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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Castle Rock Entertainment, Resnick Interactive Development,

Hugh Grant, Marisa Tomei, Bella Heathcote, J.K. Simmons, Chris Elliot, Allison Janney

Keith Michaels (Hugh Grant) was a famous screenwriter who is really down on his luck. His last few movies have bombed, and he can’t find work anywhere. Perhaps this is due to his wife running off with the producer of his hit movie, and taking their son with her, and the excessive drinking that followed. Now as hard as Keith’s agent tries, she can’t find anything for him, until an opportunity to teach writing at a small Northeastern college gives him a chance to to make a few bucks. Keith decides to take it easy, packs his class with really hot girls and a few really ugly guys, starts right off with an affair with the prettiest of his students, and gives the class a month off on the first day. But a single Mom of two girls, Holly Carpenter (Marisa Tomei) trusts him and builds a relationship and guides him to some serious introspection until he can realize that there’s more to his life than the thought. But by the time he figures it out, it’s far too late.

This is a decent Hugh Grant movie about a guy who’s enjoyed success, and lost it, but is a bit of an asshole looking down on the people doing the job he is forced to do by his own screw-ups. This is a really common situation, and the formula is that the guy needs to be cut down a few pegs, and then learn the error of his ways. Well this film really follows that formula to the T. That’s one of the problems as to why it was not a break out success a couple years ago when this came out. What does make this stand out as a video rental or cable movie is the excellent acting throughout. Hugh Grant is as good as we would expect, and this is the kind of role he’s well suited for. But the characters around him are the ones that really make the movie stand out. It’s all in the casting in this case. J.K. Simmons plays the department head who is stuck in a house with five women, his wife and four daughters. The way he plays the love/hate of this awful situation is genius. Allison Janney, on the other hand, is on the ethics committee, a strong harsh woman who is a militant feminist and a bit of a literary snob, who is Grant’s chief protagonist. She is excellent in this role. Meanwhile, the other students and teachers are also well done. Marissa Tomei is really good as the Jiminy Cricket conscience character, and the lovable next door neighbor/co-teacher is very well played by Chris Elliott as well. With a gang like this, it makes it a really interesting adventure made out of a very common formula. I enjoyed this little movie, and the fact that it is like a whole bunch of other movies really didn’t bother me due to the quality of the cast. Though not a very original film, it was worth the wait and this was an enjoyable movie. Give it a shot.

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Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Chernin Entertainment, Scope Pictures,

Eva Green, Asa Butterfield, Samuel L. Jackson, Allison Janney, Rupert Everett, Judi Dench, Chris O’Dowd, Ella Purnell, Terence Stamp, Kim Dickens, Milo Parker

Essentially a fantastic story about a young man, Jake (Asa Butterfield) who is very close to his elderly grandfather, but can’t seem to connect with this own father. When grandfather Abe (Terence Stamp) is killed under mysterious circumstances, Jake and his father head over to Wales to find the orphanage where Grandpa Abe stayed as a child, and Miss Peregrine, the odd mistress of the home about which Abe has told stories to Jake since he was a little child that would certainly make Mary Poppins jealous. Miss Peregrine and the children who live in the home have many secrets, mostly very dark, about those who want to destroy them, monsters and all sorts of misfits all around. Jake needs to find out that he’s someone special after all, just like Grandpa promised.

This is a live action adventure by Tim Burton. Yeah, when you see Tim Burton’s name producing a film, you know it’s going to be quite strange, and this is certainly not an exception by any means. This is one really weird story, and fans of Burton will surely love the weirdness more than anything else. But it’s a damn good story too, and though it is quite unrealistic most of the way, it does have a certain charm to it, plus a cameo by Dame Judy Dench too. All kinds of supernatural things abound, and nothing is ever as it seems to be. But underneath it all, it’s a familiar story of a young boy who feels out of it like he’s not anybody special, who needs to come to grips with the hero in him. Now I was an avid reader in my youthful days, and though I have lost that due to a huge lack of time to read anymore, I still respect those whose passion is the printed page. This, as I understand, is a wonderful book, and the movie does not follow the story very closely and departs across many of the characters. I can’t comment on that because I have not read the book, so my review of this is only of the film, and I really liked it. I splurged the extra three bucks for a pair of 3D glasses and the 3D was pleasurable. I really enjoy that technology and rarely am I disappointed in the 3D effects. After a few minutes, you get into the story and begin to forget that it’s actually 3D which is I think a good thing, but I have to admit that I was very enthralled with this film and enjoyed it very much. Certainly a can’t miss for Tim Burton fans, but anyone who is a fan of quirky adventure stories that are certainly out of the ordinary would, I think, enjoy this movie as well. This is a well received film by the public, and I am very happy to give my full recommendation to this one. It is PG-13 and there are some creatures that would be scary for little kids, but for Teens to Seniors, this is a good little movie.

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Amblin Entertainment, DreamWorks SKG, Marc Platt Productions,

Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Édgar Ramírez , Laura Prepon, Allison Janney, Darren Goldstein, Lisa Kudrow

This new thriller is the story of three women and a man named Tom (Justin Theroux). Rachel (Emily Blunt) is a very sad alcoholic woman who has not been able to function since her husband left her for their neighbor, Anna (Rebecca Ferguson). Every day on the train to the city, Rachel sits on the same side of the train to look and see what is going on in the perfect house with the perfect woman who has the perfect life that Rachel misses dearly. She is obsessed with the woman who lives in her house filled with all the things she used to own. Even worse is the new baby that Anna has that Rachel wanted so bad. Anna has a nanny who lives with them named Megan (Haley Bennett) who takes care of the baby so that Anna can do the charity work that she longs to do to fill the empty life she thinks she has. Megan is a tramp who is deeply disturbed and seeing a shrink to try to find some meaning to her life. When suddenly Megan disappears, things get very confusing as their lives are about to come crashing together as everyone is a suspect. Problem is, that Rachel can’t remember what happened the night Megan went missing.

This is a very slow paced, but highly thrilling “who done it” mystery and suspense film. All three women in the lead roles are very good, and though each is different in many ways, they all are portrayed excellently. Actually everyone in this film is very good and the script is very suspenseful. It’s well scripted, for sure, and the dreary rainy suburban NYC setting is very appropriate and adds a lot to the mood. It’s based on the novel, naturally, and a good one it must be. I haven’t read it, so the movie was a new story for me. My only complaint is the male bashing typical all men are pigs theme that always shows up in this kind of film. For this reason, it’s not a great thriller for the guys to watch. It’s much more of a chick flick in that respect. Even the wise old police chief trying to solve the crime is female played by Allison Janey who is pretty good, but who seems to be the only one who isn’t out to blame everything on the men in the story. It is fairly slow developing, but the purposefully way they build the characters. One other notable thing is that the beginning of the movie is a bit confusing as it does go through each of the three ladies to introduce them to us, but they do it in a disjointed…… “Six months ago” “Two Weeks Ago” “Last Night” “Last Month” kind of way that was very hard for me to follow until I got the gist of who these people were. Emily Blunt was easy to follow, but I was constantly confused as to why she was watching Megan instead of Anna and since they were both blondes, until I got the whole story I was constantly confusing which was which as they jumped around from time to time. Once the story got going it was a lot better. I did enjoy it, and found it interesting, and I can recommend this as a decent mystery story, especially for the ladies.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Illumination Entertainment,

Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Steve Coogan, Pierre Coffin

In this prequel to the Despicable Me films, we go back to the very beginning of time to see the creation of the minions. Since prehistoric times, the Minions have sought to help the most despicable criminals of the time, whether it be a T-rex or the Abominable Snowman, but it never seemed to work out for them until they met Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock). She has some great plans to use the Minions to help her become the baddest bad guy of all times.

This documentary feature shows how the minions got started. It’s a very cute movie, and I found I really enjoyed this film much more than the actual Despicable Me films. At least much more than the second one. I think because my favorite parts of the main films were the Minions to begin with. This movie introduces us to three special minions who are chosen to go out into the world and find a new bad guy to support. We get to meet Kevin, Stuart, and Bob, three special guys each with their own talents and personalities. I think this is what made this movie so enjoyable. They have a special bond, and are really funny. There’s a lot of things in this film that made it a lot of fun to watch. Sandra Bullock’s character is a bit over the top, but not as insane perhaps as Dru. Basically I was totally entertained by this movie, and I thought it was very well done. Certainly the story was interesting and very much fun. The kids will love it, but the adults in the group should have fun as well. I think they did an excellent job on this film, and I recommend it as one of the better animated films of the summer.

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