Ed's Review Dot Com

Bigscope Films, Altitude Film Entertainment, Out of Africa Entertainment,

Joe Reegan, Rick Ravanello, Matthew Holmes, Reiley McClendon, Scott E. Miller

This is the story of Outpost 39, filled with soldiers who have been fighting an invasion of aliens set on taking control of Earth. The story is told in flashback as the soldiers of Outpost 39 are interviewed to find out what happened as the tell a tale of horror, terror, and some giant puzzles to figure out as the leaders try to get to the bottom of what happened. This is a thrilling mixture or war and science fiction that is the story of a huge military effort against the aliens.

This was a surprising little film. This starts out as a military report, but as time passes we gradually learn that the Earth has changed since the invasion of an alien species. I could not imagine how a typical war movie filled with military actions and activity could turn out to be a decent sci-fi film as well, but this strange little movie manages to do it both very well. It’s a unique little concept of a film. The acting is surprisingly good without any really big stars. The action and battles are very well filmed, and the fighting is hot and heavy. Piece by piece, interview by interview, we learn the truth about what has been happening and as the leaders put together the story, we learn it along with them. It’s an interesting and amazing little piece of film making, and well worth streaming if you enjoy War, Sci-Fi, or both!

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Color Force, Lionsgate, Studio Babelsberg,

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland

At the end of Part One, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) was back, but severely affected by this time in the capital where he was brainwashed. He jumped at Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and tried to strangle her leaving her in the hospital severely injured. But as we pick it up, she’s recovering and the rebel alliance is planning to bring all the districts together to take on the capitol and President Snow (Donald Sutherland). The want to leave Katniss out of it, but you know she’s going to do her own thing and sets off on her own secret mission to assassinate President Snow. This is a fight to the finish with a war designed to determine the outcome of a free democratic Panem once and for all. But the odds are not so good.

THis is a very fitting finish to this series of films, and it’s sad to see it end. Jennifer Lawrence has grown so much through these films and it opened so many new avenues for her. She deserves all the praise she gets. This is filled with so many big stars, but we don’t even notice as they are all so well familiar to us at this point. This is one hell of a story, and the production values are out of this world. This one, however, if filled with nitty-gritty down and dirty fighting less so much of the super glitzy special effects that the other ones had, but still the scenes of the capitol are very awesome. Some of the traps that the defenders of Panem have set are amazing to watch. There’s plenty of action, lots of excitement, and explosions galore! The only negative I could think of is that as it wraps up, there are a couple “surprises” thrown in that are so predictable, that probably any of us could have written the screenplay to wrap this up. But that’s okay, we still enjoy watching it. This is a must see film, and a superb ending to what is one of the classic series of all time. See it!

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Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures, Mad Chance Productions,

Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Luke Grimes, Jake McDorman, Kevin Lacz, Cory Hardict, Navid Negahban

Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) was a young man who grew up with a religious father who was very strict with them. He grew up strong and straight and true with a real desire to do what’s right. He was about to become a professional cowboy, traveling the rodeo circuit with his younger brother when 9/11 changed everything. Outraged by the terrorist actions of this date, Chris put his life and his new family on hold to become a Navy Seal in Special Operations and head to Iraq. He was blessed with a sharp eye and became the most proficient sniper in history. His primary goal was to protect his Marines and see that they were able to get home safely. The multiple tours took a toll on him and his wife, and when it was over, he tried to find purpose in his life, and he spent the few years he had left trying to help other soldiers, and writing a memoir of his experience. This documentary produced by Clint Eastwood is based on his biography in his own words.

This was a decisive film. Clint Eastwood is loved by many and hated by the rest. His own life would make a wonderful movie, but he does know how to tell a story. His attention to detail in this film is amazing and we experience the horrors of war in first person. I am not sure if Bradley Cooper was the perfect casting choice, but he has the look of Chris Kyle, and I felt he did a good job in the role. He’s a good actor, and seemed to throw himself into the world. In some ways it’s nice to see an American hero like this along with his faults and weaknesses. They are not superheroes, but regular guys doing their best who are able to accomplish amazing feats, but who are not perfect. The controversy about this film seems to be based upon political lines. The pacifists don’t like the idea of making a hero of a killer, but the soldiers will be there doing their job regardless, and the enemy had snipers as well. We would have had many more casualties if there were not men like Chris who put their skills to test to protect our boys. This was a very noble thing to do. I was very, very impressed with the work done on this film and with the story that was told, and the fact that is is nearly a pure documentary. I think it’s good that a story like this can be told in a feature film so that more people are able to see it. If it were a true documentary and not a docu-drama, it would not have received the widespread audience that it did. The story is a tragedy, and I like the way Clint did not spend a lot of time on the tragedy at the end, but just stated the facts as the movie was closing. I would have appreciated a bit more about the occurrence however, and immediately went to Wikipedia to understand more of the events of that day. But since this work is based on Chris’ writings, obviously it wasn’t in the book. I understand why Clint cut it off as he did. I think this was a very well constructed film, and I truly felt like I had witnessed something awful, yet very important. Congratulations to all the people involved in this movie and I appreciate your outstanding efforts to bring this story to life. I highly recommend this film.

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GNK Productions, Gotham Group, Rough House Pictures,

Kristen Stewart, Peyman Moaadi, John Carroll Lynch, Lane Garrison, Joseph Julian Soria,

Amy Cole (Kristen Stewart) is a soldier stationed in Guantanamo Bay where the worst guys from the Muslim extremists who carried out the attacks on 9/11 are held. She has the job to guard these guys and it’s a difficult job due to the fact that she’s the only female in her group. She is instructed to keep her distance from the detainees and never to give out her name or any personal information that they could use against her or her family. She tries her best to be a good soldier, but she’s drawn to Ali (Peyman Moaadi), one of the detainees who wants to talk with her. As she learns more about this man, she begins to wonder what is really true and who is a good guy and who is a bad guy. It’s not all that simple sometimes.

This is a rather good film that gives you a lot to think about. These are touchy subjects. Right off the bat, I am in no way a Kristen Stewart fan. In her typical role she is much like a cardboard cutout. But there is something about this part that really resonated off of her, and she did a splendid job. This was a great role for her and she did a really good job and I must say I was impressed. But the star of the film is Peman Moaadi who plays the detainee who wants the final Harry Potter book so bad. I guess the Harry Potter series was very popular in the camp. Peman brings a humanity to his role that is excellent. He brings humor to a humorless place, and yet has some deep soul searching moments, and some tragic moments that really impress. Basically the majority of the film is the discussion between the two through a little hole in the door. Of course getting close to a political detainee is forbidden and she’s taking a great risk and gathering some unpleasant attention by spending so much time with one prisoner. But the story is so well done, that when it’s over you’ll be sorry that it’s ending. I think the writer did an excellent job with this screenplay and with the help and inspiration of his actors they brought us a piece of thought provoking cinema that is really enjoyable to watch. It is rated R, and some bad things happen which certainly wouldn’t be appropriate for younger kids, but for those able to comprehend the ugliness of war, it’s a well done film. For Kristen Stewart haters who dismissed this film because she is the star, take a second look at it and give this a chance. This is certainly her best performance to date and it is a very thoughtfully done bit of film making. Recommended for mature audiences.

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Red 56, Deep Blue Pictures,

Liam Hemsworth, Teresa Palmer, Aimee Teegarden, Chris Lowell, Max Adler, Austin Stowell

Mickey Wright (Liam Hemsworth) is a soldier in Viet Nam on an extremely nasty tour of duty. When they return from the field and collect the mail from home, he looks for a letter from Jane (Aimee Teegarden) his sweetheart. He finds the letter, but is shocked to learn that she is breaking up with him. Yes, it’s a Dear John letter. He is granted a two week R&R in Hong Kong with the rest of his men, but he makes up his mind to go AWOL (technically) and go back to the states to get his girl back. One of his closest buddies, Dalton (Austin Stowell) decides to risk everything to go back with him on this adventure to recover Jane.

This movie starts out with some fresh battle scenes in the fields of Viet Nam with some heavy duty scenes. Then we head back to the states and get a good look at the other side of the Vietnam situation. They are surrounded by people who spit on them or throw rocks, who despise the war and the army and who are convinced that the pair should head to Canada and renounce the army and the war. They guys need to take a good look at that. The performance by Liam Hemsworth is not bad, but it’s not really something in his wheel house. I thought Jane (Aimee) was really pretty awful. I understand that she has to play a crazy mixed up young adult, but she wasn’t very likeable. Most of what she did made no sense at all. The movie starts out with a great battle sure to create some action scenes for the trailers, but after a few minutes, it turns into a romance that isn’t really that dramatic nor is it comedic. In the end, they tried to throw in an action sequence of car chases and escape, but it doesn’t really add anything to the mix. My feeling is that this is a film that couldn’t figure out what it wanted to be. The blood and violence will turn off the girls and the long romantic chased and banter between the boys and girls will send the guys out for pizza. Nobody gets what they want out of it, and it sort of fizzles out. It seems to be schizophrenic and and bi-polar at the same time. I lived through the Vietnam era so I have a lot of familiarity with the times, but that still didn’t help me appreciate this film any more. I found that it was a fair try, but missed the mark in many ways, so I don’t highly recommend this one.

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