Ed's Review Dot Com

Mystique Films,

Ralph Macchio, Hamza Adam, Marlee Grace Becker, Allie Bertram, Garrett Clayton, Erica Eleniak

Ruben (Ralph Macchio) is a former dance champion who was sidelined years ago due to an injury. His son comes to live with him while he mourns the lost of his mom, whom he blames his Dad for deserting years ago. The big dance contest, the “Holiday Spin” is coming, and everyone is wondering whether Ruben’s son has the skills to knock off last years champions while Ruben and his son try to find some common ground to build on for the future.

Sorry, but this film just did not catch me. It’s a new film for 2012, but to call it a Christmas Movie is stretching it a great deal. The dance contest is called “Holiday Spin” and the music is Christmas music, but the story is as old and worn out as you can imagine. This is just like every other dance movie that has ever come along. The bad guy is a great dancer, the new kid is an outcast, and doesn’t want to dance, but they talk him into it. Then there’s a big showdown. Very little has anything remotely Christmas like. Instead it’s simply a dance movie set around Christmas. I’m sure there is a market for this. Dance fans might like it. I’ve found the years of being forced to watch Dancing With the Stars has given me some knowledge of dancing. I know what a Paso Doble is now. Then there are a few Ralph Macchio fans left, especially since his Dancing with the Stars adventure. But unless you fit into one of these two groups, you’re not going to be very happy with this Lifetime movie. I appreciate them brining us new Holiday films and I’m sure it’s tough thinking up new stories, but they’re going to have to do better than this to make it worth while for the viewers.

[Here’s the link to the Lifetime page for this film]

Insurge Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Perry Productions,

Katy Perry

This documentary covers a lot of background information about Katy and her family and her background growing up in Santa Barbara, California, and also shows the performances of her Part of Me tour. During the time this documentary was filmed, Katy went from her marriage to Russell Brand through the failure of the marriage and the deep depression and sorry that followed. This is an excellent look into the life and times of a true pop star, and the cost of fame and fortune in real life.

I enjoyed this film a lot. Unfortunately most, of not all, of these concert films have failed to gather any traction in the box office. From the Jonas Brothers, to Justin Bieber, to Miley Cyrus and more, one after another of these “concert films” have failed. What is different about this film is the real view into the depression that followed the breakup with Russell Brand. When she married him, the whole world issued a sigh of “What are you thinking, girl?”, but it appears Katy really, really loved him a lot. She was doing everything she could to make it work, flying to Europe after her concerts to try to spend a weekend with him. But when it failed, Katy was at the peak of her popularity, and on a world tour which meant she was so hurt and destroyed inside, but had to put on a smile and go out on stage to give her best happy performance. Not only are all the great Katy Perry songs performed in the film, but we get to see what her life was like in the despair she felt and how “the show must go on” is really true.

What I got most from this film, besides the enjoyment of the talent she really has, was the close up look at her life and the good and the bad side by side. Katy is a true talent, and I gained so much appreciation for the hard work involved in making it all happen. There is no way most of us could ever make it. If you want to know what it really takes, watch this film.

Perhaps not a great $13.00 film in the theater, this thing really shines on the DVD, and is worth the watch if you are at all into Katy Perry and the music she brought to all of us. This is a nice look into her life and times.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Paramount Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, Dylan Sellers Productions,

Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Dennis Quaid, Ziah Colon, Ray McKinnon, Miles Teller, Ser’Darius William Blain, Patrick Flueger, Andie MacDowell, Maggie Jones

Young rebel (?) Ren MacCormack (Kenny Wormald) comes into a small town run with an iron fist by the town elders led by conservative preacher Rev. Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid). Rev Shaw’s Daughter, Ariel (Julianne Hough) is a sexy blonde on the edge of her sexuality and attracted to bad boy Ren from the start much to her father’s dismay. The town has outlawed dancing as it leads kids into trouble, but Ren makes it his goal to win Ariel, change her father’s mind, and hold a dance for the poor underprivileged youth of the town.

This remake of of the 1984 version with Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer as the teens, and John Lithgow as the uptight preacher is another remake that didn’t need to be made. I never thought the original was such a wonderful film, but it wasn’t too bad, and somehow it really resonated with a lot of the children of the 80’s. I didn’t think the original was nearly as good as Dirty Dancing was, even though there were some similarities. But this remake just didn’t need to be made.

The down sides are that they twisted and turned the story on it’s side, to try to make it hip for 2011. But they lost a lot of the drama and redeeming qualities of the original trying to make it today!!! Secondly the soundtrack was rather weird too. The mix of songs in the soundtrack seemed like they were trying to find something for everyone from Slim Whitman to Fifty Cent. It didn’t cut it. Julianne Hough has finished her run as a dancing instructor on DWTS, and is ready to move on to acting, and she’s as cute as a button, and maybe someday will turn out to be a decent actress, but she’s not ready yet, especially for this role. But she’s cute. Dennis Quaid did a decent job as the preacher man, but they watered down his role to make it more relevant to the hip hop fans I guess they thought would flock to this film. They didn’t. Trying to compete with John Lithgow’s performance is a tough challenge.

So I have an idea for them to try in the future. Remember how in the “old days” Walt Disney used to re-release his movies every 7 years, because he thought that every 7 years a new generation of kids came along that had never seen the film? Well that doesn’t work so well today, because of DVD’s and Cable TV, and instant downloads, but, when the meeting starts up about “Let’s do a remake of Footloose, because a lot of people loved it in the 80’s. But if you remake it, you have to pay the crew, and all the actors, and everyone, so simply release the original to the theaters. (Maybe you can spend a few bucks to spruce it up and convert it to digital and all that). Then those that never saw it, can go to the theater and enjoy it again. But I think the only ones who loved this remake version were those involved in making the dang thing. What a disappointment that never needed to be done. What a waste.

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