Eone Films,

Katie Holmes, James Badge Dale, Callan Mulvey, Jean Smart, Tyler Corbet

Miss Meadows (Katie Holmes) is a charming and gentle school teacher with one bad quality. She cannot stand bad manners, and if she see’s someone is guilty, she won’t hesitate to blow their brains out. Things are going along smoothly until she meets and falls for the local sheriff (James Bedge Dale) who is catching on to who is committing all the killings around time and tries to get her to stop. But when they go after her elementary school kids, Miss Meadows isn’t about to let that go down.

This is a very strange film. It’s very, very quirky, and is certainly a very dark comedy. But there’s something so outrageous about the whole thing, that it’s fascinating to watch. I don’t know what prompted Katie Holmes to take this role, as she had to know it was not going to bring her a lot of attention, but I imagine it was a great deal of fun to do. The town and the sets look like something out of Pleasantville or Leave It To Beaver, but Katie’s grace and charm is such a contrast to her unflinching killing that it is absurd in a good way. If you’re a fan of dark comedies, this is a really good one. I can imagine a lot of people will not understand it, and will be off put by the whole story line, yet those who can get the joke will enjoy this very unusual adventure through absurdity. Katie really does a great job in a most incredible role. I can recommend this to those who love the silly. It’s a very unusual movie and one that’s a lot of fun if you just go with it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.

Art Cine Productions,

Christian Camargo, Katie Holmes, William Hurt, Allison Janney, Cherry Jones, Russell Means, Michael Nyqvist, Jean Reno, Juliet Rylance, Mark Rylance, Ben Whishaw

The family gets together to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend at the summer house alongside a lake in rural New England. The period is in the mid 80’s. The family tries to get along, but there are many issues and many problems, and the weekend is a bit of an eye opener and game changer for the family as the fight and bicker their way through the long, long weekend.

This is a Russian story inspired by Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull”, moved to the U.S. It was terribly difficult for me to sit through. Generally I love “people” films and “relationship” films much more than most guys. But I simply despise films that have no purpose and no point. Just setup a camera, film a day or two in a family’s life where nothing much happens (to be fair their is a tragedy in the last few minutes of the story, but by that time nobody really cares). It just goes on and on and on with unlikable characters, no plot or purpose, no direction, it just happens. When I saw it produced by a company called “Art Cine” I knew what I would get. This film is trying so very, very hard to appeal to stuck up artsy folks, and as a result, leaves the rest of us far behind. I really tried hard to give this movie a chance. It has a really good cast, but with nothing for them to do. I’m not sure what made these folks accept this film, but I’ll bet there is a story behind it. I just can’t think anyone read it and said, “This will be a fascinating story”. I was NOT in a bad mood when I watched, neither was I tired or distracted. I went into hoping for the best and a bored nearly to tears throughout. In the end, there wasn’t anything worth recommending. I am not sure with the original story, but people rave about it. Maybe the transfer to America during the Reagan days, just did not work. Avoid it, unless you really like art house movies for some reason.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.

Gran Via, Miramax Films, Tequila Gang,

Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, Bailee Madison, Alan Dale, Jack Thompson, Julia Blake, Edwina Ritchard, Garry McDonald, Emelia Burns, Guillermo del Toro

Sally (Bailee Madison) is a young girl who seems to have a bit of a flaky mother who sends her off to live with her dad, Alex (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes). Alex has just invested his last dime in a very old magnificent, if a little run down mansion that formerly belonged to uber rich nature lover, painter, and odd fellow Lord Blackwood. Lord Blackwood disappeared years ago shortly after his son disappeared. Alex and Kim (Kim is a well known interior designer, and Alex must be an up and coming architect) are attempting to restore the house to it’s full glory to get on the cover of Architectural Digest. Sally on the other hand, is just bummed that her mother sent her away, and she’s irritated that Dad has a new girlfriend. Kim, too, seems to have some baggage accepting a new daughter as she mentioning recently losing a son. Sally and Kim don’t start out too well, but as weird creatures in the basement start terrorizing poor Sally, she finds that perhaps Kim is the only one she can count on. All hell breaks loose in Blackwood Manor and it all starts with an old fireplace in the basement that was sealed off and hidden years ago after Lord Blackwood disappeared.

This is a remake of a made for TV film in 1973. I understand the TV film wasn’t bad at all, but I don’t recall seeing it. That sets this movie up for one to hate! Why do we need a remake is always the first question. There are some problems with this film. There are some huge errors and a plot hole or two. But that really hardly matters here, as the film is so damn creepy! I mean this one really scares you. Mostly the monsters (?) are hidden from view, and we don’t know really who they are or what they want. Then, unlike the original, this one has them definitely after the child, who is a very believable abandoned by her mother, scared and vulnerable little girl with something supernatural after her. And the old, “no one belives the kid” thing gets a good workout here.

The film is dark and scary, with all the good things for anyone who loves horror. There are “jump out of your seat” moments for those who love the loud noise – pop out of nowhere moments. There is blood and gore that is dome pretty graphically for those who love the guts. There is also a great deal of suspense and outright fear as we wait for these things to happen and we try to put the pieces together.

So my opinion is to forget the plot holes and errors in the script, and just get into it and scare yourself out of your socks. This must have been a hoot in the theater, but now that it’s on DVD, turn down the lights, turn the volume up loud, and have a scare fest that is really worth it for a change. I don’t think any horror fan will be overly disappointed in this film.

Should you wish to talk about the goofs and plot holes, let’s comment, but I don’t want to give away too much info in the review. Enjoy this one!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently No Comments »on this post.

Broken Road Productions, Happy Madison Productions

Adam Sandler, Katie Holmes, Al Pacino, David Spade, Dana Carvey, Norm MacDonald, Tim Meadows, Nick Swardson, Allen Covert, Peter Dante

Jack Sadelstein (Adam Sandler) is a very successful TV advertising executive in LA, with a beautiful wife Erin (Katie Holmes) and two darling (?) children. There is only one thing in Jack’s life that he dreads every year. Thanksgiving, when his twin sister Jill (Adam Sandler) comes to visit. But this is the first Thanksgiving since Mom’s been gone, and it seems like Jill doesn’t want to leave. But when Jack is assigned to get Al Pacino (Al Pacino) to do a commercial for a doughnut commercial, perhaps Jill is the only one who can help Jack, so maybe he doesn’t want her to leave, no matter how annoying she can be.

This is a typical Adam Sandler comedy. Adam, donning the dress for the female role is a bit of a hoot. Adam did a hell of job with all the voices with his 8 Crazy Nights cartoon a few years back, and so perhaps he felt inspired to play the girl role. At any rate, it isn’t the greatest or funniest comedy every made, by a long shot, but it’s a pretty decent Adam Sandler comedy. (There is a joke about Rob Schneider in this film, but I’m missing him yelling out “You can do it” in this one!) It’s got a bunch of laughs, and it’s kind of a guilty pleasure watching this, and very enjoyable for sure. You get what you would expect.

One of the greatest joys of this film is the comedic styling of Al Pacino. You’re not going to see him playing a part like this every day! He’s pretty hysterical, actually. It was funny too, that when Adam was on the set, some days he would play Jill, some days he would play Jack. He claims that every time he showed up as Jack on the set, everyone was disappointed. It seems everyone likes Jill a lot better than Jack.

Anyway, the joke is that Jack is smooth and accomplished and Jill is lovable, but very annoying. With that, they run through a whole bunch of adventures. It’s a cute film, not great, but enjoyable. I don’t know if I’d run out to see it in the theater like I did, but definitely catch it at least when it’s on video. I loved Wedding Singer and 50 First Dates much more than this, but it’s better than a lot of Sandler’s work. He’s good at what he does, and I had a lot of fun with this one.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Author: EdG

There are currently 1 Comment »on this post.