Ed's Review Dot Com

Alcon Entertainment, Black Label Media, Blue Sky Films,

Reese Witherspoon, Corey Stoll, Thad Luckinbill, Sarah Baker, Sharon Conley, Maria Howell, Joshua Mikel, Mike Pniewski

A family of boys and a girl are orphaned in southern Sudan when the war from the north comes to their village. They have been starving for years, and now the village is gone and so are most of their family members. They walk over 700 miles to Kenya to a refugee camp only to suffer more. But when they are selected to go the United States, they are chosen to go to Fargo, and an apartment has been found for the boys, though their sister was sent to Boston with another family causing them great pain. Carrie (Reese WItherspoon) is assigned to find work for them, but she finds a lot more as she begins to learn what these guys have been through and how much suffering there is in the world. This film is based on a true story.

This film has a very “Blind Side” feel to it. Reese Witherspoon excels in this kind of a role as somewhat overwhelmed and befuddled, yet with a great heart and a lot of compassion. The story is very touching, and the things we take for granted would be really strange for people coming from this kind of horrible live. There have been some criticism of this film as it doesn’t tell a lot about the war, and the atrocities that were inflicted on these people, and why they were at war in the first place. I can give them a pass on this, because this is not the story of the war in Sudan, but the story of the refugees and how they managed to survive. This is their story, and I’m sure there are thousands more similar stories. The story is really two parts. The beginning is about their life in Sudan and their attempt at saving their lives. Once they arrive in America, it’s a whole different story as they try to quickly learn and adapt to life here, which is much different. The cinematography is outstanding, the settings are stark, dry, and bare in Sudan, and make you quickly realize how different life is there. The character of these boys, their honor and respect comes through very well, and their misunderstandings and attempts to do what’s right, even without understanding anything about the culture here is touching. But the close relationships of the family themselves is the most stunning part of the story. This is an excellent film, and one that I highly recommend.

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Alcon Entertainment, Boxing Cat Films, Color Force,

Harry Connick Jr., Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Kris Kristofferson, Nathan Gamble, Austin Stowell

Several years have passed since Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble) and Dr. Clay Haskett (Harry Connick Jr.) rescued Winter, a dolphin without a tail. Sawyer has the opportunity to attend a very special program which means moving far from home, and he’s not very anxious to leave Clearwater Marine Hospital. But when Winter’s partner Panama dies of old age, that leaves Winter alone in her pool. Government regulations require that a dolphin cannot be housed alone, so the team has 30 days to solve the situation or Winter will have to be transferred to a marine park or zoo somewhere else. This is the sequel to 2011’s Dolphin Tale.

This is a really good family movie like the good old days. There haven’t been many movies like this in the past 20 years or so, but this is a good one. It’s truly PG, it’s a true story, and it’s excellently told. Clearwater Marine Hospital is a real animal hospital and they allow the public to view the animals, but their only purpose is in their motto, Rescue, Rehabilitate, and Release. This place is dedicated to rescuing animals in serious trouble, fixing them up and setting them back out to sea as soon as it’s possible. Winter, if you remember the first film, will never be able to be released back to the wild because being seriously harmed by a fishing net, he lost his tail. Fitted with a prosthetic tail, he is surviving, but will never be able to survive outside.

This is being attacked by closed minded people who insist these animals are being captured in the wild and forced to perform for the amusement of humans. Nothing could be further from the truth with this facility, but they immediately jump to that conclusion based on the subject of the film. Personally, I appreciate zoos and marine parks, and have visited Sea World, Marineland, and Miami Sea-Aquarium, as well as the old Theater of the Sea out in the Florida Keys. I feel that there is a valuable lesson for people learned by seeing the animals up close and personal. IMAX films are great, but seeing a dolphin face to face really makes you understand the beauty of these animals. But people have their causes. I wanted to make it clear that I’m not an anti-Sea World guy, and I think they helped me and my five children learn a lot about life under the sea. But as far as this film is concerned, I really enjoyed it. very much. I liked the characters, I liked the care and concern they showed, and yes, this is based on a true story just like the first one. I think people who love real family films will like this, though I’m sure there’s a lot who won’t watch it, and that’s ok, too.

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Alcon Entertainment, DMG Entertainment, Straight Up Films,

Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Morgan Freeman, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, Kate Mara, Cole Hauser, Clifton Collins Jr.

Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is the premier scientist in the field of neural networks. Along with his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and a few close partners, he has studied artificial intelligence, but also made himself a target of a group of rebels who fear that the new technology will ruin humanity.

This is a very thought provoking film. I found myself enthralled with the science and technology presented but at the same time, this film was very human. I have seen this story before, where the dangers of computers becoming smarter than humans and then trying to take over and subjugate the frail humans, but this is a whole different take on it. Born out of desperation, Caster wants to help people, but is it really still Caster, or has he lost what makes him human? Are the rebels right, or are they just paranoid? None of these answers are obvious, and like life, everything is a little bit grey, with no clear black and white. The look of the film is beautiful. The soundtrack doesn’t interfere, but blends perfectly with the film. And actually Johnny Depp was an excellent choice for this film. He brings his childish innocence that he can do so well, but is able to convince us that he really is the uber-intelligent scientist that he portrays. Morgan Freeman’s role is not huge, but it’s absolutely essential that Dr. Caster has someone to depend on, besides his wife of course, and Freeman really lights up ever scene he is in.

There’s a lot for everyone in this movie. It’s certainly an excellent science fiction film for the geek in us. It’s got a strong ethical element that is very thought provoking, and it’s a pretty darn good love story too. As a bonus, the battle scenes are not bad either. All in all, this is a good all around movie. I would think that even Johnny Depp haters (you know you’re out there) would appreciate his performance in this film. I really found it excellent, and well worth the price of admission. I’ve seen some really good films lately, but this was really one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. I really enjoyed everything about this movie, and I highly recommend it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Lionsgate, Alcon Entertainment, Phoenix Pictures,

Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Chace Crawford, Brooklyn Decker, Anna Kendrick, Matthew Morrison, Dennis Quaid, Chris Rock, Rodrigo Santoro, Ben Falcone, Joe Manganiello, Thomas Lennon, Rob Huebel, Rebel Wilson, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Génesis Rodríguez

This movie follows several couple who find out they are expecting in vastly different circumstances. A star studded film like many others like “Valentine’s Day”, “New Years Eve” and a few others. In some way or another the stories intersect. A romantic comedy with all sorts of emotions, Gary (Ben Falcone) and his wife Wendy (Elizabeth Banks) are finally expecting after trying for a long time, only to find his hot shot racing star Ramsey (Dennis Quaid) and his new hot Mom Skyler (Brookly Decker) is having twins. But there are so many other stories happening that there’s something for everybody to laugh about and identify with.

This is one of those ensemble movies where the quirkiest things try to fit the different stories together. This one is very thin, and that drives some people crazy. I enjoyed the film, just like I enjoyed the other ensemble stories in the previous paragraph, but I’m not sure this is really good enough to recommend you run out and plunk down the bucks for this one. I had a free movie ticket from my Regal Crown Rewards card and I needed to find a movie that wasn’t “no passes” and with all the new films out in the last two weeks, this was about the only choice I had. I enjoyed it quite a bit, but if I was plunking down $13.50 I would have chosen something else, for sure. But I was impressed with Jennifer Lopez in her role as a mom planning to adopt an African baby. She is not shallow and silly, she grabbed for the meat in this role and did some fine acting. I was impressed. Cameron Diaz has a much lighter role as the host of a “Biggest Loser” type show who has all the answers until she finds her schedule is just too much for even a wonder woman like herself. She is pretty funny in this role and did well. There are other fine performances here too. All the stories are pretty good. Even Chris Rock is understated in role. He doesn’t have to take over the screen, but can play a small part that brings a lot of humor to the film. All in all, I would recommend it, but perhaps to wait a few months and catch it on DVD or Blu-ray.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog