Ed's Review Dot Com

Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Infinitum Nihil,

Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario, Kevin McNally, Orlando Bloom, Stephen Graham, Martin Klebba, Golshifteh Farahani, David Wenham, Paul McCartney

Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is back in the 5th installment of the most successful franchise based on a Disneyland Attraction of the lot. Captain Jack has been marooned on the land, and is taking up time drinking, fooling around, and the occasional theft, like this one where he’s robbing a bank. Jack seems very unhappy, but those that are looking for him have not given up hope. Rumor is that he’s dead, but not only the English Navy is looking to capture him, but the Ghost Ship full of dead pirates lead by Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem) is out to put an end Jack and his crew and to break the curse on them. And of course Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) would like to kill Jack as well. But there is a new twist. Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) son of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom)and his wife (from the very first movie) is out to fulfill his Dad’s dream by capturing a hidden object that can break ALL the curses. Of course only Jack Sparrow is able to find it, but he and a young lady named Carina (Kaya Scodelario), who has a rather famous parent herself, are leading the pack to find Jack to find the object if none (or all) of the others don’t find him first.

It is amazing that a fifth movie in the franchise movie has just been released. Time has flown by so fast since we set out on this journey. This movie relates back to the original film, and as such, it is a lot better, in my opinion, than some of the other sequels. The story is really simple, but the effects are getting better and better as each film develops. Technology is pretty advanced today, and they have learned to bring the CGI in, but it a way that is not obtrusive, without ruining the effort. It’s hardly noticeable most of the time, until you realize you are looking at a ghost shark that is nothing but a skeleton, or a sunken ship that somehow rises and floats along without much structure at all, mostly holes. The action is exciting and practically non-stop, but the story is solid enough to keep our interest in what is going on. I was very impressed with this movie, and I was glad I saw it on opening day on a BIG screen in a reclining chair with a huge bucket of popcorn with my Diet Coke. The sound was awesome, and the 2+ hours flew by so fast I forgot to get bored. I highly recommend this film as probably the biggest film of the summer and a great way to spend the holiday weekend. Be sure to see this film in the theater. It’s worth every penny!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Sandbar Pictures,

Helen Hunt, Luke Wilson, Brenton Thwaites, David Zayas, Callum Keith Rennie, Elizabeth Jayne

Angelo (Brention Thwaites) is a young man living in New York with a very overbearing Mom. Jackie (Helen Hunt) is Angelo’s single mom and she planning his life out for him and he’s smothering. Angelo decides to go to Los Angeles to visit his father, and while there finds a life that is loose and easy and he takes up surfing. He soon decides to cancel his enrollment for college and stay in L.A. which drives his Mom nuts. So she sneaks out to L.A. to spy on him and while there finds a lot about herself and how to let go of the ghosts that are haunting her life.

This is a film with many angles. First and foremost this is a great vehicle for Helen Hunt. She passes through a lot of emotions and challenges. Secondly, it’s a surf movie. Jackie is the kind of person who is a perfectionist and rather over confident. She’s used to succeeding but when she decides to learn to surf, she finds it quite a bit more challenging than she thought. It’s a quirky romance, as Jackie meets a surf instructor Ian (Luke Wilson) and learns to let loose a little bit. But mostly it’s a well put together little character study. Helen Hunt was really good, although it’s quite a different look and feel for her, she did an excellent job. It’s a thought provoking and moving piece of film. It’s typical indy film and has some flaws. Some of it seems dragged out quite a bit. It’s slow sometimes as well. I didn’t think this is a great movie, but it wasn’t too bad, and I did enjoy watching it. For those who like films with lots of character development and not too much action, it could be something that you might enjoy. So this is a half-hearted recommendation.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Automatik Entertainment, Low Spark Films,

Laurence Fishburne, Brenton Thwaites, Olivia Cooke, Beau Knapp, Sarah Clarke, Lin Shaye, Robert Longstreet

Nic (Brenton Thwaites) and two friends are off on a field trip, but being a bit nerdy, they had noticed a signal coming out of the desert in Nevada. Since it’s not far out of the way, they decide to go find out where it’s coming from. Suddenly everything goes dark, and when Nic wakes up they are in a mysterious facility with no idea where they are, or what’s happening to them. Someone is controlling them, but they have no idea what’s going on in this science-fiction thriller.

This is a very unusual film. It really starts out like a horror film, but there’s way more to the story than you know. Things keep changing and we find out there’s a lot more to the story than we first suspected. Then the ending twists everything on it’s side once again. It’s a rather a cerebral film, and as a result, it’s not to everyone’s taste. It’s slow, especially at first, but there’s a lot of things that happen here, and if you’re one of those people who like to figure out the mystery you’ll probably enjoy this movie. I didn’t expect a lot from this movie, but I did find it quite interesting. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the story and am glad I watched it. It was a bit of a pleasant surprise. If you’re a sci-fi fan, this is a really different one.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Intrepid Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, WWE Studios,

Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, Katee Sackhoff, Rory Cochrane, Annalise Basso, Garrett Ryan, James Lafferty, Miguel Sandoval

Kaylee (Karen Gillan) and Tim Russell (Brenton Thwaites) are orphaned brother and sister. They suffered a supernatural family horror 11 years ago and Tim has been locked up in a mental hospital getting treatment for his blocked memories and horrible dreams. Kaylee has been patiently waiting for Tim to be released to complete a promise that they made 11 years ago to destroy a mirror which Kaylee has been studying for all these years that seems to have a long, long history of death, torture, and suffering. Kaylee has acquired the mirror and they setup a wide range of precautions so that they can spend the weekend in the house with this mirror and destroy it once and for all.

When my wife and I saw this film on opening night, the theater was packed. There has not been a really good horror film in a while, and every seat was full. There were people sitting in the side aisles and on the stairs and landings all over the place, much to the disgrace of AMC who allowed this. There were dozens and dozens of people coming in even after the previews were over and the movie had started. They kept coming in, walking up both sides all the way to the back past the people that were sitting on the steps and then walking back down to look in the front section which was also packed and then plopping down on the floor on the sides and in front of the first row. With a start time of once every hour, they could have moved the people to the next showing, but of course they probably wanted to oversell them as well. These aisle sitters also left their drinks and half eaten popcorn in the aisles which created a rather scary exit for everyone. But the big theaters were taken up by Rio 2 and Captain America which seem to be creating all the buzz this weekend. I think Oculus was pretty popular as well although nobody seems to be wanting to talk about it at this point.

I’ll talk about it. I am a sucker for horror films. I typically really enjoy these when they’re well made. Unfortunately a lot of them lately resort to shaky handheld cameras, vomit inducing camera motion, and stupid “found footage” fake stories. This is a classic horror film that can be summed up in a single word, “dread”. It is a dread filling movie. Throughout you are guessing what is about to happen, and you know it is going to be BAD. The only partially negative part of this film is the fact that when it’s over, you will still know something bad just happened, but you won’t have any idea what it was. Sometimes this is a brilliant way to tell a story, and I suppose that really adds to the terror this film produces. It is constantly jumping back and forth from past to present, and since the kids are in the same house their parents died in, it is easy to cut back and forth, even in the same scene. You will never be sure which are memories of what they remember, back story for the benefit of the audience, or actual crazy people who think they’re reliving the past. You’ll never know who is insane and who is normal, and what is supernatural, what is imagined, and what is simply insanity. The premise is so simple. What we know is that there is definitely something wrong with that mirror. But how much is the mirror, and how much is fear of the mirror is hard to tell, and when it’s over, you just have to figure out for yourself what you think you saw. This is an excellent filmed horror film and the soundtrack add a wonderful bit of fear inducing panic as well. The actors, both the adult Kaylee and Tim, and the young versions of the pair are also excellent. They equally tell the story and do a fantastic job of bringing us in. Although there are certainly many jump out of your seat moments, there is a classic horror feel to this movie as well. It builds suspense bit by bit, piece by piece until you just have to look away. You will be amazed at how wonderful it is to have a horror movie filmed with professional camera equipment instead of a shaky handheld camera phone movie. What a relief. But the intense dread and fear will build to a peak. If you’re a fan of real horror movies, this is one like the old ones used to be, and the makers of this film should be very proud. If you are not afraid of scary movies, then go see this one in the theater. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog