Ed's Review Dot Com

FilmDistrict, Constantin Film Produktion, Don Carmody Productions,

Emily Browning, Kit Harington, Carrie-Anne Moss, Kiefer Sutherland, Paz Vega, Jessica Lucas, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jared Harris, Sasha Roiz, Currie Graham

Milo (Kit Harington) lost his family to the Romans when he was a child. He was captured and made a slave, but his excellent skills of fighting made him a great gladiator who was sent to the city of Pompeii to perform. While there he met Cassia (Emily Browning), the daughter of the leader of Pompeii and is instantly attracted to her. A Roman Senator, Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland) has arrived in Pompeii to make a deal with them to invest in their city and bring them into the Roman Empire, but his ultimate goal was take Cassia as his own wife. But the famous volcano, Mt. Vesuvius has other plans and the catastrophic eruption that destroyed the city of Pompeii has other ideas. This Titanic-like blockbuster is a historical drama based on the eruption of Vesuvius with the background of a romance tale.

Vesuvius is exactly what you would expect it to be. Unlike Titanic and other disaster films, I have a very, very strong suspicion that the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius didn’t look like this very much! But they take lots of liberties in the scientific facts and give us instead another Pearl Harbor-like love story around the historical events. Just like those two stories, the action based upon the natural disaster provides the suspense and the intense action. The romance aspect is a bit weaker, but of course there’s a gladiator story as well, with some great battles in the arena. All in all, though it sounds like a mish-mash of so many different genre’s the story works together. The 3D effects were very good, and there was a lot of action. The special effects are superb, and the acting was not bad. I think maybe this wasn’t a huge blockbuster due to a lack of very big names, and the marketing wasn’t done very well. This movie has a lot going for it, and I was really happy I spent the bucks to see this on the big screen in 3D. It’s definitely a major motion picture, and is well worth catching. If you like the historical drama type film, this tells a lot about the Roman Empire and the life in those days. With the excitement of the epic gladiator battles and certainly the volcanic activity, the movie is very interesting. I think this movie deserved a lot more attention that it seems to be getting, and I think this will be a big hit once it gets to DVD. But if you like epic stories on the big screen, this one is epic enough!

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Lagniappe Films, I’m So Sorry Productions, Mega Playground,

Justin Long, Evan Rachel Wood, Keir O’Donnell, Busy Philipps, Sienna Miller, Peter Dinklage, Brendan Fraser

Sam (Justin Long) is a writer, feeling lonely and attracted to the pretty coffee barista, Birdy (Evan Rachel Wood), he sets out to win her by studying her Facebook profile. He find out everything she likes, then pretends to be the perfect guy for her. In the beginning, it’s just a joke, but when he finds himself really falling for her, he can’t decide whether to come clean or keep up the charade in this romantic comedy.

This had a lot of promise with the great cast of characters in this film, but it’s basically the story of Sam and Birdy, and I must admit I’m not really a huge Justin Long fan. I’m not sure why I’m not, but it’s partly the material he gets, but perhaps more likely the fact that he seems like a 30 minute sitcom actor rather than a leading man in a feature film. Although the movie was not at all the worst I’ve seen lately, it just didn’t strike me as that great. Something in the chemistry is off, and these two just don’t seem to be a pair. The story is not all that original, and this concept has been done over and over before the Facebook days with other methods of finding out what the girl likes and pretending to be that. Facebook is not that “hot” these days, and so it’s not novelty enough to be able to be a unique enough hook to bring you in. Besides, without being friends with a person, you can’t see all these details about someone. But that’s just poetic license here, really, and the problem is just that we don’t like the characters enough to really care about what happens to them. If you’re in need of a rom-com, this one is certainly watchable, but I would not go out of my way to search for this one. It’s just mediocre at best.

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Identity Films (I), Wind Dancer Productions,

Claire Danes, James Marsden, Thomas Mann, Sarah Bolger, Jeremy Sisto, Anika Noni Rose, Peter Fonda, Rhys Coiro, Alanis Morissette, Mario Batali, Jon Tenney

Lucy (Sarah Bolger) is a bit of a tomboy, having trouble with her parents and not really happy with life. Her Mom, Lainee (Claire Danes) is cheating on her never home Dad (James Marsden) and it’s clear that in this family Lucy is the grown up one. Furious with her mother, and aching for some attention from her father, Lucy is coming of age, and learning about boys while trying to be the parent in a struggling and collapsing family.

This movie caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting much, and this 2013 film was lounging away in my queue when I notice this film airing on Showtime, so I watched it. I wasn’t expectng much, but to my surprise it was a really decent little movie. Granted Claire Danes was a bit wimpy, but I think she played it pretty well considering her character had a baby when she was very young, and was forced into growing up too quick. Wanting the best for her daughter, she tries very hard, but just isn’t grown up herself. Sarah Bolger, on the other hand, runs away with this film. She is really the star here, and does a wonderful “Juno-ish” type interpretation of the 16 year old trying to figure it all out. She truly makes this film worth checking out. There is a lot of heart in this movie, and a touch of really funny humor, and it’s share of tragedy. All in all, for a small film about a struggling family, this is not at all bad, and well worth catching should you find the opportunity. More of a LifeTime style movie, but that’s not bad in this case. It’s a well done little movie that you will probably enjoy.

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Blumhouse Productions, IM Global Octane, Reliance,

Emily Browning, Xavier Samuel, Cam Gigandet, Dawn Olivieri, Thomas Dekker, Frances Fisher, Elizabeth Peña, Brandon Jay McLaren

Hayley is a singer and a songwriter and a wife and mother. But she just lost her brother and collaborator and is grieving, when suddenly she meets a talented guitarist who wants to help her get back on track in her career. But he’s obsessed with her and she soon finds out he wants much more than to just make music with her. This creepy suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Emily Browning does a pretty good job as Haley, the girl who is something to everybody. She does a good job of displaying the frustration of everybody wanting something from her. When she finally finds someone to help her through it, it turns around and he’s the one demanding the most from her. The story is very suspenseful, and has you on the edge of your seat. The best part is perhaps the story itself. The screenplay is a good one. There is a pretty decent rock score as well. This is sort of like Fatal Attraction is some ways but the twists and turns in the end as we find out what really happened turns everything around and suddenly it all makes sense. I was pleasantly surprised with this movie, and it’s a decent suspenseful erotic thriller with a rock and roll bend.

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KODA Entertainment,

Justin Long, Tyler Labine, Jess Weixler, Addison Timlin, Frances O’Connor, Shelley Long, Evan Jones, Michael Landes, Peter Syvertsen, James Detmar

Lumpy (Tyler Labine) is a wild guy, overly loud and obnoxious and best friend of Scott (Justin Long) and his new bride Kristin (Jess Wixler). Lumpy overdoes it as usual and messes up their wedding reception, but shocks everyone by dropping dead overnight. Scott and Kristin have to call off their honeymoon to go back to Minneapolis in the middle of winter to bury Lumpy. But as they try to put the event together, they learn that there was a lot more to their friend than they ever knew, and he was leading an entirely different life than they ever knew.

This was a rather surprising and off-beat movie. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I suspected Tyler to over play the loud and obnoxious friend, but he did one of the best performances in the film. There were other interesting characters that made the story better as it went along. In fact, Justin and Jess played the leads in this film, and they were shallow, annoying, and somewhat boring throughout, and were the weakest part of the movie. As I stated in the beginning, I wasn’t expecting a lot from this film, and so I was not sorry I watched it. Truthfully it was better told than I expected. Lumpy, who really is the main character in the story, dies in the beginning, but his life and times are the heart of the story. As such, it’s a story of a guy John Candy like…the lovable loser, even though he isn’t around that long. So the movie is a decent rental, not a great film, but well worth the time watching it on video. It’s a little different, and so that keeps your interest. I can mildly recommend this as a rental, and I did enjoy watching it.

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