Ed's Review Dot Com

Dreamworks SKG, Reliance Entertainment, Participant Media

Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Ahna O’Reilly, Allison Janney, Anna Camp, Cicely Tyson, Mike Vogel, Sissy Spacek

Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone) is an aspiring writer in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963 in the middle of the civil rights movement. She is writing a column giving household hints, but she has an idea of writing a book based upon the recollections and stories of her maid, looking at the life of a black woman working for a white family. As time goes by, more and more of the maids risk their very lives by talking to her and telling their thoughts and feelings, and the extreme hardships they had to go through every day. The times were changing around them, yet they became caught up in the change, as the book showing the dark side of life in the south became a bit hit.

Based on a real book, this is a very touching film. I’m not sure I’ve seen anything from the opposite viewpoint, of what it was like to be on the other side of the fence. These ladies raised white children while their own were being kept by someone else. They could have been filled with hatred and despised their “employers” but due to deep religious beliefs taught the children as best they could and tried to teach the children values in spite of their parents. Then the children would grow up and become just like their parents. It must have been difficult to watch. It’s good to realize that not all people carried the racist views from the hurt of the Civil War through generation after generation. There are good and bad people of all classes and colors and races. But it is a shame that these people had to live through the kind of treatment they were often exposed to. I really enjoyed this film. It was thoughtfully filmed and very touching. It has a great story and is well worth watching. There is a good reason it did very well in the theaters because it is a stunning film. It’s definitely worth renting if you haven’t had the opportunity to see it yet. Emma Stone was wonderful in her role, as were all the other characters. Sissy Spacek was a really good addition to the film, even though she had a really unusual role. All in all, this is a really good film. It’s a little long at 146 minutes, but it flies by and this is a film that ought to be on everybody’s watch list. If you haven’t caught it, you should.

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Participant Media, History Films

Brian Stelter, Bill Keller, Gay Talese, David Remnick, David Carr

Andrew Rossi, in this documentary, goes inside the New York Times offices to examine how one of the worlds most revered daily newspaper. He was able to have unprecedented access to view all the problems and promises for the future inside the Times. Blindsided by many things, they’ve been hurt on every side. Classifieds went to Craig’s List and Ebay, Job hunting was done via Monster.com, not by looking in the help wanted ads. Newspapers were basically a loss leader (sold at less than cost) in order to bring in the advertising revenues that disappeared when large corporations developed their own web sites. Then there’s the speed of CNN and other 24 hour news channels, not to mention Facebook and Twitter. Things have changed rapidly, and newspapers have failed all over the nation, one after another. Then the absolute forbidden question. What would happen if the New York Times failed?

This is an interesting documentary that covers in depth, the changes in how we get our news. Times have changed in the modern world, but yet there are ways to adapt that may save the Times. This is well worth watching if you’re interested in modern media, and where they are coming from and where they are headed. It’s a very serious documentary, but well done. It’s not done in jest and there’s really no comedy. It’s a serious topic and handled in a serious way. But it’s still powerful and very absorbing once you get into it. A must see for anyone interested in the media.

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Warner Bros. Pictures, Participant Media, Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ

Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, Sanaa Lathan

Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) is an executive on a business trip to Hong Kong. Coming home, she feels a bit under the weather, but within a day she is dead along with her young son who also caught the bug and died. Meanwhile, people from all around the world are getting sick, and it appears to be an epidemic. The World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control have their top people on it, trying to figure out what it is and where it started, but it looks like a pandemic is inevitable which could wipe out a quarter of the planet.

This exciting thrill ride of a movie has some great stars in it. From Paltrow, to Laurence Fishburn, to Matt Damon, to Kate Winslett. Even the rest of the cast it pretty good. It’s fast paced and they give us the medical jargon in a way not to lose the layman. We get to learn a lot about how it works, and how quickly the Homeland Security guys can figure it must be a terrorist attack. Very suspenseful, this deals with the aftermath of such a panic, from fires and quarantines, to looting and rioting. Part science and medicine, and part action and adventure, it’s a wild ride from start to finish.

I saw this film on IMAX and it was nice to see it bright and clear with a wonderful sound system on a huge screen. IMAX was not wasted on this film, although it’s certainly not critical to enjoying it. This will be just as good on DVD later, as it’s a good strong story. Yes, it’s been done before, but it’s a fresh approach to telling the story, with a little surprise at the end, just before the credits to make it worth waiting for. It was lots of bang for the buck, and not a bad, “end of the summer” film. It’s good it didn’t have to compete with the huge blockbusters this summer, because it would have been lost. But now, with not so very much to choose from, it’s a good escape from the real world. Or could this be our future after all? Time will tell.

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Summit Entertainment, Participant Media, Imagenation Abu Dhabi FZ

Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Anton Yelchin, Jennifer Lawrence, Riley Thomas Stewart, Cherry Jones, Kelly Coffield, Michael Rivera, Zachary Booth, Matt Lauer

Walter Black (Mel Gibson) is the CEO of his father’s successful toy company. But he’s suffering from a severe case of depression that is real and completely debilitating. Suddenly he’s about to lose his company, his family, and perhaps even his life as he drifts from day to day, many days never getting out of bed. Drugs and therapy have not helped, but suddenly he begins using a beaver hand puppet to help him open up to his family. Walter can’t talk to anyone, but the Beaver can, and he turns things around in a hurry with the Beaver’s help. But Walter isn’t alone. With his father seemingly going insane, adolescent son Porter (Anton Yelchin) pushes for his parents to get a divorce. Jodie Foster directs and co-stars as Walter’s wife in this dark comedy that also features Riley Thomas Stewart and Jennifer Lawrence.

The Beaver bombed in the box office and I’m not sure why. Surely a movie about depression must be depressing. Maybe that’s why? Or is it the other summer blockbuster movies that just buried it? Or could it be backlash directed at Mel Gibson who has certain had a run of very bad press of late. When Mariah Carey went through her nutsy phase, Glitter was a huge bomb, but was it really that bad? Well, maybe so, but Brittney’s Crossroads suffered the same fate. Of course it wasn’t very good, really, either. But this isn’t a bad film. I can see why Jody Foster took on the project, and Mel was an excellent Walter, and I really believed him. In fact, maybe making this movie is in some way therapy for the real Mel Gibson, who knows. But it is a warm and touching film about a very real illness. Too many people dismiss depression as something you just need to shake off and move on. Get yourself out of bed and move on. I will never forget the sweetest scene in “A Boy Named Charlie Brown” when Charlie makes it all the way to the National Spelling Bee and loses by misspelling Beagle. (B-E-A-G-E-L). Charlie arrives back in town and no one is there to meet the bus. Next day he doesn’t go to school and stays in bed all day. Linus arrives after school and says, “Charlie Brown, you lost the spelling bee. You lost, but guess what? The world didn’t end.”

This is the message of The Beaver. Depression is real and isn’t something that you can just wish away. It takes lots of help and lots of support. It also takes a lot of effort. Mel shows us this very well. His wife also shows us a real wife. Supportive as she can be, but tired of having no husband, and frustrated. When things start to look up, she’s expecting an instant leap to normalcy, which isn’t ready yet. But the key relationship here is the two boys. The oldest is experiencing many of the same things his dad feels. But Walter’s Dad also had the same illness. It is heredity, and is passed on in many familes. So the life that Walter’s son is moving into could be the same as his father and his grandfather. The relationship between Walter and his sons is also very important to the story. This is a slow moving, and very thoughtful film, but told very well with good characters. I don’t think it should have been completely ignored by the public, and my hope is now that it’s on DVD that it will come back in a strong way in the rental market. It’s time to forgive Mel for his weaknesses, and give this movie a chance. I am certainly glad I watched it. It had a really good story to tell and it was very well done.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog