Ed's Review Dot Com

Weinstein Company, The, Ghoulardi Film Company, Annapurna Pictures,

Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Ambyr Childers, Rami Malek, Jesse Plemons, Kevin J. O’Connor, Christopher Evan Welch, Madisen Beaty,

This is the story of a returning WWII Naval veteran Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) who is not adjusting well to civilian life. He’s suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome although they really didn’t understand it back in those days. He is floating from day to day, drinking heavily, not really getting by. He runs into a religious cult headed by “The Master” Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his wife Peggy (Amy Adams) and joins in with them. Dodd takes a special liking to him and he becomes one of the chosen followers, but all the pressure is a bit too much for Freddie to handle.

I really have a hard time placing a rating on this film For the most part, I didn’t really care for it a lot. But at the same time, I have to truly say it was masterfully done. Dodd’s character played by Hoffman is quite unlikeable, but it’s very well done. This reminds me of another of his films, the biography of Truman Capote “Capote” from 2006 which was another truly masterful award winning portrayal of a character I just didn’t like. Freddie on the other hand, is simple a jerk. He’s so unlikable, and is just an annoying loser. This also reminds me of Joaquin Phoenix’s film “I’m Still Here (2010) [Click here for Ed's review] which was also a decent portrayal of an unlikable guy. So basically the cult isn’t really evil, and we don’t like any of the people in the movie, so you find yourself wondering why you’re spending the time watching something you’re not really enjoying. But like watching ballet or opera, it’s cultural, so you feel like you have to sit there and smile and nod or you’ll look like an uncouth ass. This is the way I felt in this movie, so I’m rating it a down the middle three stars because I appreciate the craft and the wonderful acting, but just didn’t care a whit about the story. I hope this all makes sense. I’m sure there are some people out there who got this, and loved The Master, but I wasn’t one of those. It was a little too pompous for my taste.

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Mandalay Vision, Wind Dancer Productions, Detour Filmproduction,

Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey, Brady Coleman, Richard Robichaux, Rick Dial,

Bernie Tiede (Jack Black) is a small Texas town mortician who is a very friendly guy. He makes friends with everyone with his mild and gentle demeanor, but especially the elderly ladies who flock to him. But he strikes up a close friendship with a mean old lonely widow who is the richest lady in town, and one whom everyone either hates or fears. But when she turns up missing, the sheriff (Matthew McConaughey) has his eyes on Bernie, but no one in town would believe anything but the very best of good old Bernie.

This is a very dark comedy, but done is a very light way. This is based on a true story, and just like all the townsfolk who can’t believe anything bad about Bernie, even though we know the truth, we can’t accept it either, and we keep waiting for the surprise ending to come. In the end, I guess it is a surprise at that. But this is done in the mockumentary style of so many other great jokester films, but yet it’s supposedly “mostly” true. The characters in this film are really good, and I think I’ve enjoyed Shirley MacLaine more in this film than I have in any of her films in a long time. She is really mean and funny at the same time. She does a great job and really shows her skills. The movie is really funny in a dark and twisted way, and not so much laugh out loud funny, but it runs at a high level of humor all the way through from start to finish. Even the discussion from the townsfolk as to whether Bernie is gay or not is never resolved and both sides have a good argument. Also good is Marjorie Nugent’s (Shirley MacLaine’s character) stock broker who is hilarious. He’s the most concerned about poor old Marjorie, but everyone simply believes he’s mad because he can’t get his hands on any more of her money now that she only trusts Bernie. That’s probably true. Available as a “Watch Instantly” film on NetFlix, this was a very pleasant surprise for me. I had no clue what to expect, but with the cast, I was willing to take a chance on it. I was really glad I did.

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Dos Corazones Films, NewLand Films,

Andy Garcia, Oscar Isaac, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Santiago Cabrera, Eva Longoria, Peter O’Toole

This historical movie is the story of the reign of President Calles in the late 1920′s in Mexico where he instituted a vicious ban on Catholicism. What followed is known as the Cristeros War (1926-1929) where the people rose up and fought against the atheistic government. Knowing they were severely outnumbered, they were able to convince retired general Enrique Gorostieta (Andy Garcia) to join them in the fight.

This was a very interesting film. It was actually pretty well done, and was certainly able to grab my attention and hold it throughout the whole movie. It was a story that I was not familiar with at all, and I was surprised that I had never heard of this particular war. As with any historical film, of course, there is a lot of debate over what is true history and what is poetic license. I’m not in a position to judge that, so I am taking the story as a movie that covers historical events, with a few liberties here and there I’m sure. Still, the story is good, and the acting is very good. It is a bit odd to have a film set in Mexico starring a lot of Mexican actors that is completely in English, but I guess many historical films have gone that route. Peter O’Toole has a very important but minor role as a priest who stands up for the church and refuses to bend to the restrictions placed upon it by the government. This story reminds me of movies from many years ago specifically 1964′s Becket, which also starred Peter O’Toole along with Richard Burton. The movie really reminded me of that, probably due to the O’Toole connection. Though there are bound to be many critics specifically hating on the religious persecution focus of the film, I really enjoyed this. I was able to stream this from Netflix “Watch Instantly” and it made for a very enjoyable afternoon watching a movie like movies used to be made. I found it very enjoyable.

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Emmett/Furla Films, Inferno International, Regency Enterprises,

Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Barry Pepper, Jeffrey Wright, Kyle Chandler, Justin Chambers, Alona Tal, Ambyr Childers, Griffin Dunne, Michael Beach, William Ragsdale, James Ransone, Natalie Martinez

Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) is a former policeman, now a private detective who must inform the Mayor that his wife is having an affair. But when the guy turns up dead, Billy thinks something smalls fishy, and he proceeds to dig into the story, risking his own life, and the lives of those he comes in contact with. Is Billy onto something, or is he just the fall guy in a sinister plot?

They say that the naked city has a million stories. Well, New York has hundreds that are just like this one, unfortunately. There’s nothing really wrong with this movie, other than it’s just like a hundred other stories. Mark Wahlberg is pretty fair in this role, but he’s not any different than a dozen other cops/P.I.’s that have done this story. Russell Crowe is underwhelming as the Mayor, and Catherine Zeta-Jones is wasted as the Mayor’s wife. Russell is a great actor in a ho-hum role, and Catherine Zeta-Jones does not have enough to do in this film to make it worth her efforts.

So this is a very typical crime, corruption, betrayal, murder, story with twists and turns that are so clearly marked, that there are no surprises at all. If you’re a big fan of the big city crime drama, then this is as good a typical TV movie, but if you’re looking for something challenging, unique, and interesting, then this is sure to disappoint. I say, skip it.

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The Weinstein Company,

Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Julia Stiles, John Ortiz, Shea Whigham

Pat (Bradley Cooper) has been in a mental hospital for 4 years after finding his wife in a compromising situation. Now he’s home, reluctant to take his meds, hit by a restraining order from his ex-wife, and living with his Dad (Robert De Niro) (who obviously has his own mental issues) and trying to keep it together, but not very well. He meets young cop widow Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) and falls into a tumultuous friendship/relationship with her. She’s really troubled as well, so it’s like the blind leading the blind. Pat is trying to win back his wife in vain, and Tiffany is not ready to face the sudden accidental death of her husband. The two are totally broken and trying to find a silver lining somewhere in the midst of all their problems.

This is a really good film, that really deserved all the awards heaped upon it in 2012. The story is a close look at messed up lives and an inspection of mental illness that is really straight on. The ending is really sweet, but the movie is relatively harsh. I think Bradley Cooper did a good job in portraying the highs and lows of bi-polar disorder, and Jennifer Lawrence is really awesome in this film. She plays the mix of fragile/easily hurt vs. loud obnoxious so well, that she’s really believable. This was an excellent role for her to show what she can really do, and she did an excellent job. De Niro was superb as always. His role is a great mix of drama and comedy, and he’s done such a great job in funny roles lately and is a really good comic, but obviously plays the straight roles really well.

This film has a little bit of nudity near the beginning (when there’s a flashback to Pat finding his wife in the shower) but it’s short and not overly done. There is also some violence in a couple bloody fights, but that is not overly done either, so it’s barely an R rating. Just to let you know it’s not overly bad. But the subject matter is rather harsh for kids to understand, so the R rating is not a big problem anyway as kids probably aren’t going to enjoy this anyway. But for grownups, it’s nice on several levels. One, watching these people will make you feel better about yourself! Secondly, we can surely identify with the issues these people are having, and realizing that if we let ourselves do what we wanted (No filter, as Pat describes it) we could be just a bad off as these folks are. All in all, it’s a pretty touching film, well made, and one I really enjoyed. It’s a great mix of comedy, drama, and romance.

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