to the school board about the unauthorized class being taught without parental consent. So Ed has to defend his work, but perhaps he’s the worst one to teach the class since he has no personal experience at all on the subject.

This is a comedy that is right out of the liberal vs. conservative arguments today about what schools should and not be teaching. But it’s also like an episode of “Where are they now” as many of us haven’t seen Haley Joel Osment since he saw dead people in Sixth Sense. He’s here, and he’s grown up into a very strapping gentleman and is a good actor. The film is mostly funny, but there’s a mix of romance as his roommate is a raunchy devil who seems insistent that Ed lower his standards for “the perfect girl” just to build his confidence, but of course about this time he meets the girl of his dreams who is already taken. The movie is a bit raunchy, and is Non-Rated, and it’s also rarely heard of, but it is currently streaming on Netflix and may be around in some other venues. It’s got a real message, and has some “redeeming qualities”, but is also filled with humor and jokes, and is certainly not boring. Certainly this is not going to be a popular film, but it’s not all that bad. It’s well constructed and not too bad.

NOTICE: THIS IS THE RED BAND TRAILER AND IS RATED R.

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Rovio Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, LStar Capital,

Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon, Sean Penn, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Bill Hader, Peter Dinklage

The Green Pigs have found their way to Bird Island where Red (Jason Sudekis) is in Anger Management because the birds don’t believe in anger. But though the pigs promise to bring gifts to the birds, Red is concerned that they may have ulterior motives. When they steal all the eggs, Red is called upon to channel his anger to getting back the children, and in the process we learn the real reason why birds and pigs just don’t get along.

Based on the popular video game, this animated feature is really cute. With excellent voice characters, there is a lot of talent here, and it is very well done. There’s a lot of sort of off color jokes, which surprised me a bit, and is probably the reason behind the PG rating. The kids are probably going to miss it, and it may make it more enjoyable for grown ups, but I’m just not used to the naughty jokes in what looks like a kids film. However, lots and lots of big people (I hesitate to say grown-ups) loved the game however, and maybe the target audience isn’t the little ones. All in all though, it’s a humorous story and by showing us the back story of the war between the angry birds and the green pigs, it is enjoyable. Now we know why the birds are so angry. I really had a good time with this movie, and it’s not half bad if you have an interest in the war of the birds and pigs.

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Duplass Brothers Productions,

Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Thomas Middleditch, Sebastian Stan, Cecily Strong, Haley Lu Richardson

Hope (Melissa Rauch) was an Olympic gymnast who comes from a small town, but an injury ended her career and left her with a Bronze medal and with the love and adoration of the folks in her little town. She’s a minor celebrity and never got beyond that. Now she lives with her single Dad (Gary Cole) and makes like life a living hell trying to meet all her diva demands. She hasn’t forgiven her ex-coach, who now has a new upcoming gymnast which doesn’t make Hope very happy, but when her ex-coach suddenly dies, leaving a fortune for Hope is she will simply become “Coach Hope” and bring this new girl to the Olympics, begrudgingly she agrees to try. It’s not going to be pretty.

This is really a vehicle for Melissa Rauch (who you probably know as Bernadette from The Big Bang Theory) but the rest of the team is pretty good too. Gary Cole is very long suffering as the bullied Dad and his performance is top notch. Cecily Strong is the new girls Mom, and though she doesn’t have a lot of screen time, she does a good job every time she appears. All in all the story is really simple, like a Will Farrell or Ben Stiller type movie, but certainly the thing that makes this film so much fun is the wonderful bitchiness Melissa brings to every single scene. She gives a good job when her character is very angry in the Big Bang Theory too, but here she has free reign to play the nasty card to the hilt, and she does. Not a masterpiece by any means, but this is a really good film, and really funny. It’s off the wall in it’s humor, and catches you off guard, but it is really hilarious most of the time.

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Open Road Films (II), Rice Films, Gulfstream Pictures,

Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Julia Roberts, Jon Lovitz, Kate Hudson, Timothy Olyphant, Britt Robertson, Aasif Mandvi, Sarah Chalke, Grayson Russell, Shay Mitchell, Margo Martindale, Loni Love, Ella Anderson, Cameron Esposito, Jack Whitehall, Lucy Walsh

Mother’s Day is an ensemble film, telling four different stories that all tie together in the end. There are many different kinds of mothers, and many different situations, but we all stop on Mother’s Day to remember and honor those special women in our lives. As this story unfolds, we meet different families and different situations, but all are touched in the end in different ways.

Directed by Garry Marshall, this is the same team that brought us Valentine’s Day and New Years Eve. It is a great cast, and it’s a very touching story. Each situation is unique, yet they manage to tie it all together in the end. It’s got funny moments, and of course, the cheesy romantic ones. It’s a very clever put together tale and was fun to watch. If you have seen these hinds of stories, there have been dozens, where a number of different stories come together in the end. This is a very good one. Julia Roberts does a very great job as a childless, driven TV host, as does Jason Sudekis as a single widower dad trying to raise his two daughters. Jennifer Anderson is really good as a divorced mom of two boys who is trying to deal with her situation. It’s a very well developed story line that comes together beautifully. This is a touching movie, and one I can highly recommend for anyone who is a mother, who has had a mother, or knows a mother. If you don’t fit into any of those categories, you’re out of luck. This film is a tribute to mothers. This is a really good film, and I recommend this, especially now that it’s on DVD.

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