Ed's Review Dot Com

Aldamisa Entertainment, Kilburn Media,

Jon Favreau, Sofía Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Downey Jr

Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) is a chef. He’s always been a chef, but now he’s starting feel cramped. He works for Riva (Dustin Hoffman) who insists that he server his menu and Carl has no room to be creative anymore. But when he has a run in with food blogger, Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt) he ends up getting fired. His ex-wife Inez (Sophia Vergara) thinks he ought to get a food truck, but he’s not even considering that, until things get really desperate and he has to find his heart again.

This is a very good little film, funny in parts and very touching in other parts. The key to this film is the cast, as every single one of them is really good, and it’s quite an ensemble. The humor is right on target, and the situation is rather unique and quite fitting in these days of dozens of cooking shows on TV. If you think the food critic’s name is Ramsey Michel by accident, I’m certain it wasn’t! The cast really dives into this script and everyone delivers at top notch. I found the time flying by, and I thought after it was over how much I enjoyed the time I spent watching this. Everyone in the large ensemble cast is really good, and every one of them is very well cast. Each one adds to the enjoyment. This is a small part for Dustin Hoffman, but he really adds a great deal to the enjoyment of the film. This is perhaps the best fun I’ve had watching him since “Hook”. The relationship between Carl and Inez is hysterical too, with much of that due to Sophia’s characterization. It’s spot on. Every now and then you find one of these little films that didn’t gather much momentum and it’s a real pleasure to get to find one of those. The screenplay was superb, very well written and directed, and the settings in the south from Miami to New Orleans to Texas and so on were really fun. All in all it was a pleasure to watch this film. I’m not really sure why it pulled the R rating. That seems a bit harsh, but perhaps there was some language in there that didn’t catch my attention, but this is more grown up humor anyway and probably not as much fun for the younger folk. If you are in the mood for an intelligent comedy with a great cast, I can recommend this one for you!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

AR Films, Aldamisa Entertainment, 1821 Pictures,

Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Mel Gibson, Amber Heard, Sofía Vergara, Demián Bichir, Jessica Alba, Charlie Sheen, Antonio Banderas, Zoe Saldana, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding Jr., Alexa PenaVega, Lady Gaga, William Sadler

Machete (Danny Trejo) and Sartana try to bring down a Mexican cartel but are interrupted when a group of bad guys show up, kill Sartana, and Machete is arrested for the murder. But the U.S. government breaks him out on the promise that he will take down a crazy billionaire revolutionary. This guy is trying to launch a weapon into space to gain control of the power and take down the U.S.

When the original Machete was made, they knew they had a fun movie on their hands, but they needed a bit more to the length, so they filmed a trailer and did a “Machete returns in:” and previewed the upcoming sequel “Machete Kills”. They didn’t really expect to make a sequel, but they really had to when they saw what happened to the first film. Machete is the baddest of bad guys, and a real hero. Much the the Bud Spencer/Terrence Hill “Trinity” films of the 70’s this is a nod to the Spaghetti Westerns of the 70’s which launched Clint Eastwood into superstardom. Machete is certainly a throwback to those days, but it’s got all the technique and special effects of the day and are really modern looking. Much like other parody movies, this one is a parody of many other films, but unlike most, it’s not only humor. Yes, everything is much larger than life, and there are some really funny moments, but it’s a good adventure story certainly comparable to the first. Machete is just plain fun. There’s a gaggle of stars here, and that is mostly because everybody wanted to be in it. It wasn’t hard to get stars to do cameos in this movie, as it had to be a lot of fun.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog