Ed's Review Dot Com

Atomic Monster, New Line Cinema, RatPac-Dune Entertainment,

Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman, Katie Sarife, Michael Cimino, Samara Lee

The Warrens, Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed (Patrick Wilson) are returning Annabelle to their home where they have a room filled with objects that have been haunted or cursed, or possessed. The sooner Annabell (the doll) is put back in her case and locked up the safer anyone will be. But when they have to leave town and leave their daughter behind for a weekend, they have a couple older girls keep an eye on her. But one of the older girls has some personal issues of her own, and finds the keys and opens the room, but even opening Annabelle’s case allowing the evil spirits to cross over to the house and terrorize everyone for one long scary weekend.

This series of films featuring the real life Warren family have been really outstanding and very scary. Annabelle has been the center of attention before, but this one brings the whole thing back around to the start. In the last movie, we learned the history of Annabelle and where she came from, but in this film Annabelle is not the central character, although she is responsible for being the conduit for all the evil in the film. The Warrens themselves are only a small part of the movie as well, and the main story is about the three teenage girls left behind in the home and what happend to them. As a result, my wife and her sister who watched this with me didn’t care for it and didn’t think it was scary. Their biggest complaint was that the setting was all in one house with only the three girls in the cast, and it was too simplified and not scary enough. I, on the other hand, felt is was extremely creepy and had lots of real suspense without all the cheap “sound” scares, and I really enjoyed it. So consider this, when you decide whether to see this one or not, that it’s different from person to person. I like horror films that are simple not extremely complex and hard to figure out, and this one suited me very nicely. I found it very suspenseful, and at times pretty terrifying, and I recommend this film for horror film junkies like me who like a good scary movie.

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Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures,

Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key. Madeleine McGraw, Christina Hendricks, Jordan Peele, Keanu Reeves, Ally Maki, Jay Hernandez, Lori Alan, Joan Cusack, Bonnie Hunt, Kristen Schaal

Andy has gone off to college and turned his toys over to Bonnie. Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang are off on a road trip with Bonnie’s new toy Forky who she made and loves as her new toy. Forky, however, being a spork, thinks of life much different that the toys do, so Woody takes him under his wing to teach him his new life as a toy. But when Forky gets lost, Woody sets off on a side trip to find him and bring him back when he runs into Bo Peep, his very old friend, and they set off on an adventure to bring Forky back. This is the fourth in the series of Toy Story films from Pixar, and a nice new addition to the group.

I have always enjoyed the Toy Story series, and found that they have been getting better as they progress. Is this the best of the Toy Story films? Sadly, I have to admit it’s not, but it’s pretty damn good just the same. The story here is rather contrived, but the characters are just as lovable as ever. Gabby Gabby is a nice new villain although she does bring her share of sadness with her as well and we will feel very sympathetic toward her situation. The whole story is a bit repetitive of all the other, “toy gets lost and has to try to make it back home” and “toy isn’t number one anymore and has to deal with his loss of status in his owner’s heart” story lines, but the animation is so spectacular, the voices are so spot on, and the characters are just so special, that it makes up for the little weaknesses in the story itself. This is another great Pixar film and one you gotta go see while it’s still in the theater. Amazing job, guys, and I loved it!

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Blumhouse Productions, Wyolah Films,

Missi Pyle, Luke Evans, Juliette Lewis, Octavia Spencer, Allison Janney, McKaley Miller, Dominic Burgess, Diana Silvers, Corey Fogelmanis, Andrew Matthew Welch, Gianni Paolo, Victor Turpin, Skyler Joy, Kyanna Simone Simpson, Katira Banks

Sue Ann (Octavia Spenser) is a small town assistant to the town Veterinarian Dr Brooks (Allison Janney). But in a small town, people stick around and issues from decades ago still hang around. Erica (Juliette Lewis and her daughter have just moved back to town, and her daughter joins a bunch of local kids who make friends with Sue Ann who allows them to party in her basement in exchange for some friendship with the youngsters. But as things go from bad to worse, they begin to regret their decision to make friends with Sue Ann who askes that they call her Ma, as she may have some deep issues to resolve at their expense.

This is not the movie you see in the trailer, and I really hesitate to put Horror as a category for this film, as it’s not really in any way a horror film. Oh yeah, the some blood and gore, and a lot of real terror, but this is a psychological drama to the nth degree. By way of well placed flashbacks spaced throughout the movie, we find out the story of what happened to make things the way they are today, and we do get a chance to understand Sua Ann and why she does the things she does. The story was unfairly hit by the critics who didn’t get what the film is really trying to do, and a lot of people went to see this with unrealistic expectations and they may have been disappointed. But I do believe over time the value of this film will win out in the end. It is a very good psychological thriller and very well constructed. There may be a few missed opportunities to turn up the heat a lot more on some aspects of the story, but I think they way they chose to do this is really very realistic. No one is all black or all white, and there’s not way you could ever come out of this not feeling something for Sue Ann simply because of the gravitas Octavia Spencer naturally brings to any role she chooses to do. I think she did an absolutely outstanding job in this role, and she really deserves a lot of praise for her performance here. I bought it 100 per cent and am amazed at her talent. Kudos to the director and producer of this film, as I personally think it was very well done, and quite impressive and very touching. This, unlike a slice and dice run of the mill slasher film, will stick with me for a long time. I really found this film chilling.

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Screen Gems, Hidden Empire Film Group, Primary Wave Entertainment,

Joseph Sikora, Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, Meagan Good, Lili Sepe, Debs Howard, Alvina August, Lee Shorten, Carolyn Anderson, Caroline Muthoni Muita

The Russells (Meagan Good, Michael Ealy) are a prosperous young couple looking to buy a nice home up in Napa Valley to get out of the rat race of the city and they run across a beautiful house on a large piece of land, and instantly fall in love with the house. The buy it from Charlie Peck (Dennis Quaid), who is being forced to sell after some serious hard times, but feels like the house has been in his family for generations, and he’s not quite ready to give it up that easily.

This is a very intense movie, and Dennis Quaid is really equipped to play this Norman Bates like psycho very, very convincingly. This was creepy as can be, and had some very suspenseful parts to it. The only problem with the movie is that it has been done over and over and over again. This movie is so very predictable and exactly like so many other films with the same exact story, that it really made it almost laughable. I don’t know why they decided to make another film exactly like all the rest of “the guy is still stalking the house after you bought it” movies, but there really isn’t much exciting here except for Dennis Quaid’s incredible acting skills. It was fun to watch him practice his craft, but it was really hard to enjoy this movie considering it was so much like all the other films, it really seemed like a remake with not a single surprise. I have to say to skip this unless you find it on TV one of these days (probably not too long from now). It is a shame to spend your hard earned cash on this film because it’s simply a direct copy of so many other good films. The scenery is beautiful, the acting is very good, and it is suspenseful, so if you don’t see a LOT of movies, then you may really enjoy this one, but if you’ve seen the story before, it will likely disappoint.

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AG Studios, Denver and Delilah Productions, Good Universe,

Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen, June Diane Raphael, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ravi Patel, Bob Odenkirk, Andy Serkis, Randall Park

Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) is a journalist with strong moral values. He believes in the causes he writes about and refuses to compromise his principles and as a result is kind of on the sidelines. When he attends an event with a friend, he spots Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) an old classmate and crush, his former babysitter, who is now one of the most powerful women in the United States. She is planning a run for the Presidency, and hires Fred to write speeches for her, and they are really attracted to each other, but her quest for power means putting aside some of the values, and Fred’s desire to be true to his principles soon cause trouble, not to mention that her political rivals would love to expose this unequal paring with a commoner to bring shame and to cause her to lose he chance in the election. What follows is a raucous romp through this very funny film.

This is a good pairing. Each of them are well suited to the role, and it is a really funny film at times. I enjoyed Seth Rogen’s attempts to fit in to the political drama without giving up his principles. Charlize is also very good in her role as the wannabe politician who at heart is still the small town girl who wants to do the right thing. She is very well suited for the role as well. The two of them do have some really funny moments and some of the gags are really good. This wasn’t an outstanding film, just a quiet little one that was enjoyable to relax and watch just for the fun of it. With all the big blockbuster films coming out, superhero after superhero, ad nauseum, it was nice to see this little movie for a change. I did enjoy it, but it might be a nice one to catch on DVD as the cost of movie tickets these days is pretty hard on the budget. But it was a pleasant distraction, and I enjoyed watching it, and do recommend it for a nice change of pace.

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