Ed's Review Dot Com

BBC Films, UK Film Council, Kudos Film and Television,

Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Amr Waked, Kristin Scott Thomas, Tom Mison, Catherine Steadman, Rachael Stirling, Tom Beard

A Sheik with a boatload of money and a hankering for fishing has a dream of building a dam, building the necessary streams and cages for salmon, and a desire to bring fishing to the desert despite everyone’s doubts and objections. He also dreams of bringing a peaceful pass time to a violent place, so he hires a British aide in Harriet (Emily Blunt) who approaches the British government for assistance. Timing is right because the Brits need some kind of good news out of the mideast, and so Dr. Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor) is assigned to make it happen despite the odds. This is a story of trying to succeed against all odds.

This is one of those films that really has no chance at the box office. People want huge explosions, super powers, and the like. This is a slow story. But wow, is it beautiful! The cinematography is stunning in this film. The desert is really something to look at, and I can only imagine how wonderful it would have been to see in wide screen. But even on a small screen, it was beautiful. The story also is very good. Emily Blunt did a great job in her role, and Ewan McGregor was also very good. The two work together against all odds, and the chemistry between them is quite good as well. This is not a complex movie. In fact, it’s really simple. It’s a man’s dream to make his country better by bringing a peaceful pass time for people to learn. Unfortunately not everyone wants peace. Likewise, the government decides to exploit his dream, which is also not very pleasant. Angry at being forced into this farce, Dr. Jones soon learns that there is some magic left in life if you give it a chance.

This was very much a “feel good” film, very nice to watch, and highly recommended for a family night film. If you want to enjoy a fun evening, pop this one in, make some popcorn, and sit back and enjoy it! It’s one of those hidden gems that everyone missed at the box office that is well worth tracking down on video!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

New in theaters this weekend Friday August 10, 2012

• The Bourne Legacy
• The Campaign
• Hope Springs
• 2 Days in New York
• Red Hook Summer
• Nitro Circus: The Movie
• Freelancers

Greetings movie fans. The highlight of this weekend must be the release of the latest in the “Bourne” series of films. In this one, The Bourne Legacy, Jeremy Renner, Rachael Weisz, and Edward Norton bring the story forward with a new hero who is in the same boat as those faces by Jason Bourne in the first three films. Also, a fairly large release is “The Campaign” a comedy about politics with Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis work to try to save the election after a huge gaffe by Will’s character just days before Election Day.

Other smaller films are “2 Days in New York” a sort of romantic comedy with the emphasis on the comedy, featuring Chris Rock and Julie Delpy. “Freelancers” Robert DeNiro, Forest Whittaker in a crime story about the LAPD force in a violent story of a cop hell bent to find out the truth of what happened at his father’s death. “Hope Springs” is the comedy about a couple who’s marriage has turned boring who seek out advice from a love councilor. Merle Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, and a very unconventional advisor played by Steve Careell.

“Red Hook Summer” is a generational drama about a young man who moves in with and tries to get along with his very religious grandfather, and finally “Nitro Circus: The Movie” which is kind of like “jackass on steroids” kind of film of a few guys with a death wash. Trying harder and harder to impress with very dangerous extreme stunts.
Last Weeks top Box Office:

1 – The Dark Knight Rises
2 – Total Recall
3 – Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
4 – Ice Age: Continental Drift
5 – The Watch

New in theaters this weekend Friday July 6, 2012

• The Amazing Spiderman
• Savages
• Katy Perry:Part of Me
• China Heavyweight [limited release]
• Collaborator [limited release]
• The Do-Deca-Pentathalon [limited release]
• The Magic of Belle Isle [limited release]
• Crazy Eyes [limited release]
• The Pact [limited release]

This weekend we get the long anticipated “The Amazing Spider-Man” (PG-13). This actually opened a few days ago on July 3rd to pick up July 4 box office. In this one Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) picks up a clue as to why his parents disappeared when he was a kid. What happened to him was no accident as he bumps into Dr. Curt Conners, his father’s partner. Hopefully this film will deliver what Spiderman 3 didn’t, and even with a new Spidey, it appears set to be a solid performer for the summer.

We also have two other wide releases. “Savages” (R) starring Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, and Benicio Del Toro is a story of pot growers facing the Mexican drug cartels who kidnapped their girlfriend. Oliver Stone is the director of this film, and it looks like a lot of action, even if it doesn’t appear to have a lot of “traction” at this point. The other is “Katy Perry: Part of Me” (PG) which is a combination of concert footage and documentary “backstage” and “private life” stories of pop singer Katy Perry. Other concert films like this have been pretty much blown by theater goers, probably because the kind of information they contain is shown in A&E Biography and MTV Behind the Music type specials all the time. I doubt this film will do any better, but I must admin Miss Perry is quite an interesting gal if her live appearances on talk shows is any indicator. As a relatively good little girl, preacher’s kid, from Santa Barbara, I am interested in how the heck she ended up (briefly) with English gross out comic Russell Brand, even though her Dad is a real character as a hippie preacher. I don’t think Katy has the devoted fan base Justin Bieber did, and how she’ll pull off a bigger hit than “Never Say Never” is highly unlikely.

There are a series of limited release films this weekend too. “China Heavyweight”(NR)is a documentary about teens in rural China who are recruited to be Olympic hopefuls. “Collaborator” (NR)is a story of a writer who is having major problems in his life and career while fighting with his neighbor who is a ex-con radical right winger. The “Do-Deca-Pentathlon” (R) Is a comedy about a couple of brothers competing with each other in their own 25 event Olympics. “The Magic of Belle Isle” (PG) is a Morgan Freeman outing where he plays a wheelchair bound author who moves out to a small rural town where he meets a single mother and her three children who teach him how to find his lost passion for writing. “Crazy Eyes (NR) is about a guy, Zach, who is gay and a never ending party guy who meets a girl he calls “Crazy Eyes”. She changes him and it appears he’s due to grow up and make a change to his party ways. “The Pact” (NR) is about a woman who has to face her past following her mother’s death. This Horror/Mystery film is a ghostly story about a presence that suddenly appears in her mother’s home.

Last Weeks top Box Office:

1 – Ted
2 – Magic Mike
3 – Brave
4 – Madera’s Witness Protection
5 – Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

BBC Films, UK Film Council, Footprint Investment Fund,

Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller, Jasper Newell, Rocky Duer, Ashley Gerasimovich, Siobhan Fallon, Alex Manette, Joseph Melendez

Kevin (Ezra Miller) has been a troubled child since he was a tiny baby. Worried that something was wrong, his Mother, Eva (Tilda Swinton) took him to specialists to see if he had a learning disability, but they found nothing. Kevin had a really mean streak that ran a mile wide. But mostly he took his rage out on his Mother and his little sister. Kevin suddenly turned into the model perfect child when Dad, Franklin (John C Reilly) was around, which wasn’t that often. So everyone looked at Eva as the problem. But as Kevin’s behavior became much more violent, Eva has to look closely to see how much she might be to blame for what happens.

This is a strange film. The whole thing is very done in a manner where we feel like we’re staring through a window into this very disturbed household. We get to see into Eva’s mind as she tries to deal with how to love this evil child. Then she has to deal with the abuse and disgust from the outside, the neighbors, her friends, but most of all her husbands attitude toward her. It seems there’s nothing that Eva can do to fix her unsolvable problems. It’s a very shocking and harsh story that doesn’t try to cover up the ugly life we’re watching. It pulls no punches, and as such is rather tough to stomach at times. It’s not for everyone. But if you have the nerve to sit through this, it’s certainly a story that will touch you and change your feelings forever. When terrible things happen, we always ask ourselves, “WHY?, WHY?, WHY?” Well that is probably not the right question as there often is no sense to these things. But perhaps this film will show you once and for all “HOW” it happens.

There was an old story about how to cook a frog. Being cold blooded, throwing a frog into a pot of boiling water was of no use as he would jump out immediately. But put a frog in a pot of cold water and slowly heat it degree by degree, and before you know it the frog is cooked without even realizing it. Probably not an accurate story, but the meaning is still valid. “How could the family let this happen?”
It doesn’t happen in one day. It’s little by little, step by step over a lifetime. Try as you might, you still try to convince yourself that the worst will not happen.

So if you have an interest in this really uncomfortable film, it may be something you will never forget. But remember that it is very harsh, and will definitely be uncomfortable from start to end.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday June 12, 2012

• Sherlock Holmes:A Game of Shadows [Click Here for Ed’s Review]
• Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
• Good Deeds
• In Darkness
• Thin Ice