Ed's Review Dot Com

VT Films, Flywheel & Shyster, Globomedia Cine,

Robert Duvall, Jeremy Irvine, Angie Cepeda, Luis Tosar, Joaquín Cosio, Javier Gutiérrez

Red Bovine *(Robert Duvall) is a cantankerous old rancher in Texas who is about to lose his ranch. He is not going to go out without a fight though. Estranged from his son who lives in New York, on the day they came to take his house, his grandson Gally (Jeremy Irvine) shows up. He’s dropped out of college for a while, and wants to get to know his Grandfather since he’s never heard much at all about him from his father, and what he did wasn’t good. They start off on a road trip and end up going to Mexico for a fine night of women and drink when a coincidence puts them afoul of the Mexican drug cartel that wants to kill them all. With a hopeful singer/stripper in tow (Angie Cepeda) they use their best skills to stay ahead of the killer that are after them.

This is a rough and violent story, but one with a lot of heart. This is one of the best roles I’ve seen for Robert Duvall in many years. It’s perfect for him, as a grumpy old goat who might remind you of Walter Matthau in “Grumpy Old Men”, he’s a softie at heart. As tough as he tries to be, we know he’s a sweetheart underneath, and it shows. He pulls this off perfectly. This is a buddy picture of a Grandpa and a Grandson he doesn’t even know, getting to know one another and find a way to build a bridge. But the unexpected events gives us a real suspenseful trip through the dangerous back streets of Mexico. I found this to be a very interesting story, with a great West Texas feel, and a great script, with an excellent cast. There is so many good things going for this film, that I don’t really know why it was not that successful. It’s an Indie film, and perhaps it didn’t have the budget for promotion, but I was really pleased with the quality of this story. I was riveted throughout, both with the relationship between the three leads and the suspense of the chases and outsmarting of the bad guys. It was a really good film, and though it’s fairly adult content, it was an excellent picture and one I can recommend.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

New Line Cinema, Evergreen Media Group,

Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, Alfre Woodard, Eric Ladin, Tony Amendola

In 2013’s The Conjuring we met Ed and Lorraine Warren who study the paranormal and assist in supernatural situations. In their home vault they had a series of objects that had a strong connection to evil and demons and the like. The pride of their collection was a very creepy doll named Annabelle. Well, we know we’re not done with Annabelle just yet, but this film is actually a prequel to The Conjuring where we learn the back story about where Annabelle came from and what horrible things she has done in the past. Basically, a gift to a young expectant woman by her husband. She’s a doll collector and Annabelle completes the set. But when the deranged daughter of their next door neighbor arrives back home with her fellow cult member boyfriend to kill everyone in sight and takes a liking to the doll, from that point on Annabelle has a life of her own. The evil follows them, and Annabelle is a doll that can’t seem to be destroyed.

This is a rather simple horror film, but well made, quite interesting, and with lots of horror and suspense. Though the doll with a spirit has been done by Chucky for years, and the parents trying to save their unborn child has been around before, it’s quite a good little story, and Annabelle, the doll, will surely give you the creeps. I don’t know what it is about possessed children’s toys, but this doll is really dreadful. I don’t think this is going to be a huge box office hit, but the timing is perfect, and I do believe it will do better than most people expect. I think it’s a fun little movie, and will give you some serious jolts both through the creepiness of it, and as well as through the sound effects. They are suspenseful scares mixed with the usual startling sound effect scares. This is set back in what looks like back in the 60’s and the music and technology is really spot on. It was a trip back in time as well. But the story is pretty tight, well written, and for the month of October, I would think it’s a nice evening to go out for an evening of frights in the theater for a change of pace. We went to an early showing on Saturday, and the theater was probably at least 75% full. There were lots of shrieks and screams from the crowd, and I think most everyone had a great time. If you are a horror fan, this is a pretty good one, and I enjoyed it a lot. This one I’m glad I went out to see on the big screen!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Columbia Pictures, Escape Artists, LStar Capital,

Denzel Washington, Chloë Grace Moretz, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman, Haley Bennett

Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) lives a lonely and private life, an invisible everyman who follows his routine from day to day. Working in a hardware superstore, and every night visiting the same coffee shop to read. He gets to know a young prostitute Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz) who is interested in his stories. She is under the control of a violent pimp who treats her very badly, and after one extreme beating, Robert steps in to exact revenge to defend Teri, but accidentally pulls him back into his lost former life as an FBI special ops guy when things spiral out of control, in this action update of the 1980’s movie and TV show.

This was an extremely predictable film, nothing really new here, which was probably why I was not overly impressed with this film. Denzel was HARD. He is mostly silent, answers questions with the minimum number of words needed. And boy is he tough. The fight sequences are really incredible. Of course it’s Bruce Lee-like impossible odds fights, but that’s what it’s supposed to be. We’re supposed to believe he can take on a dozen guys at once and whoop them all. I felt that was little overdone as well which also sort of turned me off on the movie. When it gets unbelievable, I lose interest. The story was pretty well written, though as I mentioned rather predictable. I couldn’t say this was a bad movie by any means, but I just wasn’t really impressed that much. I was left with a middle of the road kind of feeling, like it wasn’t really worth all the extra to see this in IMAX. I could have happily waited for the DVD for this film and unless you’ve got a really good reason to go out and pay theater prices for this one, I’d recommend waiting for DVD too. Not a bad movie, but not that memorable, for sure.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Process Media, Love Punch, Radar Films,

Pierce Brosnan, Emma Thompson, Timothy Spall, Celia Imrie, Louise Bourgoin, Laurent Lafitte, Tuppence Middleton

Richard (Pierce Brosnan) and his ex-wife, Kate (Emma Thompson) are divorced, but still friendly, and they have two children. Kate got the house, and Richard is about to retire from the company he started. He made a great deal to sell the company to a big overseas corporation, there by protecting his employees that are like family to him, and ensure his wife’s standard of living and fund his retirement. But soon after the sale it becomes apparent that the buyer liquidated the company, and bankrupted it sending all the employees out on the street without any pension. It also leaves Kate and Richard flat broke, so the set out to visit the new owner to change his mind. Things don’t work out as expected and so they hatch a plan to steal an expensive diamond to get their money back.

This movie is very light. It’s a simple comedy with likeable people and an unlikely plot. But nobody cares as it’s just fun to watch Pierce Brosnan and Emily Thompson working together. The plot is kind of silly, but it doesn’t matter as this movie isn’t trying to teach a story or make a point. It’s just a lighthearted romp through the story with lots of fun and laughs. It’s a feel good movie and is probably the most shallow piece of drivel I’ve seen in a while, but it was fun all the way through. Of course the good guys should win and have a blast all the way to the end credits. Really, if you’re looking for a story with some meat on its bones, then this isn’t it, but if you’re looking for a light visit with old friends in a comfortable setting, this is it. I really enjoyed it, and thought it was fun to watch.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Steel Mill Pictures, Logie Pictures, Altitude Film Entertainment,

James McAvoy, Imogen Poots, Jamie Bell, Joanne Froggatt, Eddie Marsan, Jim Broadbent, Shirley Henderson, Emun Elliott, Iain De Caestecker, Pollyanna McIntosh

Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy) is a rude, obnoxious, racist, cop who is in line for promotion. He’s set his mind on getting it at all costs. He sets his partners against each other and plays one against the other. When a major murder case comes along, he sees it as his chance to seal the promotion. He uses every trick in the book, setting up his fellow officers at every turn. But Bruce has some serious demons, among them, alcohol, drugs, and kinky sex. But he’s obviously quickly losing his sanity and his whole purpose it to try to reunite his family, but it’s obvious that things run a lot deeper than that as he descends into madness.

James McAvoy does an awesome job in this extremely difficult role. This film is very disjointed, giving us a feeling of the madness that Bruce is getting deeper and deeper sucked into. For that reason, a lot of people looking for a light comedy are turned off completely. This is a very dark movie, and I am not sure how it’s billed as a comedy, as there is very little funny going on here. The last five minutes of the film bring it all home with an unexpected ending, and it’s probably worth sitting through this just for the ending. Basically it’s a movie about insanity and as such it’s very hard to follow. Obviously some of the characters and situations are easily identified as something going on in his mind, but at the same time, all the way through we’re not really sure what’s real and what’s insanity. Bruce actually is a nice guy caught up in the mistakes he’s made and the inner demons he’s nursing his way through. Many people have stated that they absolutely hated this film, and I can understand that. I read a review where a guy suggested if after 20 minutes you hate this movie, don’t hang in there waiting for it to get better, as it’s very similar all the way through. Don’t expect laughs and light banter. This is one of the darkest films I’ve seen in a long time. Yet I am not disappointed that I watched it, as I felt I got a lot out of it, mostly due to James McAvoy’s awesome acting ability. This is not mainstream movie for sure, but it’s a fringe feature with a lot of interesting stuff going on.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog