Ed's Review Dot Com

Burek Films, Ingenious, Solstice Studios,

Russell Crowe, Caren Pistorius, Gabriel Bateman, Jimmi Simpson, Austin P. McKenzie, Juliene Joyner, Stephen Louis Grush, Anne Leighton, Devyn A. Tyler, Sylvia Grace Crim, Vivian Fleming-Alvarez, Samantha Beaulieu, Lucy Faust, Scheryl W Brown. Michael Papajohn

Rachel (Caren Pisorius) is having a tough day. She’s raising two kids on her own, she’s divorced and having trouble keeping her head above water, her car is in bad shape, and she’s late again. So as she’s taking the kids to school, she’s late, and a man (Russell Crowe) stops in front of her at a light, and when it turns green, he’s off in his own little world and doesn’t move. Now if Rachel is having a bad day, this man is having a hundred times worse day, so when she lays on the horn and gives him the finger, he loses it. He tries to explain that she should have been a bit more polite and owes him an apology, but she is not in a good mood, so she takes off. At this point, the man loses it and begins stalking her down to teach her a lesson. To say he is Unhinged is the biggest understatement of the year.

This is my first film back after the theaters closed for Covid-19, and it was so nice to be back inside a theater again, that maybe I’m rating this film a bit higher than I would have if it was normal times, but I really, really enjoyed this film. Everyone is so on edge these days, and though a lot of of these angry violent rage movies as carried on by a big monster in a Mack truck who attacks without any cause or reason. But we get to know Russel Crowe’s motivation very well as we get a close view into his psyche playing the character just known as “Man”. Caren also is very likeable and really plays the role of the frazzled worn out single Mom who is simply fed up as well. This is World War III, and the cast really gives us a breathtaking ride though all levels of insanity. It is extremely well acted, and the suspense is over the top. This is an absolute edge of your seat thriller that really leaves to worn out in the end, but is so right out of the headlines today that we can almost understand the frustration everyone feels. This was the first film released after the theaters reopened and it was well worth the visit to the theater. I enjoyed it immensely, mostly due to Russell Crowe, but also due to the fabulous screen play. If you’ew looking for a great film to head back out to the theater again, this one was really worth it.

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Skydance Media, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Fosun Group Forever Pictures,

Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong, Douglas Hodge, Ralph Brown, Linda Emond, Ilia Volok, E.J. Bonilla, Victor Hugo, David Shae, Theodora Miranne, Diego Adonye, Lilla Banak, Igor Szasz

Henry Brogan (Will Smith) is a crack hired assassin who is the best in the world, working for undercover government operatives and sent on missions all over the world. He is simply the most outstanding sharpshooter in the world. But when Henry wants to retire, he suddenly finds himself being hunted by a younger assassin who seems to anticipate his every move. As he falls deeper into the shadows, he learns that the fellow hunting him is a much younger version of himself, who was cloned from his DNA a few decades ago just for the possibility that he might someday be too old to continue.

This action film is, unfortunately, the usual rogue agent fighting an evil government group who has gone bad and who are trying to kill him rather than bringing him in. This is a common theme on these types of films. (Think of all the Jason Bourne films for example.) But this is a bit unique as Will gets to play both roles with the help of a lot of special effects. Junior (Henry’s clone) is really creepy to look at sometimes. This film had a long, long time in the works being made, and many other actors were attached to the project before Will eventually got it. It might have been a different movie with one of the other actors, but Will actually didn’t do bad in this film. If anything, it failed to really dig into the real motives behind the decisions made by the characters, and though Junior had been lied to, he didn’t really react too reasonably when faced with the truth of the situation. The action sequences were outstanding and the chases, crashed, and explosions were stunning, but it was a bit shallow. Still, it didn’t come out that bad, and was a really decent movie to watch. All I’m saying is that with a few tweaks, it could have been better, but it still works. It is a good example of this secret agent type of drama, and has all the necessary parts. Maybe it’s not necessary to run out and see this for $15.00 a ticket, but I would definitely see this as a rental down the line. Will Smith did a good job here, and he didn’t have either of his kids in the movie to his credit (except for Jaden’s song in the soundtrack). All in all a decent action flick and worth the effort to see.

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BRON Studios, Creative Wealth Media Finance, DC Comics,

Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Shea Whigham, Bill Camp, Glenn Fleshler, Leigh Gill, Josh Pais, Rocco Luna, Marc Maron, Sondra James, Murphy Guyer, Douglas Hodge

Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is a very poor man, living in a run down tenement in Gotham City with his aged mother Penny Fleck (Frances Conroy). He makes a few bucks any way he can, working as a clown trying to sell product or to entertain children. But Arthur’s dream is to be a standup comedian. His idol is Murray Franklin (Robert DeNiro) who is the late night talk show host on Gotham TV. But things are not easy for Arthur, and things keep going from bad to worse. His social worker (Arthur definitely has mental issues) is taken away during budget cuts, and when Arthur loses his job, there is not much left to live for. An odd turn of events makes Arthur take on his alternate ego of “Joker” and things looks very bleak for his future.

This is a stunning film. It is not at all pretty, and is very caustic and violent at every turn. It will turn your stomach as you realize the crap a poor man in Gotham has to go through just to survive, and this is the background story of the arch-enemy of Batman, The Joker. We see what made him turn into the deranged villain he was, and we also learn a lot of what we though was true was actually not what happened at all. This film was extremely coarse, but very, very well done. I was stunned at the performance Joaquin turned in here, and I think he’s looking at a great number of awards this season! This has to be nominated as the best performance by a lead actor. It’s really that good. The film is excellent, and has some excellent performances, but Joaquin steals the show and is extremely outstanding. I was deeply moved by this film, and I personally think it was an amazing experience to see this movie that is simply based on one character out of the batman series. This really helped me to understand Joker, and I will certainly not soon forget it. I didn’t expect much when I went to see this film, but I was really touched. I recommend this to anyone who can handle the extreme violence and the very sad things that happened to this poor fellow. I will never think of Jack Nicholson again when I think of Joker. Joaquin was THAT GOOD!

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Mas Films, Paradox Films, StudioCanal,

Liam Neeson, Micheal Richarson, Tom Bateman, Tom Jackson, Emmy Rossum, Domenick Lombardozzi, Julia Jones, John Doman, Laura Dern, William Forsythe, Aleks Paunovic, Ben Hollingsworth, Nathaniel Arcand, Glen Gould, Bradley Stryker, Elizabeth Thai

Nels (Liam Neeson) is a simple hardworking snow plow driver who keeps the road open to a popular resort destination in Colorado. Its a small town, but has really gotten very popular after a fancy ski resort opened. When his son, Kyle (Micheal Richarson) turns up dead from a heroin overdose, Nels doesn’t believe it was an accident. He starts to investigate on his own, and finds a connection so some very shady drug racketeers from Denver he stars seeking vengeance on them This leads to one final showdown that is really something to see!

This is a typical Liam Neeson movie of revenge hunting to the max. This is a bit darker than most of the others, but has a lot of similarities. The best part of the film is the beautiful scenery in the Rockies in the wintertime. It is truly breathtaking. The suspense is really intense, and it’s easy to follow. It took a while to get everything straight as the beginning jumped around a bit and made it kind of hard for me to follow for a while, but after I got every straightened out in my head, it was really easy to follow. Laura Dern is a great actress and was kind of wasted in this movie, and I’m not sure why. She didn’t have much to do, and her character was very superficial. I wish she had been given more to do. In some respects it is a bit over simplified. It is extremely violent, though, with lots of blood and guys all the way through, so it earns it’s R rating for the extreme violence, but it is a very exciting roller coaster of a movie. It was very intense, and well worth the time.

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Condé Nast, Endgame Entertainment, Identity Films (I),

Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, Tika Sumpter, Isiah Whitlock Jr., John David Washington, Tom Waits, Sissy Spacek, Elisabeth Moss, Keith Carradine, Jordan Trovillion, Augustine Frizzell, Robert Longstreet, Patrick Newall, Kevin McClatchy, Gene Jones, Barlow Jacobs, J. Todd Anderson, Warren Bryson

This is supposedly the true story of Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford) and his outstanding escape from San Quentin at age 70. He was a robber, and had a great time confusing the heck out of authorities including detective John Hunt (Casey Affleck) and the general public who was supposedly entertained by his antics. Along the way, he met Jewel (Sissy Spacek) who loved him in spite of his tendency to rob people.

It’s rare that I neither love nor hate a movie. This one left me yawning and I just could not get into or care about anyone in this film. I am not sure what has happened with Bob Redford, but may his politics have gotten him so far out of the mainstream that he can’t determine what is an interesting role anymore. It seems everything he’s been in lately has been extremely bland. This story just didn’t grab me in the least, and i felt tortured sitting though this clunker. Forrest Tucker, if this is a true story, must have been an ass, that’s for sure, and I don’t ever recall Sissy Spacek playing a character that was so devoid of any kind of feelings at all. All in all, this movie just left me bored to tears, and i wouldn’t recommend it. Save yourself some time, and just skip this one!

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