Ed's Review Dot Com

Alloy Entertainment, Itaca Films, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),

Amandla Stenberg, Nick Robinson, Ana de la Reguera, Taylor Hickson, Anika Noni Rose, Peter Benson

Madeline Whittier (Amandla Stenberg) has a very rare and severe immune deficiency issue that requires that she live in a sterile room, sealed from the outside. She lives with her Mother, Pauline (Anika Noni Rose) who is a nurse and with her caretaker Nurse Carla (Ana de la Reguera) during the day when her mother is at the hospital. When a new family moves in next door however, Maddy who is now 16, is smitten by the boy Olly (Nick Robinson) who lives next door. The two become friends which makes life in the bubble unbearable for Maddy as she tries to figure out if one moment of freedom is worth risking her life.

This was a really cute film, with lots of heartbreaking moments. This couple is doomed from the start, but we can’t help but root for a happy ending. The performances here were really good, and it was a nice ride watching this story. Maddy and Olly do a really good job, and it’s got it’s funny moments, and heartbreaking moments, and lots of suspense as well. The music is really good too. This is a bit better than your typical Lifetime Made-for-TV movie, but in the same vein, perhaps. IT is touching and inspiring, and I found it very entertaining. I can’t help but give it a thumbs up as a nice film for teens and sensitive adults. Great job guys.

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Bron Studios, Escape Artists, MACRO,

Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Russell Hornsby, Mykelti Williamson, Jovan Adepo, Saniyya Sidney, Christopher Mele

Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) and his wife Rose (Viola Davis) struggle to survive in the Hill District in Pittsburgh in the 1950’s. Troy works as a trash man in the city, and brings his pay home to his wife to struggle through another week. Troy is a harsh man, having had a very rough childhood without a father, then spending a stint in prison for being stupid, and now trying to make a go of it for his family. But his older son is estranged and doesn’t come home, and his youngest son has a passion for football and has a planned scholarship for college as a football player. But everything blows up, as the problems mount faster than Troy can deal with them, as it all comes crashing down in a thunderous climax.

This film got a lot of honors during last season’s awards season, and this is probably the best film of 2016 in my book. This is a film that I really wanted to see in the theater, but was never able to pull it off. Then when it came out on DVD, I had it at the top of my queue on the day it was released. NetFlix has been playing games lately where they will send you one less than the number of free items in you queue and make you wait an extra day for the last one. Due to that, Fences ended up on the “Long Wait” game, so I decided rather than going out to RedBox or to rent this ON DEMAND, I would keep it at the top of the queue and see how well NetFlix could do at getting a movie I really wanted to see. Months have gone by and I finally got it this week. This was really worth the wait. One of the lines in the movie is something like: “Some people build fences to keep people out, but some people build them to keep people in.” This movie is called Fences for two reasons. One is the fence that Troy has always been promising to build, but it’s also a metaphor for Troy’s family and how he is losing them while he’s trying to hold him. This film reminded me a lot of the classic “Raising in the Sun” and is a very touching and well performed film about the trials and tribulations facing poor people back in the 50’s that will ring true today. It is very dramatic, and has a lot of dialog, but is very well portrayed. Growing up in Western Pa in the 1950’s myself, I was able to understand the feel of the movie. It’s very Pittsburgh. The entire cast is superb, and there is a lot of harsh reality, but a lot of tenderness underneath that is hard to show. This is an excellent film, and a wonderful story that is very much worth the praise heaped on it. This one should have swept the Oscars, and it was robbed when it didn’t. I recommend you watch this one!

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Amazon Studios, Big Indie Pictures, Picrow,

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, John Cena, Laith Nakli

Matthews (John Cena) is a crack sniper, and Issac (Aaron taylor-Johnson) is his spotter. They have been called out by the pipeline contractors for assistance when an Iraqi sniper is picking them off. The boys can’t tell if they were attacked by a sniper or someone else, but they patiently and cautiously watch for any movement that there could be a sniper. Finally Matthews gets tired of waiting and heads out to examine the body when he finds out that it was a sniper and he’s still hiding out there. Isaac tries to help but gets pinned behind a crumbling wall with the sniper somewhere out there on the other side of wall. Matthews has been severely hurt, but Isaac tries to contact the base on the radio to ask for help, but he finds out the voice on the radio is not the headquarters, but actually the other sniper who is playing him. Now he’s pinned behind a way without any water, and the two are playing mind games with each other in a long drawn out cat and mouse game.

This a very dramatic film, but many will completely hate it. As for myself, I really loved it. There is a lot going on here but it’s all mind games. The sniper is very devious, and has figured out a way to lure people into his trap, just like Isaac and Matthews were caught. There are only two characters, plus the voice on the radio, and the location for the entire film is one little spot behind the wall in the desert. But there are so many levels of thinking and planning going on here, and it was a puzzle just waiting to put together. This really felt realistic, and it was a very suspenseful. I really enjoyed the story, and was very glad I watched it. Don’t expect “The Battle of the Bulge” here, it’s not an action movie. It’s very thought provoking though, and will give you a lot to think about.

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Michael Mailer Films, AMPM Enterprises, Tremendous Entertainment (II),

Alec Baldwin, Demi Moore, Dylan McDermott, Viva Bianca, James McCaffrey, Eden Epstein, John Buffalo Mailer, Steven Prescod

Mark Dutchman (Dylan McDermott) is a hot shot businessman who is in big trouble for some shady dealings and is facing quite a stint in prison. His wife Suzanne (Demi Moore) had no idea what was going on, but was pulled in and assigned to perform public service or be thrown into jail like her husband. Bill Oakland (Alec Baldwin) is a top bestselling author who was at the top of his game when a terrible auto accident cost him his wife, and his site. Now blind, he relies on volunteers to read to him so that he can keep up with his work. Suzanne is assigned to him, and she simply cannot stand the guy. But if she refuses him, she will have to go to prison, so she decides to make the best of it. During the time they spend with each other, she is able to look closely into her life and see how empty it is. As spoiled, manipulative, and downright disagreeable as Bill is, though, the more time she spends with him, the more she realizes there is a place in her life that he can fill. But when Mark manipulates the system and gets out of jail, a huge confrontation is on the horizon.

This is a fairly interesting concept, and certainly Alex Baldwin, as much as it hurts me to admit it, did a pretty decent job playing Bill. I think Demi’s part could have been better cast, and there certainly are a lot better choices for Mark than Dylan McDermott, but the basic concept wasn’t bad. I think the thing that hurt this movie the most was the slow pacing. It felt like a stage play, as a lot of it simply took place in the reading room and there were long retrospective monologues without a lot of stuff going on. Another missed opportunity with a pretty decent concept that isn’t executed very well. Though it’s not a horrible movie, a few improvements may have made all the difference. This film was more of a disappointment and is probably not worth the time to invest in it unless seeing Demi Moore in her underwear for no reasonable purpose is your thing. I would suggest giving this one a pass.

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ChubbCo Film, Blackbird, Code Red,

Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Hall, Chloë Sevigny, Adepero Oduye

Former Teacher Paul (Steve Coogan) and his wife Claire (Laura Linney) meet for a very fancy dinner with his older brother, politician Stan Lohman (Richard Gere) and his wife. But there is another reason for the meeting and it’s not social. Their children have committed a horrible crime that has the city in an uproar, as it was caught on a security camera. But the kids have not yet been identified, so the problem is for the parents to decide what to do about it. How far are they willing to go to protect their kids, and what is the truth about the event? Was it a stupid mistake, an evil deed, beyond their control, or something that just got a little out of control. There is a lot to think about and a lot to decide, and the four people have four different opinions on what to do.

This is another example of a great story gone to waste. As this started out, I really expected it to be an interesting movie, but boy was I disappointed. The longer this movie went on, the more boring it went. The story is that the writer of the novel would not even attend the premier because he was so disappointed with the way the film was made. I wish I had skipped this one. The actors are really talented, and I don’t really know why this failed so bad for me. It just never got rolling and it was really dreary. I wanted to smack them all as time went on. I’m not sure if it was the screenplay or the directing, or what, but it simply didn’t work. Worst film I have seen n long, long time. Skip this one.

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