Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Scott Free Productions, TSG Entertainment,

Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez, Amy Seimetz, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, Uli Latukefu, Benjamin Rigby, James Franco, Guy Pearce, Noomi Rapace

It’s been nearly a dozen years since the disaster struck original journey failed and was lost, a deep-space ship is on it’s way to a distant planet with over 2,000 colonists, in order to populate this new world. Mid journey, however, Walter (Michael Fassbender) a robot who is manning the ship while everyone is in hibernation decides it’s necessary to wake up the crew because of an emergency. When they are about ready to head back to sleep, they intercept a message from a closer planet that seems really habitable. Thinking it might save them a lot of time, they decide to head there, only to learn it’s a huge trap and what started out as a colony mission has now turned into a search and rescue mission with heavy casualties.

I must admit that I have never been a fan of the Alien movies. I saw them when they came out, and I admit they were pretty scary and all, but I just never got involved in the story. When this sequel came out, I was not all that excited to see it, so I waited for it to come out on DVD> That may have been a big mistake, as this was a surprisingly good movie. This movie is very Star Trek-ky, but much more intense. The story was very solid and really kept me glued to the screen. I found the action to be very exciting, the battles were really good, and the level of suspense is set to vary high! I was very pleased with this film, and I thought it was very well done. The sets were excellent, and the planet was beautiful, and ugly at the same time, and though the ending was telegraphed a mile away. it still was enjoyable from start to finish. Fassbender stole this movie, but you’ll see why when you watch it. If you like sci-fi that is very suspenseful and mighty scary, you should watch this one. I actually enjoyed this sequel more than any of the other films in the series, really.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Scott Free Productions,

Kate Mara, Anya Taylor Joy, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Boyd Holbrook, Michelle Yeoh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Giamatti,

Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a risk management consultant for a large company who is sent out into the sticks to evaluate a project that seems to be running off the rails. There was an unfortunate accident which prompted the company to send her to decide whether or not to terminate the experiment. But she is surprised to learn that they are working with artificial intelligence and have created a humanoid robot that thinks it’s alive. But something may be amiss and all hell breaks loose when the robot played by Kate Mara learns she may be terminated.

This was one of those hidden gem films that sneak up on you. I had no idea this film existed and it was a pleasant surprise. It snuck up on me and caught me when I wasn’t looking. I found myself very interested in this film. The leads in this film nailed it, and it was filled with shocks and surprises. Paul Giamatti has a small role, but is very memorable. This is suspenseful, and kept me on the edge of my seat. The concept was fascinating, and very well pulled off. I was really blown away when this was over. I really did not expect to be so entertained by this movie, and it was really a lot of fun. If you enjoy science fiction, this is a great story about issues with artificial intelligence and self learning computers. Give this one a shot, it’s really a good one.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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** Get Santa

Film Väst, Scott Free Productions,

Jim Broadbent, Rafe Spall, Warwick Davis, Ewen Bremner, Stephen Graham, Joanna Scanlan, Jodie Whittaker, Kit Connor, Josh McGuire, Nonso Anozie, Hera Hilmar, Matt King



A young boy finds Santa asleep in their garage after clipping a power line and crashing his new sleigh. With the help of his Dad, who is on parole after spending some time in the pen, set out to help Santa, but things are bad as the police are after him and the reindeer have all gotten loose. They will have to do everything possible to get Santa back on track for Christmas Eve.

This little movie was a surprise. It’s got Jim Broadbent as Santa. He will always be Tootles for me from the movie Hook, but he is an excellent choice for Santa. We also have “Not an Elf” Warwick Davis (Willow) here as a prisoner who Santa mistakes for an Elf. He adds a lot of humor to the script as well. This is a very British movie and the (dare I say) accent makes it a little harder to follow, especially if your sound is screwed up, but it was actually a very nicely done movie. I found it very entertaining and a cut above the rest. There have been so many low budget Santa is in trouble and needs the kids to help him save Christmas movies, but this has a lot of class. Granted some of it is silly and that’s intentional. But it has much more going on here. There is a complicated relationship between the boy and his Mother who is remarried and with his Dad who is trying to do his best even though he’s being punished by having his son kept away from him. All in all it was a delightful adventure and a good time watching this, and I feel like it is well worth the time I invested watching it. You can stream it on Netflix if you wish.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Chernin Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, Babieka,

Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley

The story of the life of Moses (Christian Bale) from his time as a young man in Egyptian royalty through his life exiled into the wilderness, to his triumphant march of the Israelite slaves out of bondage in Egypt and across the Red Sea on their way to Canaan. A controversial film, to say the least, but like other big budget films like Gladiator, Noah, 500, etc. this is a big budget full on visual delight. History? Perhaps not so much.

This certainly was not a badly done as Noah was. That was pretty horrible, really. But this also made some really strange choices as things went along. To call it “Exodus” gives the impression that it is going to be a remake of “The Ten Commands” from the Bible. But Ridley Scott made some really odd changes in the story that really didn’t need to be made. At first, I thought this was going to be a “void of Religion” scientific telling of “how it could have happened”. But it really didn’t turn out that way. It certainly played down the religious elements of the film. This is sacred Jewish history, but something that the Christians put a lot of faith in as well, as certainly Jesus was a descendant of these people. It’s belief that the Jews have to share. Even the Koran has this story in it as well. The look of this film in incredible. Made for 3-D, the sets and scenery are simply stunning. I must admit that it would have been much harder for Cecil B. DeMille to create what he did in the California Mojave Desert for Charleton Heston to march around in. There has to be comparisons between the two films. Though stunning for it’s time, the technology has brought so much more visual quality to the film today. Perhaps this is a problem, as the look is so absolutely stunning, that it seems they lost the power of one of the greatest stories ever. The movie runs over 2 1/2 hours, and it looks like it was chopped down quite a bit to make it that “short”. But at the same time, they really feel rushed through a lot of the very important parts, and spread out long scenes that seemed to have little purpose. I am not even going to chop down the religious elements of the movie, because that is personal belief, but some of the choices are mind boggling. The plagues are upon us quite suddenly, and portrayed with a great deal of clarity and reality, but the who purpose of who, what, why, and how, was largely just skipped over. Moses seems much more of a bystander to all of this, rather than the stunning leader and general the Heston portrayed. The burning bush where Moses talks to God is shown, but the bush has no purpose or real reason to even exist. God is a little British boy who is a bit of a brat, and only shows up when he feels like it, and gives Moses no real clue what to do. Likewise, Moses is wallowing in self doubt and mostly watching events unfold. Basically, I’m afraid this movie missed the mark because they simply forgot to pay attention to the storytelling because they were so enthralled by the special effects. This is a shame, as it could have been a real solid movie experience. You’re going to lose the religious fanatics immediately when you change anything from the Bible account, that’s to be expected. But they lost a great many of the rest of the public when the story just was so strange, and the casting rather haphazard, and the director was lost in the stars reveling over the technological miracles. They made a beautiful and stunning film with hollow storytelling.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Clarius Entertainment, Scott Free Productions, Millennium Films,

Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong,

Christine (Nicole Kidman) wakes up one morning, terrified to be in bed next to a man she does not know. He explains his name is Ben (Colin Firth) and he is her husband. He explains to her that she was in an accident 10 years ago and has short term memory loss, a form of amnesia which makes her forget everything in her life after the accident. She is terrified, but as we learn by watching, this happens every morning, and he is forced to catch her up every day with the same questions and fear every day. She receives a call from a Dr. Nasch (Mark Strong) who tells her that he has been secretly seeing here for some time and is making some progress with her case. In a flashback, we see Dr. Nasch first treating her and giving her a camera to record what happens and what she learns every day, and to hide it in a special place where Ben will not find it. Sure enough, each morning she finds the camera, watches the recording that far, and adds when new things she learns each day. As time passes she begins to find out that Ben often lies to her, and when she confronts him, he explains that it’s just easier to skip some things since he has been doing this every day for 10 years. But as she progresses in keeping her video journal every day, she begins to learn new things and to distrust everyone in her life trying to find out what is really the truth of what happened to her and who among her limited number of friends and family are who they say they are.

This is a very creepy and sinister film with lots of mystery and suspense. Certainly the concept of short term amnesia (50 First Dates) is not unique and has been used a number of times (Memento). But this one is really a lot different and actually I really enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed Firth and Kidman in 2013’s “The Railway Man” [Click here for Ed’s Review] which I really enjoyed. In that film, Colin Firth was the crazy one, but here the roles are somewhat reversed. They worked so well together in that film, and I really enjoyed them here as well. However, the usual caveat, my Daughter is a recent college graduate who read the novel by the same name, and hated this film. Going into the film, she thought out loud, “How are they going to make a movie out of this book?” only to be crushed at all the many, many things that are different. Some not so big a deal, but some things (like the entire ending) are completely different. Note that in the beginning of the film, it says that it was inspired by the novel, and so it is quite a bit different. This offended her to no end, as she really loved the book and was off to reread the novel last I heard. Having NOT read the novel, it was a very refreshing film to me, and a quite unique story that was very well done. I was very impressed with the story and the extreme suspense through the entire film up to the stunning conclusion. Additionally, I found Nicole’s portrayal of the terror of waking up every day with no knowledge that you were 10 years older and had no memory of anything that happened in the last 10 years. Apparently a lot of people loved the book, or the public relations on this film was very poorly done, as this had a very, very short run in theaters and now is available on video. I highly recommend this Hidden Gem of a movie as one I’m sure you missed but will probably really enjoy.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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