Ed's Review Dot Com

Paramount Pictures , Nickelodeon Movies , Anonymous Content,

Victoria Justice, Thomas McDonell, Jane Levy, Thomas Mann, Osric Chau, Jackson Nicoll, Josh Pence, Johnny Knoxville, Chelsea Handler, Thomas Middleditch

Wren (Victoria Justice) has big plans for a Halloween Party when her Mom (Chelsea Handler) informs her that she’s babysitting her brother so Mom can go out. Wren’s not too happy about that, but soon brother disappears out of sight in a sea of trick-or-treaters, and Wren and a bunch of her friends set out on a city wide quest to search for him. What follows is chaos and piles of trouble. But just when it seems Wren has no hope of finding her brother, her true friends come shining through to help her see what’s been right in front of her eyes all along.

The trouble with this movie is that I’ve seen it many times. It started with Clueless and Adventures in Babysitting, and went on and on, through many revisions. One of the latest was Jonah Hill’s “The Sitter”. There isn’t anything really unique in this film. It has decent moments, and is rather funny, but it is SO derivative.

Well, there is certainly an audience for this film, and it’s not at all bad for the teen girl crowd who haven’t seen all the other films. They’re going to recognize the new faces from shows they watch, and enjoy the slapstick humor and gags. It’s Halloween themed, which ads to the fun, and it has a romance story or two thrown in. So I’m sure it’s going to be very popular with the under 20 crowd. It’s nice to see Jane Levy, TV’s Tessa from Suburgatory in a funny role that adds a lot. Even Johnny Knoxville is here. But for the over 21 crowd, I doubt you’re going to be impressed with this film. Like me, you’re likely to say, “Hey, I’ve seen this all before”. And you’d be right.

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Nicholas Sparks Productions , Relativity Media , Temple Hill Entertainment,

Josh Duhamel, Julianne Hough, Cobie Smulders, David Lyons, Noah Lomax, Red West, Ric Reitz, Cullen Moss, Mimi Kirkland

Katie (Juianne Hough) is a young woman on the run. Hunted by police from Boston, she hops a bus and rides toward Atlanta. At a 15 minute stop in a little village on the coast of North Carolina, she gets off the bus, and stays behind. Southport is her Safe Haven, where she can try to blend in and disappear. But fate has more in store for her as she develops two close relationships. First, a young widower named Alex (Josh Duhamel) and his two children, a boy and a girl. The second relationship is with a young single woman living down the road from her named Jo (Cobie Smulders) who is dark and mysterious, yet doesn’t pry into Katie’s story and is a good friend when she needs one. Filled with romance, heavy drama, and suspense, this Nicholas Sparks novel (same guy who wrote The Notebook, a somewhat similar type romance story) this movie will keep you interested from start to the surprising end.

My wife an I were anxious for an evening out a the movies, but we just missed the movie we wanted to see. We decided since it’s a Friday night, to catch a different movie. We decided on Safe Haven because neither of us though Julianne Hough could act (ex. Rock of Ages), and we were curious to see what she could do with a decent novel. Well, we were really surprised. Josh DUhamel was really good as a sensitive, single dad, struggling to get over the death of his wife, and keep his children safe and sane. Julianne came in with an excellent performance as both the troubled fugitive on the lam, as the detached woman, trying not to get close to anyone, who can’t help being swept away by Alex’s charm. The scenery is breathtaking in this beautiful North Carolina seashore town, and the story is really good. The surprise ending probably isn’t necessary to the story, but doesn’t hurt. Now critics have (and will) blast this film as being too predictable and cheesy, but pay them no mind. They watch way too many movies and have gotten too jaded. Come into this one fresh, without prejudgements, and appreciate the beautiful story. I can name other movies that are very similar to this, but I won’t, as I don’t want to ruin the story, because if you go into it, like I did, without any knowledge of the plot, the suspense is really pretty good.

I think this guy is a hell of a writer, and this story did not disappoint me. I felt the casting was good, especially the kids, and the people were as friendly and charming as Southerners actually are. It was a chick flick, for sure, but one that is strong enough to keep me riveted to the screen from start to finish.

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Summit Entertainment, Mr. Mudd,

Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Mae Whitman, Kate Walsh, Dylan McDermott, Melanie Lynskey, Joan Cusack, Paul Rudd, Nina Dobrev, Johnny Simmons

Charlie (Logan Lerman) is a young boy, dealing with the suicide of his best friend, and very sad and alone. He has a hard time making friends, as he’s a freshman and just starting out, but he meets two Seniors who take him under his wing. Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Ezra Miller) who show him the ropes and become friends. Charlie falls hard for Sam, but with his own issues, he just doesn’t know how to get along. Charlie has a lot of problems, and is fighting himself all the way in this quirky coming of age drama.

This movie surprised me a bit. I was watching it through the first 3/4 of the film, and it seemed like a typical teen trying to grow up and fit in movie, and a boy trying to win over the girl of his dreams. But the ending totally broke my mind as we find out that things are not the way they seem, and Charlie has some real issues. It turned the whole movie around, and though it was interesting throughout, the ending really sparkled. I was caught by surprise and the ending made the rest of the movie make a lot more sense. Emma Watson was really good in this movie, and has turned into a really good actress. I hope she continues, as she really did a great job in this movie and is getting better and better. I didn’t know Logan Lerman, but he was actually really good as Charlie in this film. The rest of the cast was also really good, although the story is really about the 3 friends. The rest of the people fit in and add the to depth and richness of the story. Paul Rudd is a teacher who inspires and helps Charlie a lot. Joan Cusack has a small role as Dr. Burton, and although it’s a relatively small role, it’s adds a lot to the understanding.

Basically this is a pretty good story, well portrayed. I enjoyed it for what it is, and though it has an “indie” feel to it, it was rather interesting all the way through. If you like dramatic movies with lots of dialog and little action, this is a good choice. I enjoyed it.

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Team Todd, Envision Media Arts, PalmStar Entertainment,

Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Chris Messina, Ari Graynor, Eric Christian Olsen, Will McCormack, Rebecca Dayan, Rich Sommer, Matthew Del Negro, Rafi Gavron, Elijah Wood

Young married couple Celeste (Rashida Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) are separated. High School Sweethearts, now they’re getting a divorce. There’s only one problem. They’re best friends, and they’re roommates. To top it off, they are always together. This really freaks out their friend s who think it’s absurd that they’re getting divorced, but but spend every day together. There’s no separating these two. They understand each other perfectly, get each others jokes, and simply enjoy each others company. But when Jesse decides he’s in love with someone else, and about to get married, things get complicated. How can two best friends, formerly married, tolerate one of them falling for someone else? They need to look closely and see if there perhaps are still some feelings for each other that are getting in the way.

This was a surprising film to me as well. Another decent movie, considering these are not real big movie stars, but TV stars. Handling sketches on SNL or a half hour sitcom is very different than carrying a movie, but the did very good at it. The two of them played their roles flawlessly, and really suck you into the story. It’s hilariously funny, and sad at the same time. Basically this is a good Valentines Day movie, and having it out on DVD just at the season of love is a good thing, as this is a great romantic comedy to watch together at this time of year! Seriously, it’s a funny enough romantic comedy to keep the guys interested, and has enough romance and relationship material to keep the chick flick lovers happy as well. This is really not a guy film, but it’s one of those rom-coms that guys won’t mind sitting through. Especially if you’re a fan of Andy’s work on SNL, it’s the same kind of comedy you would expect him to handle. This was a surprisingly good romantic comedy that everyone should enjoy. It’s rated R, but I didn’t find it too raunchy, and I’m kind of surprised this wasn’t rated PG-13. I’m not sure how it earned the R rating, but still, it’s probably not as interesting for kids and young teens, but more appropriate for mature audiences. If you’re looking for a fun rom-com that you both can watch, and want something new, this is a good choice and probably one you have not heard of before.

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Ada Films,

Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mark Duplass, Mike Birbiglia

Jack (Mark Duplass) is depressed. He’s still mourning the death of his brother and can’t keep to shake it. Jack has been dating his brother’s former girlfriend Iris (Emily Blunt) and needless to say that is quite complicated. Not sure if his relationship is going anywhere and feeling guilty about being attracted to his dead brother’s girl, he’s floundering. Iris is pretty busy, so she sends him to stay at her father’s vacation home on an island. Jack arrives to spend some time alone and get his thoughts together only to learn that Iris’ sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt) is also staying at the house. They decide to stay together, knowing nothing will happen, but after many drinks, both are very drunk and they end up in a drunken tryst that complicates things even more. There is much more to the story, but it’s enough to say that the following days are very revealing on everyone’s part as they try to keep the secret, then decide to bring it all out into the open.

This movie was a good bit better than I ever expected it to be. I chose to watch it because I’ve been pretty impressed with Emily Blunt in a string of movies since “The Devil Wears Prada” when I first noticed her as a pretty good actress holding her own with both Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. But this is a whole different type of movie. It’s a character study as each of the characters has ultimate motives that are quite different from each other, and nothing here is simply black and white. There’s a good deal of humor and some really funny moments, but mostly it’s grinding through the truth and confession portion of finding out who each of these people are and what they really stand for. It’s a small movie, with very little change in location, mostly shot in the vacation home on the island, but the characters are the stars. The movie is definitely not boring, and the lack of real action is filled up with self evaluation and a little introspective look at each of the characters. It’s a romantic comedy/drama with good characters, good acting, and a really decent script to work with. No car chases or suspense, unless you count waiting to see if Iris is going to find out or not, but plenty of character development to keep it interesting. I enjoyed this little film.

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