Ed's Review Dot Com

Filmax Entertainment, Icon Entertainment International, Elixir Films,

Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen, Deborah Kara Unger, James Nesbitt, Yorick van Wageningen, Spencer Garrett, Antonio Gil-Martinez, Carlos Leal, Simón Andreu, Santi Prego

Tom (Martin Sheen) is an eye doctor, fully involved in his life, when suddenly a call arrives (on the golf course) telling him his only child, a son who is 40 years old was dead. Daniel (Emelio Estevez) was estranged and didn’t agree with his father on very much, and he was in the midst of a pilgrimage along El Camino de Santiago, the Road of St James, across Northern Spain. For centuries, pilgrims have made this 500 mile walk across Spain to stand at the feet of the statue of St. James in the Cathedral at the end of the road. He died on the first day. Tom rushes to Spain to collect Daniel’s body, and decides to finish the walk in Daniel’s name and to find out why his son was doing this thing, and to find himself.

This is a wonderful independant film. You may have seen Martin and Emelio talking about this film during the pre-show at your local theater or on TV. They decided, rather than doing a huge Hollywood film, to make and promote this film independantly. They correctly figured that the public was looking for a really good story that is frewh and new, and not a recycled remake, sequel, or rehash of what we’ve seen before. They pulled this off. The method for making this film is unique too. There was no caravan of equipment, trailers, and busses! They filmed it with portable equipment and, as Emelio loves to point out, with no director’s chair! Emelio has a small part in this film, as he dies in the first couple minutes, but he directed his Dad in the film, and the two did a wonderful job.

Tom meets a bunch of colorful characters along the way, but I’m not going to talk too much about them here as getting to meet them along the way is part of the charm of this film. But I will say that Tom starts out as an angry grouchy old guy who has to learn as much about himself as he does about his son.

This is a wonderful film, very fresh and interesting, and a remarkable story. In addition, the views and stories along the road as fabulous as well. I really enjoyed this film from start to finish, and I’m very glad they took on this project, and completed it with all the love and care they could muster. I highly recommend this movie. It’s truly one of a kind.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Creative Differences, History Films, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication,

Werner Herzog, Dominique Baffier, Jean Clottes, Jean-Michel Geneste, Carole Fritz, Gilles Tosello, Michel Philippe, Julien Monney, Nicholas Conard, Charles Fathy

Back in 1994 a group of scientists discovered a cave in the South of France. To their amazement, the cave was full of ancient art work from the prehistoric ages. The cave was named Chauvet Cave, after the one who discovered it, and was immediately closed off to the public due to the historic significance of some of the oldest drawings known to man. Documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog was granted access with a small crew of handheld cameras for one hour to the cave to film a documentary. There are raised walkways, and they were required to stay on the walkway at all times, and not to touch anything. The result is this film of some of the most complex and intriguing art work of prehistoric man.

As you probably know, I often check out documentary films. I am interested in many of the things we can learn from these types of films. This one is certainly unique. With drawings as old as 32,000 years ago in a perfectly preserved state, they are able to build a bridge to ancient times, and learn a lot about the people back then. This part of the film is very fascinating, and very interesting. Unfortunately, they only had one hour access to the cave, so they filled this documentary up with a lot of fluff that is simply not very interesting. Interview after interview of things that are repetitive, and a lot that really doesn’t have much to do with the subject. If this film was a 45 minute production, it might have been wonderful, but with all the filler to make this film longer, it’s really causes you to lose interest after a while. As time goes by, it gets so boring, it’s hard to take. It’s sad, really, that the documentary is so poorly done. It may be that because it’s European, we American folk just don’t get it, as documentaries here may be somewhat different, but though very interested through the first 30 minutes or so, I really got bored to tears and it dragged on and on. Fortunately, it’s available on “Watch Instantly” on NetFlix and you can feel free to skim through the parts that get very dull. I can’t heartily endorse this film, but parts of it are very interesting.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

IWC Productions, Mandate Pictures, Point Gray,

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston, Marie Avgeropoulos, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Serge Houde, Andrew Airlie, Matt Frewer, Philip Baker Hall

Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a young broadcaster for NPR in Seattle. He’s dating Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) and best friends with good nature but crude Kyle (Seth Rogen). Adam has a strained relationship with his mom (Anjelica Huston) and his Dad who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. But everything suddenly comes caving in when Adam is told by the doctor that he has a very rare form of cancer of the spine. The film takes us through Adam’s life dealing with the disease, and how it affects everyone around him.

This is an interesting film. Based on a true story of writer Will Reiser who was diagnosed with cancer, and with Seth Rogen as his friend, beat the disease and under Seth’s urging wrote the script. So it’s very realistic because it’s written by the one who lived it. A lot of the misadventures in the screenplay are based on the real experiences Will went through. It has a lot of humor! How a movie about cancer can be funny is odd, but it really is. Seth Rogen does his gross out dialog that he’s famous for, so the R rating is mostly for the words that come out of Seth’s mouth! He’s so inappropriate, it’s hysterical.

There is a lot about the deterioration of Adam and Rachel’s relationship. Anna Kendrick plays a very young psychologist who tries to council Adam, and there are undertones of how much they like each other, even though it’s a doctor patient relationship. Then there’s the issues with Adam and his Mother. But the primary focus of the film is always the buddy film relationship between Adam and Kyle. After all, this is primarily Seth Rogen’s film.

Not exactly stellar, but very unique. It’s a very humorous look at something that is very serious. There are plenty of scenes that will make you cringe and look away, but it’s so light-hearted about it that makes it not a sad or depressing story. Very well written, and so it’s certainly watch watching.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

BBC Scotland, Creative Scotland, Head Gear Films,

Simona Mauriello, Claire Greaney, Suzanne Coyle, Brogan McKay, Julia O’Rourke, John Whitehurst, Joe Bitter, John Carey, Sandun Verschoor

Jig is a documentary looking at the preparation for, and performance at the 40th Irish Dancing World Championships. From small kids just starting out, to near professional older teens, these kids work day and night to perfect their skills in the precise footwork it takes to compete in the World Championships. Irish dance is a unique performance art, depending all on the footwork, and it is a grueling sport. We look closely at the people who are fierce competitors. We see the extreme love they have for the sport as well as the sacrifice, pain, and suffering they go through to perfect their game. Each of the characters has his or her own story, and their situations are different. This is a look at the championships start to finish.

This is a well shot story, and very good if you’re interested in Irish dancing. However, if you’re not, there’s not much else here. There is a fair amount of suspense over who will win. It’s especially interesting watching the little girls compete. But they don’t ever explain the scoring system in the least, and it’s very weird. There is a whole page of numbers, and the scores are like, 27, 6, 1215, 82. I watched the tense contestants waiting as the scores were read, and they would suddenly erupt like they knew they won, while I had no clue what was going on. In other sports like gymnastics, figure skating, and the like, the announcers tell us the basics of the scoring system and it’s fairly simple. “Sally needs at least a 127 to take first place” In this sport, it could have used a little bit of explanation. Otherwise, there’s no real suspense or excitement. The dancing is very good, and the people are interesting, for sure, but it’s just no captivating unless you’re into the dancing. So beware if you’re not interested in a dancing documentary, as you could be bored to tears if you’re not. But if you are, this is a great way to learn the basic requirements of Irish dancing.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Ryan Murphy Productions,

Dianna Agron, Lea Michele, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chord Overstreet, Darren Criss, Chris Colfer, Cory Monteith, Jane Lynch, Heather Morris, Kevin McHale, Amber Riley

This was a 3D Concert documentary shot during the Summer of 2011 at the Glee Live! tour. This film basically contains three things. First is background stories of the devoted fans of Glee. Second, it’s a documentary about the Glee cast and where the come from and how they feel about the show. Third, it’s a lot of music from the concert. Really good songs that suit the cast very well.

Directly off the top I’ve got to say I’m not a Glee fan. I can’t figure out what’s the point of these kids covering songs that are not as good as the originals mostly. The back story of the show and the war with Jane Lynch is pretty silly, as is the drama about who is homecoming queen, who’s gay and who isn’t. These folk are good enough singers, but when you have the original, why the excitement about a copy? But I get that it’s entertainment, and there’s nothing wrong with following the show. It’s not any worse than any other soap opera on TV, and it has decent music, even if it’s all covered. So I have not beef with Glee fans. This movie is actually like seeing the concert, if you weren’t able to see it. The background about the obsessed fans is a little creepy, but no more so that Trekkers or Star Wars fanatics.

So my basic attitude is that if you’re a fan of the show, you’ve probably already seen this movie, sitting in the front row of the multiplex with your 3D glasses on. If you haven’t seen it, you’re probably left wondering, like I am, what the big deal is, and you probably don’t even want to rent this. So I’ve included the link to the 3D Blue Ray version of the film from Amazon.com, so that if you’ve already seen it, and simply HAVE To have it in your collection, you can get the 3D version. For the rest of us, there are frequently concerts on TV or live concerts near you that would be a better use of your time than watching this DVD. I found my feet tapping to the music as I multi-tasked during this movie. My wife seemed to enjoy it as well, although I did notice she was playing games on-line while the film was on, so she want’s that into it either I guess.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog