Ed's Review Dot Com

Universal Pictures, Anonymous Content, Working Title Films,

Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, Kristen Bell, Vinessa Shaw, Stephen Root, Ted Danson, Dermot Mulroney, Rob Riggle, Michael Gaston, Tim Blake Nelson

Adam Carlson (John Krasinski)is a reporter who is stationed at the northernmost point in the US, at Point Barrow, Alaska wrapping up his filler pieces for the season and heading back to Anchorage. His dream is to get to somewhere in the lower 48. On the last day he heads out to shoot some footage and runs across a family of gray whales trapped in a tiny hole in the ice. If the hole fills in, they drown, but if they try to swim for it, it’s way to far to make it and they have no chance. Adam’s ex is Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore) who’s a Greenpeace member and sets out to save the whales. Meanwhile J. W. McGraw (Ted Danson) is the head of a large oil company who is looking to grab all the oil rights in the area and has the exact tool, a large barge for ice breaking, which may save the whales. That is a huge PR win for his company. But attempting to save the whales is much more complicated than anyone can imagine.

This is a somewhat biased film to the extent that government is bad, businesses are bad, Alaskan native tribes are bad, but Greenpeace is good. That’s really all that keeps me from giving this a 5.0. Also, if there’s a weak link, I’m sorry to say, it must be Drew. She comes off as really whiny in this film. Not that the greenpeace folk aren’t whiny. But this doesn’t really put her in a good light, I’m afraid. Now John Krasinski did a really good job here. He’s put aside the cynical wise guy from Dunder-Mifflin and really did a good job here showing us his talent. The story is really touching and is quite hearwarming. There’s a lot of suspense, and it’s a long shot. This is based on a true story, but should not be treated as a documentary. It’s got a lot of “poetic license” and many people have criticized it for the changes to the actual events. But don’t look at this as a documentary. Look at it as a delightful family film about a bunch of nice people trying to save some doomed whales.

The look and feel of the coldest parts of the world above the arctic circle is awesome. This is wonderful to watch in the middle of July when it’s nearly 100 degrees outside. It helps the air conditioner a lot! It’s a beautiful film. I really enjoyed this film very much. I wish I had seen it in the theater, but I’m glad I finally got a chance to catch up with this movie. I highly recommend this film, It’s a winner. Be sure to gather the family together and watch this!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

De Line Pictures

Cher, Christina Aguilera, Eric Dane, Cam Gigandet, Julianne Hough, Alan Cumming, Peter Gallagher, Kristen Bell, Stanley Tucci, Dianna Agron

Burlesque is the story of a waitress in a small Iowa town who is sick of her life. In her words, she looked at the lives of everyone in her town and found none that she wanted, so it’s off to Hollywood to follow her dream of being a dancer and a singer. But live in Tinseltown isn’t so easy, and finding work means one rejection after another. Ali (Christina Aguilara) is almost out of options when by accident she runs across a small club called “Burlesque” run by Tess (Cher) a retired dancer who is trying to keep running. With stars in her eyes, Ali enters and tries to find a job there. Tess is obviously in love with her co-conspirator Sean (Stanley Tucci) who is unfortunately into guys, and NOT with her ex-husband and partner Vince (Peter Gallagher) who stands against Tess on about everything. To further complicate things, the dancers lip-sync to classic singers while doing an old fashioned show without a pole or any real nudity, just suggestive dancing, but they all have issues that stand in the way of any form of greatness. Marcus (Eric Dane) is a rich real estate mogul who likes to hang out at the club, blow lots of money, and date the girls. But it appears Tess’ days are number as the club is facing a large balloon payment and has no way to pay the mortgage and is about to lose the club for good. Marcus wants to buy it, and offers her a lot of money, but Tess won’t take it, much to her ex-husbands chagrin, and he has some bad intentions for the choice property on the Sunset Strip.

Burlesque is a simple story. It’s been told many, many times before, and I think that’s what held this film up at the box office. Cher has a couple numbers that are vintage Cher, and excellent, and of course Christina is an amazing singer and plays the poor girl from a little town who had a big voice and makes it big in a hurry. This is her life story for crying out loud. It’s a very old story going back to the silent films and classics like A Star is Born or dozens of others. Actually it could be described as the PG-13 version of Showgirls which probably hurt it as well.

But this is a musical theater drama, and is not bad, (i.e. ok for older kids) and is a good story with redeeming qualities unlike the title would suggest. This is old time classic Burlesque, not a stripper story, and the music is excellent and the acting is pretty decent. Marcus is a bastard, and Sean is a very lovable queen. Tess is the bitchy dragon lady boss with a heart of gold inside, and Ali is the sweet little innocent girl from Iowa who everyone takes advantage of until she learns her way around to save the day in the end. Kristin Bell also appears as Nikki, the lead lip sync’r of the group who has so many issues and tries to torpedo Ali when Ali takes her place by turning off the music track which gives Ali a chance to really sing. Nikki’s part was pretty small, and I was a bit surprised that it wasn’t developed better, but I guess this is the Cristina and Cher show, so there’s not much time for any of the others to step up. But the songs are good, Cher and Christina are awesome singers and everyone is a great dancer. This looks and feels like one of those musicals from the 40’s that filled up the screen and it’s a big movie. I think I understand why it did not kick butt in the theaters with all the competition up against it over the holidays, but it’s definitely worth catching on Blu-Ray, especially if you have a large screen and a great sound system! This is a nice little film that looks very big on the screen. Give it a chance.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Oops Doughnuts Productions, Touchstone Pictures

Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Odette Yustman, Victor Garber, Betty White, James Wolk, Krisin Chenoweth, Sean Wing, Kyle Burnheimer, Billy Unger

This is a very funny movie. 

One of the reasons to attend your high school reunion is to see old friends.  Ok, no it’s not.  It’s to watch the train wrecks and disasters of those who were so popular in high school.  It’s to see the babes that turned into dogs and the dogs that turned into babes.  Well, when you grow up in a small town, as I did, you know everybody.  Go back to visit 30 years later, and attend a high school football game, as I did, and you find the same names being called out on the P.A. system.  Everyone is that guys son, or that girl’s daughter.

But this poor girl was invisible in high school.  And through flashbacks, we get to see how hard high school was for her.  Finally out of school, she went to college, worked hard, and found a great job!  Then word comes that her big brother is getting married.  But when she finds out who, she finds it’s the one who bullied and tortured her the most.

Home for the wedding, suddenly you’re a little kid again, and facing the same challenges you threw away.  Lucky Mom has some good advice.  That is until she finds out that her new daughter in law’s only family is her former best friend who had a major falling out in High School too.

Then there’s Victor Garber, as the dad who has no clue what the heck is going on and why the whole thing is falling apart.  No help there, and Grandma Bunny? (Betty White)  She’s got tons of issues on her own.

So things go from bad to worse, and some of the best physical comedy in a long time happens.  Hilarity ensues, and everyone learns to “just get along!”

Everyone in the theater seems to be laughing along, and it was really an enjoyable evening.  Total relaxation, and forgetting all your problems while watching the poor folks was easy.  I’d highly recommend this movie as one everyone is going to like from the kids – to the grandparents, and everywhere in between.  Good film.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Touchstone Pictures

Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel, Angelica Huston, Will Arnett

Not a bad movie.  Some parts were a little silly, kind of like a Mr. Bean episode, but all in all it was really cute.  Some of the smaller character are a little over the top (Bobby Moynahan over the top, say it isn’t so), but still the movie works, so that’s why I rated it as high as I did.

Let’s see,  a girl has a miserable brake up and has to attend her sister’s wedding in Rome.   Where have we heard THAT before?  But at the same time, this does a cute little twist.

Drunk, depressed, piqued, disgusted with men, this gal decides to take a dip in the famous Fountain of Love of  Three Coins in the Fountain fame, she decides to pick up five coins to take away their wishes.   Little does she know that when you remove a coin, the one who threw the coin will immediately fall in love with you!   Hilarity ensues, as a four crazy characters are madly in love with her.

But there is a twist.  She has to return the coins to break the spell, but the last coin belongs to a guy she really likes, but she can’t tell if he loves her, or if it’s just the magic of the fountain.

Ok, it’s predictable, but it is a fun romp, and very light.  I rated it in the middle because some of it is, as I said, silly, but all in all it’s a “light” watch.  Nothing deep here, but a decent distraction for a while.

Oh, and don’t confuse this with the Mary-Kate and Ashley disaster “When in Rome (2002)”.  It would be just like Netflix to send you the wrong one by mistake.  🙂

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog