Ed's Review Dot Com

Columbia Pictures, LStar Capital, Material Pictures,

Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Ron Livingston, Maggie Siff, Alex Roe-Brown, Maria Bello, Maika Monroe, Liev Schreiber

Cassie Sullivan (Chloë Grace Moretz) is a typical high school girl who is experiencing the last normal day of her life. An alien ship arrives and parks over Ohio and begins 5 waves of attacks in increasing severity to destroy life on Earth. Not knowing what they’re after, survival becomes extremely hard as the world changes forever. When Cassie’s parents are lost and her little brother missing, Cassie sets out to try to stay alive avoiding the “Others” while trying to rescue her little brother.

I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for good alien movies. I’ve been a fan of them all my life. And this is a pretty good one. Some people are going off about how this is the greatest film of all times. I suspect these are younger folks who haven’t seen a lot of these over the years. The classics going back to the 50’s and even before have already used all the gimmicks in this plot, and it is all too familiar. That’s what’s keeping me from giving this a super high rating. There aren’t any real surprises here for all of us who have been through these films over the years. But what’s different about this is the character that Chloe Grace brings to her portrayal of Cassie. She really nailed it, and this is totally her movie, for sure. Cassie is brave and strong and unafraid, but yet we have lots of emotion from her character from horror to sadness, to loneliness, to desperation. She carries the film with the help of some other strong performances as well. The story is well woven around the different twists that the plot takes, and though they’re easy to see coming, they are still fun to watch develop. The biggest issue I had with the DVD is simply that most of the middle of the movie is so dark, that I really thought I was watching the radio. I suggest if you don’t have a dark room, to watch this dvd after nightfall. It’s scary, and very suspenseful, and well put together. The scenery is really nice (when it’s daylight!). The action is hot and heavy, and as I mentioned before, the suspense is very high. I really wanted to catch this in the theater, but was never able to find the time, but watching the DVD was a good experience, so if you haven’t seen it, and you like a good little sci-fi space creature thriller, give this one a spin in your DVD player. It was well worth it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Gail Katz Productions, MICA Entertainment, Material Pictures,

Tobey Maguire, Peter Sarsgaard, Liev Schreiber, Michael Stuhlbarg, Lily Rabe, Robin Weigert, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Aiden Lovekamp, Conrad Pla

Throughout the 60’s the U.S. and the Russians were locked into the cold war. Each side tried to out shine the others. This docudrama is the story of the epic chess match between Bobby Fischer (Toby Maguire) and Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) which took place in 1972 to determine the world’s best chess champion. But though the climax of the film is the chess match, we get to learn a log about one of the strangest fellows on the planet, from the time he was a little boy until the world championship.

This movie feels like a documentary, although it’s not really. But it is the story of Bobby Fischer, who I remember from when I was a young adult. I remember the story as it was in the news every day, and I remember what a really strange fellow Bobby Fischer actually was. There is an air of mystery with this guy, and there’s a lot missing from this story. That is my biggest complaint with the film that keeps it getting a higher rating. It feels like they were shooting for a time limit, rather than telling the whole story. But what they did get, they did justice to. You won’t need to be a chess master (I certainly am not) to understand this movie. But a psychology degree or two might help. Tobey Maguire did an excellent job playing Bobby. I think he pulled of the character very well, and I was impressed with the range he was able to show. This is one of his best performances. Liev Schreiber is also a surprise as Boris Spassky too, as he was a well known figure, especially after he played against Bobby. He plays the relatively good-natured (for a Russian) opponent. He was totally believable as Spassky. As docudramas go, I did enjoy this film, but again, that may be due to my familiarity of the story. If you’ve never heard of him, though, and you enjoy biographical movies, this is worth watching. Don’t expect to be wowed or blown away, but it’s a interesting film, and one I’ve been waiting for a long time.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog